Manage your direct reports.
The moment your business gets large enough that you need to hire employees then you have an employee management requirement. Our experience shows that this is one of the most neglected skills in the SME market in New Zealand. You need your employees to help…
5 Tips for writing your next financial budget.
Have you started your budgeting process yet for the 21/22 financial year? Every business should have a financial plan for each year and now is the perfect time to start putting this in place. Here are five tips to putting together a successful budget. Work…
Have you got an ‘Elevator Pitch’ ?
Have you ever heard of the terminology ‘Elevator Pitch’? An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive ‘pitch’ for your business, lasting less than 30 seconds, and being interesting, succinct, and hopefully memorable. We believe, it never does any harm to revisit the basics, don’t start…
Exit Plan or Escape Plan?
When it comes to the way we react to certain situations, there are typically two main types of behaviour that we all fit in to. A) Move Towards; or, B) Move Away. Neither are problematic, and there will be times when we exhibit both types…
Revive Your Business
The adage “before we can thrive, first we must survive” is quite well known. However, I feel there is a missing step. Once we have survived, then we must Revive. This is particularly important for businesses that truly want to get out of constantly scrapping for…
Theory X and Theory Y
Understanding People’s Motivations What do you think motivates your people to come to work each morning? Do you believe that they get great satisfaction from their work and take pride in doing the best possible job? Or do you think that they see work as a burden,…
What gets measured gets done!
A simple process for identifying KPIs for your business. The reasons for monitoring KPIs in your business are well known, but it is surprising how many businesses large and small don’t monitor any KPIs other than cash in the bank, or at best profit. And…
Who would have imagined the space we now inhabit?
Has everybody’s plan gone out the window in the last six months? Late last year we were all starting to think about the coming Christmas, and the new year was nearly upon us. What were we going to do over the break? I believe that…
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.
Why are businesses so reluctant to engage a business advisor or consultant? Here are the five excuses that we get most often and how we debunk them. It costs too much!What is the cost of not having a professional advisor? Yes, we do cost good money,…
Lights, Camera, ACTION!
Question: 3 frogs are sitting on a fence, when one decides to jump off. How many frogs are left sitting on the fence?A) 1B) 2C) 3The answer is of course C) 3 Because it only decided to jump off. No action! OK, so there are…
Are you an SME Business Owner or possibly looking to start your own business?
Feeling burnt out by all that has been happening of late? Christmas then the Covid virus, then Shutdown? Wage subsidies 100% or 80% or perhaps 50%? Then school holidays and now the election? What next? Wow what a year so far. Are you perhaps feeling…
Managing your interactions and yourself!
Managing your Work Environment In business every detail counts and ultimately translates to greater efficiency, productivity and ultimately profit, whilst making the job more enjoyable. What can I do about improving my work space environment? Below is a prepared checklist of common time bandits for…
Future of business in New Zealand
Did you know?97% of consumers search online for local businesses and 12% do it daily. Are you ready for the future of business in New Zealand? The future is both exciting and challenging at the same time. At Prime, we are confident that we can work…
The Business Advisor Paradigm
What do The All Blacks, an Olympic Gold Medallist and Bill Gates have in common? They all employ a coach. They employ a coach to help them “Create the perfect game plan perfectly implemented.” It is no coincidence that the vast majority of businesses that…
Identify your target market
Fish where the fish are biting! One of the questions we ask businesses when helping them plan, is, do you know the ROI (Return on Investment) on your advertising and marketing spend? The answer is almost always the same, No. And, do you know your…
Seven Steps to Growth
If only 50% of new businesses survive more than five years and only one-third make it to 10 years, what’s the one thing you could do to ensure your company is sustainable? The answer is to create a growth strategy for your business. But a…
Business Health Check
SPECIAL OFFER $295 (usually $995) Business is hard work – we’re here to help! If things are getting on top of you, or your business is going well but life balance is not, continuing to do the same will not help. Often the solutions are…
Planning for Success
In war, as in business, the victor is the one who uses superior strategy against their competition. There are three principles to military strategy you can apply to your life and work every single day. The first idea is called the Principle of Manoeuvre. You…
Negotiation 101: The 6 Principles
We all negotiate something at some point of time every single day.This is especially true if you are working in procurement or sales. The idea for this post came as for quite some time we have noticed an unfortunate recurring pattern, more than 80% of…
Why did you go into business?
One of the first questions we ask of any client we are about to work with is why did you go into business? The second question is, has it turned out like you thought it would? There are many reasons why people want to have…
Business Management Advisory Funding
We are delighted to inform you that with Prime Strategies Group being a long-term registered Training Provider with Regional Business Partner Network (RBPN), we can offer a registered COVID-19 specific service providing access to government funded advice (for those eligible potentially up to $5000 excl GST), for our COVID-19 specific…
Supporting small and medium sized enterprises during the COVID-19 crisis
The COVID-19 crisis has had a significant impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In recognition of the challenges facing business, the Government has already introduced a wide range of measures to assist businesses through the crisis. These include the wage subsidy scheme, the Business…
Communicating Impact and Next Steps to Customers
Here are seven steps to help you communicate the impact of a situation and next steps to your customers. 1. Show that you care People seek connection during times of uncertainty. Companies in our communities play a role in this. Consider a message to customers…
John Cleghorn M2 Interview: COVID-19 and SME Business
John Cleghorn was interviewed by Andre Rowell (Editor of M2 Magazine) to give his view on the current global climate and strategies to get you through.