As owner managers and bosses running product and service based businesses, will you be playing ‘catch up’ with outstanding piles of work this bank holiday weekend – or recharging your batteries with friends and family? A new report into life inside Britain’s boardrooms commissioned by executive recruitment and talent specialists Wickland Westcott, has revealed that [...]

We’ve all heard the expression ‘Turnover is vanity and profit is sanity’ – and running and growing a profitable business is a true measurement of success.     Profit is the amount of added value created over and above the costs, and profit drivers are the five core activities that influence and impact on your profit levels.  [...]

In the countdown to the Equilux – when the day length equals the night time and the snow drops and crocii are replaced with a profusion of daffodils, spring is very much in the air. As a business strategist enjoying the signs of spring emerging from Harrogate’s historic Stray to the stunning Peace Gardens in [...]

Is your industry or sector among those which are trapped in an exhausting, downward spiral and bouncing along the bottom with no end in sight? If so, there’s usually two options which owners managers think are left open to them – the first is to wait it out until the bitter end – and the [...]

As a business owner are you prepared for what may be lurking – or prowling – around the corner? You can’t preempt every scenario that may come to test you, but keeping your eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead is integral to business growth and boosting profitability. I say this from my experience as [...]

As a business owner have you written your strategic plan and identified your 3 key goals for the year? (if you want help in formulating a strategy then check out this post).  The next step to boosting your business performance, business growth and profitability is to get in place a plan to ensure you achieve [...]

If sales are the lifeblood of a business, it’s extremely worrying to hear that while almost 90% of businesses made changes to their sales and marketing strategies last year, only 31% of them said that their sales teams were more focused and motivated. Are your sales people among the 69% who need more ‘wellie’ and [...]

  You need to think very carefully before you decide to exit your business. With all the economic uncertainty and the prospect of low to moderate business growth over the next five years, the idea of getting out is very appealing to many business owners and leaders.  I know it’s not that simple or easy, [...]

Part 1 There are five things top CEOs and business owners are doing to get a competitive advantage in 2011 according to the PrincewaterhouseCoopers’ 2010 CEO report – and they all revolve around people in the business. The full implications of the 2009/10 savage attacks on costs are now becoming apparent as many CEOs find the ability [...]

Many CEOs have ended 2010 concerned about how they are going to grow their business in 2011 – having made bigger cuts than expected, spent lots of time on people issues and discovered the lack of risk management in their businesses during 2010. As a business strategist and executive coach I find the results of [...]