Posted on June 22, 2010 by Nick
Dear public sector employees, I am writing this on the eve of what promises to be the harshest budget in thirty years, possibly in living memory. It certainly needs to be. And I notice that some of the more militant unions; Unite, for example, are already flexing their muscles ready for a summer of discontent. [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance | Tagged: absenteeism, austerity, budget, business skills, CIPD, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, local authority, pay rates, pay scales, pensions, private sector, public sector, public sector pay, run a business, sick days, sick pay, start a business, straight statistics, union, Unite, working hours | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 31, 2010 by Nick
New entrepreneurs, on the cusp of starting their own businesses, generally fall into two categories: People with no idea what to do, but the urge to try something new People with a brilliant/hare-brained idea, but no idea how to execute it In the second category are a fabulous breed of people: the hobbyists. Turning a [...]
Filed under: finance, marketing, sales | Tagged: banks, business, business advice, business skills, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, fun business, hobby business, low-risk business, run a business, running a business, small business, start a business, start your own business, turn your hobby into a business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 26, 2010 by Nick
Off to Leicester last week for my annual pilgrimage to DeMontfort University, where the business studies courses include a ritual called Fox’s Lair – a thinly disguised version of TV favourite dragon’s Den. Teams of students put together a business idea, draw up a plan and present it to the Dragons – no, I mean [...]
Filed under: finance, marketing, people skills, presentation, sales | Tagged: business, business advice, business skills, demontfort university, DMU, Dragon's Den, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, finance, Fox's Lair, invention, leicester, market research, marketing, run a business, running a business, small business, start a business, start your own business, students, teamwork | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 25, 2010 by Nick
I wanted to scribble a few words down about the Budget, but this year that’s proving to be harder than usual. I should say, I’ve got some experience in this area – I have covered budget day for various press outlets and websites since 1995, so I’ve been down this road before. Since 1995, much [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, retail, sales | Tagged: alasdair darling, budget, budget 2010, business, business advice, business process, business rates, business skills, capital gains tax, CGT, deficit, election, entrepreneur, entrepreneur's relief, entrepreneurship, general election, Gordon Brown, lloydsTSB, public borrowing, public sector deficit, public spending, run a business, running a business, UK Finance for Growth | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 22, 2010 by Nick
Corporate reputation matters (just ask Toyota!). It takes very little effort to keep customers happy; yet many companies seem to have such disdain for their clients that they just can’t be bothered to solve little problems effectively. But the customer is fighting back. Thanks to social networking sites like Facebook, blogs (like this one) and [...]
Filed under: PR, current affairs, finance, marketing, people skills, retail, sales, service | Tagged: blog, brand values, branding, business, crisis management, crisis PR, crowdsourcing, customer service, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Facebook, KwikFit, PR, public relations, reputatin management, reputation, run a business, social media, start a business | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 15, 2010 by Nick
I’ve just read this interesting piece from the New York Times, and I’d like you to read it before you carry on here. It’s an interview with George Cloutier, renowned in the US as “The Turnaround Ace”. I think some of what he says is true, and other points are so far off the mark [...]
Filed under: finance, people skills, sales | Tagged: business, business advice, business skills, economy, employee relations, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, fear, finance, george cloutier, invoicing, marketing, motivation, payment, run a business, running a business, sales, small business, staff relations, start a business, start your own business | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 11, 2010 by Nick
I was going to try really hard not to write about the snow, but what the heck. I wrote about it in February last year when we were surprised (again); and since I had two days of cabin fever last week and we’re due another dousing, I reckon it’s time to think about it again. [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, service | Tagged: council, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, finance, money, new business, public sector, run a business, snow, start a business, weather | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 5, 2010 by Nick
There’s a big difference between the political classes and the great British public. Politicians are still trying to put a gloss on our heinous economic situation- refusing to admit that we need drastic cuts from somewhere. That’s what happens when there’s an election round the corner. The Great British Public, however, aren’t so stupid. In 2009, [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, marketing, sales, service, technology | Tagged: beat the recession, business, car scrappage, depression, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, export, green business, import, infrastructure, innovation, innovent, manufacturing, mcdonalds, new business, recession, renewables, run a business, sendsocial, stamp duty, starbucks, start a business, VAT | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 24, 2009 by Nick
Well, this is probably my last post of not just the year, but a whole decade. And that gives us quite a lot to look back on; here’s a list from off the top of my head. They’re largely negative, but that’s only because it’s bad things which make the news… the biggest debt pile [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, retail, sales | Tagged: business, debt, Gordon Brown, tax, internet, business skills, entrepreneurship, small business, globalisation, start a business, run a business, climate change, manufacturing, recession, unemployment, entrepreneur, business advice, food miles, productivity, predictions, 2010, business predictions, growth business, startup business, labour, china, brazil, india, internet shopping, sovereign wealth, taxation, conservative, david cameron, tobin tax, bankers bonuses, bonuses, consumerism | Leave a Comment »
Posted on December 7, 2009 by Nick
It’s been a heck of a week for me. I took my first sick day of the year with a godawful dose of the black death, cholera, flu ManFlu; just when we were gearing up for a major day of filming with clients on Friday. Never mind - all went well. Besides, it’s that time [...]
Filed under: current affairs, finance, retail | Tagged: business, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, online safety, online sales, online security, run a business, start a business, VAT, VAT change | Leave a Comment »
