Growing Pains

When you are seeking to grow your business asking for help can be a daunting task, but how much anyone needs to know about the business in order to accelerate growth is debateable. Some businesses are very specialised and others more general, so how much can somebody from outside the business really know?
Anyone who has set up a business should be, or should aspire to be, the expert in that core business and there is little anybody can or should add to this. Specialists in this field may well ask advice from that business owner or know of other clients who could use their expertise. But just because the business owner is good at what they do why should they also be good at running a business? Very few are and most business owners are keen to focus on what makes them contented and feel comfortable.
Examples of the business creator being ousted by their board are numerous as are smaller business owners selling out when they didn’t expect “all those problems with the business stuff”. I have to tell you that the business stuff is my specialisation so when you are losing sleep or not sure what to do next then call in an expert – it’s what you would recommend to your clients!

Sprung out

Can you smell it too? Do you know that it's more than just a feeling it's lighter mornings longer days some weak and watery sunshine. Holiday ads, buds appearing, Mothers Day and Easter just a chocolate spit away. Yes; that's right - it's spring, my favourite season. When I lived in the Middle East we only had two seasons - hot and very hot so Spring and Autumn are real joys for me personally.
Apart from the flowery rhetoric and positivity returning you still have to spring clean all the detritus and baggage out of the guest bedroom. Isn't it strange that we are only a few weeks past a really really cold February snap and our whole outlook has changed.
Good times are just around the corner; this is not a government press release or a party political broadcast it's just that it was going to happen anyway regardless of whatever anyone in charge did. Natural cycles are not just bikes made out of recycled paper they are natural a rhythm of life just plodding along in the background. 7 good years 7 bad years heard that one before or not? On a 14 year business plan Joseph had it 50% awesome and 50% crap so let's skip the crap bit! life would at least be so much easier if not better. This must have been the first business plan developed with future risk analysis built in. The fact that it was conceived off the back of a dream only goes to show that either dreams are important or the seriously troubled mind can create a successful strategy.
I have some really bad news for anyone looking for the green shoots of recovery you've missed the boat. Recovery planning should of happened almost at the moment we knew we were going into recession!
Going back to basics for a final comment there are only two reasons for anyone to buy anything - firstly to stop or move away from pain secondly to move towards pleasure. That's it! you can analyse selling and sales strategy as much as you want but if it doesn't fit into one of those two categories then it's just fluff and nonsense. Remembering of the two, the first one is hard wired into humans and happens almost subconsciously. The second one is harder to pin down but worked properly is just as effective. The pain scenario is one we all relate to but pleasure is more individual. If you can take the pain away they'll trust you if you add pleasure they'll love you.

The ten year business plan

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

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

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?

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

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.

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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...

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

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.

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?

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?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.