A couple of weeks ago, in a post called Improve Your Attitude, I noted that several people I work with, or had recently met, were achieving very different results and that their attitudes seemed to be reflected in their results. Fast-forward to this week and there’s a great book that describes exactly why this happens. …
Had a fantastic week this week talking to a couple of clients. First, The Riverside Restaurant in Barnard Castle have now officially grown to twice their original sales, with profits to match! When I said to Andrew what had made the biggest impact, he said no single thing, but a combination of lots of changes…
Recently I’ve been talking to a number of people in business who have got really depressed by the state of the economy. They’re suffering from a bad dose of recession depression. We all have bad days, and it’s OK to feel fed up occasionally, but when it happens most days, you’ve got a problem and…
Is your business at risk of doing a Woolworths? Last year, Woolworths gave a last gasp for air before sinking beneath the waves of change, after a 100 year history. They were comprehensively beaten on just about every front by Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons and Asda. And the writing was on the wall for years before…
I was in a fabulous restaurant last week, talking to the owner. The food was exceptional and prices reasonable, so it was great value for money. We got chatting about the impact of the recession on his trade. He benchmarks himself against his competitors in the town, but I was curious when he avoided comparison…
Do you need a marketing calendar? Are you one of those people who has lots of great ideas, starts them but then they trickle out? Or perhaps you’re just really busy and forget to do things that you know are important, but that never quite make it to the top of the To-Do list? We…
Even the best idea without enough follow-through will end in failure, but a poor idea with total commitment to follow-through will get good, or even great, results. Hence business success is so often 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. This came back to my mind this evening while I watched "All Over The Shop", the BBC2 programme…
When a rabbit strays onto a road and gets caught in the glare of the headlights, it freezes on the spot. It hopes that by standing still it won’t get hurt by this strange predator with shining eyes. This strategy comes from evolution. When a hungry beast is out hunting for food, it looks for…
Recession is heavily in the news at the moment. It’s the economists way of feeling that they have something useful to contribute to the news headlines. There’s a great post on Research Loudmouth called Recession Therapy where the author sees packed shops in London’s Oxford Street while the press is all doom and gloom. Let’s…