With over twenty years’ experience in business, I’m often asked how to be successful in business. There’s no one size fits all answer to that question, but I’ve been thinking about it lately and here are my reflections on success, and how to achieve it: Get a business plan written, and each year utilise it […]

I don’t mean that weekend job you had at college, where you were trained how to use the till in a supermarket – I mean real sales training, where you learn how to sell your product to your customers. It dismays me to find that for many business owners and entrepreneurs, the answer to that […]

When our enterprises aren’t succeeding as well as we’d like them to, it’s very easy to make excuses. Maybe we’re ‘too busy’, or ‘don’t have the capital’, or are having ‘staff issues’. Nobody wants to admit that, actually, they may not be putting in as much effort as they could [1]. However, much as it’s […]

Having failed to sell, (when I actively tried), been distracted time and time again by people interested in buying my company and then managing to sell I have learnt many lessons I consider priceless in maximizing business exit value. Most importantly and a benefit I had when exiting Pacific Direct is the timing of an […]

If like me you have watched Dragon’s Den you will be familiar with the phrase “this is a lifestyle business and therefore not an investable proposition”. So what is it that you can do to move your business from a lifestyle to a business that is attractive to investors and other buyers? Making this move […]

I bear the scars of having seen my Dad steadily (miserably and slowly) go bankrupt, losing everything, because he failed to sense check his way forward. At the time I didn’t see it this way, but I now consider myself lucky as those scars at an early age taught me the importance of the fundamentals […]

Over the years, I have employed hundreds of people and always did what I felt was right, using a sixth sense. Possibly thanks to my own lack of experience, it’s meant I do not not follow a traditional process in an interview. Recruitment decisions will make or break a company, so get them right. Every […]

I considered bringing in an NED on a few occasions as I built my business.  In the end I only ever appointed one – in a major transition phase of the business when I felt utterly certain of him and the value he could and would bring to the business. On reflection, and I may […]

As a Catalyst UK Member, working with UK Trade & Investment to promote UK excellence, I get great opportunities to voice my opinions on the subject of export. My mission is to encourage SMEs to stop dragging their feet when it comes to trading beyond UK.  Why do I think it’s so important for British companies to push to export […]

How many times have you been at a networking event and introduced yourself to someone who responds with titles like, Account Manager, Business Development Manager, Executive, anything but admit that they are in sales? I wholly understand the reticence of sales people not wishing to tar themselves with the brush of poor behaviour of others […]