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The perfect business

Whether you are looking to start a business, buy one or just investing, it's worth trying to match as closely as possible Richard Russell's famous list of requirements for 'The Ideal Business'.

The more of these 12 points you can match up, the greater your chance of success. By way of summary, the ideal business should:

1, Sell globally, not just locally
2. Sell a product that people need, almost regardless of price
3. Sell a product which cannot easily be duplicated
4. Has minimal labour requirements
5. Has a low overhead
6. Does not require major capital investment
7. Gets paid on delivery, not on long term credit
8. Is free as possible from government regulations
9 Is easily re locatable
10.Satisfies you personally, making work fun
11.Gives you free time - no 20 hour/7 day work weeks
12.Is not limited by your time - as is a doctor's work

Further, full details of this brief summary can be found on www.dowtheoryletters.com, which includes other interesting articles and is well worth visiting in its own right.

Incidentally, we did some research to find a business that answers all of these criteria and came up with WD40, the lubricant business.

Please note all tips are carefully researched for accuracy at the time of publication, but may become dated with the passage of time.

Tips, in particular those in our archives, should therefore always be rechecked before being used.