‘Really?’ I said. ‘It can’t be that hard’. ‘It’s almost impossible’ he replied. ‘There are so few people on the market and none of them are any good’. It wasn’t a conversation I wanted to continue with. After a couple more questions I said: ‘Thank-you for your time, but on balance I don’t think we…
I don’t think I’m cut out to be rich
This week I attended a Masterclass. Amongst the discussion was an exploration of how rich people think. Of course they aren’t called rich people – that would be crass. They are called affluent, high net worth or high value, but whatever they are called they have one thing in common – a lot of money.…
Making Tax Digital has arrived
Making Tax Digital has arrived. From now on, most VAT-registered companies with a turnover above £85,000 will need to keep digital records and submit their VAT returns in a new way. For these businesses, the old system won’t work anymore. HMRC has been busy updating its guidance with the publication of ‘The future of tax…
The time I lost control
I recently had a week’s leave…..and ended up working every day! I don’t say this to brag. In fact the opposite because I want you to chastise me for being so stupid. I know the value and importance of recovery time after exercise (and I give my brain a lot of exercise) and yet I…
There is a Third Path
It hadn’t been a good year. Two of my consultancy clients had been forced to cancel their contracts and a third had had their loan called in by the bank who had appointed a Receiver. Back then I mainly carried out consultancy work for growing businesses most of whom had built up debt. Most of…
The results so far
In a recent blog I explained why your website is your most important marketing asset. At the time my site ranked very badly in Google for the keywords someone would use to search for an accountant in Chester. So with the help of Will Robinson (who gave my website a thorough MOT) I started a exercise to improve my…
Is your password on the dark web?
No of course not. How could it be? Well if you use the same password repeatedly with your email address it is quite likely that it is out there and you don’t know it. Mine was. 551,509,767 real world passwords have been exposed in data breaches. This exposure makes them unsuitable for ongoing use as they’re…
Don’t make this basic mistake
Last week Big-4 accountant KPMG announced that they were pulling out of the small business accounting market. This follows their high profile launch and expensive advertising campaign only a couple of years ago. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who listens to and understands the 3Ms of marketing – Market, Message and Media.…
Don’t ignore tried and tested marketing pillars
Last week I held a monthly call with a client who is in the top 5% of business owners in his sector. He has done what all successful business owners do which is to remove himself from day to day operations so that he can work on his business, he has clear goals and develops…
You may have to start digging deeper
Last week I spent two days, with different clients, analysing and reviewing their management information. In the first case we’d be warned by their monthly management accounts that profitability had slipped in December. As is often the case the reason wasn’t clear from the P/L alone (which is often the case) and we needed to…
