Lots of us have ideas we think would make great businesses. Most of us never do anything with those ideas. But for those that do, a world of opportunity awaits them. This book is about 30 people who acted on their idea, made the first steps to start their business and subsequently went on to turn it into a global brand. From Innocent to Cobra to Dreams to Dysone, we reveal how some of the UK's biggest businesses got of the ground, and those very first steps taken by their founders.

'How They Started' features 21 insightful accounts of how some of the most successful businesses and best known global brands got started.

Bringing to life the stories behind the world's most successful digital businesses, How They Started Digital showcases profiles from gaming companies to social media brands. Giving insight and inspiration, each profile reveals how each idea originated and became the success it is today.

Do you dream of starting a business, but are too nervous to take the leap during economic uncertainty? It seems even more risky and difficult than normal. But How They Started in Tough Times may surprise you by revealing that many big businesses did just that - names such as Tesco, Argos, Foxtons, Burger King, Penguin, Oakley and Microsoft. But how did they start-up? How They Started in Tough Times profiles 25 business founders who started successful businesses during a tough economic climate- and thrived. They tell why they took that first step, the unique challenges they faced and how they grew and became established. The exceptional business stories in How They Started in Tough Times will provide inspiration how to: Come up with the initial idea for a business Spot new opportunities Secure funds from a bank or investor Take advantage of lack of competition Use persistence and hard work to succeed in spite of the odds Packed with inspirational stories and sound business advice, the stories within How They Started in Tough Times will give even the most cautious entrepreneur the confidence to start their business in tough times.

-Where did they find suppliers?

The inspirational bestseller that ignited a movement and asked us to find our WHY Discover the book that is captivating millions on TikTok and that served as the basis for one of the most popular TED Talks of all time—with more than 56 million views and counting. Over a decade ago, Simon Sinek started a movement that inspired millions to demand purpose at work, to ask what was the WHY of their organization. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, and these ideas remain as relevant and timely as ever. START WITH WHY asks (and answers) the questions: why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers had little in common, but they all started with WHY. They realized that people won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who have had the greatest influence in the world all think, act and communicate the same way—and it's the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning. But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? The Study For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great? The Standards Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck. The Comparisons The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good? Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't. The Findings The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap. “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.” Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?