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•160 The 100 Greatest Business Ideas of All Time

On the other hand

Some would say that mobile phones persuade executives that it is easier to
leave a mobile phone number than it is to train and empower their staff to
make decisions in their absence. See the human resources advice in Greatest
Management Thinkers.

Idea 97 – Set a thief to catch a thief

A great business innovation was to appoint Joseph P. Kennedy as the first head of
the US Securities and Exchanges Commission. It had two benefits. It took Kennedy,
probably the biggest conman in the history of the modern stock market, off the
streets, and put someone who really understood stock fraud in charge of writing the
rules.

Idea 98 – Make the real money on the side

A little time ago I had to change the printer that I attach to my laptop. The main
criterion was that its weight and bulk should allow me to carry it around easily. I
remembered that the original one, which had eventually gone wrong, cost £200
some three years previously and was expecting a good reduction in price. In fact
they were still the same price but for £200 you could now get a colour printer. Quite
impressive.

At the check out I was given the hard-sell by two assistants who tried to sell me
an extended warranty contract to cover years two and three of the printer’s life.
Being a sucker for a salesman I bought it. It cost £50 and was almost certainly
where the retailer made the real money.