Page 19 - merged.pdf

•Introduction xvii

insensitive, but the financial side of them is never far buried and economics plays a
huge part in war’s planning and outcome. I take no moral position on making money
out of war or religion; I just note the opportunities that arise from them. I have
drawn the line at slavery, where labour costs are literally minimised, as too close to
even the modern day bone to call a great business idea. It still exists in places.

There is a very successful bunch of people who make a lot of money eventually
out of doing absolutely nothing. Gamblers and franchise owners come to mind in
this regard, and we have looked at lotteries and the stock exchange for clues on
joining this particular band of money makers.

Product innovation, bumper stickers and training techniques all find their way
into the list, as do junk bonds Idea 69 and the South Sea Bubble Idea 70.

A lot of great business ideas are based on somewhat cynical ideas of giving the
public what it wants and outsmarting the competition, but there are some theories
of economics and some patient advisers on, for example, pensions matters who
genuinely made a positive difference to how we live. There are even some compu-
ter-based innovations that really do make life easier and we have included spreadsheets
Idea 48 and call centres Idea 51 as examples of great ideas that make their owners
money and the consumer happier.

We have not restricted ourselves to great ideas that benefit the customer or
consumer. Great business ideas usually make money for shareholders; sometimes
they benefit the customer as well. Indeed unit trusts Idea 24 is an example where the
benefits of the person offering the service are obvious, but the reasons for people
buying the service less easy to demonstrate.

How do you choose 100 ideas out of the millions that have created products,
services and profits? The answer is to ask a lot of people, and we have done this. We
have spoken to people on both sides of the Atlantic, which has tended to give the
ideas a UK/USA bias. We apologise for that and for all our readers’ pet ideas that
we have missed out. Researching the book has reminded us of the infinite ability of
man to think of and implement great ideas, and choosing a hundred is a more or less