Category: Uncategorized

It’s that time of year again…my car is due its MOT. I always think that they’ll find something wrong, and I sit there, like I imagine an expectant father must, waiting for the phone to ring.  All those moving parts…they can’t all be in perfect working order, can they? So

I read this week that workers in the UK are unproductive. Productivity is the new government watchword. Of course we all want to be productive – but if you focus on productivity without any thought for quality, customer focus or value for money, you may well be productively doing all

‘I know you believe you understand what you think I said but I’m not sure if you realise that what you heard is not what I meant’. I wonder how many words have been written over the years on the importance of communication. I heard a great one the other

I have a problem with process!  There, I’ve said it! Don’t get me wrong, I love what it does, the results you can achieve through it…but the word itself chips a little piece off my soul – makes me think of bureaucracy, paperwork, jumping through hoops. My mind turns to

I was asked an interesting question the other day, ‘Are you a gut or data person?’ ‘Do you make decisions intuitively or do you like facts to support them?’   ‘Neither’ was my reply, ‘I’m a blend of the two’. We all have to trust our gut in life and in

It’s that time again, the start of a new school year. For some parents there will be a sigh of relief as children get back into their routine, for others there will be an anxious wait to hear how the first day went at a new school. I can still remember my

Are you a good judge of character? Can you cut through what’s being said at an interview to get to what really makes someone tick? If so you will have team members who really ‘get’ your business, who celebrate success as if it were their name above the door. They’ll

I used to absolutely love school holidays – particularly those six weeks in summer. Thinking of them now, I picture sunny days, picnics, hot rice on the beach (a game not a dish) and hay-making in the local fields. Happy days. But then again, I’m not a parent. My life

‘As a leader you cannot blow an uncertain trumpet’ I don’t know who said that but I really like the phrase ‘an uncertain trumpet’. I’m assuming it’s from the battlefield where the blast of a trumpet was a rousing call to arms.  Imagine the effect if the trumpeter had played

I don’t know what possesses people to sail round the world solo like Dame Ellen MacArthur, but I really admire them. I saw her on a hot, crowded London commuter train once – probably one of the few times that I began to see the appeal of being alone in

“Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse pulling a sturdy wagon.”    Winston Churchill Things don’t seem to have changed much since Churchill’s time, do they?

A Leader is best when people barely know that he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, ‘We did this ourselves’. Lao-Tzu (Book of Tao 6th Century BC) The first time I read this, I loved it. Every time I read it I get goose

I heard a story the other day about a man who was worried that his wife was going deaf. One day he thought he would test this out. She was in the living room with the door open and he called from the top of the stairs, “Lisa, can you

Staff! Colleagues! Team members!  Lend me your ears! I’m developing a series of Simple Systems for £7 at the moment – ‘How to’ guides for small business owners to help you to set up the simple systems you know you need, but just don’t have time to think about. The

It’s very easy to get stuck in a rut.  Sometimes we don’t even recognise that we’re in one.  A rut’s boring, same old same old, dull…right?! And that’s not our life! Well what if it is? Many successful small business owners get stuck in a rut.  It’s called The Struggle, and while it’s

Business owners burn out. Even successful ones. And not just in tough times. For those still trying to make it, it can be caused by the inability to switch off, the need to keep all of the plates spinning, to think of everything that needs to be done to get

Dear [You] This letter is to advise you that as of February 6th 2016, your services are no longer required by your business. While your valuable input will always be welcome at our quarterly planning and review meetings, and of course you should feel free to pop in now and

Whenever I think of Freedom, an image of Mel Gibson, springs into my mind. Braveheart!  All those kilted men with blue faces and bad hair-dos…a film all about the fight for Freedom. A film all about leadership. And at it’s heart a great leader. A man prepared to lead from the

Lots of people have read the E Myth. Lots of people get the concept of the three potential roles you can hold in your business. And lots of people talk about how they would love to have the time to work on their business, not in it. Very few people

This time next year wouldn’t you love to have more time and financial freedom? Wouldn’t you love to be able to choose whether you work a 3 day week, or spend more time planning and implementing to grow your business? Having the freedom to choose is a goal for many

What have you done for the people who have supported your business this year? Hopefully as a minimum you’ll have paid them on time and in full. But how else have you shown how grateful you are for the great work they’ve done, or for the fact that they were

I’m not averse to paying tax, as my dad always said, ‘If you’re paying a lot of tax, it means you’re making a lot of money’…so bring it on! But staying on top of my tax records, vat returns and payments, has always been a real pain in the neck…and

If you’re like me, when you go to do your Christmas Shopping, it’s a bit like a military operation.You know what you want, where you’re going to get it, where you’re going to have a coffee, and how long you want it to take. Of course when you get there,

There was a question on Twitter this week about why there are no medium sized businesses.  Lots and lots of small businesses…plenty of big businesses…but very few medium.  Why is that?  Makes you think doesn’t it. It depends to a certain extent what you class as small, medium and large…we all

There are two things that are universally true of entrepreneurs: 1. We are completely in control of our own destiny. Win or lose…succeed or fail…it’s in our hands. and 2. We love to create new things. We love to get a new idea off the ground…and we have LOTS of

It’s September…so as usual, spiders are running amok in my house.  Big ones, little ones, short, fat, hairy ones…all scuttling round the house in search of a mate.  Apparently it’s a ‘bumper spider year’ this year…deep joy for the arachnophobes!  Personally I’m not scared of spiders.  I don’t like them running up my arm,