These 10 insights come from a long career in advising small business CEOs and running companies as CEO myself. They are not platitudes merely crafted for this article. This list is real advice that you need to follow in order to grow a successful business and to help you through the storms which you will […]
There is nothing worse than the meeting that drags on aimlessly without apparent purpose, and without any outcome. Having our time hijacked by inefficient meetings should never happen. The only reasons we should have structured meetings as opposed to ad hoc discussions and catch ups on the fly are: We need to work through something […]
Acquisitions can seem like an exciting strategy to grow your business, offering a fast-track to quick growth and scale. Big companies do acquisitions! The prospect of doing one for your own company can be alluring….. Before you go down this path and spend time and energy focusing on what may not be the right strategy […]
When the time comes to ramp up your business, and invest resources for growth, you really need to know your numbers so you don’t invest in the wrong things. Here is a very simplified summary of the key numbers you need to know: Sales Where are they coming from? Where do you make most of […]
I personally believe that you cannot change the culture of a business without changing the people. It’s like hitting the ‘refresh’ button. I also know this from personal experience, having had to change the culture of a few organisations along the way, and it can’t be done with a few workshops and bonding weekends. People […]
It can be really time consuming, when you want to track how your business is performing across multiple departments or product lines, or other variables, when you don’t have that information at hand. You have to find it, maybe pull out a comparison of last year’s figures, and then wade through it all. That’s why […]
If you want to learn more about what sort of innovation you could be developing in your company but don’t really know where to start, I highly recommend the following: Ask your key suppliers to come in and brief you on trends and innovation in their industry. When I ran a contract manufacturer of bath […]
Feedback from your clients and customers on an ongoing basis is essential for several reasons: When done the right way, it is seen as a positive thing by your clients as an indicator of your intent to improve and perhaps expand on the products and services you deliver As Dan Kennedy says, “Inspect what you […]
At Board level, risk is a key topic. The Board sets the risk appetite for the company, deciding what levels of risk the company will tolerate, as well as defines a policy for risk identification and management. It’s up to the CEO and executive to manage risk. I think it’s fair to say, certainly from […]
Step 1: Dream Think about what you really want – this is the key. Most of the time we set goals based on what we can do or should do. If this year is going to be different and better, stretch your thinking to what you really would like to have happen. For example, if […]
