I like to think I’m a decent human being. I open doors for people, help people where I can, treat my friends and acquaintances with respect and courtesy, pay my way when I’m out with people and do what I can to make sure I can look at myself in the mirror when I shave…
Last week I went to two business events that were focusing on the 100 days since the Brexit vote, the potential impact of Brexit and what businesses can do to mitigate the risks. You would think that most of what was discussed would have been pretty negative, however there emerged some real pearls of wisdom…
Its a great feeling when the economy starts to pick up and business starts to be a little easier to come by, but it dismays me when a business owner says they don’t need any more business. You may not need any more business but do you want any more business? How far could your…
If you’re a viewer of Dragons Den, you’ll be familiar with the fact that from time to time a contestant is caught out by some quite basic questions relating to how much thought has actually gone into the business idea that is being presented. Once the Dragons smell a lack of homework they adopt a…
If you are one of the small business owners that keeps an eye on the external environment you may be wondering how an interest rate rise might affect your business. Last week the governor of The Bank of England indicated that UK interest rates could rise “at the turn of this year”. He said that…
Do you treat your staff like grown-ups? For example, how much freedom do you give them to get their jobs done or how much do you trust them to work when either you’re not there or they’re working from home? During the recent London tube strike, which the government estimates cost the capital £50 million…
Can you say that you know who your competition are, where their strengths and weaknesses lie, why consumers might choose them over you? If you can’t then how can you compete with confidence? I work with owners of micro businesses (typically employing 1-9 people) planning how they are going to get from where they are…
Having started my career in sales, I remember I had it drummed into me from very early on “under promise and over deliver”. My question as I’ve got older and more experienced is why would you under promise what something you’re trying to sell could do? I understand the principle of not over promising on…
I was talking to someone at a networking event this week whose opinion is that business coaching is a luxury and as such when times are hard it is dropped. I used to face similar objections from business owners who would want to stop all advertising when the economy was weak. I would point out…
FIFA, the governing body for association football (soccer) needs to get to grips with the scandal that has engulfed the organisation in the last couple of weeks by cleaning up its act. We argue here that the only way is ethics. In recent years FIFA has been dogged by accusations of corruption, particularly the award…