The Benevolent Dictator
Empower Your Employees, Build Your Business, and Outwit the Competition
1. Edition April 2015
288 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
An unconventional philosophy for starting and building a
business that exceeds your own expectations
What does it require to take a concept rapidly and effectively
from mind to market? The Benevolent Dictator recognizes that
entrepreneurship is a gauntlet. Those who succeed are benevolent
dictators--able to make the intricate process happen in days,
weeks and months to win.
The Benevolent Dictator gives you no-nonsense how-to
advice and examples that have worked. This non-traditional, gung-ho
guide is not afraid to lay out the leadership methods that can
effectively get a new business off the ground, and through the
requisite fast-track growth phases that produce tangible success
measured by your bottom line and your wallet.
* Learn critical specifics on how to move from idea development
to build-out, through steps for continuous improvement, and on to
the big cash out
* Features proven tools, strategies, and tactics that will help
you bottle entrepreneurial lightning over and over again
* As the cofounder of office retail giant OfficeMax, the author
turned a $3 million investment into a $1.5 billion sale in his 16
years as CEO
Beating the competition is never easy. For those times when you
need an iron hand, then you also need the wisdom to know when and
how to use it. Whether you're a business student, aspiring
entrepreneur, or a practicing executive, you need to discover the
winning ways of The Benevolent Dictator.
Phase One Start-Up 1
1. Lesson #1: To Successfully Launch a Start-Up, There Must Be a Benevolent Dictator 3
2. Lesson #2: The Best Ideas Can Come from What's Right in Front of Your Nose 11
3. Lesson #3: How to Find the Money to Make Big Money 18
4. Lesson #4: Once an Entrepreneur, Always an Entrepreneur 22
5. Lesson #5: It's Better to Be Lucky Than Just Good 25
6. Lesson #6: "GOYA"--The Only Way to Really Test an Idea 29
7. Lesson #7: Don't Underestimate the Power of Focus, Discipline, and Follow-Up 35
8. Lesson #8: Competition Stinks 39
Phase Two Build Out and Put the Idea to the Test 43
9. Lesson #9: Business Is a Series of "Go" and "No-Go" Decisions 45
10. Lesson #10: Treat an Idea Like Clay 53
11. Lesson #11: Always Be Prepared with Plan B . . . And Sometimes C and D 59
12. Lesson #12: You'll Never Reach Critical Goals without a Definitive Timetable 66
13. Lesson #13: Never Be as Weak as Your Weakest Link 70
14. Lesson #14: Raising Additional Capital Requires Creating Demand 74
15. Lesson #15: Everything You Wanted to Know about the "D" Word but Were Afraid to Ask 82
16. Lesson #16: Managing People Is about Achieving Objectives through Others 87
17. Lesson #17: Good Intentions Will Get You Only So Far 95
18. Lesson #18: Don't Open the Doors until the Start-Up Passes the Smell Test--And Don't Be Afraid to Call Time-Out Just to Be Sure 101
Phase Three Constant Reinvention 107
19. Lesson #19: Pot Stirring 101--The Key to Continuous Reinvention 109
20. Lesson #20: Is Perception Reality? How to Manage Risk, Take Chances, and Remain Standing 115
21. Lesson #21: How to Keep Lethargy at Bay . . . Or Why Time Is Your Most Precious Resource 122
22. Lesson #22: How to Avoid Analysis Paralysis by Learning When to Make "Battlefield" Decisions 128
23. Lesson #23: Don't Drink Your Own Bathwater--You Could Choke 135
24. Lesson #24: When the Wolf's at the Door, What You Do Can Make the Difference between Living to Fight Another Day and Going Down for the Count 140
25. Lesson #25: Using the "Mother Rule" Can Help You Avoid Costly Hiring Mistakes 148
26. Lesson #26: When Communicating, Cut to the Chase 153
27. Lesson #27: Survival Math--Business Is Not a Zero-Sum Game 160
28. Lesson #28: Manage by the Three Ps--Persistence, Perspiration, and Performance 165
29. Lesson #29: You Can't Live with "Em--How to Manage Prima Donnas, Employees Who Think It's Not Their Job," and the Perfectionists 170
30. Lesson #30: The Golden Rule of Trust and Respect: You've Got to Give to Get 175
31. Lesson #31: Why You Must Look at Business through the Customer's Eyes, Not Just from an Operator's Perspective 182
32. Lesson #32: When It's Time to Pull the Trigger and Fire a Customer or a Vendor 188
33. Lesson #33: Spurring Growth--How to Eat an Elephant One Bite at a Time 194
34. Lesson #34: If You Don't Like the Competition . . . Buy Them If You Can 199
35. Lesson #35: The Easiest Path to Hypergrowth Is with Other People's Money 204
36. Lesson #36: Beating the Competition Requires That You Know More about Their Vulnerabilities Than They Know about Themselves . . . And Knowing Yourself Better Than They Know You 210
37. Lesson #37: If You Negotiate with Yourself, You Have a Fool for an Opponent 217
Phase Four The Payday 223
38. Lesson #38: Payday . . . And Lessons from the IPO Road Show 225
39. Lesson #39: If the Flame Starts Flickering: How to Tell If the Fat Lady Is About to Sing 234
40. Lesson #40: How to Put Lightning Back in the Bottle Again and Again--Many Entrepreneurs Are Serial Entrepreneurs 242
Epilogue 253
Index 255
Dustin S. Klein is the Publisher and Executive Editor of Smart Business Network, publishers of Smart Business, the nation's second-largest chain of regional business publications. He has interviewed thousands of senior executives and civic leaders across America. He is a regular presenter on business-related issues for public and private business audiences and is a frequent guest on television, radio, and Internet programs.
