As we enter the Easter break, why not use this time to freshen up your business strategy? Take part in a 10 day sprint that touches on burning issues such as time management, customer retention, revenue growth and more.
With insights and strategies to implement, you can make sure that your business is well-positioned for success in the future. Let’s get started!
Succession planning is key to ensuring the long-term success of your business. As a business owner, it’s important to ask yourself: Who do you trust to take over the reins and lead your business forward? In my latest blog post, I delve into the critical topic of succession planning and share my thoughts on how to identify and groom potential future leaders.
As a professional, you should try to engage potential clients and partners effectively.
But sending out crappy, unsolicited emails isn’t the way to do it. Instead of generic messages, take the time to research your recipients and personalise your messages to show that you’re an expert and that you care.
Not only will this increase the likelihood of a response, but improve your reputation and credibility too.
To save on merchant fees, are you willing to delay payments by months or not even get paid at all? What does it cost you in terms of missed opportunity costs, working capital financing costs, etc?
Once money comes into your business, you have opportunities to invest it in your sales/marketing, service, or other opportunities which have an ROI much greater than 3%.
It’s not about the margin on every transaction, but the ROI and timing of it in your hands
Cash is king and your payment terms can sometimes be sabotaging your business by influencing customers to delay and extend the payments owed to you. This is part 1 of a situation that I came across about payment terms and cash flow, and how you can optimise both.
Cash is King, and this is clearly seen by business owners who have great margins and profitable businesses, but for whatever reason, getting paid takes a while and so they face the stress of having to scramble to meet payroll and other obligations.
The answer is to introduce recurring revenue models where possible and provide incentives and make it easy for your customers to pay you as soon as possible.
Ever been told you can’t bring a customer on board, or you can’t take the opportunity you dreamt about? If it’s from a non-business area of your company (such as the accountant or compliance) it’s worth pushing back 100% and having them give you a fully justifiable 100% reason why – and eliminating 100% risk so their jobs become easier is not a valid reason.
Is your path of success a nice paved multi-lane highway, Freeway, Potholed Freeway, street, dirt path, or pile of garbage no one can get around? Here is the opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade and pave clear paths of growth for a future that can transform your life and one you would not have expected.
Sometimes it’s best to hear directly from business owners on what it means to own a “sellable” business. I think you will find some of what my friend has to say inspiring.
Managing employees is a challenge, especially as businesses grow. It’s important to maintain good communication, productivity, and collaboration within the team. Thankfully, there are simple solutions that can help small business owners manage their employees with greater efficiency and success.
We have been talking about the purpose of business being creating customers who create customers. Here we show the math and the proof. What will it mean to your bottom line? What investment can you make that beats the return on providing an exceptional customer experience.
The exceptional experience gives you the growing and predictable revenue that makes scaling your business easier and better positions you to sell at your price and terms one day.
In part 2 are the answers to some common objections to investing in the Customer Experience.
I stress customer experience because it directly leads to driving up your Customer Lifetime Value, your profits, and the enjoyment of owning your business.
Continuing with the Purpose of Business is to create customers who create customers.
An important aspect of that is investing your time, focus, and yes money to provide a superior customer experience.
For many business owners, they see customer service as an expense to be limited.. not as an investment like advertising or sales.
Some of the common objections are in this post… the answers in the next one ..
The purpose of business is to create customers who create customers.
To do so, you have to provide a superior experience. Are your customers making more customers for you?
“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two–and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”
– Peter Drucker
Taking Peter’s quote I found an expansion of that in one of Dan Kennedy’s BS books. It’s the theme of this short story and my following 3-4 posts.
“The Purpose of Business is to Create Customers Who Create Customers.”
Growing a business doesn’t always require more hours or resources; sometimes it just requires smarter strategies like automation, outsourcing, and delegation.
Automating to help make things more efficient at work. Outsourcing to free up your time to invest in more important activities, and delegating to utilise your staff better and take the stress off your back.
Ever feel like you are a trapped in the trenches of a price war.
You don’t have to be.
Ron Holt shows the power of standing out, scaling up and ultimately selling at a premium.
By standing out he could charge what he wanted. That funded his growth which then made him attractive for a high premium offer.
Trolls beware! Don’t mess with my wife’s 20 years of experience as a teacher and senior leader in the British Curriculum.
When it comes to phonics, she has literally transformed hundreds of children from struggling readers to confident ones.
A reminder that when you’re choosing mentors or resources for your business, don’t be fooled by ideologues who preach without getting results.
Go for the real thing – those who take the time to get to know your unique situation and help you reach your goals
Working hard is great, but don’t forget to rest and rejuvenate too! Maintaining a good work/life balance can be a key to success.
Taking regular breaks to relax and unwind can help you mentally, physically and you’re your creativity – all of which are essential for growing your business.
So take some time off, let your mind and body recover – you’ll be glad you did.
People do business with those whom they like and trust. Do the following to help people feel comfortable trusting you and doing business with you.
When they trust you and you exceed their expectations, you gain repeat customers. The ones who will keep buying from you, referring you, and funding you to help your business grow.
The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most famous and influential speeches in history. And if you look at it from a “business perspective”, it’s a masterpiece in showing the power of communicating benefit and transformation. In short, how to stand out from your competition and communicate it effectively.
Every try to assemble something when the instructions are pure ****. Best is EU purchases where the only instructions are in 15 different languages and they are warranty cards.
If instructions are included, often it’s written by engineers for other engineers and as useful as just telling us to ask the Cat how to put it together.
But here’s the thing.. purchases that do not get consumed get returned. So why deal with refunds because instructions are not clear. Start there and see what happens…
Knowing your audience can be a force for good or evil.
For good so you can provide the solution that can change people’s lives into their hands.
For evil, like poor Mr Ed….
Regardless, knowing your audience makes it possible to scale your business because they are more likely to listen and buy from you.. that is if you know how and when to speak to them…
Five principles of direct marketing can help lift your business out of a rut by helping stand out and stand up and scale to the next level.
Sometimes Schools can give us the best lessons on how to grow a business outside their classroom. Just look at how they are run…
Being successful in business is about understanding the core desires that drive your customers and providing solutions to fulfill them. We can learn a lot from two very different restaurants – one aimed at impressing clients for business deals, and another for throwing a 3 year old’s birthday – on how to create the right atmosphere, understand customer desires and price accordingly.
By doing this, you can outsmart your competitors and attract the customers you want and charge the prices you want. At the end of the day, it’s not about prices – it’s also about understanding and fulfilling customer desires.
This headline is ridiculous because pairing blue fin tuna sushi with sliders doesn’t have anything wrong with it logically, but rather awkward from an emotional aesthetic point of view.
it’s about atmosphere and how it reflects some of our deepest core desires.
Ever wonder why you go to the restaurants you do?
Do you only go because you are hungry?
If that’s the case why go out and not just deliver?
What restaurant would you take a client to win a critical project?
How about 20 3-year-old children to a birthday party?
Pick the same place? If not.. why?
Ever get a call from a company that only cares about price? it’s like a robber calling you to offer a discount on buying back what he just stole from your house.
“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man”
– Vito Corleone
Tips to be a real man or woman and build a business by freeing your time.
Are you chasing metrics such as ROAS without the full picture? I’ve seen so many business owners led down costly paths to optimise this and other metrics, but it’s often the wrong one to focus on without the full context.
At our upcoming Profit and Dine session on October 29th, we’ll give you the full context by diving into the key metric you really need to guide your investments—and boost your profits and cash flow.
Join us in Dubai or online to gain actionable insights that can transform your business
Ever feel like you’re wasting time and money on things that don’t drive results? Jonathan did. He spent hours on a logo and “branding”, only to realize he wasn’t focusing on the deals that matter.
But a few months later, everything changed. He hadn’t spent more on marketing—but his profits soared. How?
By understanding one key metric about his customers.
Want the same clarity? Join us on October 29th at Stay Café in Dar Al Wasl Dubai or online
Are you running the same play over and over, wondering why you’re stuck? It doesn’t matter how hard you push—if your strategy isn’t right, the results are always predictable.
You might think it’s just a rough patch, but what if the problem is your playbook? If you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and finally see progress, it’s time to rethink your approach.
Want to know how?
Sometimes networking events don’t go as planned—especially when you’re dealing with a noisy venue, a wandering toddler, and an impromptu pivot to something far more valuable.
What happened next in one unexpected 1:1 conversation completely shifted the day. It was all about systems, growth, and a game-changing mindset.
For a young entrepreneur, a roadmap she will never forget.
Special birthday promotion to join the monthly round table. Read article to find out more.
Ever tempted to make a quick buck? Does making 10% more on a deal make sense 100% of the time?
We thought we had a good partnership—until a sudden change made us rethink everything.
It wasn’t the money that left a bad taste, but the mindset behind it.
What’s worth more: a one-time gain or a long-term relationship?
One decision can cost you far more than you imagined. See how easy it can be to fall in that trap.
Ever get the urge to just tell someone off—whether it’s a playground bully or a demanding client? My 5-year-old daughter mastered the “teacher voice” and got her peace.
One of my clients?
She fired her biggest (and worst) customer, and within 30 days, she had three better ones.
Business freedom is about choosing who deserves your time. Curious how to make that leap?
Being a business owner can feel like you’re on an island. Your friends and family don’t quite get the mental ups and downs, and somehow, you’re working harder than anyone, yet paying yourself last—if at all. Sound familiar?
But here’s the thing—you don’t have to go it alone. The smartest entrepreneurs know where to turn for insight, support, and the right questions.
Find out more inside.
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