‘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…
Category: Sunday supplement
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.…
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…
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…
Read all about it!
I’ve stopped reading the news and watching news broadcasts during the week. Most of it is negative and depressing. Letting it invade my mind runs the risk of negative, rather than positive, thinking. Anything done repeatedly – good or bad – becomes a habit that is hard to break. Constantly reading or hearing bad news…
Is your business model fit for purpose?
Christmas is over for another year. For many in retail – and the businesses that supply them – it’ll be over for good. HMV has already gone into administration. It won’t be the last retailer to do so. The new year will inevitably bring more gloom to the high street as retailers, whose hopes were…
Have a Caring Christmas
Today, for me, is the start of my Christmas break. I’m taking a few days off. As usual December has been a busy month but, unusually, there isn’t much that hasn’t been done already. As entrepreneurs we always have one more thing to do; there are never-ending projects and there is always work that can…
