Fears that Britain’s isolationist stance over the eurozone – compounded by the news that the UK economy is to face an even bigger downturn – are enough to send even the most grounded business owner into a tailspin. 
In today’s torrid climate, when it’s impossible to forecast what’s round the corner, Rudyard Kipling’s pragmatic advice: “If [...]

You may have temporarily staved off the debt disaster – but with the UK economy growing by just 0.1% in quarter 2, reinforcing that we are still teetering on the edge of a cliff and many customers are reluctant to buy – what is your new call to action for your business?
Everyone is looking for [...]

Many businesses do not announce price increases according to a recent survey of What If forum members and clients – and those that do give between one to three months’ notice before implementing them.
 As a business strategist and executive coach I know that, while there is no one “one size fits all” solution, key problems [...]

As we toast and welcome in each New Year we then progress to making our list of New Year’s resolutions which invariably include a promise to work fewer hours and spend more time with the family.
In my experience as a business mentor and executive coach who boosts the effectiveness and profitability of owner managed businesses [...]

We only have ourselves to blame, says Matthew Parris in the London Times, for the economic trouble we now find ourselves in.  
We tried to get richer without working hard – and without increasing productivity.
According to Parris the answer is in our own hands, adjust our lifestyle, live within our means, borrow less, work harder and [...]

It’s a worrying fact but many organisations are blinkered when it comes to their marketing and product development. Too many have their eyes closed to one of the biggest opportunities – the baby boomer market.
The boomers – those of us who were born during the demographic post-World War Two baby boom – will be the [...]

A lot of water may have passed under your particular bridge since the recession hit with a vengeance three years ago.
So much so, that you may have been constantly looking backwards and dwelling on how the tough climate has affected you in terms of loss of clients, falling revenue and staff cuts – because your [...]

The first five months of this year have not exactly been a stroll in the park for most people with continued uncertainty about jobs, inflation and household finances. 
In a previous post I challenged you to inject the buzz into your business and steal a march on the competition by tasking your senior management to devise [...]

Not everyone is motivated by money, was the answer given to a business owner at a recent What If Forum in response to the question: “How do I motivate and reward my CEO who was appointed just over a year ago?”
When closely questioned by his peers it became clear that this business owner did not [...]

“I could smell that things were wrong. We weren’t creating a soulful, romantic experience anymore: We’d lost sight of the experience around the coffee”
This was what famous US entrepreneur Howard Schultz in a recent Bloomberg BusinessWeek interview discovered when he returned to being CEO of Starbucks.
Motivated and fired up Schultz, who had previously taken the [...]