As a business owner, can you afford to take a holiday?
What does the average business owner pack for their holidays? Sun cream? Of course. Currency? Definitely. Laptop? Sadly, probably. The ‘holiday period’ should be a time to look forward to, a time to relax and recharge. But, if you’re a business owner, it may be a...
5 indicators you are using your emotional intelligence to manage your business
While there’s no doubt that Donald Trump has done alright for himself with his bullish, top-down, ‘command and control’ style of leadership, the notion of the extrovert ‘alpha male’ business leader is becoming a thing of the past. Today’s great leaders, like Mark...
Just pick up the phone!
Does it matter if your team emails and messages clients rather than pick up the telephone and talk? Are social media and instant messaging enough to build business relationships? How many times have you tried calling someone only to get voicemail and a slow (or no)...
How to tell if you’re a manager or leader
What do the words ‘manager’ and ‘leader’ mean to you? Most debates or articles I see on the subject tend to argue that being a leader is somehow better than being a manager. Some go so far as to suggest Jekyll and Hyde-type differences between the two. If you think...
Rise of the RoboBoss: Could a computer run your business better than you?
With the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics on the up, depending on who you listen to, we’re either on the brink of an exciting new industrial revolution where technology does all the hard work and we just sit back and relax, or a dystopian nightmare...
Fit for purpose? 5 questions to help you be a better business owner
When you started your business, you probably thought a lot about your product or service offering, the market, cash flow, and so on. But you may not have given as much (or even any) thought to your own suitability to be an owner-manager. Or perhaps you only had a...
Does your business plan answer these 5 unobvious questions?
When I work with a business owner, one of my first questions is, ‘Do you have an internal business plan – and if not, why not?’ Most people think of a business plan as a document that’s written for an external audience, usually investors or a bank manager, with the...
Meeting of the ways
We attended a client meeting recently where the business owner chaired a biannual update for the management team. Meeting twice a year may not seem frequent enough but for this company with five operating sites the sessions work well. Every company and every person...
Are you bright enough to run your business?
How intelligent are you? A successful business owner has many attributes, which may include creativity, determination, financial acumen, energy, resilience, resourcefulness – the list goes on. But does intelligence have a place on the list? One aspect of...
Could your company be stranded on the hard shoulder?
Spare wheel in the boot? Breakdown membership? Mobile phone? Coat and first aid kit? Alternative routes? All measures you might take to help in the event of a problem on your car journey. What is unlikely is that you will have a second car with you. The reasons are...
Downloads
We’ve written a number of guides on selected business subjects that will set you and your business in good stead for whatever future you may choose.
These are free for you to download and to make use of in your business, so please help yourself.