How To Turn Your Million Dollar Idea Into A Reality Part 1

How to turn your
million-dollar
idea into a reality
(from the man who sold the MCG)

How to turn your
million-dollar
idea into a reality
(from the man who sold the MCG)

FROM Imagination to Implementation

PETE WILLIAMS

First published in 2006 by Wrightbooks
an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
42 McDougall Street, Milton Qld 4064
Offices also in Sydney and Melbourne
Typeset in Berkeley LT 11/13.2 pt
© Pete Williams 2007
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data

Williams, Pete (Peter John), 1982- .
How to turn your million dollar idea into a reality (from
the man who sold the MCG) : from imagination to
implementation.
Includes index.
ISBN 0 7314 0575 7.
1. Entrepreneurship. 2. Creative ability in business. 3.
Organizational effectiveness. I. Title.
658.421

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for
example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of
this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in
any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to
the publisher at the address above.
Author photo © Jo Patterson
Cover image © Newspix/Damian Horan
Pages 27–28 Reproduced with the permission of Yahoo! Search Marketing Australia
Page 132 ‘Magical Carpet Ride’ by Chris Tinkler, Sunday Herald Sun, 3/8/03, p. 25, The
Herald & Weekly Times. The Herald & Weekly Times Photographic Collection/Faith Nulley.
Pages 101–12 Reproduced with the permission of Shannon Curtis www.profitableclothingret
ailer.com
Page 176 Reproduced with the permission of Google Inc.
Printed in Australia by Griffin Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent
professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances
and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action
on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate,
before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and
publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly
from any person taking or not taking action based upon the information in this publication.

iv

Contents
Introduction
From imagination to…
1 idea conception 1
2 fearlessness 9
3 finding your million-dollar idea 23
4 standing out and making a name 41
5 setting goals for success 57
6 planning the journey 67
7 profitable systems 75
8 pricing for profit 89
9 the technical stuff 105
10 profitable publicity 117
11 effective marketing 135
12 influence factors 157
13 clicks and portals 171
14 back-end profits 189
15 networking 201
16 team force 213
17 barter profits 223
18 creative business 235
19 the ultimate business model 245
Conclusion 251
Index

v

To Mum and Dad,
thanks for providing such a strong foundation

Along with all my family and friends I would like to thank the
following people for their guidance, love, support and education
over the years.

Fleur Byrt Bruce Hultgren Jon Michail Michael Hanrahan
Paul Breen Jay Abraham Adam and Magentaline
Troy Bowen Rohan Merry Robert Kiyosaki Tony Stewart
Adam Bowen Garry and the Gaggle Tony Robbins
Seth Godin Scott Ginsberg Mark Victor Hansen
Sarah Felton Jonathan Jackson Matt Tabone and ‘the uni-crew’
Glenn Williams Brian Tracy Robyn Webb
Nev Bray Akshay Shah Gary Halbert Rick Doherty
Ross Mitchell Richard Branson Belinda Stewart
Guy Kawasaki Dale Beaumont Phil Hodgson
Trav Madden Michael Port Nicole Strano
Andrew Pickett Dr Tony Alessandra Richard Koch
Peter Sorenson Yaro Starak Brent Hodgson Shannon Curtis
Robert Allen Tory Favro John Burley Camille Howard
Dan Kennedy Taz and Amy Adam Birrel
Sam Corriea Danny Drake and the cash flow crew
Chris and Abbey Rick Frishman The team at Wiley Billi Lim
Darren and the MJCC Dave at Frame-mem
Trevor Price and the Supercats
Tegan Gray Sport The Library Simon and Maz
Jade, Ness and Rach Matt Barkley Ted Whitten Jnr
Max and The Kardinia Picture Framing Team
The Porter Family Jay Conrad Levinson Christina Posnachiwsky
Steve McKnight Cindy Cashman Paul Hartunian

What people say about How to turn your
million-dollar idea into a reality
I wish I had read this book years ago! Pete’s ideas will transform the
stuff in your head to the stuff in your wallet. His tips, systems and ideas,
combined with his intelligent writing style makes this a must read!
Scott ‘The Nametag Guy’ Ginsberg (author of How to be That Guy and
Make a Name for Yourself)
Australia needs more entrepreneurs like Pete Williams to keep the cogs
of industry turning and the left-field business fires burning bright. Pete
proves that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Australia.
Jonathan Jackson (editor — Wealth Creator magazine)
This book is the bible for those looking to launch a new idea or
business. It will literally save you thousands in lost time and money.
Shannon Curtis (author of The Referrals Marketing Toolkit)
Peter has done a brilliant job with this book, it certainly is a dynamite
read. Through various practical examples it proves to all of us that
success, both personally and financially, can come rapidly with
minimal time and effort. Absorb these principles and put them into
practice — they really work!
Dale Beaumont (creator of the Secrets Exposed series, young
entrepreneur, best-selling author and international speaker)
Read this book before you start any entrepreneurial venture. Not only
is it full of advice from Pete’s remarkable experiences but the lessons are
reinforced by real-world examples from various companies, both big
and small.
Michael Port (author of Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and
Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle
Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling)
The lessons and techniques Pete has shared in this book will help you
gain the competitive edge in whatever business you choose to pursue.
It’s full of unique street smart marketing ideas that anyone can easily
put into place. After reading just one chapter, I felt I received more
valuable ideas than I received after reading all the chapters in other books.
Dr Tony Alessandra (author of The Platinum Rule and Charisma)

viii

Introduction

You shouldn’t be allowed to start a business without reading this book
three times. The techniques and secrets Pete shares are worth far more
then the cost of the book. You should have read this book yesterday.
Rick Frishman (President of Planned Television Arts and
co-author of the AUTHOR 101 series, <www.author101.com>)
Pete is a role model for young entrepreneurs; I suggest every
entrepreneur take the time to read his book!
Cindy Cashman (million-selling author, <www.ﬁrstspacewedding.
com>)
How to turn your million-dollar idea into a reality combines two of my
favourite elements in a book — a great story and practical business
lessons. When you walk away from reading a book feeling both
entertained and educated you know you have found something unique
and worth sharing with others. Take my advice, read Pete’s unique
entrepreneur story and use it as inspiration and motivation to create
your own.
Yaro Starak (entrepreneur, <www.entrepreneurs-journey.com>)
Ideas can be found anywhere but turning them into reality is what
makes the great difference and that’s what Pete’s book can help you do.
Billi Lim (author of the No.1 bestseller Dare to Fail)
From getting your great idea off the ground to making your brand stand
out from the crowd, Williams’ candid approach in How to turn your
million-dollar idea into a reality is full of simple and practical advice for
budding entrepreneurs.
Camille Howard (editor — Dynamic Business magazine)
Pete Williams is the perfect example of entrepreneurial spirit that
should be nourished in our youth — How to turn your million-dollar idea
into a reality covers many practical gems that will inspire the reader to
action their dream and create their reality.
Jon-Michail (Australasia’s No. 1 Image Coach and CEO — Image
Group International)
Pete writes with entrepreneurial verve and his simple advice could just
inspire you to make a fortune. Great stuff!
Richard Koch (author of the bestselling The 80/20 Principle)

ix

Introduction

Eliminate the time between the idea and the act and
your dreams become your realities.
Dr Edward Kramer

My first lesson to all you budding entrepreneurs out there is this:
your business won’t start itself. Your fantastic product idea will not
simply materialise in front of you if you wish for it hard enough.
Your great business plan will not magically appear on your desktop
one day, in a file titled ‘Guaranteed road to riches.doc’. The first
step to success is implementation. This book is about turning your
great idea into a great business.
Million dollar ideas are everywhere. I know people who have
five of them before breakfast. And we’ve all had the experience of
having a good idea but not doing anything about it, only to see it
appear six months later courtesy of somebody who got off their
bum. There’s nothing worse than the ‘that could have been me’
feeling. Million dollar ideas are not worth a million dollars if they
are still inside your head. They won’t make any money there. I’m
going to show you how to turn your million dollar idea into reality
— and hopefully a million dollars!

xi

How to turn your million-dollar idea into a reality

Me at my desk, age four. I have my phone, my helmet and my teddy — all ready for action!

About me …
I have always been entrepreneurial. One of my earliest memories
is of Mum in the kitchen. I came out and dragged her into the hall
to show her what I had drawn on the walls. No, I hadn’t drawn a
house with a chimney in bright yellow crayon. I had drawn arrows
leading to my ‘office’, so that Mum could find me (or in case any
important clients came by). I was about four years old.
Where I really cut my teeth as an entrepreneur was at our
holiday place in Ocean Grove; I spent all my summer and
Easter holidays there. When basketball card collecting was
big, I arranged a huge swap meet at the caravan park — I put
advertisements all over the park, arranged stalls, and allowed
others to set up stalls at my swap meet. I also set up a TV and
video in the window of our caravan, facing outside so kids who
had to wait their turn to purchase the rare and collectable cards
I had on offer didn’t get bored and wander off. It was very successful
and I had my first taste of creating my own income. During the
whole basketball trading-card fad, I also started a newsletter about
basketball trading cards, with stories about cards and their values.

xii

Introduction

In my first week I doubled my number of subscribers. Not many
people can claim that! And if I had signed up another two people,
I would have doubled my readership again. Unfortunately my
cousins Adam and Simon remained my only recipients, but I did
learn early about the importance of having a database and keeping
in touch with clients.
During another Easter holiday, my cousins and I raised money
for the Good Friday appeal: we made a range of greeting cards for
the people in the caravan park to purchase. We set up a stall near
the toilet and laundry block — to maximise foot traffic. The funny
thing was that my aunty, who had the responsibility of sending the
money in, actually forgot that year and the money didn’t make it.
(She saved it and sent it the next year.) I learnt at the age of about
11 that you must have good people around you and advisers who
know what they are doing!
When I was 16 my folks and I went to America for a holiday
and basketball tour. When we were in Vegas as part of the tour
there was a store that put your face onto the body of a famous
athlete or model, or on King Kong. While my mates were being
Michael Jordan, or posed with girls in bikinis, I chose to put my
face on the cover of a business magazine that had the lead story
‘Entrepreneur of the year’ — yes, perhaps I’m a bit of a nerd.
I was in high school when I became serious and registered
my first business name — Impact Plus — and created websites
for my high school, primary school, the Geelong Supercats (yes,
you’ve probably noticed I’m a basketball fan), and a few other
businesses.
As you can see, I’ve had an entrepreneurial streak since before
I could spell entrepreneur (though I still get it wrong sometimes).
And yes, I am only 24 years old, but that’s one of my key
points — don’t let age stop you! You are never too young, or too
old. The experiences I had selling the ’G are the basis for many of
the discussions in this book, and I was only 21 when I did it.
When I started down the road to selling the ’G, I had just
returned from overseas and had little money or time. I was only in
my early twenties, so I didn’t have a lot of cash, and I worked full-time.
I asked myself, how do I start a business like this? Impossible, I

xiii


hear you say. Well, it’s not — and you can do it too. I started with
a headline-grabbing idea, and used this to generate free publicity.
I created systems that allowed me to operate the business with
minimal time and financial commitment, and leveraged my efforts
using other people’s time and skills. And there are many other
methods that I used to reach my seemingly unreachable goal. All
of this will be covered here, and there are more resources available
at my website: <www.preneurmarketing.com.au>.

What’s in this book
In this book you will find the lessons I have learned about business
and marketing — from both a practical and theoretical perspective.
My MCG venture proves what you can do with a great idea, and
I will pass on the knowledge I gained from this, as well as from
working with my clients and associates. This book is full of useful
facts, examples, quotes, stories and information that will help
you get out there and implement your own great idea — from the
basics of how to register a business name and finding a market, to
setting prices and maximising profits. We will also look at what is
one of the single biggest problems for many people — the fear of
getting started.
I also believe it is important to have a theoretical understanding
of business and marketing. I have studied both at post-graduate
level, read endlessly about these topics, and have learned a lot
from my business mentors. I will use this knowledge to provide
you with a theoretical background that will help you get your ideas
out into the world. We will look at marketing strategies, business
planning and structuring, and using what other businesses have
done to help you develop your own ideas.
Throughout this book you will notice references to the From
Imagination to Implementation Workbook. This workbook will allow
you to apply what you have read in this book to your business, and
when you are finished it will provide you with a powerful tool to
help you get your business off the ground. Normally the workbook
is priced at $79.95, but a free downloadable version is available

xiv

Introduction

exclusively to readers of this book. Go to <www.preneurmarketing.
com.au/workbook.php> to get your copy today.

Entrepreneurs
There is more interest today than there has ever been in
entrepreneurship. Successful business people are now prominent
ﬁgures in society, and some are even celebrities. For instance,
Richard Branson and his crazy publicity stunts often appear in the
media and Bill Gates is a household name. But these two started
off just like most of us — unknown, and with only a small amount
of money. They both had great ideas, but, more importantly, they
had the drive and the desire to do something with those ideas.
Whatever your aspirations, there are valuable lessons to be learnt
from people such as Branson and Gates.
Finally, I believe entrepreneurship should not just be about the
money. Of course making money is a major reason why people
want to become entrepreneurs, and if you are successful there will
be no shortage of it. But you must also enjoy the challenge that
comes with the journey — there will be obstacles along the way,
and your attitude and level of enthusiasm will determine whether
these stop you cold or you ﬁnd a way around them. Also, you can
be certain that there will be hard work involved, especially in the
start-up stages. But these aspects only add to the satisfaction when
the job is done; remember, if it was easy, everybody would do it.
Find out now how to take your idea from imagination to
implementation.
Best of luck,
Pete Williams
Melbourne
September 2006

xv

Chapter 1
From imagination to ...
idea conception

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.
Thomas Edison

Key points
What you do with your idea is just as important as the idea
itself.
You don’t need special skills to make your business a success,
just an idea and some enthusiasm. Anybody can do it.
Don’t let an opportunity pass you by.
Work hard to achieve your goals.

Before you can make a start on becoming an entrepreneur, you
must have an idea. You can have an earth-shattering, oh-my-god-
wait-’til-people-hear-about-this idea, but it doesn’t have to be. A
modest but well-executed idea will go further than a fantastic idea
that is poorly implemented. You can also borrow or adapt an idea
from elsewhere, as I did.
Much of what you will read in this book is based on my idea
of ‘selling the ’G’, as it has become known. So what better place to
start than to tell you how it happened?

1


Selling the ’G
After returning from a stint in 2002–03 working for The Athlete’s
Foot in the USA, I went back to work at The Athlete’s Foot in
Werribee. The plan was to work there for a few months, before
heading back to the US to start a business career. As it was a store
in its infancy, I often spent morning shifts there by myself, so to
keep occupied I often read. One morning I was reading The One
Minute Millionaire by Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen, which
is a fantastic read for budding entrepreneurs, and one of the stories
it tells is of a New Jersey man who bought pieces of the Brooklyn
Bridge in New York.
Paul Hartunian had seen a story on television about part of
the wooden walkway being removed from the Brooklyn Bridge
because it was old and rotting. Straightaway he had an idea. One
of the workers was being interviewed
for the story, and in the background
Pete’s tip:
Paul could see the contractor’s truck
go your own way with his phone number on the side.
If you do what everybody Paul contacted him immediately
else does, you’ll never be able and made a deal over the phone to
to set your business apart. buy the wood for $500, and it was
Many businesses focus on delivered later that day by the slightly
advertising simply because bemused worker. Hartunian made
they think that it’s the only up small A5 certiﬁcates detailing the
way to attract attention to history of the bridge and attached a
their business. Be different small piece of the Brooklyn Bridge’s
— use publicity to build your timber to it, and began to sell the
business. certiﬁcates for US$14.95. He also
wrote a press release, which he sent
out to the media, and within days he was bombarded with enquiries
and interview requests. This initial effort generated publicity for
Paul for the next six months, and that was just the start.
I instantly loved the simplicity yet effectiveness of the idea, and
began to think about how I could replicate this in Australia. The
image of the MCG’s redevelopment, which had just begun, came
to mind. I thought I might be able to get my hands on some of

2

From imagination to idea conception

the timber and replicate Paul Hartunian’s venture. I rang Bruce
Hultgren, who is one of my business mentors and a good friend.
(He runs a business creating programs that use music to help
children learn ball skills: <www.billybounce.com>.)
A serial entrepreneur like myself, he saw the dollar signs, and
the phone calls to track down the timber began. Eventually we
got in contact with the wrecking company that had pulled down
the MCG’s Ponsford Stand and they informed us that not only did
they have some of the timber but they also had rolls and rolls of
the crested carpet from the MCC members’ section in the Ponsford
stand! As a sports fan and a collector of memorabilia, I thought
this would be a great chance to preserve a piece of Australian
sporting history and make it available to fans, as well as a great
business idea.
I arrived the next morning to see and secure the purchase I
had made over the phone the previous day. To my amazement the
carpet was sitting in the back of the warehouse getting damp; it
blew my mind. They also had the bar, which had the MCC logo on
it. I negotiated to purchase that also, but later found out that the
Variety Club had shown interest and had secured it with another
of the warehouse reps the day before — I was not going to argue
with a charity. I believe they later auctioned it off and raised a great
deal of money for their wonderful organisation.

The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as
everyone else and produces the best results.
Edward de Bono

I arranged for a courier to pick up all the timber and carpet and
deliver it to my house, in Bacchus Marsh. The carpet lived in the
garage for a few weeks, but I was scared that it would get wet
there so the timber and carpet was relocated into the study and
the rumpus room.
In the early stages I received a great deal of support and help
from an associate and mentor of Bruce’s, Phil Hodgson, who
helped with the idea development and the wording of the plaques
that accompanied the carpet, among other things. He was a great

3


asset and highly valued. Having good people around to support
you is vital.
Although I was initially searching for the timber to make
certiﬁcates similar to those made by Hartunian, I decided to use
some of the timber that I saved to make the frames for a limited
number of MCC carpet pieces; that way they would have even
greater value and appeal. My neighbour at the time was a former
cabinet maker and unlike my father, who also had a shed full of
tools collecting cobwebs, John actually used his regularly, so I
enlisted his help to cut the timber. The warehouse had already cut
the timber into tongue-and-groove–style ﬂooring so it was easy for
John to turn some of the timber into the required style for framing.
While in the USA I had purchased a huge range of unframed
memorabilia, including pictures and signed photos, and I was in the
process of having it all framed by a local sports memorabilia framer,
Frame-mem. So Dave at Frame-mem became our framer for the
initial series.

The different editions of the framed carpet initially released, with a football and cricket
version and different frame options.
With John cutting the timber and Dave making the frames, Bruce
and I could spend our time focusing on generating sales and not do
any of the construction dirty work. Bruce is an ex-NBL basketball
player and seems to know everyone, so we also enlisted the help
of one of his contacts who runs Sport the Library (a sports photo
library) to get the photos I used in the frames. I paid a royalty
for this. I also enlisted couriers to do a lot of the deliveries, again
to leverage my time. However, as Bruce worked for himself he

4


did take on the responsibility of delivering a good number of the
frames initially. I was still working at The Athlete’s Foot, dealing
with shoes and feet, so I wasn’t as free during business hours, but
the way I consciously structured the business allowed for most of
the work to be done over the phone or after hours, such as the
packing of the frames which was done in the rumpus room at
Mum’s place.
I also decided to donate 10 per cent of every frame sale
to a charity. We chose the E.J. Whitten Foundation <www.
ejwhittenfoundation.com.au>, which supports prostate cancer
research, as I felt it had the best fit with
what I was doing. Ted Whitten — a
Pete’s tip:
former AFL player — was known as
‘Mr Football’; he died from prostate share the wealth
cancer in 1995. I initially approached Donate a percentage of your
the E.J. Whitten Foundation because profits to your favourite
I wanted to put some of the profits charity. You can help those in
towards a good cause, but later I need and potentially build your
also formed a joint venture with the business at the same time.
foundation, which is explained in
chapter 16.
I created a number of different versions of the frames, to
enhance their appeal. The initial release consisted of two styles;
one based around cricket and one around footy. The layout of
the frames was the same; I simply changed the photos and the
wording on the plaque to differentiate between the two. This way I
felt I could capture both markets of MCG fans. Each of these styles
had two different series; a limited edition of 50 that was framed
with authentic MCG timber, and a second series of 500 that had a
generic mahogany frame.
I made two or three of each series initially, so that I had stock to
ship, but did not restrict our cash flow too much or require a large
capital investment (more on this in chapter 7). The framer was
able to produce the frames within a great turnaround time. This
enabled me to sell the frames with a 14-day delivery — enough
time to produce extra frames and deliver them on time — thus
working on a make-to-order basis, which is very good for cash

5


flow. I worked out a maximum number of frames for each series,
so that they would be limited editions. I also gave away a small
piece of green timber, which was taken from the old MCG seating,
to add value to the first 50 orders.
I then began to think of the best target market to sell to.
Obviously I came to the conclusion that MCC/MCG members
would be the perfect market, so I arranged a meeting with the
MCG. Unfortunately they didn’t like the proposal, and decided not
to be involved. However, about three days later the MCG issued
a press release announcing that they were going to conduct their
own auction of MCC memorabilia and carpet when they began the
redevelopment of the MCC Member’s Pavilion at the MCG. I guess
I’ll never know if they leveraged my idea. But by using creative
marketing ideas, I generated sales off the back of the publicity the
MCC created for themselves.
To start making sales I wrote a series of press releases, one with
the heading ‘21 year old sells MCG for under $500’. I sent these
out to every media outlet I could find, and the media onslaught
began — Channel 7, the Herald Sun, and 3AK, just to name a
few. I received a huge range of free articles plugging my idea and
venture, which prompted the initial run of sales. (More on this in
chapter 10.)
At the same time as my selling the ’G venture was going on I
was also involved in a real estate investing ‘challenge’, which was
being run by Steve McKnight <www.propertyinvesting.com>. His
first book From 0 to 130 Properties in 3.5 Years became a national
bestseller, and for his follow-up book he was mentoring a group
of budding real estate investors towards the goal of acquiring
$1 million of property in one year. I was receiving a reasonable
amount of press for this too, which involved a number of positive
segments on Today Tonight.
All this publicity meant I was starting to be recognised
occasionally as the guy who was selling the ’G. The feedback was
fantastic — everybody thought it was a great idea. One night I was
out in the city catching up with a group of friends from university,
and while out at a club a guy recognised me from my various TV
appearances. We ended up chatting for a while about what I was

6


up to. I actually walked away at the time a bit disappointed it
wasn’t an attractive young female who had seen me on TV — oh
well, any publicity is good publicity as they say …
At the end of 2004 I moved to Ocean Grove and started using
a local framer in Geelong, Kardinia Picture Framers. At the time
of writing some of the timber I

N
bought is being kept in a family
friend’s garage in Bacchus Marsh.
Because I still have some timber Download:
and carpet that is yet to be sold, the Visit <www.preneurmarketing.
venture is ongoing, and you can see com.au/mcgaudio.php> to
what is happening now at <www. download a short audio ﬁle
sportinglimitededitions.com>. You that gives an overview of
may be lucky enough to grab a the selling the ’G venture.
frame or a pen if there are any left.
I recently had executive-style hand-
crafted pens created from some of the MCG wood, and through
my networks have sold a quantity of these to Crown Casino
among others. (More on the power of networks in chapter 15.) I
am always looking for new ways to capitalise on the idea and the
momentum I have built up.

But can I do it?
If you are worried that maybe you are not cut out for this, think
again. Anybody can do it. I was not born with these skills, and
they certainly don’t run in my family. It takes a little ingenuity and
creative thinking, but there is no mystery to it. I didn’t have any
top secret information or an unusual technique.
To prove that my folks are not business people and that I didn’t
inherit this ability, when the basketball card craze was in its early
stages in Australia we were in a store in the city, and the owner
of the store offered a box of cool new cards to my mum and dad
on consignment (sale or return) to resell to my mates back home.
Being the non-entrepreneurs that they are (nontrepreneurs?), they
couldn’t see the value and the potential of this offer and they
knocked it back. Basketball cards later became hugely popular. I

7


still remind them about that, and the money they lost.

So what are you waiting for?
There it is — an overview of how I sold the ’G. It’s not rocket
science, just a great idea, some hard work and creative thinking.
To summarise:
I took an idea from overseas and adapted it to the Australian
market.
I used free publicity to generate sales.
I worked on a make-to-order basis to boost cash ﬂow.
I created special and limited editions to generate interest.
I used my contacts to create opportunities.
I leveraged my time by paying others to do some of the work.

These are just some of the strategies that will be examined
throughout the book, to help you turn your idea into a success
story. And anybody can do it, so read on …

8

Chapter 2
From imagination to …
fearlessness

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good
we oft might win by fearing to attempt.
William Shakespeare

Key points
Overcome your fears by redeﬁning failure.
Setbacks are merely a step along the path to success.
Learn from your mistakes.
Overcome a fear of success by getting started.

If you are going to be successful with your business ventures,
there is one emotion that you must overcome: fear. Everybody
experiences fear at some stage when pursuing their goals. It is
the inevitable result of leaving the safe path to go in your own
direction. Fears can include:
What if my idea isn’t good enough?
What if I’m not good enough?

9


What if something goes wrong?
What if people don’t like what I’m doing?
What if I’m too old? Or too young?
What if I go broke?

Feeling like this is natural, and even healthy. If you don’t have
some concern about what you are doing and an awareness of the
possible risks involved, you may
be racing into something without
Pete’s tip: the proper preparation — and
what’s the worst that undoubtedly you will go broke.
can happen? However, all of these fears are part
Do you currently work in of what is really a single, overriding
a stable, nine-to-ﬁve job? fear: what if I fail? Fear can prevent
Well, the way I see it is that you from making a start, or it can
if you have a go but don’t stop you along the way. How do you
make it, the worst that can overcome the fear of failure so that
happen is you’ll end up back you can achieve your goal?
with a nine-to-ﬁve job. As You must prepare yourself now,
long as you don’t make any and decide that you won’t let setbacks
outrageously stupid decisions, or moments of doubt stop you from
you will have spent some reaching your target. No matter how
time and money and ended great your idea, how hard you work,
up back where you started. or how well prepared you are, there
But at least you tried! will still be moments when you say
to yourself, ‘Gee, it would be a lot
easier if I just got a job’. When it
seems like there’s a million things to do and most of them needed
to be done yesterday, and everything is going wrong, and it is all up
to you, it’s only natural to wonder whether you’ve made the right
decision, or whether you have failed. Overcoming these moments
and conquering your fears are part of the satisfaction that comes
with success.

10

From imagination to fearlessness

Fear of failure
Fear of failure can put an end to the best ideas. In today’s world,
being a ‘success’ is very highly regarded. People who have high-
paying jobs, big houses and nice cars are generally considered
successful. People who tried to start their own business but it
didn’t work out are usually considered failures. But you can
appear to have all the modern trappings of success and still not be
successful, and you can appear by conventional standards to have
failed without having really done so. What do you think?
I consider people who have the courage to leave the security
and comfort of a nine-to-ﬁve job and attempt to make it on their
own a success. It doesn’t matter whether their idea panned out or
not — just trying makes them a success. Trying to make your own
way takes guts, imagination, determination, willpower, and effort.
How can such a person be considered a failure?
Would you rather have the high-paying job and nice car, but
spend all your time thinking about your business idea? ‘If only I
could leave this high-paying job and start riding a skateboard, I could
open up that cafe that cuts your hair while serving you coffee,
washing your car, doing your laundry and reading your stars.’
Well, if that’s your business idea — good luck! If your dream is to
be an entrepreneur and you are not doing it, the job and the car
do not make you a success (even though people might see you
as one).

There’s no such thing as failure
To overcome a fear of failure, you must realise that there really is
no such thing as failure. Success and failure are merely perceptions.
Something that might look like a failure at the moment is
only another step towards your eventual success, or even the
success itself.
Take the story of the now famous and hugely successful Post-
it note. The adhesive used in Post-it notes was invented in 1968
by 3M research scientist, Dr Spence Silver. He was attempting to
design a strong adhesive, but he actually ‘failed’ and the adhesive
he developed was very weak. Dr Silver tried unsuccessfully for ﬁve

11


years to find a use for his new adhesive. Arthur Fry, a new-product
development researcher, attended one of Silver’s seminars, and he
was intrigued by the strange adhesive. During his spare time Fry
sang in a church choir, and it annoyed him that the bookmark
in his hymn book would always fall out when he stood up to
sing. One day he realised that he had found the perfect use for Dr
Silver’s glue — it could be used to make a bookmark!
The original Post-it notes were used as bookmarks, and the
remainder was shown to the 3M marketing department, but they
rejected them as useless (a failure). Fry gave them to his secretary
to dispose of, but she instead found what is now the classic use
for them. Fry told her to distribute the remaining notes to all the
executive secretaries in the 3M offices. When they ran out, she was
inundated with calls for more. These calls were passed on to the
marketing department, who finally got the idea. Initial prototypes
were available in 1977 and by 1981, after a large sampling campaign,
the product had been introduced around the world.
Everyone now knows of and uses Post-it notes. This is a classic
tale of a failure turned into a success. Post-it notes have been
developed in a range of colours and designs for a variety of uses,
and they can be found in offices, schools and homes all around
the world.
Nev Bray, from one of Melbourne’s leading building companies,
Bray Constructions, tells a story of failing to win a job with a client,
but due to the way he conducted himself with the prospect, he
can now attribute over $1.5 million worth of work directly to the
client and their referrals. So he didn’t get the job he was after, but
he did get other work as a result of quoting for this client.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10 000 ways that won’t work.
Thomas Edison

As an entrepreneur, you are bound to venture into areas that
are new to you. How can you not make some mistakes along
the way, no matter how well prepared you are and how hard
you work? It could even be suggested that if you don’t make the
occasional mistake, you are not being adventurous enough in your

12


business strategy. Taking calculated risks can be part of creating a
successful business.
The nature of all human advancement, both great and small,
is that we learn as much from our mistakes as we do from our
successes — probably even more.
We wouldn’t be where we are
Pete’s tip:
today if some great minds before
us had given up when they ran don’t make the same
into problems. Thomas Edison, for mistake twice
example, conducted thousands of Mistakes are inevitable.
unsuccessful experiments before Don’t let them get you down,
eventually finding a practical design but make sure you learn
for the light globe. The nature from them. Then move on.
of scientific experiment is that
scientists learn from their mistakes,
and conduct the next experiment a little differently. This can be
done hundreds — or even thousands — of times over, until the
experiment is a success. Does this mean the earlier experiments
were failures? No, it’s just part of the process. No scientist expects
to reach a final outcome after only one experiment.
Being an entrepreneur or a business person is no different —
when you run into difficulties, fix them, learn from them and
move on. Even a complete business collapse can teach valuable
lessons for future success. Many successful businesspeople have
previously started or run businesses that didn’t do well.

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
Henry Ford

Some people who don’t know how to fail …
Let’s have a look at a few people who refused to accept that they
had failed.
As a basketball fan, I’m going to start with Michael Jordan.
Jordan is today generally considered the best basketball player
ever to step onto a court. He won six championships with the
Chicago Bulls, five league most valuable player awards, numerous

13


scoring titles — you name it, he won it. So what’s he doing here?
In high school Michael Jordan was cut from the school basketball
team. Was he a failure when this happened? Of course not. He
just hadn’t reached his goal yet. He later said: ‘Whenever I was
working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close
my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name
on it’.
Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.
Winston Churchill
Australian author Matthew Reilly had his first novel Contest
rejected by every major publisher in the country. Undefeated, he
decided to publish the book himself. He paid for 1000 copies to
be produced, and sold them to bookshops one store at a time. An
editor from one of Australia’s major publishers bought one of these
copies, and she loved it. She tracked Matthew down and signed
him up. Matthew has gone on to be an internationally successful
author, with his books on bestseller lists all around the world.
Have you read the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller? It is a
literary classic, and spawned the now-common phrase ‘catch
22’. Why was it called Catch-22? Because it was rejected by 21
publishers. It has now sold millions of copies and was turned
into a movie. Imagine if Heller had stopped after receiving the
twenty-first rejection letter …
Chicken Soup for the Soul is a book of ‘powerful tales of
ordinary people doing extraordinary things’. It was rejected by
140 publishers! Even the book’s agent gave up on it. But authors
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen believed in their book, and
kept going. They eventually found a publisher, and went on to
sell millions of books. Canfield and Hansen are now among the
best-selling business authors of all time.
When Sylvester Stallone finished writing the screenplay for
Rocky, he tried to sell it with himself playing the lead role. He was
unknown at the time, and some studios were interested in the film
but would not allow Stallone to act in it. But Stallone held out,
and eventually went on to play the boxer in the role that launched
his career.

14


One of the greatest presidents in American history had plenty
of chances to be considered a failure, but he wouldn’t accept this.
Let’s see what happened to him:
born into poverty in 1809
failed in business in 1831
ran for the state legislature and lost in 1832
failed in business again in 1833, and lost money that he had
borrowed from friends
had a nervous breakdown in 1836
was defeated when running for speaker in 1838
was defeated when running for elector in 1840
was defeated running for congress in 1843 and 1848
was defeated running for senate in 1854 and 1858
was defeated running for vice president in 1856.

Who was this? Abraham Lincoln. Maybe the fact that he had
endured such a hard road to get to the presidency made him so
good at the job when he ﬁnally got there.
These are just a few examples of rejections or setbacks — which
could have been perceived as ‘failures’ at the time — leading to
outstanding success. There are thousands of these stories, and
more are being written every day. Maybe you know somebody like
this.

Never confuse a single defeat with a ﬁnal defeat.
F Scott Fitzgerald

As you can see, overcoming obstacles is a vital ingredient for
many successful people from all walks of life. They overcome
fears and doubts. They refuse to accept defeat. They instead learn
from these events and use them as motivation to keep going until

15


they reach their goals. This is an attitude you must adopt to be a
successful entrepreneur. Overcome your fear. See ‘failure’ for what
it is — merely a temporary setback that can lead to greater things.
And even if in the end your idea doesn’t work, it doesn’t mean you
have failed. Just trying — where many others do not — makes you
a success. Along the way you will have learned valuable lessons
that can help you in life or with other ventures in the future.

Learning from your mistakes
Mistakes are an inevitable and valuable part of the process of
creating your own business, but to learn from them you must
analyse them. When you encounter a temporary setback, ask
yourself the following questions:
What was the mistake?
Why did this occur?
Could this have been avoided?
If so, how can I avoid this problem next time?
What lessons can I learn from this?

Find out exactly what went wrong, and why. Don’t blame other
people who may have been involved; make it clear that you are
just trying to find out what happened so that the problem can be
avoided in the future. Take responsibility for the problem, and for
fixing it.
Discuss the problem with business associates, friends or
family. Get some other perspectives and opinions, and find out
how other people have handled such problems. Don’t be shy or
embarrassed — use it as a learning experience. Think about your
mistake and learn from it, then move on.
Sally Anderson, a legacy coach, for Legacy Leadership
<www.sallyanderson.co.nz>, says lessons are sent to us in three
phases; first is a tap on the shoulder, then a piece of 4 × 2 to
the back of the head if you didn’t learn the first time, and then if
you still haven’t learnt the lesson it’s a Mack truck headed right

16


at you. You may not learn from your mistakes the ﬁrst time, but
if you don’t eventually learn from them they will appear as a
Mack truck.

Think you are too young? Or too old?
The fear of being too young or too old to become an entrepreneur
is not unusual, but there really is no age limit. There are successful
entrepreneurs of all ages.
I often hear people in their twenties say they will get their idea
off the ground when they have ‘settled down’. This amazes me. I
actually think it is harder to start after ‘settling down’; there may be
kids, a mortgage, two cars to run, and myriad other responsibilities.
Why wait until you have taken some, or all, of these on? Most
people in their early twenties don’t have these responsibilities, and
are therefore better placed to take a chance and try something
adventurous.
As I proved with the MCG, you don’t necessarily need a lot
of money to get started; all you need is a good idea. I was only
21 when we started selling the
’G. Richard Branson has been an
entrepreneur since he was a teenager. Pete’s tip:
He started a student magazine, then age doesn’t matter
moved on to selling records via You are never too young.
mail order. Bill Gates left Harvard Or too old. Start today.
University in his early twenties to
concentrate on Microsoft. Alex Tew
is the English guy behind the million dollar homepage <www.
milliondollarhomepage.com>. He sold one million pixels on a
single web page for US$1.00 each. He was only 21 at the time.
Younger people have the advantages of fewer responsibilities,
more energy and more free time, and they often have more
creative ideas, as people often become more conservative as they
grow older.
Just as you are never too young, you can never be too old to
be an entrepreneur. Colonel Harland Sanders, the famous colonel
behind KFC, didn’t start franchising his chicken business until he
was 65 years old. KFC is now available in more than 80 countries.

17


Until his death at the age of 90, the Colonel travelled 250 000
miles a year visiting KFC restaurants around the world.
Many older people have the advantage of work and
business experience, and are more likely to have money behind
them. Retired people also have free time to dedicate to their
business idea.

Fear of leaving the nine to five
Another common fear is leaving the safety of a secure job, where
you have people to help you, to start a business, where you must
be more self-reliant. When you work for a company, you usually
have marketing people to do the marketing, accountants to crunch
the numbers, and a tech person to help you when you accidentally
change the language on your computer to Swahili.
Typically, your profession provides you with skills within one
particular field, and this translates to the core idea for starting your
business, but you may be worried about your lack of experience
in other areas. If you are a plumber and you open your own
business, you have the leaky-pipe repairs covered, but what about
the marketing, or the tax, or the office management? If you are
an accountant, you will be able to keep your own books, but you
might not know how to manage staff, run an office or develop a
marketing plan.
You may be highly skilled in your area, but to run your own
business you must also become comfortable with many areas that
may be unfamiliar to you. This does not, however, mean that you
must become an expert in these aspects of your business. If this
is a fear that is holding you back, you must accept that you can’t
do everything — seek counsel from others who know more than
you do, and leverage other people’s knowledge and experience (as
explained in chapter 7).
You don’t necessarily need to hire full-time staff to cover skills
that you lack. For example, you don’t need an in-house accountant.
Just find an accountant who will be at the other end of the phone
when you need help, or who will come to see you when you are
making a big financial decision. You can hire a bookkeeper who
comes in one afternoon a week to take care of the bills and the

18


invoicing. You don’t need to be a financial expert yourself, you
just need to pick up enough so that you can work with the people
who are experts. Once your business starts to expand, then you
can think about hiring part-time or full-time staff.
There are businesses or individuals out there who can cover
just about any need that arises: marketing, technical support,
bookkeeping, legal advice, transport, storage, sales, administration
— the list is almost endless. These people and businesses are
experts at what they do, so use this knowledge and experience
to your own advantage. Don’t let the fear caused by your lack of
experience across a range of fields hold you back.

Fear of success
Another common fear is the fear of success. Sound strange?
Well, this is because the fear of success is often mistaken for a
fear of failure, but the two are different. Fear of failure is the fear
of things going wrong along the way; fear of success is the fear of
encountering problems caused by achieving a goal.
Perhaps the biggest of these fears is that people often worry
about whether they will be happy once their goal has been
achieved. If your aim is to start your own clothing label, thinking
about this and planning for it can make you happy, and gives you
a goal. Maybe you are dissatisfied in your current job, and enjoy
the inspiration of thinking about your business idea. But what
happens if you reach this goal, and it isn’t as good as you had
hoped? What was an exciting idea becomes a disappointing reality.
You’ve left your job, put in the time, money and effort, and you’re
still not content. This fear is a fear of success. If you are excited
and motivated by an idea, it can be safer to hold on to this rather
than risk the outcome not meeting your expectations.

Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are
afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now … it
is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘someday I’ll’ philosophy.
Denis Waitley — motivational speaker and author

19


How do you overcome this fear? The answer is very simple: get
started! You won’t know until your business is up and running
whether it will make you happy, but it most likely will. I’ve seen
people have this fear before starting, but I’ve never seen it turn
into reality. A very large majority of the entrepreneurs I meet
thoroughly enjoy what they do; running their own business is
as exciting and challenging as they hoped it would be, and the
financial rewards have met or exceeded expectations. Nobody can
give you a money-back guarantee that life will be good once your
goal is achieved, but I would consider it a very safe bet. You will
be working in a field you enjoy, meeting new people, doing new
things, and (hopefully) making more money. Who wouldn’t enjoy
that?
There are, of course, two alternatives. First, don’t start your
business. Is this likely to lead to happiness? While it might feel
safer just to dream about it, sooner or later this will lead to
disappointment and regrets. The other option is that you start it
and you don’t enjoy it. The simple solution is that you stop and
return to whatever you were doing before. If this happens, you can
at least gain satisfaction from having tried, and you won’t spend
the rest of your life thinking, ‘If only I had given that a go’.
Success also brings responsibility, which people can be afraid of.
If you are successful, you will have to run the business, look after
the finances, make big decisions, and keep everything moving.
You won’t have a manager to check things with, and when there
are problems it will be your job to sort them out.
Instead of seeing this as something to be afraid of, see it as
a challenge. If you have never done these things before, prepare
yourself. Read business books. Go to seminars. Find a business
mentor. Talk to friends who run their own businesses. Do a
short business management course. You must be ready for the
responsibility that will fall to you, and accept this as part of the
challenge, not something to be afraid of.
The fear of change can also be part of the fear of success. If your
business takes off, your lifestyle will most likely change. You might
have to work longer hours, especially at the beginning, taking you
away from your family or other interests. In the short term, you

20


might have to accept this as part of the price of what you are doing.
But, in the long term, if your business does well you should be able
to arrange it so that you are not working any longer hours than
you did before, and you might even be able to work less. Another
bonus is that you might have more ﬂexibility to work when you
want, or to work from home. (I believe it is vital to structure your
business around your personal goals, as discussed in chapter 4.)
Being an entrepreneur rarely involves more interruption to lifestyle
than a comparable position working for somebody else.

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
Walt Disney

21

Chapter 3
From imagination to …
finding your
million-dollar idea
Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.
Napoleon Hill

Key points
Your goal from day one should be to develop a profitable
business idea. Don’t just start a business in your area of
expertise without exploring the potential market.
Being an entrepreneur does not necessarily mean creating
something completely new.
Adapt an existing product or service, and put your own
personal spin on it.
Always keep your eyes open for opportunities.

Let’s have a look at how you can come up with an idea for your
business. This chapter is a ‘choose your own adventure’ style; if
you already have a business idea, only some of the information in
this chapter might be useful to you. If you just know that you want
to be an entrepreneur, but you have not yet developed an idea,
read on! You can start with what I call ‘becoming a fisherman’; that

23


is, get out there and see what the world needs. Find a problem
that needs solving. Find a hole in an existing market. Or you can
leverage somebody else’s idea — find an existing product or service
and think of a way to do it better.
Here’s a little story that I really like, and it reflects how you
should read this chapter. Over the years psychologists have
done many, many studies on the effects of positive and negative
attitudes — the difference between optimists and pessimists. One
such test they did was on a couple of five-year-old boys, named
Billy and Johnny.
Billy was a very negative little boy. It didn’t matter what was
going on for Billy, it was always bad. He was always moaning and
groaning about something. Johnny, on the other hand, was always
very positive.
Doctors decided to see if the environment would have any effect
on their attitudes. So they put the boys into two different rooms
and isolated their environments. They took Billy and put him in a
room with every conceivable toy a five year old could want. It had
trucks and toy guns and water pistols. They left him there to play
for an hour with the cool toys.
They took Johnny down the hall and put him in another room,
and told him to have fun for about an hour and that they would be
back to check up on him. Inside this room was nothing but horse
manure; however, they shut the door and left him alone.
About an hour later the psychologists came back to check on the
two little guys. When they checked on Billy they couldn’t believe
their eyes. He was sitting in the middle of the room crying his eyes
out, with toys thrown all over the place. They asked Billy what the
matter was. Billy said, ‘That toy is the wrong colour, that one didn’t
make the right sounds, that one isn’t big enough’. According to
Billy, every toy had a fault.
They left him and went down the hall to check on Johnny. When
they opened the door to his room they couldn’t believe what they
saw. Here was Johnny, in a room full of horse manure, laughing
and flinging the stuff all over the room and having a ball.
They said to Johnny, ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m having a ball like you told me to.’ said Johnny.

24

From imagination to finding your million-dollar idea

‘But you’re in a room full of manure — how can you have fun?’
Johnny replied, ‘With all this, there must be a pony in here
someplace.’
That’s how I want you to read this chapter — have fun and dig
around until you find what you need. And if you learn something
from Johnny, it will also be a great help to you in your business
venture and life — always look on the bright side. No matter what
problems you are faced with, look through the manure and find
the pony — it’s got to be there someplace!

You’ve got to look for a gap, where competitors in a market have
grown lazy and lost contact with the readers or the viewers.
Rupert Murdoch

Profitable ideas
In his book The Boron Letters, Gary Halbert writes about one of
his lessons on selling. He asks his students, ‘If you and I both
owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to sell the
most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have
on your side?’
The answers are predictable — the best meat, the best location,
the lowest prices. Gary tells his students they can have all these
advantages, but the only advantage he wants will ensure that he
whips the pants off them. What does he want? A starving crowd.

Become a fisherman
If you are looking for a new idea to start a business, ask yourself
this simple question: what product or service will give me a
starving crowd? Your aim as an entrepreneur should be to develop
a product or service that people want. Success and profits will
come much more easily if you leverage an existing demand, rather
than try to sell something that people aren’t interested in.
You must go fishing where the fish are. Develop a product for
profitability. The best way to develop a venture is to find a market
with money that has an unfilled need, then create a product or

25


service that fills that need. One of my favourite examples is also
incredibly simple — the hammer. You wouldn’t give this tool a
second thought today, but imagine what a revolution it was when
it was invented. Consider how much easier it became to join two
pieces of wood together or to hang a picture on a wall. These are
the specific uses that a hammer is designed for. Without these a
hammer is useless, and it came about because somebody asked,
‘What would be an easier way to hang a picture on a wall?’ What
can you come up with that fills a specific need?

I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it
might give others … I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.
Thomas Edison

The internet is a very powerful resource for budding entrepreneurs,
both for ideas and as a business tool. You can use the internet to
run your business from home or in your spare time, especially
when you are starting out. Using
the internet also means that you
Pete’s tip: develop a have access to a global marketplace
profitable business idea without leaving your computer. And
Too many people start a the internet is also a great way to
business simply based on an check the demand and size of your
interest or skill they have, potential marketplace. I call this
without investigating the going fishing — you are trying to
potential. You should focus find out where potential customers
on developing a profitable are biting.
business idea. If you have So how do you do this? It’s very
an area of interest, find a simple. Everybody is familiar with
particular niche in this field using internet search engines — such
that will make you stand as Google or Yahoo — to find
out. This will increase your something on the net, but you can
profitability. also use these as a tool to find out
what other people — your potential
customers — are searching for. Most search engines keep track of
the terms people use to search, and how often each term appears.
This information is freely available, and you can use it to gauge

26


the level of interest (often from all over the world) in an idea
you have.
A useful site for this is Yahoo Search Marketing
<searchmarketing.yahoo.com>. Simply use the ‘Keyword assistant’
function, which is free of charge, on this site to ﬁnd out what
people are searching for. For example, for the purpose of writing
this book I entered ‘sport memorabilia’ into the keyword tool and
received the following results:

Table 3.1: searches in June 2006
Search term Count
Sport memorabilia 1126
Collectible memorabilia sport 295
Card memorabilia sport 221
Buy memorabilia sport 54
Sport memorabilia store 32
Sport memorabilia Australia 19
Celebration memorabilia sport 13
Auction memorabilia sport 12
Box car match memorabilia sport 12
Anthony memorabilia Mundine sport 10
Wide World of Sport memorabilia 10
Autographed sport memorabilia 8
Value sport memorabilia 8
Matheson memorabilia New Phil sport Zealand 7
Australia memorabilia payment plan sport 6
Australian sport memorabilia 6
Authentic memorabilia sport 6
Yahoo! Search Marketing Keyword Assistant

27


This table lists how many times these terms have been searched
for on this site in a month. If you are thinking of starting up some
sort of memorabilia enterprise, you can instantly see that there is
a lot of interest in cards.
Are you thinking about starting a photography business? Let’s
see what happens:

Table 3.2: searches in June 2006
Search Count
Photographer 1782
Wedding photographer 1172
Become a photographer 304
Famous photographer 302
Brisbane photographer 290
Wedding photographer Gold Coast 275
Wedding photographer Sydney 268
Wedding photographer Brisbane 260
Melbourne wedding photographer 243
Yahoo! Search Marketing Keyword Assistant

Interesting! You can see that weddings might be the way to go.
Here’s a few other results from random topics I tried:
When I entered ‘dog wash’, three of the top seven entries
included the word ‘mobile’. People obviously expect to have
their puppy groomer come to them.
When I tried the word ‘mattress’ (I have no idea why), three
of the top seven entries were about care or cleaning. Maybe
you can invent a great new way to clean a mattress?
Are you a handyperson? When I entered ‘renovation’,
‘bathroom renovation’ was second on the list, and ‘kitchen
renovation’ was ﬁfth.

28


Thinking of selling fishing products and you need an area
to specialise in? ‘Fly fishing’ appeared in five of the top ten
searches that included ‘fishing’.
When I tried ‘smoking’, the second entry was ‘quit’ (with
a score of 3035), and ‘stop’ was third (with 1019). There’s
obviously a lot of people out there wanting to kick the habit.
Do you have an idea that will help them?

You can see how this simple keyword search can give you useful
information and point you in the direction of what your potential
customers are looking for. I consider these keyword tools ‘fish
finders’. It’s not a substitute for detailed market research, but it
will help to point you in the right direction when you are trying to
come up with, or refine, an idea.
Ebay also has a great feature that can help with this, called eBay
Pulse <pulse.ebay.com.au>. This will provide you with up-to-the-
minute details of what people are searching for, how much people
are bidding, what items are most ‘watched’, and what categories
are most popular. Use this as an

J
added fish finder tool.
You can use this information to Workbook:
come up with a new idea, invention
Try this keyword search
or way of doing things. Find out
with five different business
what people want, and tailor your
areas that interest you.
business around this. It’s not always a
Write down the results in
good idea to simply copy businesses
your From Imagination to
that are already out there. If you
Implementation Workbook,
do just copy the common ways of
and comment on the results.
doing things, how will you make
yourself stand out?
Another useful tool that
some search sites have is a facility that allows you to see what
current advertisers are willing to pay for a particular search term.
Advertisers have to submit bids for keywords, with a higher bid
ensuring a more prominent position on a site. If advertisers are
willing to pay a high price for a keyword, it’s usually a good sign

29


that this particular word is often used in a search, and is therefore
potentially a good market. It is usually free to access this service,
just to check the bids. (For more information on this, have a look
at chapter 13.)
You might also check out some internet chatrooms to see
what people are talking about (no, I don’t mean ‘hotdate.net.au’).
There are all sorts of chatrooms available on the net. If you are
thinking of starting an accounting business, you are sure to find
a chatroom or newsgroup where people talk about tax issues.
Log in and see what’s going on. What are people talking about?
What are people complaining about? What common problems
do they have? Do they all think the price of having a tax return
completed by a professional is unreasonable? Does poor service
seem to be a common complaint? Or errors? Keep in mind that
if you see a problem appear, say, 100 times in a newsgroup, you
can be sure that there are many more people out there with the
same problem.
The internet is a cheap (often free), easily accessible goldmine
of information. When you are developing your idea, make sure
you are going fishing where the fish are biting. Stack the odds in
your favour. This will make it much easier to get your business off
the ground, and will make you much more profitable. Don’t make
it an uphill battle. You must know there is (or will be) a market
that is big enough to keep you afloat. If you are starting a retail
business it must be in a location that has buyers. If you create a
virtual office that will operate from home or on the net you could
have a world market, but make sure there is a market need that
you are filling.
The #1 mistake most businesses make is not having a
market size that meets their earnings needs.
Mark Victor Hansen

Success with new ideas
Let’s see how some people have become successful through their
new idea.
Henry Ford was the first person to build factories based around

30


assembly lines, with conveyor belts to move materials. Because of
the highly efficient production techniques, in 1916 Ford made
over 700 000 Model Ts, which was twice the output of all their
competitors combined. This allowed Ford to sell cars much more
cheaply than their competitors, and the price of a new Model
T actually decreased over the years. Today Ford is a leading
international car maker, and the techniques created by Henry Ford
are still being used.
Bette Nesmith Graham invented liquid paper (originally called
Mistake Out) in 1951. She was a secretary who had an interest
in art, and she thought that if artists could paint over their
mistakes, why couldn’t typists? She found some paint that was the
same colour as the stationery she used, and mixed it with some
water. She put this in a bottle, and used a watercolour brush to
paint over her mistakes. Soon the invention spread around the
office, and — realising the potential — Graham started a part-
time business from home selling Mistake Out. She later changed
the name to Liquid Paper, and began working in the business
full-time. Today liquid paper can be bought all over the world.
There are thousands — maybe even millions — of stories like
these. Will people be talking about your great invention one day?
Use the fish-finding techniques to find out what people want or
need, and come up with an idea or invention that will fill that gap.
Just creating something new will not guarantee success, you must
create something new that people need and will pay money for.

Building on other people’s ideas
Starting a business does not necessarily mean creating a new
technology, coming up with something radical that has never been
done before or inventing a new product or service from scratch.
This is a common misconception. Many would-be entrepreneurs
spend years trying to come up with an earth-shattering idea,
when there are opportunities all around them, every day. Many
of the most successful business people all over the world have
simply adapted an existing idea, implemented an existing product
or service in their own way, or improved on somebody else’s

31


creation.
Here’s a few of the most successful businesspeople and
entrepreneurs of our time, from Australia and around the world:
Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Janine Allis, Ben Cohen and Jerry
Greenﬁeld, Donald Trump, Anita Roddick, Sam Walton, Rupert
Murdoch, John Ilhan and Ray Kroc. All of these people started
multi-million-dollar businesses and have become icons in their
industries. How many of them invented a new idea, or created a
new product? None — not a single one of them. We’ll have a look
at some of these people later in this chapter, though I’m sure you
recognise at least some of the names. And there are thousands
more people who have built their success based on other people’s
ideas.

Good ideas are common — what’s uncommon are people
who’ll work hard enough to bring them about.
Ashleigh Brilliant — English author

As you’ve already seen, my idea for selling the ’G was based on
Paul Hartunian’s idea of selling the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn’t my
concept to begin with, but as soon
as I read about it I thought, ‘How
Pete’s tip: ideas are can I do that in Australia?’ It just
commodities took a bit of searching to ﬁnd the
Ideas are commodities; right opportunity. I made the idea
it’s the execution and my own by applying it to the MCG
implementation that makes and doing it my own way.
the true difference in life and Let’s have a look at some people
business. who have been very successful using
this approach, and then see how you
can put it to use.

Success without re-inventing the wheel
Perhaps one of the greatest examples of leveraging an existing idea
is that of Bill Gates and Microsoft. Gates has become one of the
richest people in the world (his personal fortune is measured in
the billions) based on somebody else’s idea. That’s right, the product

32


that started it all for Bill — called DOS, which stands for disk
operating system — was not Bill’s invention.
In 1980, IBM was building the first commercially viable personal
computer, and they needed an operating system to run it. They
approached Microsoft, who agreed to supply the software — the
design for which they bought from Seattle Computer Products for
around $50 000. There were several different computer companies
and operating systems in the early days, but Microsoft and IBM went
on to dominate the industry worldwide, thanks in a large part to
DOS, which was the best operating system at the time. Years later,
Bill gates borrowed another idea from Apple computers. Microsoft
launched a new operating system called Windows, which used
an icon-based system and a mouse instead of text commands to
run a computer. Apple had been doing this for years, but it was a
revolution for Microsoft users.
Coca-Cola started in the same way. Coke was invented by Dr
John Pemberton in Atlanta in 1886. He made efforts to promote
the drink, but it did not take off. During the first year, he sold
an average of just nine drinks per day. He later sold the rights to
the drink to businessman Asa Candler. By 1892, Candler’s flair
for marketing had boosted sales nearly tenfold. Today Coca-Cola
operates in over 200 countries and has nearly 400 brands.
While travelling, Janine Allis recognised that Australia suffered
from a lack of healthy fast-food alternatives. She often had trouble
finding something healthy to eat or drink when she was in a hurry.
She thought the American juice bar trend could be brought to
Australia. When she came home, she developed a business plan
and raised $250 000 through friends who were willing to invest
in her idea. She consulted nutritionists and naturopaths to come
up with natural, healthy juice recipes. In 2000, the first Boost
Juice Bar opened in Adelaide and since then over 170 stores have
opened throughout Australia and New Zealand. Janine found a
great idea overseas, and successfully implemented it in Australia.
Richard Branson has never invented anything in his business
career. He has run a record label and an airline, opened music stores,
released a brand of cola, and now offers financial services, among
other ventures. None of these are new ideas. So why has he been so

33


successful? Perhaps more than any other businessperson, Branson
demonstrates what can be done with a bit of imagination, a lot of
marketing and putting your own personality into your business.
His company name — Virgin — attracts attention instantly and he
is a shameless promoter, using sometimes outrageous publicity
stunts to attract attention to his brand. He appeared in a wedding
dress to open his bridal store, and he drove a tank down Fifth
Avenue in New York to introduce Virgin Cola in America. Across
all his products, the thing he is selling most is his brand, Virgin.
He also likes to move into areas where he believes the existing
companies are providing poor service, and give the industry
a shake-up. This is one of the reasons he started his airline and
mobile phone businesses.

I want Virgin to be as well known around the world as Coca-Cola.
Richard Branson

Australian John Ilhan has made his fortune selling mobile phones.
There’s nothing new about mobiles, but there was something
new about the way John went about it. The name Crazy John’s
came about through John’s crazy marketing ideas, which included
being the ﬁrst to sell a mobile phone for $1 and holding midnight
barbecues for customers, while his competitors were still charging
$200 for phones. By applying his own personality to selling a
common product in an extremely competitive market, John has
expanded from a single store in 1991 to over 100 stores today.
Jim Penman started Jim’s Mowing in 1982 with a second-hand
lawn mower and a trailer. Today he has over 2300 franchisees
in three countries, and Jim’s is one of the largest home-service
franchises in the world. He didn’t create a new business
idea, he just improved on an existing one, with his focus on
customer service.
In 1948, brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their
hamburger restaurant in San Bernardino, California. Its success
was based on its limited menu and rapid service. But are the
McDonald brothers responsible for McDonald’s dominating the
fast food market around the world? No, that honour goes to Ray

34


Kroc, who sold milkshake mixers. Ray heard about the McDonald’s
hamburger store, and how it ran eight milkshake mixers at a time.
He jumped in his car and went to investigate. When he arrived, the
store was doing a roaring trade, and Ray had never seen customers
served so quickly. He immediately saw the potential of the store’s
unique methods, and suggested to the brothers that they should
open up more restaurants. When they asked him who could do
that for them, he replied, ‘What about me?’
Ray opened the second McDonald’s restaurant in Illinois in
1955. There are now more than 30 000 McDonald’s restaurants in
119 countries around the world — all thanks to Ray! McDonald’s
later added another innovation to the fast food world — the drive
thru. This was an idea that had first been used by banks throughout
the USA, with ‘drive thru’ access to tellers.
Here’s another successful adaptation of an existing idea. FedEx
is the largest express courier company in the world. It didn’t
invent postage or courier services, but it changed the way it was
done. On its website, FedEx notes the following ‘firsts’ that it
has achieved. They were the first courier company dedicated to
overnight delivery and delivery by 10.30am the following day.
They introduced Saturday deliveries and time-definite services,
and were also the first to provide money-back guarantees and free
proof of performance.
Frederick Smith, the founder of FedEx, didn’t invent a new
product or service, he just found a better way to provide an
existing service. The company began operating in 1973, with the
launch of 14 small aircraft from Memphis International Airport.
On its first night, Federal Express delivered 186 packages to 25
American cities. FedEx has grown into a worldwide, $29-billion
network of companies, offering transportation, e-commerce and
business services. (The story around the campfire is that Frederick
Smith wrote an essay based on the FedEx business model while at
university — and was given an F!)
Dell Computers is the largest personal computer manufacturer
in the world. But Michael Dell certainly did not invent the PC, he
just came up with a better way to sell it. Dell started out working in
his college dorm room, with just $1000 and the idea of providing

35


affordable computers to college students. His business is now
based on direct sales — there’s no retailer between the company
and its customers, allowing Dell to keep its costs down. Today Dell
has annual revenue of over US$40 billion.
Some of the largest and most
successful companies in the world
Pete’s tip: make it you were started either by buying
Think about it — everyone somebody else’s idea or simply
has had the same million creating a better way of doing
dollar idea as someone else. something. There is nothing wrong
The one who banks that with this — it is a common approach
million dollars is the one who to business, and as you can see
implements and executes. from these examples, it can be an
extremely proﬁtable one.
It is my strong belief that ideas are commodities. A car is a
commodity, a microwave oven is a commodity, a mobile phone is a
commodity and an idea is a commodity. It is there to be developed
and used, and it can be bought and sold. If you see an idea that is
not being used to its full potential that you think you can do better
with, or an idea that may already be successful but you can adapt
for your own purposes, then do it! You don’t have to re-invent
the wheel.
Don’t take it to the extreme of course; you can’t simply copy
somebody else’s idea. What I’m talking about is adapting or
leveraging an existing good idea and making it your own. You can’t
open a juice bar and call it Boooost but you can look at how Boost
was started and apply it to, say, opening a bakery. You can’t open
a mobile phone store and call it Crazy Jan’s, but you could study
what John Ilhan has done and, for example, apply these ideas to an
online mobile phone store, or to a different product all together.

Adapting an idea
As we saw with John Ilhan and Richard Branson, injecting your
own personality and methods into a business can be a great road
to success. If you have strong marketing skills, these can be useful
in any business. But you might also have a particular skill that can
be applied to a certain product or service. You might, for example,

36


have a secret recipe for spectacular pizzas. Pizza delivery places
are everywhere, but maybe your recipe will give you an edge. Or
maybe you are a mechanic with an interest in a certain type of
classic car. Perhaps you could start a mobile business based on
this, specialising in cars that your typical mobile mechanic would
not be able to handle.
Adapt and modify things that are already out there. What
special skills or talents do you possess? Can you cut hair a better
way? Service a car a better way? Paint a house a better way? There
are always different and better ways to do things, no matter what
it is. If existing businesses had every corner of the market covered,
there would not be room for people like Richard Branson, Janine
Allis, John Ilhan and Michael Dell to make their fortunes. They saw
a hole in the market and they moved to fill it, either by adapting a
product or selling an existing product or service in a better way.

A fax machine is nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached.
Grampa Simpson

Buying an idea
You might find an opportunity if you see somebody else trying to
run a business or sell a product or service but not doing a very
good job of it. Just look at what happened with Coca-Cola and
Microsoft. Does your next-door neighbour have a great idea for
an internet-based business, but she doesn’t seem to be doing
anything about it? Or maybe one of your colleagues has an idea
for a mail order cosmetics business, but doesn’t have the skills to
put it in place. Perhaps the nursery down the road is really good
but its marketing isn’t. People have good business ideas every day
but don’t do anything with them, or implement them poorly. This
doesn’t make the idea bad, just the execution.
Just like anything else, ideas can be bought and sold. Always
keep an eye out for potential opportunities. You never know where
you might find a great idea. If you come across a product or service
that has unfulfilled potential, see if you can get onboard, or take
it over.

37


For more on constructing joint ventures, be sure to check out
chapter 16.

A long, long time ago …
Okay, so it’s not really business related, but I had to include the
example of Star Wars. George Lucas’s groundbreaking movie was
inspired by a Japanese film called The Hidden Fortress, which is a
story about a princess fleeing through enemy territory, escorted
by a brave warrior and two squabbling friends. The similarities to
Star Wars are obvious; a central part of the film is the rescue of the
princess from the evil empire, and the hero is accompanied by two
bickering robots, C-3P0 and R2-D2.

Still no idea?
If you are really stuck for an idea, have a look at network marketing
(also known as multi-level marketing). Network marketing is
when you are given products to sell for a company and receive
payment for this, and you also attract other people to the business.
When these people sign up and start selling the products as well,
you also receive a payment for the sales they make, on top of
your own sales. You can see where the term ‘network marketing’
comes from.
This type of business gives you the opportunity to leverage off
someone else’s model and still create your own business or second
income, often part-time. Using an existing business idea that has
already been tested and has proved successful is a great way to get
started and learn sales, business and marketing skills. It’s a great
stepping stone to your own venture.
The biggest advantage of network marketing is obvious: you
will receive an income from the work of others without having to
hire them as employees. Other advantages of network marketing are:
You can start in your spare time, and build it to a full-time
job if you wish.

38


It usually doesn’t require a large amount of capital to get
started.
You can work from home, and control the hours you work.
You have the marketing support of the network marketing
company you are working with.
Probably the most well-known network marketing company is
Amway. Others are Nutrimetics, Avon and Goji juice, and there are

J
many more out there. If this interests
you, type ‘network marketing’ into a
search engine and see what comes Workbook:
up, and then contact the companies If you are interested in
for more information. network marketing or
Another way to leverage an franchising, perform an
existing business is to buy a franchise. internet search and ﬁnd three
This can involve signiﬁcant capital different companies that
outlay, but you will be buying a interest you. Write down the
tested business model and the strengths and weaknesses of
support of the company you buy each in the appropriate place
the franchise from while still owning in your From Imagination to
your own business. There are many Implementation Workbook,
different types of businesses that can and then pick the one you
be bought as franchises, including think is best for you. Explain
fast food outlets, shoe stores, your reasoning.
bookstores, lawn mowing services
and car washing services.

Most successful entrepreneurs get their ideas for their businesses by studying niche markets
and then developing a product or service that meets their needs or solves common problems.
Corey Rudl — author of The Insider Secrets to Marketing your Business on the Internet

39

How To Turn Your Million Dollar Idea Into A Reality Part 1

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