Business Coach

The ten year business plan

2012-02-03T09:30:00.000Z

Why do I need a ten year business plan? I'm happy with only a one or three year plan?Lets deal with the business myopia straight away a ten year business plan helps real business owners to have some idea of what they want to do and where they want to go.If you have a mortgage or pension plan then you personally can think further than three years... Funding a 25 year mortgage or pension off the back of a three year plan either suggests that you have one hell of great three year plan or you just haven't bothered to take on the enormity of the undertaking.Let's look at the current financial instability and uncertainty globally today if you started your business in 2009 then you can't have much joy in your business plan as it is probably a one way decent into oblivion. Much of your well thought our strategy has been blown away and there was nothing you could of done to change that - it was out of your hands.On the other hand if you had a ten or even fifteen year plan then you have had a hiccup in the business whilst still in start up mode. Happens to everyone. You thought about the future in your pension plans or marriage plans or even your mortgage plans so why not in your business plans. It's difficult so you need help and advice to get you there. SO what are you waiting for..?

The Million Pound Front Bench where did it come from

2012-02-02T13:00:00.000Z

Lets take a look at the new programme I have just launched its called creating unfair advantage is works on the principle that who you know is far more powerful than what you know.We all work really hard at gaining the right reputation and the right qualifications to try to impress. Impress who and why I ask. If it is to impress your mother then you don't necessarily need qualifications you just need to have respect and care about your family. I have been told in the past that referrals come from people who know you, trust you and care about you but then do you know I have never got a piece of business from my Mother so either she doesn't fit into the trusting caring or knowing categories or that statement is clearly wrong. Don't worry if you haven't got business from your nearest and dearest its not because they don't love you it's because they just don't get it.What do you want from a relationship (family aside)? We know that no one works for money alone on a list of one to ten most people put monetary gain at about three or four with the odd delusional putting it at one. Number one is peer group recognition - you want your co-workers and people you do business with or for to think that you are great at what you do and really fun to be around and someone they would recommend to anyone that's listening.Unfair Advantage is the ability to manipulate and leverage this relationship to the benefit of both parties the good old win/win relationship sometimes unbalanced but similar to winnish/winnish generally.Look at the UK top table in politics and business - same or similar schools (educational standards are totally unimportant here) same language same skiing holidays same summers on the same yachts. Time to leverage and build relationships then.Business can be the same you just need to work at it and I can show you how.

Emotional Stuff

2012-01-25T13:10:00.001Z

Now I consider myself as a pretty unemotional sort of level headed person. But after reading Emotionomics I realise that I am just another emotional slob subject to the same influences as a six year old schoolgirl. Got to think about this in depth before I go over to my mates for a weepy film and a sleep over!!!

Getting things done?

2012-01-16T10:06:00.002Z

More of a question than a statement are you getting things done or not, in itself it's a simple enough question but then there could be a whole load of different answers.
It's a bit like multi-tasking, something that us men are supposed to be useless at, but then what exactly is multi-tasking? could it be a lack of ability when it comes to concentrating fully on what needs to be done or just not being able to identify what it is that is urgent. If so then everything becomes urgent all at the same time and we all know that this idea is just silly, unless you are incredibly badly organised, in which case the whole concept of multi-tasking is thrown into disarray. Careful planning and an understanding of the situation should mean that you don't actually need to do everything at once. Lets break it down if you need to multi-task it could be that you are in a complete mess. There is no substitute for focus and concentration in today's world; this skill is becoming increasingly hard to find. Then again if it is such a great personal commodity why is it that only one gender claims to have monopoly on having the skills to carry it out.
I've given this some thought (as well as doing something else at the same time) and it is my considered opinion that multi-tasking is the ability to do lots of different things badly as opposed to doing one thing really well. Would you want a Brain Surgeon that could do great stuff with rump steak or would you prefer he concentrate on the job in hand...

2012 and all that stuff

2012-01-04T16:43:00.001Z

I occurs to me that in this year of the Olympics we could learn a thing or two from these highly toned and tuned athletes.
I am sure we all know that really all sportspeople do is turn up twenty minutes before their event and perform to international standards more out of luck than judgement.
Then it's home for tea and to put the medal up on eBay to make a few bob...
Now seriously we know that would be stupid as a concept, what would happen if their bus was late, they would lose out one the chance to be famous and respected by their peers!
Now let's consider this again especially in light of what we now know about some of the antics of the eastern block countries and how serious they took sporting achievements of their Olympic teams. Some of their competitors started at birth and were given little option but to join in the state sponsored fitness programmes, no fattys in front of telly, Xbox or wii here then.
Admittedly the powers that be planned winning at all costs from birth. So planning to succeed took more than a three year plan then?
On that note the Architect of my local cathedral in Salisbury knew from the outset that this was going to be a hundred year project and one it was impossible he was going to personally see more than a snippet of the construction finished. He planned for three or four generations of his family to stay in the same profession as did all the stonemasons and carpenters or the job just wouldn't get done.
So these two high performance examples of achievement took slightly longer than a series of X factor or big brother to plan execute and deliver to the world. Which of these is likely to still be remembered in say 50 years (Olympic champions) or 500 years (cathedral)?
So when you write your business plan think a bit further than this one recession. Most people will experience 4-5 recessions in their lifetimes if your business plan is 10 or more years long the effect will be just a small blip if your business plane is 3 years then regardless of the reality of the situation you're much more likely to throw in the towel. You can only lose it all if you give up now.

Keep warm by being active how to prune effectively.

2011-11-07T11:17:00.003Z

Take a look out of the window.
Stark isn’t it; nothing growing, everything hunkering down and waiting for a downturn in temperature. You have two options to wrap up warm and sit by the fire or get active, get the blood running and keep really warm. I know which option I prefer so let’s get busy on the business for the coming spring – if the Arabs can have one so can we... it's just a turning point when things can only get better.
Pruning is a great way to ensure healthy growth.(Heads of Government may disagree)
It's always tough to decide which branches to trim right back to the earth to ensure their success in the next season. But in business we need to be just as tough there are clients who suck the very life out of you and your business – we all know who they are and have put up with them.
Some behave like spoilt children, demanding and complaining and even tantrums and blaming others. Unfortunately, they are using up resources that could be better used elsewhere.
This is known as "Lost Opportunity Costs" and raises the question every time we engage with these people “whatever else am I missing out on while I am being sucked dry by these clients” if the answer is “loads” then you know what to do if the answer is more worryingly “I don’t know” then you need some help identifying opportunities. I am not saying the pruning process is because they are bad people or run bad businesses it's just that it is a toxic relationship and to ensure that you both survive it is time to cut free.

If we keep in mind that we need to culture unfair advantage in everything we do then a great clearout will ensure that you maintain your unfair advantage by only keeping those who have good balanced relationships with your company.

Pruning Season

2011-10-21T19:02:00.001+01:00

It's the season where, as all good gardeners know, you need to get rid of the dead wood so that next years growth will be better and stronger.
In business it's no different:
Take a good look at your client base and ask yourself which 20% are using up 80% of your resources and delivering so little to your bottom line?
Don't get me wrong, this has nothing to do with whether or not they are really nice people or they add to you turnover figures - its just that they are abusing the relationship and that is not very healthy.
You need to take this time to either get them back on track or dump them over the side.
If you need to know how this can be done wait until the next installment...

Where do we want to be?

2011-10-13T13:47:00.002+01:00

We have all heard the basic stuff about planning there are so many from quotes from Alice in Wonderland meeting the Chesire Cat through to the quippy "you don't plan to fail you fail to plan" the problem with them all is that they are all correct!
So let's start with the end.
You have, with a bit of luck, 10 - 20 years of self-employment and you have decide, not right now but eventually, if you want a larger company with employees or a smaller one that outsourced every non core element. It's quite important to know where your risk profile sits and by this I mean at what point do you seriously lose sleep and eventually your sanity? To work this out we need to have dream not a fixed in one point dream but a flexible creative point which allows you to feel what success can be.

Travelling to Belgrade

2011-10-12T14:28:00.001+01:00

Surrounded by slightly dubious opportunities to rid myself of my hard earned is always going to be a nightmare for me as I know I have a very low ability to avoid the emotional purchase.
Sitting in Terminal 4 shopping centre waiting to leave is a bit of a temptation too far.
I very nearly tried to talk myself into boondoggling my cash into Dixons for electrical goods and the duty free for booze and perfumes.
Sense has returned and I have kept the seal on my wallet intact.
I am flying off to Belgrade and was informed Monday that my flight two days later was going to be delayed and by how many hours - now that is some foresight an airline called JAT can tell me the future when others can't even get the weather right. Now is this a Balkan type of insight given Vlad the impaler's special skills is impressive. Let's hope the pilot knows where we are going as well as that would be a bonus.

New Enterprise Allowance - use it or lose it the new deal-ish

2011-10-11T11:56:00.000+01:00

A new scheme to encourage self-employmant is arriving in Jobcentres across the country on the 1st of August 2011. With little more than a week to go it’s not yet clear whether all Jobcentres will be ready. But, after earlier pilots and trials, the New Enterprise Allowance is scheduled to go live across the UK from the start of next month – making it available to qualifying unemployed job seekers.

Jobcentre Plus is in charge of the scheme because it is only open to people who have been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) for more than six months. NEA gives people who have been unemployed financial support for their early months of self-employment, access to a start-up loan, and advice and guidance from an expert business mentor.

That at least is the theory. But if you look in detail at what’s on offer it is hard to see much incentive to come off benefit and embark on the scheme – even if you are intent on starting a business.

What you get:

The NEA weekly allowance, worth £65 for the first 13 weeks, then payable for a further 13 weeks at £33. You can also get a start-up loan of £1,000 to help with start up costs, but this of course has to be paid back. Depending on your household circumstances, which takes into account the income of anyone you live with, you might also be able to open a claim with HMRC for working tax credit.

What you lose:

Jobseekers Allowance. You must close your claim to JSA in order to get the New Enterprise Allowance weekly payments and loan. Jobseekers Allowance is currently worth £67.50 per week, or £105.95 for a couple. This goes on indefinitely as long as you are available for work and comply with some other conditions. In fact these conditions permit you to work up to 16 hours a week on a business and keep your JSA claim open, as long as you declare your hours and earnings.

On the face of it then there doesn’t seem to be much incentive to close down a JSA claim and take the risk of going on New Enterprise Allowance. In a mere three months you could be worse off and owing money. And after six months the allowance ceases entirely.

If you expect your business to take off slowly this doesn’t look like an attractive option – remaining on JSA but keeping below the 16 hours limit would be safer financially. The New Enterprise Allowance only looks attractive to people who have a venture they are sure they can get into profit quickly. Within six months you would need to be making enough profit to allow you to take an income from the business above your current benefit level. Realistically this isn’t going to be the case for an enormous number of people.

But let’s wait for all the details to emerge and the public response before condemming the scheme. The idea of using self-employment to get people off benefit is not the problem – PRIME itself believes in it. But the money to make it a practical proposition for a whole lot more people is lacking from this scheme. The New Enterprise Allowance is unlikely to make much dent on the unemployment figures, which is what it was set up to do.

Year 5 business be damned

2011-10-10T11:53:00.001+01:00

Okay you have promises from contacts orders are being processed and you will have the money by the end of the week phew but until then how will you live a quick glance into the wallet and we are into breaking the rules we have maxed out the overdraft which is guaranteed by the family home and now the drastic plastic is flexed. Spending only until the end of the month then it will be paid back. Then watching the local news you see the directors of your new client being escorted by the local constabulary into the back of a Black Maria they have been arrested for fraud!!
So sitting there with your head in your hands crying out that "Its just not fair" and do you know what? It isn't!
Where does this leave you now?

This is Just a story but it explains why most small businesses fail in year five; the money has run out, the family has run out, and the orders haven't come in. So what can you do to stop this happening to you?

80% Towards Insolvency

2011-10-07T13:59:00.001+01:00

Year Four, don't let the family find out!
This year it’s the kid’s college fund that takes a battering and low and behold they don't really need a substandard degree. They can always do better if they take an apprenticeship or they could take out a Student Loan and eventually pay it off just before you retire if you can afford it. This is a delicate time if the partner finds out it could be curtains for your ambitions so best just keep at it and ignore the lack of business as it is starting to come in dribs and drabs but not enough to feed a hungry caterpillar. Kid’s money's all gone so we're focused onto Year 5

Year Three of the "planned" collapse...

2011-10-06T16:14:00.001+01:00

We will be getting a bit of work in now; but for the old wage earner it seems that running a business and paying professionals to get going leaves you with less than the minimum wage. Which if you think about it, is only legal if you own and run a business.
You look back at your acquaintances who think you are having the time of your life playing golf or playing with the kids whenever you want - a real life of ease. In reality you sweat yourself awake for long periods in the cold grey night worrying if you should tell your partner that we are moving to a much much smaller place. However; on the good side those big orders promised are just around the corner, the redundancy money is a small stain left in the bank account, but then you could borrow from the savings and holiday fund as long as you put it back when that big order comes in. Who is lying to who here?
But like all things when it comes down to it that big order coming good was more hope than judgment and it you've just heard that it went elsewhere to someone who has a minimum of three years accounts; which you so obviously don't.
One small mercy is that you have not earned enough to pay any tax and the accountant informs you that you should be able to carry over this years loses to next year when you will make a profit. Anyway you loaned the company your money and now you are the largest creditor so if it goes down it now takes you with it...

Taking in the air

2011-10-04T17:08:00.001+01:00

Year 2 Survive the first year.
Survival seems likely, as the usual stage in that first year is that you survive on your redundancy payout and live a frugal life but, you have not established yourself yet, people still don't who you are and will be missing out on business that would have been yours in normal circumstances. These are not normal circumstances. Regardless of the fact that 51% of the business registered in companies house (and these are only the limited liability ones) are SME's and the 90% of those have a turnover less than £50K per year; starting your own business is NOT a normal thing to do in the UK, most individuals work for someone else and that matters. Now we will probably reach the end of the year and have to do a set of accounts which will mark a steady downhill slide into the Tax and red tape abyss which constrains and bleeds most small businesses to death.

Enthusiasm

2011-09-30T07:29:00.002+01:00

Year 1;
Okay so you think that you are really going to be the owner of a great business, making lots of money and giving you the life you that you have always desired. If you work hard and keep going there is a chance, a small chance that this may happen, but in the great scheme of things it is unlikely.

Most businesses fail in the first five years; in fact out of the 10 business that start up today in ten years there will only be one left. Now all ten companies start out wanting to be still around in the future and all ten invest the same amount of energy and money into their ventures with a view to being there. In the unlikely event that two survive it will not be through skill and knowledge but more like luck that keeps them there.
So let's refocus our aims a bit closer to home this is not taking the long view but something like one year as most people who usually don't know what they want for lunch the same day may not be able to cope with? I ask the question where is your one year plan if you don't have a ten year plan?

The first step towards the edge...

2011-09-29T15:10:00.007+01:00

An explanation in general terms as to what Unfair Advantage is and what it is not why it is not Strategic Advantage or Critical Advantage or in fact Competitive Advantage why it is more powerful than all of these and why is costs so much less and makes so much more

Introduction

Most business fail in the first five years so let’s take a look at the way this might happen before we look at ways to stop it

Daniel Priestley

2011-09-27T09:01:00.002+01:00

Last night I took a colleague to listen to a free seminar delivered by Daniel Priestley in Oxford. He is very inspiring and delivers a logical and sometimes scary view of the revolution that is happening all around us. Social Media and what used to be called Web2.0 is going to change the world and has already done so. Riots using blackberry messenger and twitter news coverage!
Collaboration and partnerships are the only way out of this so let's get together and create unfair advantage so we can all grow into the business people we wanted to be Unfair or what?

Waiting for enterprise to get going.

2011-08-14T07:40:00.001+01:00

This is it then, the launch of the Local Enterprise Partnership in Southampton for the whole Solent region. WOW only hang on - the is no enterprise and no partnership so it's just local then. Well not even that really as the board members source stuff elsewhere. Pointless maybe useless undoubtedly.

Unfair What?

2011-07-21T21:00:00.000+01:00

Take the idea that your offering is not particularly different to your competitors and that some of them are actually better at than you. Shocking eh? But realistically this is normal and what makes you different is YOU. The difficulty here is that this fact alone is not enough and if you rely on it you will almost certainly starve or get a job!

The Big What?

2011-07-01T11:53:00.000+01:00

Where to start then?
Care Homes costs to keep one dementia patient for one week is approx £480 not bad considering the professional care and knowledge that all homes come under the remit of the Care Quality Commission oh yes. So why have the majority of local authorities set their rates at about £100 less than the cost?
Homes will close people will be left on their own in their own homes where the domicillary care is so short they can decide to eat or be clean but not both. The way we treat our vulnerable is a direct reflection on the sort of society we are. In this case we would be penny pinching bastards whose only concern is not to leave their children in debt. Hold on my parents generation left us in debt their parents left them in debt and so on. So let's be kind sell the children for medical experiments and euthanise the old folk.
It's the only kind thing to do.
Big Society or Big Balls Up -you decide!

Finally landed - mentally

2011-06-17T17:08:00.002+01:00

After struggling through the week trying not take a nap while driving as the other drivers appear to have panic.
Meetings again with lots of really great clients. Confidence levels are again taking a dive as uncertainty raises it's ugly head. If we ran our businesses back tracking and uturning as much as those in charge of failing to give us all the confidence we so desperately need. No more real change in Schools - no real change in the NHS - no change in their best mates winning more and more contracts. Tender if you like but it won't get you anywhere.
I was explaining to a good client the theory of "unfair advantage" this is why parents pay grossly overpriced fees to schools that teach no better or no worse than ordinary everyday comprehensive state provided education that is free to all who require it.
If the client does not get unfair advantage what is the point of spending the extra money. Eton can claim unfair advantage just take a look at todays cabinet ministers now that's worth the money that is...

Making it work properly. Job for Thursday.

2011-06-09T09:02:00.001+01:00

Deciding what is important and what is superfluous can be difficult we all get sidetracked into doing the things we enjoy before tackling the more fundamental aspects if our businesses I would much prefer to spend time in front of potential clients than the laptop doing accounting but exactly how much damage am I doing to the end game?
The problem is that unless I can identify where the damage is I can't deal with it. Mapping the process goes a long way to identifying the gaps usually not skill gaps but attitude gaps or should I say head gaps.
I believe that ALL businesses should have at least one process map for each function. Not only does it make it easier to replace people who have left it can really help advisors to get to the problem areas quickly and more cost effectively (cheaper). So think on and plan stuff graphically (draw a nice picture of what you do why you do it and what you expect from it afterwards. There are loads of freeware stuff to aid you in this activity.

Holiday or Run Away

2011-06-08T14:37:00.001+01:00

Well I am sat here on the plane on my way to a all expenses paid medical conference to Malta for a client. This is the sort of work I could so with more of. For a minute I had a dejavu moment and nearly got on the plane to Dubai. But then I might just be leaving the UK for a better life without the incessant whining of Dr Cable (everything we do was due to the last lot) and his cronies who are extra annoying this morning in their irritating well we listened and funnily enough Joe public didn't want their health service dismantled in the same way the lot before the last lot sold off the railways/gas/BT/mining industry/steel industry in fact all industry of any note leaving a nation of very very poor homeowners or very very rich council executives. No I'm just off for work and a few days jolly to lower the blood pressure. I have to stop now before my blood pressure makes my head blow up.

Paul (Haley).

From my phone.

All these holidays cripple the mind

2011-04-26T07:50:00.003+01:00

Well here we are half way through this years bank holiday craziness.
Some of us are still working although I don't think anyone who loves what they do will consider it work. The sharp intake of breath around me when I set off this morning only goes to prove that the work ethic is straining a bit in good old blighty. Its probably straining everywhere now that we have the concentration ability of my cat Millie who spends twenty minutes chasing shadows and leaves that are about to attack her then falls asleep for the next hour before claiming it was a power nap just to get the energy to fall asleep properly later.
For anyone who works for themselves or runs a company that relies on them, knows that holidays are just the time the workers have off. To me holidays are a pain in the schedule as I lose rhythm and it is that much harder to get back up to speed. It also makes me the worst person in the world to spend a vacation with; constantly irritable and moving around.
Next time I am going to take a break by staying at work when everyone else is off - rest enough I think...

Been Thinking

2011-04-07T20:40:00.002+01:00

You know we have all been encouraged to think Niche what's yours?
Mine is getting people to think clearly and understand where they are in relation to their dreams. Just thought I would jot that down.

Paul (Haley).

Travelling light.

Sitting by the dock of the bay

2011-04-07T20:24:00.001+01:00

Okay okay so it shows either my age or excellent taste in music.
Contemplation is what it is all about.
I am reading "become a key person of influence" by Daniel Priestley and it's good. A beer a chicken salad and a book. As I keep saying to my esteemed clients get your mind right and work at getting things in order and worry less. The money will come in.
Tools you need for success:
1 resilience
2 resistance
3 reconstruction
4 redoubtability (not really a word but...)
5 redundancy

Now get off your butt and just do it if you can't talk to me.

Kind Regards,
Paul Haley.

On the move.

Focus on activity

2011-02-03T10:39:00.002Z

Here we go again. The number of times that we are going through the same treacle. Marching up and down without ever knowing where we are going. Its like jogging through the fog at any time something can come up and smack you in the face. Who would do that? Why would we then not slow down and take a large intake of breath and just look around. We seem to slow up take stock and then critically look at those who are leading us about by the nose. Do they really know where they want us to be?
There are times when I really believe that they are a lot happier when we all have jute hoods over our heads that way the only thing we can see are our feet. We can shuffle neatly over the cliff edge like lemmings were thought to do. Unfortunately the press, rich govenment ministers and the banks would rather we didn't question where we are going and are treating us as if we don't know well enough when we are being wrongly advised.
The coalition government is very much like the old board of Equitable Life promising so much and delivering absolutely nothing but pain.

Welcome Back

2011-01-11T14:48:00.002Z

Iv'e been keeping my head down and holding my breath hoping that the coalition gets it nearly right unfortunately it is really getting it so wrong if I hold my breath any longer I will die a painful and untimely death.
I was hoping that some of the money handed over to the Irish and the Railway companies would actually come to some of us who know how to grow businesses and to make sure that we grow the economy and not destroy it and bring us all down into penury.
For God sake stop blaming someone else if I hear "the last lot left us in hell of a mess" I will have to slice off my own ears. Yes yes it was someone elses fault but deal with it life is someone elses fault.
Also why is this rush to pay off the debt so our Children don't have to be saddled with debt I believe that Tony Blair paid the last cheque to the Americans for the second world war loans so thanks Dad for saddling me with debt and thanks to the Bankers who also should find a proper job and stop stealing from me they are not the Government who are allowed to steal from me by law in fact it would be a dereliction of duty not to steal from me.

Keep listening to noise on the rails

2010-10-28T09:59:00.001+01:00

the government is doing even the coalition as they like to call themselves seems less sure of themselves now that they cannot keep on blaming the last lot all the time about the state of the world financial situation as its getting boring now.
It's time move on and focus on what can be done to ensure that enough business is ocming in for everyone. Watch this space.

Changes and then more changes

2010-09-14T08:54:00.001+01:00

I was going to start this narrative with another question but instead I'll start with an observation. Most humans hate change... not just fundamental mind numbing panicing forced eviction change but even the smallest of changes like moving furniture or losing a usual parking space. Minor stuff and no more than irritating really. So when huge uncompromising change comes along most people just freeze or burst into tears why is that? Change is as important in our lives as food or water. Our ancestors had the unenviable task of dealing with unknown changes every day. Now we know that the sun comes up every day and warms through (sometimes) so we can get on with doing stuff. I am against doing the same stuff today as I did yesterday as it's so mind numbingly boring it encourages self harm. I want something new every day and like some other people I know if it isn't a bit risky then I ask myself how do I make it so. Behind every change forced upon us by incompetent public school boys playing at running a government there is an opportunity to be found. So when I see change it fills me with energy and enthusiasm for the next great idea to come along. So don't just sit there change something, Moving the furniture about does not count...

Where is everyone going today?

2010-07-15T09:11:00.001+01:00

Oh what a mess, the government are going to give all the NHS money to those at the "coal face" that could mean the patients or the doctors I believe that they mean the doctors which is a major worry as the last time I visited a doctor they had trouble remembering what day it was. Doctors are very good at what they do or should I say some of them are very good at what they do but the are NOT business people. They have been spoon fed money and respect for so many years they have forgotten what you have to do to earn a living I can see this one being a major disaster a sop to the so called liberals who no longer exist.
Business Link are being disbanded so where can companies now go for sub-standard advice and lack of ability now maybe they should merge doctors surgeries with business link offices and we can all avoid them whenever required.

Making my way back to you...

2010-06-11T14:49:00.001+01:00

I have been working non stop recently dealing with the issues that come up in companies because they forgot to do their planning.
If all else fails planning should be a daily activity whether that is in the bath or during breakfast. If you do not plan your growth someone else will be planning your demise. A client had a phone call today asking if she had made arrangements for her own funeral. Well that would be forward planning to absolutely no effect whatsoever. Never plan your way to a quick end. I reckon that we should have no idea when we are going to die so planning for it strategically is a bit of cheek.
Take this on board as I read hundreds of business plans every year and most drive me to the point of suicide by page four so keep everyone including yourself interested and change your plan as often as you change your shirt. I was going to say underwear but then I know how grubby some business people have become.

Book reading time

2010-06-04T11:21:00.001+01:00

I have been laid up with kidney stones, now thankfully removed, but during my moment of recouperation I have read the first few chapters of The E Myth revisited by Michael Gerberand. I heartily recommend it to anyone even considering setting up any type of business venture its so real its scary. Once you get over the americanisms and the jovial chumminess the facts speak for themselves. Get it and read it!!

Unfortuately read

2010-04-12T15:44:00.001+01:00

I have just waded my way through the first part of The Black Swan. I have given up reading the rest as the style of the writer is painfull at best and self indulgent at worst. I found myself seriously considering suicide as the better option after page 150. Any author that decides to use the initial letters of his name as a reference to themselves is deluded in the extreme. I am sure that he has been lucky in the past probably from the left field or black swan area but as I trudged through the treacle that passes as interesting writing I wondered what on earth roasted black swan tasted like.
Won't bother with the rest of the book as it is handy for keeping the toilet door closed.

Making the right choices

2010-04-09T11:01:00.000+01:00

Waiting for change
In the last few hours, in between bouts of melancholic writhing, I have has the opportunity to reflect about the forthcoming UK elections. All the rhetoric and hot air on who has business support over which policies and who doesn't is a major slight of hand. Government of types shapes and sizes is generally loathed by business. We don't care who delivers the bad news but we want someone to stop the pain first then have the balls to do what's right not what is popular. I have rarely been popular but often right and do you know if we expect change then are we not the stupid proletariat!
Is it not better to know where our leaders are going to mess up than to fall for false promises that in our hearts we know can't actually happen. Floating voters are what's in it for me people and need their minds made up for them. Stop pandering to the mindless and focus on society. I know who I am definitely not going to vote for!

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Something I picked up from Chris Cardell

2010-03-24T10:23:00.001Z

I have been following Chris for a number of years and his last email just about summed up the problems we have in encouraging businesses to survive. I have cut out most of the important stuff so here it is and thanks to Chris for putting so succinctly...
As business owners, we can never be good enough at following up with our customers.

I refuse to let a business owner moan to me about the economy until they have a multi step follow up sequence of 7-30 contacts (email, mail, postcard, telephone etc.) with everyone who comes into contact with their business as a potential or paying customer or client.

Funnily enough, when people do this, they tend to make so much money from increased sales, they just shrug off the Recession and stop talking about it.

As business owners, we can’t afford to make the big, costly mistake of not following up, because one way or another we pay good money to get leads, and if we let them disappear without them becoming customers, then it’s money we’ve wasted.

And just in case you have any doubts about how important this is, here are some scary statistics:

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop

It’s staggering, but only 10 % of businesses make more than three contacts. This means they’re losing a small fortune.

Because...

2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

So if you’re like almost half of all businesses and make no more than one follow-up to your prospects... you’re leaving 98% of your income on the table for someone else to come along and pick up.

If that wasn’t bad enough, here’s why it’s even worse. Look at these eye-opening statistics about why people stop buying from businesses:

1% die.
3% move away.
5% follow a friend’s or relative’s recommendation.
9% find an alternative they perceive to be better quality or value.
14% are dissatisfied with the products or services.

And a massive 68% of people leave a business because of… indifference.

They take their business elsewhere simply because they do not feel valued.

Since you spend a lot of time, money, and effort to get a visitor to your business, if you let them leave because of indifference, you might as well be flushing £20 notes away.

They take their business elsewhere simply because they do not feel valued.

So, how often should you follow up? Most business owners I speak to follow up maybe once a month, if they use follow up at all. This is a mistake. You can quite safely send something once or twice a week.

See, it's not the quantity of stuff that annoys people. What annoys them is if it's boring, and nothing but requests that they buy something from you. As long as your follow up is friendly, personal, full of personality and fun, then you'll be fine.

There’s a golden rule in Marketing that will make you wealthy. Once you have someone’s details keep on following up until they either buy, die, or tell you to stop!

Enjoy

Blame everyone but yourself

2010-03-03T18:37:00.001Z

Why is it that when I talk to business owners they need someone to blame; the government, their suppliers, the weather, their staff and last but not least their customers.
Whatever happened to service whatever happened to is there anything else I can do for you.
Throughout the ages people have been blaming everything from God to the spirits for their misfortune but only themselves for their good luck.
My take is that it is all my fault I take the blame for everything and every problem the difference is that I really don't care. I shall sleep soundly in my sleep knowing that I have bought the world to an abrupt halt.
If others care too much they should put a bit more energy into keeping themselves on top of the situation.
Take heed there are many of us out there who only want to do the best we can so beware of idiots and chancers don't argue with those that know better just sit back take it in and then take action...

Make a difference don't make a noise

2010-02-08T08:26:00.001Z

If you are gripped in the knowledge that the world is coming to an end and that scientists are not always right then start making a noise. The whole of the world seems to be clinging on to the idea that one group of people know a whole lot more than everyone else. This is unlikely to be any form of government anywhere in the world.
I would like to know why is that polititians make a whole lot more sense when they have left office than they ever did when they had the opportunity to make a difference. Try to ignore the cynic in me for a moment and take a look at this whole "iraqi trial by the press bollocks" that is going on at the moment. I would like every person out there to convince me that every thing they thought or did last week was for the common good of their fellow man! No? oh dear now you are to blame.
I would like you to remove your skin and roll around in the salt and lemon until we are all satisfied that you have suffered enough because we have suffered so much by your unthinking and selfish acts... What are they well - who knows because I sure as hell don't!

I've been thinking

2010-02-04T12:21:00.001Z

I have be with a few clients recently who have been looking for quick fixes.. something that is not possible in my world. If a company is desperately wanting to save money now then the quickest and by far the easiest way is to sack 50% of the staff. The impact won't be felt until the end of the year but you will have achived immediate savings.
Nothing you do today will affect tomorrows sales or the next days or in fact this months it may have some influence in six weeks time but to be totally effective you need to plan much more in advance. The reason that you have no sales now is because you did nothing about it three months ago.
Sitting on your arse will not help. Get on with it decide what needs to be done and do it.
If you don't someone else will and you will become superfluous.
Can't help you today but can help you today for two months time.

Sno's gone

2010-01-22T08:34:00.001Z

So the snow has receded and the brains of the major political parties have gone into the same dirty slush. Thinking in a clear and coherent manner has been replaced with child like burbling and dribbling over everything from Iraq to the Banks and the thought of everyones Eton Fag taking over as Chancellor scares the hell out of me the guy can't add up his own expenses never mind the need to count well enough to make sense of large and unwieldly economy!
Oh crap.
I have been listening to business owners that feel that getting through the recent difficult set backs as being a success in its own right... Sorry to tell you but that was the least we can expect from you as failure was only for those who borrowed n against a dream they were unwilling to work for.
Performance is about doing better than you ever thought possible and actually planning for that outcome a bit like Schroedinger's cat if you don't plan for out planning then you are wrong and if you do you are wrong - its there but it isn't.
Welcome to the real world I think!...

Why I hate the weatherman

2010-01-13T12:48:00.001Z

The weather is not something we have any control over neither are many other things in our lives so why oh why do we try so hard to bring some order to the chaos. We are by nature beast that are supposed to hunt and take risks but the continual blame culture we have nurtered is damaging everyone.
Taking care not to damage anyone else is each individuals own responsibility not that of Government or Social Services or anyone else we like to apportion blame on.
The painful self flagellation that is going on in London at some hearing is just such a point the inability to accept reality is upon us all.
Paedophiles and Murderers do not hide behind every bush and we are not all out to "get" each other at every turn.
Start off by being accountable for your actions and don't look for someone to blame when things go wrong its your fault live with it!

Christmas is over now lets get on with it!

2010-01-06T16:25:00.002Z

I've been hearing lots about how we are all doomed for the next 400 years and that if we don't do something about Recession/Global Warming/Badly Behaving Children/Moaning Adults we are never going to be proper human beings again. Absolute rubbish: I think we should hark back to the old days - days of high infant mortality, starvation, cholera and drunkeness (hang on apart from the degredation bits its no different than it was things must have gotten better.
I say to all my clients stop moaning and prevaricating just get on with it and do something anything is better than nothing

Employees need a change

2009-12-17T12:30:00.001Z

You can tell when we are getting more confidence about the economy because the first opportunity to take a little risk is upon us. Most employees stay put when there is a downturn and hang on in there. Most bosses know this instinctively so they start flexing their muscles and when the boss says it's tough out there he is just re-enforcing his employees desire for stability.
I will let you into a secret... There is no stability never has been and never will be! It really is just what you can make of things.
Now that the winter is in full swing and that people believe they may survive the economic and weather onslaught for another year (even though they have survived it for all of their life so far) its time to brush up the CV to snap back at the boss and to engage in a bit of pro active dreaming.
In my view its time to stop hibernating and sheep walking and start your own business. One thing to always rememeber is that you can never get sacked for looking at dubious websites at work if you are your own boss.
So think on and get a bit uppity with the boss. You're moving on up as Curtis Mayfield would have you believe...

Waiting in line

2009-11-27T09:15:00.001Z

How many times do we sit and wait I mean just wait not for anything in particular but just in case?
I was sitting and waiting and thinking as we all do and wondering where does all the time go...
Well if I sit here waiting I know where it goes so I decided to add something in writing to the blog.
I have a few maxims in my life which I find fit every occasion things like "I was waiting so long for success to come my way in the end I gave up waiting and went out to look for it" and "People only treat other people badly because we let them" Speak up I say shout out how good you are because if you don't think your good how on earth is anyone else going to. Back to my waiting now this time with and extra strong latte!

Waiting for the onslaught

2009-11-09T08:01:00.001Z

Over the past 12 Months the world has certainly gone a bit haywire. I have worked tirelessly in trying to maintain confidence in all my clients, some get it some unfortunately don't and all they see is a great big depression with all the negative news and the banking fiasco but hang on a minute was everyone damaged beyond repair? I think not Goldman Sachs kept their heads down and refused to sit there with their hands out like street beggars in suits. They seem to have done rather well out of all this turmoil.
With the jobless staying in hefty numbers yet again we are asked to consider the plight of the new students coming out of University with little of real value to their names. I do feel sorry for them but then again this is the first time they have been conned into thinking that a degree in "media studies" is actually anything more than a boondoggle but don't blame employers they can only work with the crap that comes to them. I am afraid there is no easy route to getting an education. Drawing pretty pictures whether on film or on paper is just that a self indulgence we would all like the time to do but is a complete and utter employers nightmare.

Working on the way to London

2009-11-03T11:16:00.001Z

Here we go again another week nearly over and its only Tuesday. I spent all weekend in bed feeling sorry for myself as I was due to speak at a conference I assisted in organising but on Friday Night after travelling back from Cornwall I was struck down by a cold (man flu; for all you condescending ladies out there) I spent the weekend in bed and not in a nice way either!
Finally managed to get myself together to go into work yesterday only to find out that one of my staff down in Cornwall suffered a complete breakdown and walked out on the company. No real explanation just saying that she did not ask for the responsibility and was going to spend time with her family instead. Highly questionable on both counts but young people these days complain that they do not get enough opportunity to prove themselves and when you give it to them they just roll over and cry out for help. I have decided that I will only be looking for graduates well that's not the only criteria they must have graduated before 1980 when education was exactly that teaching young people about values that they don't have a clue about. Like commitment, integrity, trust and loyalty. I know that we have to cater for the short term concentration of the young but I would like to think that some people plan for a little longer than the next release of a playstation game.

Feeding of the wise words of others

2009-10-27T17:46:00.003Z

Its that time again when I have just returned from a conference where all the speakers make so much sense that it seems like I should have done something else with my life. A certain amount of envy about the easy way they can get their ideas across so easily.
One or two of the ideas are great to take back to my clients and make them think they are my ideas hence feeding of the wise words of others. I don't think that it can be categorised as plagiarism I think that is should be looked upon as recycling on a grand scale ideas are heavier than CO2 and can weigh so much more than all the usual trash. I have this idea that most small businesses are actually scared of selling their wares I think that are not that happy about customers buying stuff from them in the first place.
My words of garbled wisdom to a client recently were "there are no grants for you type of business so just get of your arse and sell something" to which they replied "we don't know how to"
Why do we let these people out of the cage?

Just read!

2009-10-13T19:43:00.000+01:00

I am on the train on the way home from another long meeting and I have just completed Seth Godin's book Tribes. For anyone who needs to exert influence on others this is a must read tome. You will get to grips with what you already know but didn't want to own up to. So get a copy and start to lead you own tribe. This book let's you into a secret on using online networking so get it or ask to borrow my copy!

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Government Success Strategies

2009-09-24T08:27:00.003+01:00

I was sent this by my brother in New Zealand who still does not what I do for a living so I thought it worth repeating here

Tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians (so legend has it), passed on from generation to generation, says that,
"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."

However, in government, education and the corporate world, more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

Buying a stronger whip.
Changing riders.
Giving horse and rider a good bollocking.
Re-structuring the dead horse's reward scale to contain a performance-related element.
Suspending the horse's access to the executive grassy meadow until performance targets are met.
Making the horse work late shifts and weekends.
Scrutinising and clawing back a percentage of the horse's past 12 months expenses payments.
Appointing a committee to study the horse.
Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride horses.
Convening a dead horse productivity improvement workshop.
Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.
Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
Outsourcing the management of the dead horse.
Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
Providing additional funding and/or training to increase dead horse's performance.
Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses. And, finally, the highly effective...
Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Take a look at your options on hiding the inevitable under the hay!

Refreshing or what?

2009-09-04T07:59:00.001+01:00

Leaving the house this morning I felt a refreshing chill in the air, first time this autumn. I love this time of year it signals the restarting of a longish work period before Christmas. It's time to get busy again. Forget the doom and gloom merchants the OECD, BBC and the daily mail. Its really good out here whatever is going on and if we have to wait a bit longer to come out of this media created "recession" than france or germany so what! It's no coincidence that still desperately need the UK to join the euro so get up and face the fresh calming air.
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A new month and a new season.

2009-09-01T08:47:00.002+01:00

Where do we go from here petrol up a few pence and winter almost back again?

But in reality its just a day past yesterday and nothing is really that different just your state of mind. So get a grip and focus on the great unknown just around the corner. Your greatest contract is just round the corner trust me. But if you are to scared to look then I'll take it and thanks. No really a big thanks to the meek they make life so much easier for the rest of us.

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How long?

2009-08-19T12:38:00.001+01:00

So Germany and France are out of the "worst recession" since the great depression after about 12 months! Doesn't it strike you as odd that the so called harbingers of doom got it wrong! This was without doubt the shortest recession in the history of media cons. At least the reporters in the BBC and those who work on the MAIL have kept in work not that I am sure why!
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Getting it right

2009-08-12T12:10:00.000+01:00

I have been running around from one place to another recently without much idea on what I am trying to achieve. This goes against everything I get my clients to do but then why follow your own advice!
But then time management has never been my strong suit. The basis of every success is to devise a plan and work that plan. The more you slack on that one the harder it will be to gain control and get some balance back.
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In short what do you do?

2009-07-28T07:39:00.001+01:00

How many of us can rely on our memories to coherently tell people we have just met what we do? Why we do it? And why they should keep us in mind for future business? Remember that almost all the best speeches have been well prepared and rehearsed until they seem "off the cuff" tough isn't it?
Content should appeal not only to the listener but to the twenty people they meet today who they need to impress. So next time you present your elevator pitch or one minute promotion please bear it in mind that you need to give me enough good stuff about your business to make me look good!

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Competition?

2009-07-24T08:28:00.001+01:00

How many of us really know who or what is competition? Not many people it seems. I became curious yesterday by talking with someone who really had no idea what competition was or what benefit it could bring their company. More importantly they were unaware where the real danger to their business came from. In short you are far more likely to do serious damage to your own business with a closed attitude than anything anyone else could even try to do to you. So keeping your mind open will keep you doors open.
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Tax shouldn't be taxing......

2009-07-14T13:03:00.002+01:00

I am having increasing problems just getting HMRC to understand basic mathematics at the moment so if you too are experiencing the benefits of a dumbed down educational system with lazy confrontational staff based in Shipley who will not come out from behind their desks then join the club.
I have finally decided to explain to the HMRC that they are getting no more money out of my company until they find out where the last £125K has gone.

I can only ignore them now and write on every demand "account in dispute" with the word dispute in bold red letters!

Marketing Logic and where is next meal coming from

2009-07-08T16:02:00.002+01:00

I was talking to a client trying to explain how they should profile their existing best customers in order to find clients that are similar who are more likely to have what they want and we did have a couple of misunderstandings as they thought that I wanted to market to their existing customers and in the great scheme of things that is probably what I would have suggested they do as mining the existing customer base is an excellent source of low cost easy to sell to customers which don't leave you feeling like you have to introduce yourself time and time again. However this is not what I mean't and in the end I had to get out the ol' bag of analogies and the one that seemed to fit best was the lion's lunch.
Lions sit around the drinking pool all afternoon not because they are thirsty or in case they will get thirsty later it's because by and by their lunch will pop along, probably in a weakened state ready to be snapped up. Weakened because in the world of the gazelle, smartish creatures who can spot a lion from a sniff in the wind 10 miles away and a pool of drinking water 20 miles away but they have to weigh up how long can they try to wait out the lions, hoping for boredom, until they just cannot wait any longer for a drink and having to face the snoozing preditor against dropping down with heat exhaustion and dying of thirst. I reckon that they think that they can get away with it if only their mates get eaten first so they go on down en-masse and attempt to slurp it up. My money is on the Lion as whatever happens he has weighed it up and will probably either get a healthy fresh snack or a bit of a dehydrated take away - worst case. The analogy a bit long winded is that the Lion has profiled his lunch and knows their behaviour and with the right attack strategy will snaffle enough earnings to feed the wife and kids for another day at least then it's back to snoozing. Find your waterhole profile your lunch and prepare your strategy. Data mining has never been so tasty...

Anyone for tennis?

2009-07-06T07:46:00.001+01:00

I watched the monster truck derby which women's tennis has become and thought that unless they play the full five sets those demure little waifs known collectively as "the williams sisters " will continue to behave like city traders quick nasty without care for the game they owe so much to and about to get caught out. On the other hand the men's final is much more like the small business environment. Worth the long term fight and having to go the distance. Of the two the mens had no losers not the players, not the spectators and not the game. The debacle on saturday ensured that everyone lost. Talk about sub prime sport!
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Service! what service?

2009-06-24T12:06:00.003+01:00

Here we go again, my god I'm incensed I have been listening to whinging retailers stating that things have never been this bad and they have nobody visiting their shops and the world is coming to an end...
I have just had to point out that the reason that they are talking crap is that they are not really professional retailers they are order takers and a monkey can do that probably with better humour.
Shop keepers should be taught how to build a relationship with the customer not just their wallet! Take a look at Estate Agents for the last few years they have let people buy buildings from them with the only selling point being that they will increase their investment in a few years. oops that's going to smart! Now they have to re-learn how to sell the dream of owing a home all over again, if they ever knew about it in the first place.
On line shopping rules are:

You can always get it cheaper on the internet
You can guarantee that if you do it will be late/damaged/incorrect or just crap
After sales service is very much out of sight out of mind - please email our spam box with your complaints
You will never ever get to touch and feel the product before you have paid for it...

Off line we cannot do the same thing and get away with it the likes of Stanley Kalms have destroyed customer service if you want it cheap sold by a complete idiot who can manage to ignore you while actually in conversation with you. Its like talking to the party tart they look over your shoulder to see if they can see someone with slightly more money than you. I once got ignored midway from buying a top end laptop with an assistant because a voluptous woman wanted to get a cheap packet of printer paper. Did I go elsewhere? of course if I want to treated like an avatar then I can go on line.

The local computer store is hungry for my business and offers intellegent conversation of interest and serves great coffee even if you don't buy anything.

This is it then either learn about proper customer service or die cos you deserve not to survive...

2009-06-06T14:07:00.002+01:00

Before we know where we are its halfway through summer and edging close to the longest day.
As I travel around supporting my clients I have found the panicky questions about when is the world going to end, seem to diminish and as long as the focus can remain on their business then I am happy.
Encouraging people to work on their growth plans is not more essential than ever and if we have forgotten it start treating our employees with a whole lot more respect. Try to make sure that when we come out of this small decline that they don't all jump ship because the business owner has been a right pain in the neck.
Nothing brings a business to its knees quicker than just as you think the world is getting back to normal you suffer a major skills exodus just look at the government in the UK. Don't even think that it is motivated for the greater good as proved with the expenses situation, oh sorry I thought morals were something you put on hold when filling in your expense claim... who in their right mind thought that trying it on just to see if you could get away with it was similar to taking up a moral position needs to seriously consider doing some form of enforced community work. I digress look after the staff you want to keep and the ones you want to lose as well in fact look after everyone if you can if you can't then shut up shop now before you lose any more money!

Working my way back home.

2009-05-14T14:56:00.001+01:00

I went to one of my client's seminars this morning it seemed the right thing to do and the conference, held at the wellcome institute in London, was a great success although I didn't understand a great deal of it. Supporting my clients endeavours is part of my role and if nothing else it gives me a better idea of what I can do to help. This is an essential part of what makes me that litte but different I am around when others don't bother. If you want a report then go to someone else if you want it to happen then call me.
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2009-05-08T15:18:00.001+01:00

ItHere I Am sitting in a hotel waiting for my next client meeting thinking about the way that all the people I meet are waiting with baited breath for the recession to start because if you listened to the BBC idiot with a speech impediment where he over emphasises every pause for effect Bob Peston the rest of without an index linked BBC pension should be very afraid ; not so Bob anyone with half a brain is doing nicely thanks; keep at it Bob you could talk us into watching Sky!
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Conference

2009-05-01T15:07:00.002+01:00

Just came back from a BNI conference in Amsterdam really very good and very inspirational. As time goes on I start to see the benefit of conferences and some of the networking events as like-minded people get together and really get a new perspective on all that's going on. Sometimes I see that the bigger picture gets lost in a wave of negative crap that comes out of the press and on the box. If we listen too much we get to think that these idiots actually know what they are talking about unfortunately they can only talk in sound bites and try to get us all believe that if we had any money left after they have contrived to steal it all we are going to die of swine fever a sort of flu that is particularly virulent in third world countries as is cholera, typhoid, TB and a whole range of illnesses which mean nothing to us unless they have the ability to cause a panic then they become BIG news.
So there you go first it was we were all going to have to live on the streets as we don't have any cash left then we are going to die with a fever and if we survive that lot we are going to drown when the ice caps melt (again) or boil when the earth gets too hot to live on any longer.
Time to get a cold beer and sit down in front of the tele' until the world ends or I die of starvation or obesity whichever.

Way to go!

2009-03-20T13:59:00.003Z

As things progress in the world's financial markets one of the things I have managed to glean is that some business people finally show their true colours - point of fact; we all know that personalities return to core type when they are put under pressure. Real of percieved pressure I am not sure but there we go. A group of local business people I know have done exactly that. Most people in small businesses don't deserve to be in business! Those business owners that suffer from myopia certainly don't deserve my help and advice. A network group I help run have returned to their comfort blankets and sucking their thumbs with such energy and verve that if they put the same energy into running their business they shouldn't be worried at all.

Short term vision of where we are and where we should be going are very clear to most business people.
If we can raise our sights above the mundane and real business can start to make money with a background of borrowing dear old Arnold Weinstock would sleep a lot happier in his grave.

2009-03-06T10:15:00.002Z

Great Week or two things seem to be settling down a bit with all that money sloshing around in the system with nowhere to go at some point one of the idiots will come to the conclusion that if they don't lend it soon we will all get along quite nicely without them and then they will have very little sway with business any more.
One bad point was that the government agency who are supposed to be supporting us out here has managed to go into a potential client of mine and offer their services for free claiming to be the same as my services. Businesslink are such a useless shower it makes you wonder how they lost their real jobs in the first place. Rewards for incompetence are our biggest and most dangerous phenomena. Years ago these total idiots were responsible for the mass loss of lives in the first world war and then the stock market crash in the twenties. Their cretinous stupidity as represented by those failures such as Gerald Corbett and Fred Goodwin are our fault. Like politicians, we get the business leaders we deserve or tolerate. While times are good they can hide behind their staff and the damage can be managed now its all out in the open.
I think that now it is time for only good news so
Tesco's take on 10,000
Subway are to take on 3,000
Lidl are opening 20 new stores
And I have never been busier.
Remember do what you do normall but do it better faster and with a whole lot more confidence and enthusiasm.

2009-02-03T09:15:00.002Z

Making it look good when it looks bad
Apparently the world has gone to hell only someone forgot to keep me informed. I have never been busier one way or another. I know that critics would mention that I would say that wouldn't I. Funnily enough its not all about saving companies from total destruction at the hands of the bankers. There is increasing activity in growing small businesses and people starting new businesses. If they want to be the one in ten that survives the next five years never mind the next five minutes then I can help them structure themselves to not only last but to dominate the negative thinking that is going on out there right now.
As I have said to my clients many times being successful has less to do with ability and money and more to do with balls out resiliance. Never look down when you can look up!
Never forget the old maxim that the harder you work the luckier you get.

New Year Blues

2009-01-02T11:20:00.001Z

Well here we go again, not only do we have to get a grip of getting back to work, we also have to get a grip of dealing with all the negative stuff out there. My new years resolution is going to try to outperform my last year not by any percentage but by gut feeling. It's going to be a good year if I thought anything else I would give up now. So more of last year and learn to embrace change again. I got too comfortable (and bored) without change and uncertainty so lets have more of it...

Tween Christmas and New Year 2008

2008-12-28T18:41:00.001Z

The is more bad news from those wonderful purveyors of doom the BBC and now of course the Church of England has decided to give financial advice. Following the reformation they can't still really think that their advice on property acquisition and management would amount to anything of any real value.

Since we are at it the world has been peddalling greed and selfishness for some two thousand years so the odd boom and bust does not mean that the world is coming to an end so cheer up tomorrow will still come around and the sun will still come up so pull the bed covers over your head and keep on going - My New Years resolution is based on helping as many people to reach their goals as possible and making sure that they don't waver just keep at it.

Most businesses that are headlined to fail should have gone years ago. Some of them it is just bad luck, like whittards, but Woolies and MFI should have closed for health reasons I can think of some twenty or so retailers I would like to see off the high street as of now and would never want to shop there if I had a choice not endearing enough to save them I think...

Let em go only the strong should survive lets lose a few banks as well!

Reversal of fortune

2008-12-11T16:21:00.003Z

Another day another breakfast at this rate I will be over 250 lbs by next easter!
This mornings was quite a fun affair with a lot of companies looking over their shoulders at what will happen next and being quite concerned about the future.
Me on the other hand is quite positive about what is going on and we have to always look to the future and what is next. The pound has taken a massive fall against all the other currencies so with a couple of colleagues the time seemed right to run a seminar about learning how to sell overseas. Do not get selling overseas with exporting goods most of what we have to offer from the UK is knowledge based and it seems a bit of an insult to call it exporting. Selling overseas is about getting your head right knowing more about why your client buys and what motivates them to even talk to you.
Most people buy for exactly the same reasons as we do and you will not be surprised at how many companies don't know why anyone does business with them. If they don't know then how are their customers supposed to know.
Selling overseas is about getting yourself right first then worrying about the trip...
Take it from me there is money in them thar hills so go search for it!

Project Finale

2008-12-09T12:56:00.002Z

One of my longer standing clients gets me to devise and run a PR project the one I have been running this year is an expansion of last years. A number of local junior schools were invited by the company to get involved in designing a reflective armband - the theory being that if the children designed it themselves or at least had some input into the process they would be much more likely to wear the object than if it was just a plain one colour armband. Local schools would get a boost by working with local business and the business would get a bit of positive PR from the project. Hands down winners in every category. This year over 3,000 children took part from 15 schools that is three times last years and of course I was not prepared for the increase in workload so things have run over by about three weeks. This morning I delivered 2,000 of the things and am about to finish off this afternoon. The armbands have broken free from their bags in the boot of my car and being snap-wraps with a mind of their own they have taken over the car, wrapping and snapping every time I open the door! Its like have a rotweiller puppy in the back of the car. I will be glad when today is over. Everything involving school children seems to be fraught with problems. Ensuring that the armbands are not going to take it upon themselves to strangle the child or give a false sense of security and get the little darling hit by a truck!
If we can get throught the winter without litigation I will be pleased.

Nearing the year end

2008-12-03T18:17:00.002Z

Closer and closer... christmas is on its way and are we prepared? are we ever prepared? This year things are a little bit gloomier, what with jobs going and staff morale at an all time low worrying about what the new year may bring together with the Christmas bills.
I mentioned today, to a group I breakfast with, that business confidence, like any confidence, is all in the mind and if the management are not thinking clearly they will be looking to cut spend in the wrong places. Although its probably too late, companies could make a worse investment than a party, everyone loves a party - keep the staff on a high and they will treat customers likewise and as people like to do business with people who are enthusastic, you may ride out the storm!
Cancel the Christmas party and you will definitely be sending out the wrong message to all and sundry; I can see the staff telling your suppliers and customers what a bad company they work for! Who wants to do business with a bad company? So I am looking for companies that think that if they save a few grand by cancelling an event that everyone has been looking forward to all year is going to do them any good then they seriously need help... Get them to call me for their own sake before they go bust at Easter... if they last that long!

Refusing to participate

2008-11-12T10:28:00.003Z

Well Autumn is here and the depressing weather is having an effect on all of us. I however think this is the possibly the best time of the year. The colours and the anticpation of darker mornings and earlier evenings bring the shop windows to life at last. This must be the most colourful time of the year. Could we or should we at least not look at the economic outlook with the same enthusiasm? I think we should.
Every business owner I have talked to in the last few months is waiting for the Tsunami to hit its like a phoney war; they are battening down the hatches and looking downward.
This is NOT the way to do it this is very destructive and I would encourage any of you who feel that impending sense of doom to wizz over to wikipaedia or skeptics dictionary and look up the Forer effect. That well known phenomena of self fullfilling prophecy and how to break the cycle of being right. You know the one "if you think you will fail...you probably will and if you think you will succeed... you probably will"
So okay you will find the marketers out there carping on about not promoting yourself for growth but promoting yourself to survive... This is scaremongering ALWAYS LOOK FOR GROWTH someone out there is making money why not you!
I may have my head in the sand but the company down here is much more pleasant than up there!

Irritating Habits

2008-09-16T12:58:00.002+01:00

Here we go again; panic spreading; blood on the streets the banks are under seige and the page three girl looks like trouble!
Please please stop reading the negative press stuff and make a decsion today not to participate in the general laziness of the reporting community the hiccup in the economy will only affect most of us if we let it.
It's about time the bloated banks had a bit of a kicking the last time my bank manager spoke to me was to moan...
Tough times but then they always have been... get a grip and just work bloody harder. Keep your focus and we all know the difference between a success and failure its not money or experience or luck although they all help - its tenacity, commitment and the ability to bounce.

On something else completely different as I am worn out now with all the negativity so I thought I would take er indoors out to re-live the music of the 80's Altered Images, Paul Young, Kim Wilde, Bananarama or whats left of them plus the absolute gem Kid Creole and the coconuts, this guy hasn't changed in thirty years. I swear he had the same suit on the last time I saw him 28 years ago.
Tsking into account the venue was filled with grey hair and a few just short of zimmer frames the modern world had the temerity to break through. Why do concert attendees seem to think its fine to use their mobile phone video cameras to record the concert. I cannot believe that the quality to be good enough to view again and in the meantime they piss off everyone in close vicinity by blocking out the line of sight so they can get a clear view of their pre-pubescent fantasies. Shoot the lot of them!
Next time a rant against the way my neighbours park cars that are too big to drive...

Summer what summer?

2008-08-28T08:36:00.003+01:00

I think that the weather is making us all a bit loopy what with the Russians on one side and the Olympics just over in China - not that I have to say that I watched very much of them. I suppose if you are going to invade another country then why not when they are all watching television in the hope of winning another medal?
House prices are dropping like a harlots draws and that is just the best of it... I have decided that I can no longer watch the BBC as they have the very annoying habit of making themselves "experts" in any given field. The studio cretin decides that as they don't know enough and a probably struggling reading the difficult words on the autocue they would introduce the so and so editor as an expert to give his/her opinion funnily enough I don't want their opinion as they are reporters what I want them to do is report from the experts not be the experts. Since when has being blown up made somebody a terrorism expert...

Recession is good for the soul

2008-07-08T10:12:00.002+01:00

I travel into my office and listen to that bastion of news reporting Radio 4 and oh dear yet again they have succumbed to the media need for shocking headlines. This morning it was the shocking story that we are all heading to hell in a handcart because of a set of survey results put out by the leading british business organisation The British Chamber of Commerce, well I don't know about you but I have never considered the BCC as being leading anything. They are incredibly inept and insignificant on almost every level. The provide what exactly? Training is a good one for local businesses delivered by idiots for idiots perhaps. Others do it better and with more success. The BCC does not have the qudos of its foreign counterparts who have serious clout. Ours are ersatz business leaders talk a lot are subject to local politics and are mainly part time luncheon organisers for the professional folk who have nothing better to do with their time than sit with twelve lawyers for lunch. It seems with all the hullaballo about crisis they forgot they do represent the poor sops who pay them extortionate amounts to join so they had better have a survey a big survey say about 5,000 respondents out of a vast membership should be embarrassed not crowing about it. For heavens sake they are quasi government and government should keep well out of the private sector not just this government but any government. I still cannot understand by the broadcasters give serious sound time to Vince Cable hasn't he got a proper job?

Selling without being obvious

2008-06-03T11:26:00.002+01:00

Feeling Dirty!

2008-06-03T11:12:00.003+01:00

Gang Raped by the banks & date raped by Talk Talk... Do I feel abused & dirty or just hurt because they don't call any more?

Searching for the perfect relationship is it worth it?

If a relate councellor was involved in trying to sort out this relationship they would be calling the police by now and looking for a refuge for me. So what went wrong? It was all going so well... The promises of good times and mutual happiness gave me hope that something good was at last about to happen. Oh and it was going to be so good valuable quality time spent together and at last someone I could really communicate with. If only!

Like any relationship the first few days were fantastic - just what I wanted someone who cared - someone who understood - someone who wanted me to do better. The honeymoon soon came to an end. Suddenly I was too demanding, too needy, just too damn close - things went downhill fast, all I wanted was what had been promised . Very quickly it became clear they were just like all the rest. To explain: If the bank that is dedicated to the small business person - yes you know who you are. Keeps employing inadequate sour faced front of house staff they can't expect hard working small business owners to bother with them I must admit if only they could perform as well as their advertising agency they would have cleaned up by now they are definitely finding another way...

As for the numb nuts at talk talk heaven forbid that they have anything akin to competence at any time. It has now taken them three months to do absolutely nothing in fact they rang me on Saturday afternoon to say exactly that although after going through all the checks to see I was who they said I was (they rang me not the other way round) they finally told me they needed to know so they could book a call from their technical department. After all the promises from the bunch called the "house moving team" they have yet to actually get me an account number to give me the rebate they promised me for delaying the installation!

They keep asking me if I have booked someone else for the broadband as if they have become jealous of any other relationship I may have with another telecoms provider. After ingnoring me for three months they are now stalking me. I have to say the recent relationships with large organisations has left me feeling grubby and used.

I would go to another bank or BT but they are no better none of them has any idea on customer service, they should change the name of customer care to customer we-don't-care teams.

Enough of this rant the anger has yet to subside but if anyone knows who can give me a quality service or in fact just call back when they say they will and preferably not cut me off when I have waited for an hour to speak to someone having finally got through and then said "I'll just put you on hold" a euphemism for cut you off and when you lose your cool they say I am not here for you to rude to but actually yes they are.

That's called putting your customer first. Charles Dunstone stop chasing the yanks for money and get your business right!

New Business and Web2.0

2008-05-23T09:35:00.002+01:00

Went to a seminar on web 2.0 and decided that I should spread the word around all the networks I attend. If I started on about "web 2.0" and the benefits that it could bring their business they seemed to go all blank so I needed to explain what I meant in layman's terms so I thought about what the web has given small businesses so far and where the extra selling points which could benefit small businesses and not large organisations could be found...
The web with its websites and portals and to some extent forums (if you can be bothered) has given small businesses profile on the net so we can look like bigger companies (with the right amount of spend) and trade like them too. But can we get across the fundamental difference the actual main USP of the small business. We are small because in most cases we like to be small. Small is fast thinking quick agile and responsive. Not hide bound in procedure and not stuck in with crappy company rules which work against us.
No we are acutally business with personality then it hit me Web 2.0 allows us to have a personality on line. A face and feelings and with the stuff we can now share it has a little bit of us online.
Which large organisation can give us that and who is going to write the personality? is it the PR department in a clinical and safe style (we don't want to be sued do we?) or will it be the marketing department? neither I hope but whoever tries it will certainly have a job on their hands. This is why all small business must embrace technology advances or die.
take a look at www.punchingaboveyourweight.com and see if it makes sense...

Give em what they want

2008-04-29T10:52:00.002+01:00

Just starting a new chapter of BNI at Solstice park in Wiltshire UK.
Three people interested but then thats usually the start of greater things we should have this one off the ground and running independently by September...
I have been getting an unusual amount of marketing promotional stuff by email during the so called "credit crisis" panic ensues and headless chickens are running around crying that the world is coming to an end. For some in really will be the end and probably not before time. Running aground when the pond is full is always more difficult than when the water level is down a bit. But take heart and be strong do not fall for the next big promotional idea just because ruin is around the corner the quickest way I know to hasten its arrival is to spend money on stuff you don't need or is not being looked at. The time to sell lifebelts is when the titanic is launched but the time to get the best price is moments before it plunges to the darkest depths of the freezing ocean.
A couple of pointers came my way which I think are worth repeating:
1. Customers dislike being interrupted by advertising even when the world is about to end
2. They don't want to pay for things that are usually free - so when you used to offer a bit of free advice don't stop just because you are short of cash
3. The want advertising appropriately labeled as advertising - no free offers of crap you don't want and make sure everything you do has serious value to the client
4 They sometimes appreciate finding out about unique products or services that will benefit them - okay how do we get them to see the benefit if it doesn't fit their perception of where they are at the moment.
5 Don't state the bleedin' obvious

In troubled times you can hold your head in your hands and whistle up your Barcelona or get on out there and reaffirm your existence give em what they want when you want to give it.
Have a great time money needs to be spent and it's our job to help them spend it.
Remember the words of Arkwright "get a cloth granville" time to clean up a bit

Moved

2008-03-20T14:15:00.002Z

Well, I've done it... I've finally moved into something smaller surrounded by boxes of neatly packed crap which will be unpacked and moved off to the dump to be recycled including my beloved full set of leather bound Encyclopedia Britannica although it has not been opened for the last ten years it still holds a certain amount of emotional draw to me, it reminds me of any business that has got into a bit of a rut a good de-clutter is essential every so often get rid of the crap and rethink the important stuff so you can regain the swiftness which is what makes up most of the USP of any small business...
Don't make the mistake of removing stuff that is emotionally someone else's to clear out. I made the mistake of suggesting that we cull my wife's wardrobe to a managable size. I failed to see that she was still holding the stanley knife and I only just managed to get out of the room in one piece.
So the moral is de-clutter re-evaluate and get rid of the crap alternatively sack 10% of your customers every year they are the one's who use up most of your goodwill and most of your patience. You will feel a lot better without them and work a lot harder for the one's who deserve the attention.
Happy Easter

Working our way back

2008-02-27T10:41:00.004Z

Why are so many small business owners scared of "selling" it seems to strike fear into the hearts of otherwise sane human beings. It also seems that for small business owners it's about selling being a necessary evil.
Unless this state of mind changes it will always be a problem - think about it you set up in business because you believed that you were really good a something, it does not matter what that something is, now you don't feel confident in telling anyone about it with passion. That's all selling really is... finding out what your prospect wants and finding out if your product or service will do that for them if it does then for gods sake tell them what you believe it will do. Shyness is not an attractive quality in anything but small pet rodents. Be confident and moreover be proud of what you can do for your clients. Tell them what you have done for others in the same situation as them and there you have it... You are a salesperson.
Keep the faith!

Keeping your customers happy take note

2008-02-18T10:27:00.001Z

How are customer and client perceptions and expectations created, understand the real facts and how you can make a difference

What keeps the customer or client happy, know how to find out what they think is important

Find the golden key to developing exceptional customer and client relations

Use non verbal signals and body behaviour to get the best results

How to build rapport quickly and easily — even the ‘difficult’ ones

The myths of rapport building, and what REALLY works

See why false rapport (manipulation) doesn’t work in the long term

Learn how to make sure your customers clients 'feel' they get what they want

Change your customer or client perceptions and your own to achieve greater impact and effect

Find their ‘hot’ buttons, press the right ones and avoid the wrong ones!

You treat your customer or client as an individual, but does it work for them?

What are they really saying. Find out why most people have trouble finding out

How much information can your customer or client deal with, how much keeps them happy , and how do you package it best

Get your clients to pay you to advertise your business

2008-02-11T08:27:00.000Z

We can log this one under the "strange but true" heading. We spend a lot of money both asking for referrals and promoting ourselves and it does not always give us payback!
We all have loads of potential customers who cannot yet afford what we do or are not in a position to make the best of it if they could. Sell them something small but useful to them that gives them a taste of what you could do for them if you had the chance on the explicit understanding that they should sing your praises at every opportunity - social or business
Getting yourself noticed by giving away something for free go hand in hand.
Sometimes we have to teach our future customers and clients just what it is we do of value.

Home Searching and Business Services

2008-02-05T10:05:00.000Z

Unfortunately I am now looking for somewhere else to live and you know how it is... all the stuff you have accumulated over the past few years seems to have reached gigantic proportions with boxes and boxes of crap ready for the skip.
It is high time to spring clean our stuff and our business minds at the same moment. How much crap is in your head at the moment. Credit Crunch, House reposessions up and all that and business still seems to go on.
Clear it out and look at the new opportunities that exist all around you. There is only a recession in our minds. I love it when the press proudly announces that "£120 billion was wiped off the value of companies today" can they tell me where it has gone? no of course not because it didn't really exist in the first place. The stock market runs on rumour and emotion. If that is really the case are we right to leave our pensions in the hands of a bunch of uptight emotional degenerates who mix up rumours for lies...
Look to your own destiny. These big loss announcements are, they tell us, a reflection of confidence. When was the last time you were given money just because you were confident?
Spring clean and really lighten your load and clear out all the crap you have been fed over the past few months if you don't want it to happen it won't.

Road Warrior?

2008-02-04T08:59:00.000Z

Sat here in Mcdonalds using the free wifi seems a good way to start the day.
It got me to thinking that in business we should all be adding value to our customers and clients which goes above and beyond... Yeah yeah heard it all before!
But think what can you add to your current offeriing whiich has nothing to do with your core stuff and everything to do with what your clients want. How about free and open wi-fi in your offices and reception and if you are feeling really flush throw in a latte or two. I know that you might just get a contact who can help you in the near future. Go on try giving something different FREE.

How Much?

2008-02-01T10:08:00.000Z

Third attempt at getting this one up...
I see many clients on a weekly basis and I can categorically state that nearly every one of them must feel sorry for their customers - so sorry in fact they charge them so little it's hardly worth being in business. You started up in business because you believed that someone out there would pay you for your skill or product then you undermine your offering by putting the wrong price on it.
Just stop and think. It's now time to review your prices and put them UP!!
I recently sat with a client who after working through the basic figures found out he was charging less than his car mechanic but with much higher overheads.
People do want what you have to offer and if you are too cheap you undermine yourself. Pricing right is so important that you do need to understand it and if you don't then get help from someone who does...
Have the confidence to value what you do - if you don't who the hell else will!

Advertising tosh

2008-01-29T15:11:00.000Z

I have just come away from a client and finally managed to stop them from wasteing their money with the advertising con of this century... Fair enough thirty years ago before the advent of the www thingy and after local communities stopped talking to each other they were as vital as business air but now they still keep peddaling the same old stuff that I did when I worked for them in the recession of the mid 80's without this who will ever know you exist. If you cancel now you will have to wait a whole year before your business can restart. You must have guessed that I am ranting on about Yellow Pages! It's not really advertising at all. Where else can you take an order for a piece of timely promotion that will only happen in six months time and cannot be changed for another eighteen months!
Listen everyone just stop doing it I cannot even think of how you can justify the money ever!!
You could try talking to people and getting them to talk about you.
Remember that advertising is self promotion its about you saying your good - well you would wouldn't you!

Networking

2008-01-28T10:32:00.000Z

Been to any meetings recently where you have been pinned in the corner by a salesman who sees you as "new meat" the slightly rabid glint in their eyes and clutching a handful of batered business cards. The conversation starts with "oh what do you do?" from that moment on you suddenly become superfluous and the wide eyed target hound slavers on about themselves and what they do when they do it and why they are the cheapest. If like me, you are allergic to sweaty fools with the IQ of roadkill then take a side step from this form of networking and stop wasteing your time. If you spend two hours a week keeping up with old clients you are doing your business more benefit than all other stuff. Crappy overpriced food in Hotels where the staff couldn't give a toss and organisers who rush around being mine host to a few chums.
Or of course you could try speed networking...

2007-08-29T12:46:00.000+01:00

Well... today is the day I join with other business people and attend a breakfast meeting to refer business to each other.My turn to wow the crowds with a simple 5 minutes slot on how to network properly. Yet again I get on my high horse about relationships and that "people buy from people" then I take a look around the room to see who is still awake and it looks like that everyone is on board and listening closely. At least the message is finally getting through.Its about time the team take it on board that price does not matter at all!

Why is it that I am awake at 3 am every day

2007-08-28T14:23:00.000+01:00

Why is it that when under pressure and I need my sleep that I am awake and bouncing at 3 am and by 3 pm I am ready for an afternoon lie down?
I have been working on this theory that if we are all entrepreneurs in some form at some point we will all be waking early...
So why don't we move the day's start forward by five hours so we can at least have someone to talk to when we need to.