How to manage rising costs?
If you’re a small business owner and you haven’t reviewed your prices for this new financial year or done a budget or cashflow plan, we urge to put it on your TO DO list – or give us a call at Prime Strategies and we’ll…
Why I joined Prime as a Business Advisor
Breton Dobbs – Joined Prime in 2016 “It’s simple really – Prime Strategies was (still is) founded on one guiding principle – a genuine desire to help small business owners succeed by improving business performance so they can enjoy the work life balance they deserve.”…
Navigating your business through 2024
“Know your numbers and seek help to maintain resilience.” That’s the call from Stacey Martin – Senior Partner, BNZ on 13/2/24 from the NZ Herald article “Navigating Your Business Through 2024” Stacey also asks business owners: “…have you got a good inventory management system? What…
Employees value these things
I have noticed a shift in how businesses are looking at the remuneration of their employees. While the specific priorities of employees can vary depending on individual circumstances and personal preferences, there are several common factors that tend to be highly valued by employees. Here…
Business Competition
Recently I was having a conversation with a friend about competition and how it related to pricing. The general view was that competition drives prices down – and that’s it. I said it was not necessarily the case and mentioned food process, fuel prices and…
Business Snakes and Ladders
As a child, I recall my grandfather telling me that running a business (and life) is akin to playing the game of Snakes and Ladders. I never understood what he meant until I became an adult and started a business. Running a business is like…
10 key focus points to run an efficient business
Set clear goals and objectives:Establish what you want to achieve, both in the short and long term, and make sure your team is aligned and working towards the same goals. Streamline operations:Evaluate your processes and find ways to optimize them for maximum efficiency. Automation can…
Why leadership is so important in running a successful business.
Here are the reasons why leadership is considered important in running a successful business: Direction and Purpose: A strong leader sets the direction and purpose of the organization and provides clarity to employees on their role in achieving the company’s goals. Decision Making: Leaders play…
The sales game – a gentle reminder
I am sure you have heard the statistics. Herein are some general comments and reminders about the sales market and how successful people “make it” by beating the sales budget before month end. People don’t see you, notice your advert or even think of you…
Getting things done
The majority of successful people in business are often described as being very well organized and good time managers. Fortunately, time management skills are learnable with practice and repetition. You can become one of the most productive people in your field by applying the ideas…
Customer Experience
You often hear businesses claim that their number one focus is customer service, but when questioned, they find it difficult to define exactly how this is executed and what this means for their customers. It is also important to define the difference between customer service…
Evaluating new business ideas
People who are self-employed generally like to stay that way. If they sell a business they quickly start another one, and successful owners seem to have a ‘knack’ for coming up with good ideas for new businesses. This ability is based largely on their experience…
Should i sell my business to a staff member?
Over the past few years, more business owners have started the planning process for exiting. Something that has become increasingly common is owners are wanting to offer the business to existing staff. What I have found is there are several difficult things to contemplate when…
Do you as an SME owner make enough financial return in your business?
There was a recent article published in the UK by Timothy Adler, that talked of the issues in UK small business and quoted that one third of self-employed were struggling with making a good living. Now that particular statement did not raise any major alarms…
Cause for Reflection
by Breton Dobbs | Business Advisor with the Prime Strategies Group I’ve had cause to reflect lately… I am of an age where people often ask – when are you going to retire? That’s not the reason for my reflection. I love what I do….
Keeping my business tight
In these turbulent times it is no secret that business is tough for some of us. In the last few years, businesses have been loaded with additional compliance and costs that, coupled with the challenges of COVID, have lent to us potentially taking our eye…
Getting through the right doors
Businesses that involve face-to-face meetings with their clients need to keep in mind that they might be knocking on the wrong doors, or that they’re not the only people knocking on the right ones. Identifying and targeting the key decision makers in a prospective customer…
The true cost of replacing a staff member.
One of the more common tasks facing employers these days is recruitment. Things have changed in the past two or three years, and once stable workforces seem, in the majority of cases, to be a thing of the past. And that means there’s a cost….
Productivity – what is it actually?
We often talk about making our businesses more productive. It is common in the media to hear things like “we need to be more productive” to offset things like rising prices on supplies. But, what is productivity? For the most part, we think of productivity…
Burning Goals
What is THE Burning Goal for your business? In business, as in life, it is very easy to get caught by the trivia of the world around you. As someone wiser than me has said, “in the absence of goals, we become strangely loyal to…
This Is Not My Responsibility
“This is not my responsibility” is unfortunately a sentence which is heard more than it ever should be in businesses. One of the common factors I find when working with underperforming teams or organisations is a lack of clarity around roles and responsibilities. As a…
Sales & Marketing
Watch your revenue soar What keeps your customers coming back? Do you know your unique market position? Are you happy with your sales results or does your sales and marketing approach need a make over? Our sales and marketing programs enable clients to realise their…
A New (and Better?) Philosophy
Business consultants spend a lot of time talking to clients about staff issues – and all too often it’s because someone on the team hasn’t acted in a way that the boss would have done “back in my day”. It’s a tough one – often…
A Business Owner with too many hats
They call this a “Dashing Cavalier” hat: When you are at work as an SME Business owner, do you try and wear one of these? The Dashing Cavalier: The person who can do everything? What I am talking about here is that as a business…
Improving Productivity 3 – the Fifty-Minute Block Principle
How much of your day is taken up by responding? Don’t get me wrong clearing your inbox, responding to colleague questions, or texting friends about a catch-up is important, so is getting on with the work that your team and clients depend on you to…