Author Archives: Marianne

Back in the day, an old boss once said to me ‘It’s not about relationships Marianne, it’s about results’. I disagreed with her at the time, and over the years I have become even more convinced that business is ALL about relationships. It is in fact the relationships that drive results and deliver business growth. […]

Is your business on Purpose? Of course there are a number of ways to take that question, but for me, there are only two that really matter… In a business context, I’m talking about process and systems. There are so many of us in business who fly by the seat of our pants! It’s fun, […]

Why are you in business? It’s one of the most fundamental questions that every business owner should be able to answer.  What is the underlying reason behind why you set up your business? The most successful businesses are built around someone’s passion…the business owner who has a really strong WHY, will always surpass the guy […]

My sister likes lists, in fact she lives her life by them…always has.  Go to see her and you’ll always find the main three on the go…shopping, housey-stuff, and ‘must sort out’.  It’s her process for getting things done, and it works for her…sort-of.  You see, she is blighted by the terrible twins of distraction […]

An argument raged on Facebook this week about whether or not some guy had the right to call himself an expert.  It’s such an over-used word these days that I’m surprised anyone even noticed, let alone got hot under the collar about it; but comment after comment appeared passing judgement one way or the other. […]

It has to be said that Process is a dog with a bad name. It’s rarely something that inspires or excites. But it should be…because the truth is that process is a liberator, a freedom-giver, a time saviour…it creates the space between the business owner and their business that allows them to control it, work […]

When does adding value tip over into working for free? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself for the past few weeks as I’ve watched a business friend of mine put in hour after hour of extra work on a customer’s project, to the point that they might as well be on the payroll. For […]

We all want to be better than we are…want to look better…have a better six-pack, thinner thighs…a smaller nose!  We want to act differently…often like famous people who we see as cooler, funnier, cleverer, more successful than ourselves. In business,  you’re positively encouraged to model yourself on someone who has been or who is, successful…to […]

This week I bought an A3 printer…it’s a bit of a beast to be honest, but it gets rave reviews and I need it for my reports.  So anyway, it arrived, I lifted it out of the box, removed the 30 ft of plastic, polystyrene and tape it was wrapped in and plugged it in. […]

I’ve been reading a book this week called ‘Built to sell’ by a guy called John Warrillow.  So many business experts have been telling me either face to face, or in the pages of their books, that ‘you have to have an exit strategy’, that I thought I should look into it. I have to […]

What is it about networking?  Who really enjoys it…and who would rather stick pins in their eyes than go to a networking event? Networking has become a line on the to do list of every small business owner, and a significant expense on the P&L…a ‘must do’, a chore, with very real pressure to deliver […]

On this gorgeously hot summer’s day with the Ashes in full swing at Lords, and The Open Golf testing the best of the best with ‘dodgy’ pin placements, it’s seems appropriate to recognise the example top class sportsmen and women set for business.Not through their occasional tantrums, seemingly huge egos and often appalling taste in […]

Am I alone in thinking that 2013 has the feel of the ‘end of an era’ about it?  People who have been big players in my life have passed away, or look like they will before too long – my lovely dad, my mum’s best friend, Maggie Thatcher, Prince Philip maybe…and of course the wonderful […]

I watched a great programme on iplayer last night about Buck Brannaman, a real life horse whisperer and the guy who made Robert Redford’s film, The Horse Whisperer, believable. What struck me most about the programme, was not his work with the horses, amazing at that was, but rather how much the two-legged participants learned, […]

I was reminded by a friend this week, that bridges are built one strut at a time.Even those bridges that the army seem to throw up in minutes started as a single strut, possibly in some factory somewhere, and were meticulously planned and put together…one strut at a time.  Imagine the consequences if they weren’t…?Anything […]

Why is it that so many good businesses hire people who are unfriendly and have no interest in being of service to anyone, let alone a paying customer? Why would we put someone out there who we know is rude and difficult; who we know will be curt and unhelpful with our customers? Why do […]

There’s a reason why McDonald’s are so successful…why they have grown from one restaurant in the backwaters of Illinois, to 34,000 restaurants, and counting around the globe. You can look at society’s ever increasing need to have their food fast; you can talk about how much kids love their Happy Meals; you can even put […]

When Sir Alex Ferguson retired this week and the plaudits reined in, I was struck by the tribute of the Spurs Manager, AVB who spoke with some sadness, of how young coaches like him had lost their role model…their great example of what it takes to be a manager.  He talked of charisma, of passion […]

I’ve been writing a book for the last 6 months…I’ll admit I’ve always wanted to, but never really thought I would until I went on a business development programme that more or less insists that you write one (KPI).   It’s no Fifty Shades of Grey (…that’s a good thing…right?!) and it’s unlikely to sell […]

Having been knocked off track somewhat by recent events at home, I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed and out of it for the last few weeks. You know that feeling…everything seems the size of an elephant and you can’t see the wood for the trees?! Oh and worse still, everyone else around you seems to […]

I was at a wedding recently where the priest was bemoaning the fact that we only have one word for love in the English language.  ‘Indeed’ he said, ‘we are as likely to love a bag of crisps as the person we are about to marry’.Love is a word that I use a lot…I have […]

I was driving north to visit my dad last Saturday, listening to the lovely Graham Norton chatting to the even lovelier Alison Moyet about her new album.It’s called “The Minutes” and her reason for choosing the title really struck a chord with me: “…we all feel slightly cheated when our life does not end up […]

In business and in life, everyone has their own take on the word loyalty.For those in loving relationships it means ‘true to you til death’, for good friends it means ‘I’ll stand by you even when I could happily punch you’, while for the more emotionally challenged, it’s a case of quid pro quo…’I’ll be […]

I’m sitting here with a stinking cold, having just found out that my poor old dad has pneumonia, writing a blog about vitality!  The irony is not lost on me.It’s an interesting word though ‘vital’ and one which we use and abuse with gay abandon on a regular basis, due to the various meanings the […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about desire this week…what it means to different people…how it affects the way you behave…what you feel and think…how you act.  The dictionary defines it as ‘A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen’.  I think of it as so much more than ‘wishing’…for […]