Business regrets
What is your biggest regret in business? When I look back, my biggest regret in business was that I did not engage business advice when I bought my first business. Coming out of a high level corporate role and purchasing a small business was going…
The Power of Conducting a Swot Analysis
Don’t under estimate the power of conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. When we are working with clients this is usually completed quite early on in the process to get an overview of a company’s potential and is a key component when…
Disorganisation
One of the things that we often encounter in businesses we visit is DISORGANISATION – sometimes it’s the boss, sometimes it’s the team members individually, sometimes (but fortunately, not very often) it’s everyone. Other times it’s the office or workshop environment that creates the opportunity…
What is your Hourly Rate?
The question of hourly rates is very relevant now. With costs increasing almost everywhere, business margins are being squeezed at a relentless rate. If you are in a service-based industry where your revenue includes a charge for time, then this may be of some interest…
What’s in a margin?
Lately, most of us will have been dealing with rising costs in our businesses. In particular, the rising cost of materials. This is not a new phenomenon, but the frequency of rises on materials has hit new highs and is not showing any signs of…
Are you seeing what you need to see in your business?
Most people have heard the terms “Can’t see the woods for the trees” or “becoming store blind”, but do you actually know what they mean? It is a common issue with a lot of SME business owners, generally because they are too busy on fire…
Sew, Mow or Row
In your business, are you the: Sewer? (The clothing type – not wastewater!!) Mower? Rower? The Sewer They are the fixers. They spend an extraordinary amount of their time (perhaps all of it) working on things in their business that are broken, or in need…
Keeping it fresh!
What a lovely weekend it was weather wise! It was so nice that it inspired my partner and me to walk Orakei Basin as we do once a month on average. As we approached the entry/exit point, I suggested that we take a new approach…
Reflect to Achieve Business Success in 2022
Let’s face it, for business owners the last two year haven’t been easy. While some have consistently struggled to keep business going, managing through pivots and some hard choices, others have seen their business stay on course—or even boom. Regardless of the situation, business owners…
Is your business strategy ready for tomorrow?
The markets of today move very quickly, often leaving SME’s stranded in the past, as they fail to “keep up” with the changes. In today’ COVID-19 environment, we need to move even more quickly, understanding the difficulties and nuances of our particular market and what…