No matter the size of your business or what sector of industry you operate in, over the last 3 years the advancement in using digital tools, IT systems and software has accelerated rapidly. I'm sure we have all benefited from this digitalisation push, however as a business, what's the next step? How far do you go in automat...

As you rise within an organisation or your business grows, one of the key challenges as the business leader is, you become distant from what's happening on the ground i.e., at the coal face. You may hold regular senior management team meetings, 1-2-1s with your direct reports, and have enough data, reports and analytics to paper your offi...

Today marks the start of my 9th year in business and over the eight years I've been trading, I've highlighted below 10 things that I have learned.  Key though, if you set up your own business, Business Growth isn't linear, there's plenty of ups and down on that journey. Stay agile, as there will always be cur...

Have you ever wanted to run and own a business but never taken the plunge or made that first step? Well, it doesn't have to be a step into the unknown or going from all to nothing. If you currently have availability of 2 days a week and looking to supplement your existing income Want to build a business to either full time or to...

So, you recognise you or one of your senior team needs help, guidance and support in respect to gaining clarity on the direction of your business, but where do you start and who do you reach out too? With everything going on in the world, regionally and locally which may affect our businesses in a number of ways (positively and negat...

Hearing the news overnight of Steven Gerrard's sacking as manager of Aston Villa is disappointing however summed up in former Newcastle striker Les Ferdinand comment: "He was captain marvel as a player; he was the one who lifted the team, who dragged them through tough times. But, he can't do that from the bench." BBC article https://www.bbc.co.uk/...

Anyone who knows me, will know that I like a business model and particularly a visual. One such model is "The Maturity Continuum" which simply summarises Stephen R. Covey (1989) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People multi-million selling book. I have a copy of the model posted on a notice board above my desk. There are 7 Habits ref...

With costs rising right across the board;  How much increase in expenses, can your business absorb, and still be viable? And at what point do you pass on some or all of these cost increases to your customers? The main reason why prices fluctuate is simply supply and demand. When demand is soaring, prices go up, and when thi...

January 5th 2022 was the first day of my 8th year of trading. That's 7 full years in business, paddling my own canoe and in that time I've learned a lot about myself, being a business owner and what works and doesn't as an SME business services provider. As follows are my initial reflections, thoughts an...

Less than 50% of new businesses and start-ups survive their first 5 years of trading, however those that do, tend to hit a glass ceiling when it comes to pursuing continual strategic growth. There are a number of reasons why this is the case and in the following article I'm going to focus on the 4 key elements that as a business owner or busin...

One of the earliest business models I personally learned about (in the late 80's) was the Marketing Mix 5 Ps. Originally known as the 4Ps developed by Edmond Jerome McCarthy, a professor in Marketing at the University of Notre Dam, and proposed in his book Basic Marketing in 1960. The 5Ps are five key busines...

When you start a business and then right through till you exit that business, say through a sale, the one thing you need to continue to do, to grow and sustain your organisation, is market the products and services that you offer, effectively. There is an old adage in business, and to quote Peter Shilton; "If you stand still the...

If there's 3 key pieces of business advice I could share with you, to achieve what you set out to do, it is; Follow Up! Follow Up! Follow Up! Running and leading a business can be full on, there is always mountains of things to do, whether dealing with incoming emails and phone calls, customer queries and enquiries, managing employee's, being ...

An old English proverb, in respect to not throwing off your winter coat till May is finished. I believe this phrase can be applied to represent businesses today too (May 2021).  I.e. not rushing out and grabbing every business opportunity we see and not saying "YES" to every customer whim and request. As we move forward, there will b...

"Hear your breath", "Feel your breath", "Breathe", "Go inward", "Quiet the mind", "Observe your breath", "Find your centre", "Namaste". These are the words I hear each Sunday morning, and it is at this point, that I move from the current week and start looking forward, planning and be...

Hindsight can be a powerful thing.  When you reflect back on when you started out in business, which may have been a number of years ago, and with what you know today, what is the one piece of advice you would share with your younger self, if you were just starting out in business today? As a n...

Many businesses are currently in a state of flux and business owners are having a real roller coaster of a ride. One minute we seem to be getting back to some sort of normal trading, next we have introduction of national tiers systems and partial lock-down. Then Lock-down 2.0 was introduced last week in England with what looked like no li...

Looking for a change and wish to take control of your work / life balance? Enjoy the outdoors and traveling around North Cumbria and the Lakes? Always wanted to run and own your own business?   Well do read on….. Sick of the daily commute, long hours at your desk or internal politics of working for a large organisation?  Would y...

We are well into quarter 4 of 2020. It's also half term, which gives many business owners the opportunity to have a well-deserved family break.  However, with slow trading forecast for the next six months, the likelihood is many businesses will have a challenge to achieve a positive bottom-line contribution throug...

Anyone who knows me, will know that I love referring to and using business models. In fact when in a Regional Sales Director role, in charge of a large team, whom became and still are an award winning team, at every meeting and presentation I shared a business model.  Mostly I utilised the...