Members of the Apathetic Majority can redeem themselves, and qualify to assume coveted Grumpy Arsehole Convert Status, by lighting a Grumpy Gripes fire under the idle bums of their local MPs.
NOW
PETER STOKES – AND THE ALTERNATIVE CAREER
I’m a One-Man Venture Capitalist. It’s the best job in the world.
I’m financially independent and free to do what I want to do when I want to do it. I used to think of it as an Alternative Career. It isn’t. It’s an Alternative Life. It could, surprisingly, be yours.
What I’ve been doing these past thirty years is loaning modest sums of money (mostly less than £20,000) to people who want to start their own small B2B company. I also offer them crucial advice and information that will help guarantee the success of each new venture. In return for the money and the advice I get to own fifty percent of the equity of each company from which I either make a capital gain from the sale of my shares or receive handsome dividends for ever and ever.
You’ll be able to do the same – but only after having attended a Seminar or read and digested the ever-so-secret details of the Formula revealed in my Seminar Papers.
It’s relatively easy. All you have to do is identify the right people who want to start the right sort of business, lend them a modest amount of money, offer the right advice, light the touch paper and stand back. Initially, you might not even have to give up your day job. You can opt to do a little or a lot to protect your investment. Either way, the Formula explains it all.
What I’ve done or, more precisely, the manner in which it’s been done, is unique. Some of the more significant policies/strategies upon which the Formula is based are simple and obvious and yet, to my knowledge, aren’t practiced within the UK business community. They could enable you to achieve something you probably haven’t even dreamt about – financial independence, freedom of choice and peace of mind. The good news is that people with very little money can now acquire these treasures.
INVESTMENT TRACK RECORD – I started out with £70 and subsequently made personal loans totalling £2.72 million to eighty two companies over a thirty year period of which:-
£933,000 has been loaned to thirty-nine new joint ventures that didn’t meet the Formula requirements. Fourteen failed. (£525,000 of those loans have not been repaid).
£1,543,000 has been loaned to eleven companies which had already been trading for several years before the loans were made and weren’t able to meet the Formula requirements. Nine promptly failed. (£1,161,000 of those loans remain unpaid). See LOSING MONEY.
£248,000 has been loaned to thirty-two new joint ventures which met the Formula requirements. All succeeded. Most made excess profits. All loans have been repaid in full.
SO, WHO DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FORMULA?
THE ONE-MAN VENTURE CAPITALIST starts with a clean slate. He decides what he wants to do, where he wants to do it, the nature of the ventures in which he wants to participate and the sort of people who are going to run and staff them. He can burn the midnight oil and aim to rule the world or pace himself over a lifetime and enjoy both the process and the lifestyle. He can pull a Partner from the front, push from behind or just leave him or her to get on with it. Either way, the OMVC doesn’t personally become embroiled in the everyday problems of running any company in which he owns equity – he just defines the ground rules by which others run them.
THE SEMINAR PAPERS – The Papers started life as a few pages of support material for the Seminar. Then I decided to flesh out this material by including the full details of my ever-so-secret Formula and market the Papers as a publication in their own right. Readers who already possess a good grasp of business/management might, after having read the Seminar Papers, be able to commence practicing the art of the OMVC – without first having to attend a Seminar.
GUARANTEED SUCCESS – Would-be One-Man Venture Capitalists should know that the success of a new joint venture can be guaranteed. Anyone who believes to the contrary is likely to think that it’s OK to go for launch knowing (and accepting) that the business plan contains elements of risk. Big mistake. New companies fail, mostly, because they don’t have enough of the right sort of work, the shareholders/directors make too many mistakes in the early stages and/or the money runs out before they can do anything about either. All of which can be avoided. I’ll concede, if challenged, that ‘guaranteed success’ isn’t something one should be shouting about too loudly when discussing the launch of a new business venture but, having created a Formula which, when complied with, boasts a one hundred percent success rate, it would seem to be unnecessarily modest (churlish even) not to suggest that the success of a new venture can be guaranteed.
THE FORMULA – The Formula is unique. It isn’t one of your get-rich-quick Formulas for lightweights who think that making a fortune is all about pulling the occasional smart-arse entrepreneurial stroke out of the bag. It’s a get-rich-quick Formula for solid road-going people with an eye for detail who know that success in business is all about keeping two or three steps ahead of the competition and properly dealing, every day, with all those horrible little details which require attention. Of course it doesn’t lend itself to every new business proposal presented – just those which already look to be a good fit with the Formula or can easily be adapted to it.
GETTING STARTED – Contrary to what most will think, non-exceptional people with little or no money can successfully start to practice the art of the OMVC. See GETTING STARTED. By chance the concept now lends itself, compliments of the Formula, to being exploited more by good managers than by entrepreneurs.
THE FIVE-MAN COMPANY – Most of the new ventures in which I participate end up employing no more than five staff. This is due to my own preferences, limitations and the fact that each of these companies are capable of making excess profit. More talented, ambitious, avaricious readers/delegates than myself will of course want to expand their five-man companies.
BUSINESS CIRCLES – The Business Circles strategy was originally created to raise the game of field salesmen. It enables them to make lots of business presentations a day to senior executives – every day. In practice it’s a procedure most salesman will find too harsh to sustain but is ideal for ambitious executives seeking the fast track to fame and fortune who think “lunch is for wimps.” Having been exposed to the concept Edward de Bono writes, “All good ideas must create value. It is even better if they create value for all the parties concerned. The ‘Business Circles’ idea as conceived by Peter Stokes is an excellent example of the simplifying effect of lateral thinking in creating value all round.”
EXCESS PROFIT – When referring to ‘excess profit’ I mean a volume of profit which far exceeds what people in business would normally expect to make. Some would-be OMVC’s or their Partners might not feel totally relaxed about some of the policies/strategies contained within the Formula which focus on the making of excess profits (as opposed to lots of profit). No problem. They can opt for more palatable alternatives to those suggested. Of course, they’ll make less profit.
THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS – Although much of what has been written here will apply equally to all new ventures, it applies primarily to new ventures which anticipate selling a service or product to the business community.
OPPORTUNITY IS KING – Thirty production people have left my core companies to start their own individual companies. All thirty succeeded. The explanation for this phenomenon will be a major revelation to those who constantly complain about the difficulties of recruiting and motivating good staff. See THE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO STARTING A BUSINESS.
HONOUR AND INTEGRITY – Anyone at the sharp end who expects the best from people rather than anticipating and planning for the worst, is setting themselves up to be sadly disappointed. Having observed totally honest, honourable people, lie, cheat and steal when their backs are against the wall and Mr Average, given the right opportunity, do the same long before his or her back gets anywhere near a wall, there lurks within me what I consider to be a healthy distrust of people outside of a social environment. This embraces everyone – clients, staff, partners and suppliers, whether they be strangers, acquaintances, close friends or family. I draw readers/delegates attention to this fact lest you incorrectly conclude from the following pages, as well you might, that business or life has soured me more than most. The reverse is true. Business and life has revealed to me that everyone among us, including your genuine hooligan, is capable of acts of kindness and generosity that will bring tears to the eyes of old ladies. I just don’t think it wise for the would-be OMVC to embark upon this particular career believing that everyone (or anyone) is permanently imbued with such fine qualities.
BIG COMPANY DOCTRINE – Although much excellent material already exists covering every conceivable business discipline, most of it has been prepared by academics or big business people bent on preaching what they consider to be best big business practice. Few are tuned in to the new-frontiersman type mentality and needs of those contemplating carving out a living at the less civilised end of the business spectrum. Would-be OMVC’s should therefore consider treating this material with caution lest they become tainted by big company dogma and best practice procedures and slavishly commit themselves to a set of ground rules which inhibit rather than help coax fledgling companies into life. Big business has made certain assumptions, mostly correct, about the majority of people who work for them. Some of those assumptions don’t apply to the people who are going to work with or for the OMVC.
THE MASTER PLAN - The OMVC should have a Master Plan. Mine is to rule the world. All one has to do is create a Business Circle in a major city (see BUSINESS CIRCLES), launch fifty-two non-competing B2B joint ventures in that city and subsequently repeat the process in every major city worldwide. Sloth, my wife tells me, has thwarted my own personal plans for world domination but more energetic and ambitious readers/delegates will experience little difficulty in succeeding where I have failed. Even those who fail will find, as I have found, that the very existence of a Master Plan within which a real potential for exotic expansion is possible, will make what they are doing feel even more adventurous and meaningful.
FREEDOM – Real freedom is about being able to do whatever one wants to do, whenever one wants to do it, without compromising or upsetting anything or anybody. Of course, all things being equal, the OMVC who seriously treasures his freedom is likely to make less money than those obsessed with making money. Fact is, true freedom will only be enjoyed by the financially independent OMVC capable of schooling himself, with little or no regret, to settle for acquiring less money than he knows he’s capable of making.
FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE – Means not having to work for a living, unless one chooses to do so. It requires ownership of more than enough money/assets to cover the cost of being truly free – without having to count the cost. It requires a continuing revenue stream up to, throughout and beyond retirement that will comfortably guarantee continuity of one’s chosen lifestyle.
PEACE OF MIND – Peace of mind, arguably the single most important objective to which anyone can aspire is, like good health, more noticeable by its absence than its presence. I wouldn’t, of course, presume to advise anyone about how they should go about achieving what they consider to be their own personal nirvana but I have to say that being financially independent and free is one hell of a good position to be occupying when contemplating the subject.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS – Some of my own views/actions aren’t going to go down too well with the Politically Correct. Bollocks to the Politically Correct.
POTENTIAL – The Formula wasn’t available to me when I started trading as an OMVC and I chose not to abide by some of its terms in later years. I don’t possess an overpowering desire for money, power or status, don’t employ a Right Hand Man, have seldom spent more than a couple of days a week practicing the art of the OMVC and have always been reactive rather than proactive about launching new ventures. Even so, I’ve launched an average of three new ventures a year throughout the period in which I’ve been reasonably active. Eleven was the maximum launched in any one year and the total number of companies trading at any one time would have been about thirty. With the Formula already to hand one might reasonably expect more ambitious readers/delegates to achieve far more than I.
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THE ONE-DAY SEMINAR
A maximum of six delegates are invited to each seminar. This allows each seminar to be tweaked to accommodate the many and varied talents/aspirations of individual delegates. Some of the day will be given over to fleshing out a few of the more interesting subjects contained within the Seminar Papers, some to fielding questions from delegates and some to identifying and addressing specific interests/requirements of delegates, most of whom will want to know more about: -
GUARANTEEING THE SUCCESS OF A NEW JOINT VENTURE
GETTING STARTED WITH LITTLE OR NO MONEY
THE TWO-STAGE LAUNCH
NOT NECESSARILY GIVING UP THEIR DAY JOBS
MAKING EXCESS PROFIT – EXTRA FAST
BUSINESS CIRCLES
BUILDING AN EMPIRE AND RULING THE WORLD
HOW TO AVOID BEING CHEATED BY PARTNERS
FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE, FREEDOM OF CHOICE AND PEACE OF MIND
CONVINCING THEMSELVES OR THEIR OWN DIRECTORS/SHAREHOLDERS TO DIVERSIFY
THE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO STARTING A BUSINESS
THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE AND WHETHER THEY POSSESS THEM OR CAN ACQUIRE THEM
SECURING THEIR OWN FUTURE
OVERCOMING THEIR OWN RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
The Venue
Seminars are scheduled for the first Saturday of each month. They start at 09.00 and finish at 17.00. Lunch and refreshments will be served.
SEMINARS COST £3,000 PER DELEGATE PLUS VAT
THE SEMINAR PAPERS – This one hundred page A4 publication reveals the full details of my ever-so-secret Formula. So much so those already familiar with running a business, or who already possess a good grasp of what business is all about might, after having read it, be tempted to commence practising the art of the OMVC without first attending a Seminar.
A COPY OF THE SEMINAR PAPERS WILL COST £85 – AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON
SEMINAR PAPERS – TESTIMONIALS
CHARLES ORTON-JONES, editor of Eurobusiness Magazine says, ‘For enthusiastic MBA grads who have bookmarked firsttuesday.com, this book will be like a bucket of cold water down the trousers.’
MICHAEL BRASH, Editor of Pathfinder says, ‘Having read the Alternative Career I strongly believe that every ambitious business graduate and business executive should make a point of reading it too: it really could revolutionise the way they live.’
PETER WHITE, founder of ComputerWire says, ‘Totally original high value content. I particularly liked the style. Could achieve cult read status.’
Of Business Circles, one element of the Formula, EDWARD DE BONO writes, ‘All good ideas must create value. It is even better if they create value for all the parties concerned. The ‘Business Circles’ idea as conceived by Peter Stokes is an excellent example of the simplifying effect of lateral thinking in creating value all round.’
ANDREW MCBARNETT FCMA, Business Consultant and private equity investor says, ‘‘To date, this publication remains one of the most comprehensive and invaluable sources of information I have come across in this sector of business.’