As I opened the door the six people in the open plan office looked around. “Hi there, I’ve come to see Steve”, I said brightly. As a man they returned their gaze to their computer screens. They all had the hunched and dejected look of a team that resides at the bottom of the bottom [...]

Often when asked to come up with a goal people will think of what they’d like to do. That’s great, what they need to ask themselves is whether it’s realistic at the current stage of their business. There’s nothing wrong with aspirations at all. However, using goals to try and achieve them in the short-term [...]

When I run my time management workshops I often find that companies have been sucked into having regular meetings and often they’re run very badly. Here are some ways that a meeting can go wrong: a) attendees arriving late b) People talking to their neighbour (off-topic) during the meeting c) People wanting to only talk [...]

I was talking to a client yesterday and he told me that the most frustrating thing for him had been that he knew what marketing he wanted to do but that he didn’t have the time to: Pull it all together Update the company brochure Regularly update the company web site Agree and release press [...]

For one day only I’m offering you a free 30 minute session where we discuss your business and come up with strategies that will help your company grow more profitable and more enjoyable to be in. Even the best run company faces the inevitable effect of a downward slide in the economy.  And of course [...]

Blogs have been around for quite a while now and we do still seem to have a variety of newspapers and magazines available. That said there’s no doubt that the print media dominance has been severely eroded. I’ve talked before about how the number of readers of print media has been dropping for several years [...]

We all like to think we have a valuable ability to do an amazing presentation to our clients, employees and others. Unfortunately from long and sometimes bitter experience I can attest to the fact that there are very few people who are great presenters from the day they start. I’ve actually sat through presentations where [...]

You fit the bill. That’s right I don’t take on everybody I meet! Over the years, I’ve realised that there are some people who just need some guidance, a bit of training and focussing to develop themselves and/or their business. And I can really help those people, if they’re the right ones. So how do [...]

Car sales consultant, Thomas Stuker, is being rewarded by United Airlines for flying with them 5,962 times. Amazingly he’s flown the equivalent of 400 trips round the world. The CEO of United, Jeff Smisek, was there to congratulate Stuker when he flew into Chicago from Los Angeles. As a member of the United Airlines Global [...]

The Apprentice has been a long road from where it started. And yet it’s been fun all the way. And in the Apprentice final we had Jim Eastman, Tom Pellereau, Susan Ma and Helen Milligan. Before the final even began it was clear that Jim was a great salesman, Helen was a fantastic organiser, Susan [...]

I got an email from my hosting company two days ago. which said something along these lines: “Hello, We have received a spam complaint that originated from your account. Upon a further investigation it was determined that your account has been exploited. It appears that your account is running out-dated scripts or plugins which have [...]

The latest task is in the £14billion beauty treatments industry. The candidates get to see a range of treatments and then choose two they would like to provide to the poor old unsuspecting paying punter. Lord Sugar hastily points out that they will receive professional training – hears hoping they take it all in! The [...]

The Savoy Hotel has been closed for 3 years and “need” 10 items before they open and the candidates are asked to get them. And as the task is about negotiation the winner is the team that comes back having paid the least for the items. And of course there are penalties for not getting [...]

The Hargreaves report, or to give it it’s proper title “Digital Opportunity” report, was issued on the 18th May. Professor Ian Hargreaves, who was tasked with producing the report holds the chair of Digital Economy at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and Cardiff Business School. The report itself took 6 months [...]

So the candidates are woken at stupid o’clock to be told about their next task: developing a new mobile phone app. They have 2 days to design, launch and promote the new mobile app. And the winner is the one with the most downloads in 24 hours. Unfortunately the boys “appsolutely” can’t resist making lots [...]

Lord Sugar points out that unlike a load of moaners out there anyone can do business, although it needs to be something you can deliver to your customers. Task 1: £250 start-up business The first task is to take £250, buy some produce, “add value” and sell to the unsuspecting public. And guess what Lord [...]

I went to a menswear shop in Manchester today. It’s not in a particularly great location, and yet it’s close to the city centre. Plus it has free parking in the streets nearby. I’d popped in once before because I was intrigued by its location and I suspected that it probably wasn’t doing too well. [...]

I’ve put this Hiscox sponsored article on the blog because I think it’s important that SMEs know where they stand regarding cyber crime and can get some specialist advice. New research by specialist small business insurer Hiscox reveals that 75% of SMEs* do not feel completely confident that their office premises are safe from thieves and nearly a quarter [...]

Management training, a reason why it doesn’t work as well as it should.

Apprentices bake up some good results. Still, someone gets fired!