The Business Bulletin - Issue 23

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Business Bulletin

By business owners, for business owners

Spotlight

What

Are you keen to see your business grow? Then you need to keep track of the gures…

Building a successful business takes determination, energy, focus, and know-how. But even the best business idea cannot ourish without one additional critical input; information. At Essendon Accounts & Tax, we love nothing more than helping a business thrive. In fact, it’s become our speciality.

Are you a Family Business?

We can act as your virtual Financial Director providing expert advice through a hands-on approach. Whatever accounting and tax support you need, we can help.

Want to make a prot?

Let us take on the grind of tracking what’s coming in and going out, so we can then model your cash ow and provide you with the information you need to make swift and critical business decisions.

Looking to outsource your payroll and bookkeeping?

Payroll and bookkeeping exist in ever-changing complex landscapes that require up to date knowledge and expertise. Would you prefer to spend your time working on your business? We can help.

Need assistance with a tax issue?

Whether you are a sole trader, in a partnership, a director of a limited company, or simply an individual with a regular income, expert knowledge that enables you to maximise the numerous tax allowances and reliefs that are available can save you a fortune. Speak to us.

Looking for support from a Financial Director?

All top athletes achieve the peak of their career by working with a coach, and we know that every business keen to reach the top needs a team of trusted advisors. We have the expertise you need.

At Essendon Accounts & Tax, not only do we believe that building a long-term relationship with our clients makes a difference, but we do it through taking a practical hands-on approach. Whilst you work on your business, we’ll pour over your paperwork, balance the books, provide you with the information you need, and tackle the tax man on your behalf. We will save you time and stress, so you can enjoy seeing your business grow.

Give us a call today on 01908 774320 or visit www.essendonaccounts.co.uk

3 Warren Yard, Warren Park, Stratford Road, Wolverton Mill, Milton Keynes, MK12 5NW

A magazine that works for everyone

Welcome to The Business Bulletin - a monthly magazine - which now includes regular columnists, a business book review, as well as some audio and video content; not forgetting the great collection of articles.

So what makes this different to any other publication? I’m glad you asked!

For the reader – no more advertorials. All the featured articles have been chosen for their valuable content, not because the author has paid to be published or taken out an advert to get their slot!

For the contributor – you can submit articles for inclusion without having to pay for the privilege or having to advertise. If your article is deemed suitable based on its merits – that it is relevant, good and engaging content and not promotional of your business, then it will be published.

For the advertiser – if a publication is more engaging due to the content, then it is more likely your adverts with be noticed. The number of full-page and half-page ads is limited for each edition and there will be a limit on the number of advertisers from a given industry sector. This means your advertisement is more likely to stand out from the crowd and not be lost in a sea of competitors.

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© Copyright 2022 The Business Bulletin. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the editor or the author of the article. Disclaimer – no responsibility can be accepted for any actions that you take as a result of the content provided in this magazine. There is no guarantee that implementing any of the advice contained in the articles will definitely ensure your business success or have a positive impact. They are presented as information based on the experience of the authors working with many different types of businesses in their field of expertise and are provided as a choice for you to consider if they will be useful for your business.

Paul Green Founder & Chief Editor

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Contents

Burning the midnight oil 6 Amos Beer

What is MTD for ITSA and will it affect you? 8 Wendy Tate

Seven top tips for protecting your business against inflation 10 Roger Eddowes

Telesales just got easier 14 Mike Palman

How do I manage my sales pipeline? 17 Julie Futcher

When ‘Sorry’ really is the hardest word 20 Stephen Church

Human versus machine –who will win? 23 Kevin Robinson

Can I sell my business without a solicitor? 26 Steven Mather

How operationally efficient are you? 29 John Henderson

Spotlight on 32 Eleanor Lester

Has there ever been a better time to ditch the password? 36 Bharat Panchal

Is GDPR going away? 39 Gayle Parker

Business strategy – scary words! 42 Robert Isaacson

The winning strategies for a successful life 45 Dr Colin Thompson

Cost of living crisis – what can be done? 48 Louise Mercieca

Empathy, support and guidance 51 Why so many businesspeople have a mentor 51 Paul Green Book Review: 53 Mhairi Richardson

Burning the midnight oil

Back in my days in the corporate world, my family knew that from the end of September until the end of October I will barely be home. The reason being that by November 1 the next year’s budget needed to be submitted to the board for approval. The process required repeated iterations to find a fine balance between an ambitious-enough growth and reality. The result was usually 8%-10% annual growth, a rate that would be acceptable as a target, achievable, and allow me to slightly exceed it to show how good I was…

The companies I worked for had long-term (10-15 years) strategic plans, but did not have actionable ones, therefore so long as the budget followed the “this is what we’ve always

been doing” principle, just a little bit more of the same was good enough.

When is started working as a SME mentor I realised that what worked in the corporate world wasn’t enough there – for a small-medium business, 8-10% annual growth rate is not going to make much of a difference. When SMEs want to grow, they need a 30% growth rate or more, and to achieve that they need to identify true boosters that will catapult them to the next level.

benefits may take time to yield. That’s perfectly OK but make sure to time it correctly. Once you know what the financial ramifications of the selected boosters are you can/ need to start the painstaking task of building your budget.

Amos Beer had been an executive for 35 years in small. medium, and large organisations, both local and global, and has held all the C-Suite positions, up to CEO. Since 2009 Amos has been supporting SME’s, first as a mentor and then as the creator and facilitator of Stratagility®, a contemporary alternative to strategic planning. It has already helped scores of organisations to break boundaries and reach new heights.

+447870386530

info@stratagility.co.uk stratagility.co.uk

So, the first step in preparing a budget is to identify those boosters. In order to do that you need to run a SWOT analysis to identify the most promising activities or the acutest threats to mitigate. These will be the backbones of your next year’s budget.

Next, you need to calculate the budgetary implications of firing these boosters – what will it take and how much is it going to cost, as well as, obviously, how much more revenue it will generate (or how much costs it will save). Note that as with any substantial activity the costs are immediate, but the

A. Expenses: although your Profit and Loss (P&L) report starts with income, when preparing a budget, it makes sense to first look at your costs. The reason is that in order to be profitable your income needs to be greater than your expenses (duhhh…), for A to be greater than B you first need to know what B is…

So, look at every single row in your expenses and see:

■ How much is it going to be affected by the boosters (if at all)?

■ Will it need to increase?

■ Can you reduce it?

B. Income: similar to what you did for expenses:

■ How much is it going to be affected by the boosters (if at all)?

Amos Beer Stratagility

■ How can you increase it otherwise:

❙ New products?

❙ More clients?

❙ Increase prices?

C. Cost of goods sold: since this is proportional to sales it makes sense to analyse it only after sales figures are in place.

D. Review expenses: now that everything is in place look at your expenses again and see if, and by how much you need to change them because of the increase in sales. You might need bigger premises, more/different employees, training, etc.

E. Look at the bottom line – does it reach the profitability you wanted? If not, check what else can you do to improve it, but don’t forget that (almost) every action you take on the income side will have an effect on the expenses side, and vice versa.

F. DO NOT forget the little things that might add up – paying recruitment agencies, increase in energy costs, salaries, etc. and add a Miscellaneous row. It will be used.

Everything needs to be done on a monthly basis with the following columns:

■ Last year

■ Next year budget

■ Next year actual

■ Budget v actual

It makes sense to have quarterly sums for each of the above, as well as an annual total.

And most importantly – review it every month. It is easy for a plan to get out of whack and if you don’t monitor it regularly, it will.

This may seem like a lot of work, and it is but there is simply no other way to achieve the goals you set yourself. All great achievements are based on the tiniest details.

And it’s worth it – I recently sat with a client company’s management team, when one of them mentioned that in the next few days they were going to get a deposit for a £110,000 project. The comment passed without anyone raising a brow, but a few moments later everyone suddenly realised that 4 years ago this was half their annual revenue. Now it’s “nice to know” but nothing too exciting – it is less than their monthly sales.

Want to achieve exceptional results? Make a budget. Download a free budget template.

What is the future of IR35?

Roger Eddowes

In Kwasi Kwanteng’s recent and radical ‘miniBudget’, he announced that reforms to offpayroll legislation (IR35) are to be repealed as he believed IR35 was holding business back…

The one thing repealing the IR35 legislation will do is free up time and money for businesses that engage contractors! IR35 became law in the public sector in 2017 and in the private sector in 2021.

Kwasi’s idea was that off-payroll legislation would no longer apply from April 2023, and contractors will then be responsible for their own tax. Contractors were celebrating and many businesses probably were too.

There were a number of structural deficiencies to IR35, which came into force in April 2000, and many believe it was flawed from the start. Industry observers felt the reforms in 2017 and 2021 became a form of glue that prevented growth in the economy and business started to applaud the Government for its decision. However, that all came to an abrupt halt with the sacking of Kwasi and the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor.

Now Liz Truss has resigned where does this leave the future of IR35? We obviously don’t know but whoever is the new Chancellor post this mess should at least look at IR35. In my view it’s not the best bit of legislation drafted and Kwasi. With small businesses the backbone of British Industry I appeal to the Government to look after them.

What is MTD for ITSA and will it affect you?

This is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment and is being rolled out from April 2024. This will see some people who are currently filing an annual self-assessment tax return having to move to MTD ITSA and in doing so will be required to file quarterly updates of income and expenditure, together with an end of period statement plus the normal tax return meaning they will move from filing one to a minimum of 6 returns per year.

Not everyone who currently files a self-assessment return will need to do this, the focus is on the selfemployed and those with property income. To be within the scope of MTD for ITSA, an individual must have qualified income above £10,000 per year. But how will this income threshold work in practice?

When applying the income threshold for any specific tax year, HMRC will look at the tax return that has been filed for the previous tax year. So, for example, for 2024/25, the first tax year for which MTD for ITSA will be mandatory HMRC will look at the figures for the return for 2022/23, which has a filing deadline of 31st January 2024.

A couple of important things to note:

■ Qualifying Income applies to gross income or turnover, not just the profit.

■ Where the individual has more than one trade or property business. For example, if the individual has £8,000 of sales from a sole trader business and £4,000 of rental income, their total income from these sources would exceed the limit and therefore be mandated.

Which figures will HMRC look at?

HMRC have indicated they will look at a number of SA return boxes in applying the £10,000 test these are listed below:

■ Self-Employment Turnover –either SA103F – Box 15 or SA103S – Box 9 or SA200 box 3.6

■ Self-Employment Other Income – either SA103F – Box 16 or SA103S – Box 10

■ UK Property Income – either SA105 Box 20 or SA200 box 6.1

■ Other UK Property Income (grant of lease) – SA105 Box 22

■ Other UK Property Income (reverse premiums) – SA105 Box 23

■ Other UK Property Income (FHL) – SA105 Box 5

■ Foreign Property Gross Income – SA106 Box 14

■ Foreign Property Income (premiums) – SA106 Box 16

The figures reported in these boxes will be combined and, if the total exceeds £10,000, the taxpayer will be mandated into MTD for ITSA from the start of the next tax year following the filing deadline for the return in question. Income which is not declared on the SA return will not be considered when applying the £10,000 threshold. This means that rent a room receipt below the £7,500 threshold, or trading or property income below £1,000 where the trading/property allowance is claimed, will not count towards the

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threshold, provided these figures haven’t been included on the tax return. For example, an individual with £9,000 of trading income and £6,500 of rent a room income will not be mandated into MTD for ITSA, as rent a room receipt of less than £7,500 do not need to be reported in their tax return and therefore ignored for the purposes of the threshold test.

However, if the individual is mandated into MTD for ITSA because they have other income which takes them above the threshold, they will be required to account for all of their property or trading income under MTD. This means that, for example, an individual with trading turnover of £15,000 and rent a room receipt of £5,000 will have to meet the MTD requirements for both their trade and their property income.

What about new trades or businesses?

If a source of trading or property income starts part way through a tax year HMRC will annualize the turnover data and gross it up to give an amount for the full tax year.

For example, if a trade starts at the beginning of January and has turnover of £4,000 to 5 April, (a quarter of the year) that will be annualized to give a figure of £16,000 for the purposes of the threshold test. This method of annualizing may not be a reasonable approach for some businesses especially if their income

is seasonal. The MTD regulations do provide for an alternative approach of applying a just and reasonable method if annualizing ‘would work unreasonably or unjustly’ however HMRC have not yet confirmed how this will work.

What if income falls below the £10k threshold in future years?

Once an individual is mandated into MTD for ITSA, they will only become exempt when their qualifying income falls below £10,000 for three consecutive tax years (based on filed tax returns, or quarterly updates where the deadline has not yet passed for filing the return for a year).

For example, an individual has the following qualifying income:

■ 2022/23 – £12,000

■ 2023/24 – £9,000

■ 2024/25 – £5,000

■ 2025/26 – £5,000

■ 2026/27 – £3,000

This individual will be mandated into MTD for ITSA from 2024/25 as the income threshold is applied to the income on their 2022/23 tax return was over £10,000 It does not matter that their income in 2023/24 was below the threshold.

They will then have to file returns under MTD ITSA for three years, if during those years as the example above shows, their qualifying income

was less than £10,000 then the earliest tax year this individual can be exempt from MTD for ITSA is 2026/27.

Depending on the facts and circumstances, it may be possible to apply for exemption on the grounds it is ‘not reasonably practicable’ to comply with MTD provided they meet the requirements set out by HMRC which are:

■ It is not practical for you to use software to keep digital records or submit them, this may be due to age, disability, location or another reason.

■ You are a practicing member of a religious society whose beliefs are incompatible with using electronic communications or keeping electronic records.

You will need to explain how these reasons apply to your personal circumstances, if HMRC has already granted you an exemption for MTD for VAT then for one of these reasons you will not need to apply.

HMRC will consider the information you send to them and either grant the exemption or tell you that you are not exempt you can appeal their decision. It is important to note that if the reason for your exemption no longer applies you must inform HMRC within 3 months.

MTD or Making Tax Digital is already in place for VAT registered businesses and has been for some time now.

So, what is MTD ITSA?

Seven top tips for protecting your business against inflation

With all the recent announcements from the new Chancellor there’s been even more talk about the economy and rising inflation than usual. Increasing costs are a concern for every business, of course, and that’s not all business owners have to contend with at the moment.

Essendon Accounts & Tax

Roger trained at Edward Thomas Peirson & Sons in Market Harborough before working at Hartwell & Co, followed by Chancery, as a partner. He started Essendon Accounts & Tax with Helen Beaumont in 2014. Roger loves ‘getting his hands dirty’, working with emerging, small-to-medium and family businesses to ensure they receive the best possible accountancy advice. Using an extensive network of business contacts to leverage the best guidance and practical solutions, he has been called a Business Godparent due to his caring, hands-on approach.

roger.eddowes@essendonaccounts.co.uk

Roger Eddowes

On the flip side to Government decisions is the Bank of England’s activities. One of the main tools the Bank of England has to control inflation is interest rates, but this is a double-edged sword. Though increasing interest rates can positively impact savers and attract inward investment to the country, it can also hit borrowers, including businesses. So, if you are a business owner, what can you do to limit the impact that inflation and rising interest rates may have on your enterprise?

Here are a few ideas…

1. Put your productivity under the microscope

With energy costs rising and costs possibly increasing as a result of a weaker pound, becoming more efficient is critical. To be able to do more with less will help to keep your bottom line stable. Start by having a close look at your processes. Identify areas where you can make quick and easy improvements. Are there tasks that your staff are spending unneccessary amounts of time on? Perhaps certain processes can be simplified or removed altogether. You’ll be surprised at how even saving a few hours a week will help to improve productivity.

2. Consider automating where you can

It’s possible you’ve been so engrossed in doing business day-in, day-out, that you haven’t focused on making the most of the latest technology out there. Start by reviewing what tasks within your business are repeatable that don’t require a lot of decisionmaking. Bookkeeping and admin should be top of your list. Think about contract creation, invoice production, debt collection, shipping, that sort of thing. Then look at your marketing activities. Would a customer relationship management system (CRM) help to automate some of your marketing? It’s great when it costs less to get new business.

Then, once you’ve done that, investigate what apps are available that could help you to automate these tasks. Don’t be afraid to get advice if you need it. Remember, once you have certain automations in place, not only will your business reduce the time it takes to carry out a task, but it will reduce errors, improve customer service, and hopefully increase sales leads too.

3. Review your regular subscriptions and service contracts

If you’ve been in business for a while, there’s no doubt that you’ll have got comfortable with some of your suppliers. However, though strong supplier relationships are crucial for a successful business, that doesn’t mean the modus operandi you’ve been pursuing needs to continue unchecked.

Make this a time to negotiate better terms and consider hard whether certain contracts still benefit your business in the way they used to. Examples include your

internet, waste management, IT support, building maintenance, and equipment servicing. All these could be critical for your business, but it won’t harm to give them a review. Check for ‘add-ons’ you don’t actually use. Consider whether a downgrade makes sense. And assess whether it’s time to switch to a more up-to-date technology overall.

4. Evaluate your product offering and pricing strategy

You’re not the only business that will be feeling the pinch. Now might be the time to consider offering a ‘cutdown’ version of your products or services to businesses in need. They’ll thank you if you empathise with their situation, and you’ll build a stronger relationship with them as a result. Plus, you’ll stand a better chance of maintaining your margins than if you simply seek to increase your prices to match inflation.

5. Get tough on cashflow

Different businesses will be in different stages of their growth cycle. However, when interest rates are rising, a pragmatic approach to investment purchases is critical. Grab low rates whilst you can, and make sure any potential investments really will deliver a return that will be sustained as a possible recession bites. Then, also consider the money that’s flowing into your business. It’s important that you keep tabs on customers who don’t pay promptly. Make sure you start reminding them to make a payment sooner than you normally would. Keep the communication channels open and encourage them to give you a specific deadline for when they will make payment so you can plan

accordingly.

6. Check the robustness of your supply chain

The last thing you want in tumultuous times is to have orders you can’t fulfil. So, make sure you’re not over-reliant on one supplier; spread your risk and create a backup supply chain. Check lead times with overseas suppliers and see if there is a domestic supplier who can step in; they’ll be grateful for the business. And stock up on core suppliers but don’t overspend on storage unnecessarily.

7.Ensure your HR strategy is resilient

Staff management can be a real challenge when things are tough. Ensure you have access to the skills your business needs, and do what you can to retain the talent that is essential to your operation. Then, with respect to the staff you already have, consider career and professional development opportunities instead of just salary rises. Not only will you boost morale, but you’ll have motivated staff whose improved skills are supporting your business.

A final word

With inflation on the rise and higher interest rates predicted to be around for a while, taking steps now will shore up your business whilst times are tough. Take solace that you aren’t the only business owner who is concerned. The great thing is, with the right support and advice from key professionals such as your accountant, your business will come out the other side stronger and ready to spring forward.

Telesales just got easier

Your sales structure for outbound calls can be summarised using the well know acronym AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) we will explore at a high level what should be happening during a telemarketing call.

Open the call then set your agenda

The opening minutes of any sales call are vital. You must remember that rapport is built immediately, so how you sound is important. Everyone makes decisions about who they are talking to in seconds. This is why it is so important to sound great, as we are immediately graded and however we do will be the starting point of the relationship. We are now at the beginning of the process of building rapport and developing what we hope will be a long term, profitable relationship – so sound fantastic!

When we meet someone for the first time we typically shake hands, smile and then swap business cards. On a call we also have some definable stages that can be measured and optimised. The opening part of the call is where we ask low risk questions which may, or may not concern their business. We might have a common interest, or even know the same group of people. Working on the phone is not really so different but in

many ways is harder, as we have no visual clues and can only ‘hear’ how the prospect is reacting. This is where you learn that different approaches to different people will get different results. During the opening stage of your telemarketing campaign you should keep to a realistic timescale with clear definable objectives. Understand early on that no rapport means no sales regardless of how good your product or service is. The real purpose is to introduce yourself to your prospects, establish rapport, before moving into the business part of the call. Another tip is to avoid being too familiar with your prospect – it rarely works even if you know them! Asking low risk questions is easier than going for a bullseye in less than 30 seconds! Be friendly, but not over familiar. We cannot get along with everyone but we can be professional regardless of who they are.

The next stage is to set your agenda in your opening statement (prepared earlier please). The purpose of the agenda is to put you in control

and establish how the telemarketing sales call will be structured. It also gives you the right to ask questions.

Ask great questions

Selling is about identifying and then solving problems. The next stage therefore is to ask questions in order to find and explore customer problems. It usually relates to one or some of the following areas that need exploring including: contact, organisation, current supplier, challenges, needs, decision making process, competition and finance. We ask questions at this stage for two main reasons. Firstly to gather facts and secondly to identify attitudes, problems and needs. Essentially, we are taking a temperature check.

One important factor here is how we structure our questions and the quality of the questions we ask. Open questions (starting with how, what, where, when, why) encourage the customer to talk, and closed questions (those that can only be answered with a yes/no) give us specific information.

The sequence of our questions can be very important, especially when a customer is only willing to divulge a little information. We need to listen out for buying signals and ask follow-up questions at the appropriate time. One of the key issues is being able to ask questions, then listening to the answer without interrupting. (Interrupting and speaking over someone will not win you any friends!) This is common sales behaviour and customers find it most irritating, sometimes worse. Also, while we are talking we are cutting off the supply of free information coming from the prospect.

Identify needs

The process of asking questions will clarify the customer’s needs and give you a clear idea of whether a feature or features of your product could solve those problems and satisfy the customers’ needs.

Usually, we see the need for our products and or services before our customers do. They see problems rather than needs and there could be a range of potential solutions.

When people buy they also have a number of buying criteria. This usually means there are a limited number of reasons to buy that are of greatest interest to them. People don’t buy for lots of reasons. They have their own buying criteria, which we will need to establish.

The why and what?

Julie Futcher

I enjoy reading sales books. I read them for my own enjoyment and for research to help design training for my clients. One book I refer to is “The New Strategic Selling” by Miller, Heiman and Tuleja. This book is excellent for developing sales strategies for larger businesses with sales teams. However, there are elements of it that smaller business owners can learn from. The following statement is something that I have been reading recently and particularly resonated with me.

“You can succeed in sales today only if you know what you’re doing and why”

The premise behind the statement is about understanding what makes you successful. It’s about the awareness of your working methods and your willingness to refine those methods to improve your success. The chapter talks about “how they found consistently that the person with the best understanding of their own effective way doing things was the one who would prove the most productive”. A very true statement, particularly when we’re looking at sales planning. Understanding what does and doesn’t work and refining your approach is imperative. Why waste your time and money on business development activities that don’t work? I recommend that you analyse them every 6 months. If it doesn’t work, change it. If it does work, keep doing it! Being objective will ensure you achieve your goals. Why not do that for your business?

For any “sales dilemmas” you are facing – get in touch with Julie.

Understand early on that no rapport means no sales regardless of how good your product or service is

Also, it has been shown that people buy on only two levels; Logic and Emotion.

Their logical buying behaviour wants to know if the solution they are choosing is technically correct. Their emotional buying behaviour is asking for reassurance that their decision is a good one and they are not making a mistake.

Present the solution

will usually meet with objections at various stages of the sales process and techniques will be developed for dealing with objections later in the programme. One of the problems with asking for commitment is that we sometimes lack confidence and fear rejection. It is important that we keep control of the sales process and maintain responsibility for moving to the next stage of the process and taking the customer with us. A trial close will flush out any last minute objection. Once you are satisfied that there are no additional objections you can present your solution.

Your final step

Mike Palman The Sales Academy

Michael Palman, a global Master Sales Coach and author. Mike helps people and businesses do more, do it better and get the results that they want. Mike has had a successful career in sales for over 25 years and now helps other salespeople get the sales edge. Mike lives in both the UK and South Africa.

07889 115660

mike@thesalesacademy.com thesalesacademy.com

Having clarified the customer’s problems and identified needs, present the Features, Advantages and Benefits of your own product in such a way that the solution matches the needs of the customer. An important issue here is timing. We cannot present effectively if we haven’t identified their main buying criteria. When we present we must also be aware that we are not just listing a series of features. We must match the feature that solves the problem turning features into benefits. The most common mistakes made by salespeople is to present too much information too early in the sales process. We need to look at the problem from the buyers’ perspective. Think about it and ask yourself this question ‘If I was in their position, how much information would I need and when would I need it?’

Gain commitment using a trial close

Having presented a solution that meets the customer’s needs the next phase is to gain commitment, to go ahead or else for some future action that will move you nearer towards the sale being made. You

Once you have presented your final solution you can then close the sale (or move to the next stage). Remember if you break down complex sales into manageable chunks you will be able to move forward far quicker. Gaining commitment for a meeting, a trial or whatever your objective is means that you have created a logical structure and you have achieved your call objectives. With practice everything becomes so much easier. But then if telemarketing was so easy everyone would be a runaway success – you know just how hard it is and the fact that you may make it look easy is a real skill!

How do I manage my sales pipeline?

Having a sales pipeline is important if you want to future-proof your business. Knowing what business is coming in or when to follow up with leads helps you get a fuller picture of where you’re at. It also helps you recognise when you might need to ramp up business development.

But, do you really know what a sales pipeline is? Are you managing yours as well as you could?

What is a sales pipeline?

Your pipeline is a visual representation of where various prospects sit in the sales process. In other words, how close are they to closing a deal with you? At a glance, you should be able to see how many new leads are coming in, who is nearly ready to buy and who you need to follow up with. You

feed prospective clients through the stages of your pipeline, ending when they purchase from you. Your stages may look something like this:

■ Initial contact

■ Qualification of lead

■ Meeting or phone call

■ Proposal sent

■ Close

It may also be true that prospects move backwards in the process at different points. For example,

a new contact could be qualified and proceed to a meeting where problems come to light and you decide they are not the best person to be speaking with. They could put you in touch with a colleague, with who you would again meet and qualify before sending a proposal.

Communication can be complicated, and things can take time, but by updating the info at each stage, your pipeline serves as an easily accessible snapshot of your current opportunities.

Top tips for managing your pipeline

1. Choose your pipeline stages carefully

While all clients will need something slightly different from you, your pipeline should represent a set of stages through which most people move. Of course, you will get the odd client who wants to buy straight away, or who moves backward and forward between meetings and proposals more times than you would like. But, by laying out your process in as universally appropriate way as possible, you find it easier to place prospects and compare them to one another.

2. Follow up

You could have the most beautiful pipeline to look at, but if you fail to use it to follow up with prospects, it won’t translate into revenue. Not only does the pipeline serve as a snapshot of your business opportunities, it should also remind you to chase up business or pick up old leads.

3. Keep it updated

Each time you speak with a prospect or send out a proposal, you must update your pipeline. Use a CRM system to keep on top of what you’ve done and set tags or reminders for follow up actions. If you let your pipeline or CRM get behind, you’ll end up forgetting to call someone back or chase up a quote.

Being disorganised could lose you a lot of business, cost you a lot of money and potentially damage your reputation. Staying on top of where you’re at, however time consuming it may seem at the time, will benefit your business in both the short and longer-term.

4. Decide how you’ll measure success

Your pipeline and your sales plan should work in tandem. Goals and targets in your monthly, quarterly or yearly sales plan inform how you measure success and how you will draw information from your pipeline. Define the metrics you’ll use – i.e. the percentage of leads converted – and pull that information out of your pipeline at the end of each month. Then you can quickly and easily see if you’re on track for a successful year and adjust accordingly.

5. Regularly review and clean up your pipeline

Everyone has prospects in their pipeline who, for whatever reason, stall and are unlikely to end in business for you. It may be that they’re just not the right fit for you, or their circumstances have changed and they no longer need the service you discussed with them. If you’re doing cold calling, you’ll start off with a lot of prospects, the majority of which won’t progress past the first stage.

If you leave all those people in your pipeline, it makes it much harder to see the good prospects and can skew

Julie has nearly 25 years experience within a sales role and has successfully trained many individuals to sell by developing their own style but using tried and tested sales techniques. She understands how daunting it can be to have to pick up the telephone or meet with clients/customers face to face. Julie established The Sales Ace to support and train business owners to increase their revenue. She also provides a sales support service which provides telesales/ telemarketing, assisting in managing sales staff, help with setting and managing KPI’s and well as one to one coaching.

julie@thesalesace.co.uk thesalesace.co.uk

your data over time. Put a regular date in your diary to go through your pipeline and clear out any dead leads.

Julie Futcher The Sales Ace

If you’re doing cold calling, you’ll start off with a lot of prospects, the majority of which won’t progress past the first stage.

When ‘Sorry’ really is the hardest word

It’s never easy to say ‘I’m sorry’ – and mean it.

We do almost anything to avoid the humiliation. And even when there’s no alternative – when we know we just have to kneel before the one we have wronged and admit our shortcoming – we still try to weasel our way out of making a full-on apology. And we often do this by twisting the way we use language.

‘I’m sorry if you were upset’, which of course means, ‘It’s really your fault for taking it the wrong way.’

Or – as my grandson declared after that crash in the kitchen and he was found surrounded by shards of shattered glass – ‘It got broken’. That

silly, careless glass! We use language to deflect the blame.

There was a typical case last year which involved the grime artist, Wiley. What began with a racist social media tirade, ended with an apology … of sorts. Did he mean it? Was he being sincere? And why is his use of language so relevant?

“I’m not racist”, Wiley claimed. Wow, that’s a relief! For a moment back there, you had me fooled. Clearly, your comments comparing Jewish people to the Klu Klax Klan were little more than an involuntary verbal spasm.

The misunderstood fellow elaborated: “I’m not racist. I’m a businessman.”

Well, of course you are! That explains everything – how could I have imagined you could be both racist and a businessman? OK –enough heavy sarcasm. Let’s get to the point …

The language of apology

Eventually, with the cruel threat of a social media ban hanging over him, Wiley apologised. But – in making his apology, he used language which fatally undermined its sincerity. We

all do it, especially in business. If we thought more carefully about the ‘voice’ we use, we would benefit more than we might realise.

Here’s what I mean. When articulating the apology for his (and let’s be generous) ‘ill-judged’ remarks, Wiley stated,

“My comments should not have been directed to all Jews or Jewish people”

Look what he did. He used the ‘passive voice’. I’ll try not to get too grammar-technical here, but Wiley’s mistake was to leave out the person that committed the action (himself) and put the object at the start of the sentence. Do you see the effect this has? By taking himself out of the picture, he’s implicitly avoiding responsibility. He’s hiding behind the passive voice. It’s the coward’s way out … and we all do it.

Imagine if he’d said, “I shouldn’t have directed my comments to all Jews …”.

That statement uses the ‘active voice’, with the subject, ‘I’, at the start of the sentence. How much more effective the apology becomes. It’s as though the speaker is taking full responsibility for their actions.

Interestingly, Twitter felt the need to apologise for their tardiness in taking action. They could have said, “Wiley’s tweet should have been taken down sooner.” To their credit, they used the active voice

“We are sorry we did not move faster,”

Now that’s a proper apology. Let’s look at a few more examples:

Passive voice

“The teacup got broke” – That was my kids. “Mistakes were made” – There goes that politician. “Your parcel was mislaid” – That delivery company. “Your call will be answered shortly” – Yeah, I bet.

Active voice

“I broke that teacup”

“We messed up”

“We lost your parcel”

Are you contentaware?

Christina Robinson

A challenge around content creation relates to the idea of scheduling time to be creative. I really need to create a strategy to teach content-awareness in the same way a coach or therapist might work with you to develop selfawareness! Creating content isn’t something that gets switched on or off or something that only happens when scheduled into the diary, like an appointment. It’s something that should be with us at all times.

As you read this right now, think about the following questions

■ What are you doing today?

■ Where are you today?

■ What are you seeing or experiencing right now?

■ How are you feeling?

■ What ideas have you had?

■ What are you grateful for?

■ What are you working on?

■ What are you looking forward to?

■ What are you reading?

Even if you think it’s dull, I’d put money on the fact that at least two or three of the answers to those questions would make an excellent social media post or blog topic. Remember what I said above, it’s not for you to judge what’s engaging to others! It is your job, however, to give people a window into your world.

Perhaps I should add a little caveat in here – there is such a thing as too much, of course! Posting every tea, coffee, lunch, and dinner could be overkill! I’m not talking about posting every detail of your day. I’m just talking about having the content-awareness to be able to not only acknowledge that the moment you’re in something worth sharing – and take action on it!

Your phone is never that far away from you; it likely has a wonderful camera. You know your stuff, and your opinions are valid.

You see, everything really is content!

“We’ll answer your call shortly” 01604 726758

And in everyday business communications:

Passive voice

Our company was launched in 2003

Our single malt whisky is distilled three times

Your goods will be sent out this afternoon

Your letter will be replied to within three days

Active voice

We launched our company in 2003

We distil our single malt whisky three times

We’ll send out your goods this afternoon

We’ll reply your letter within three days

Do you see how in each case, the active voice sounds so much engaging – more personal? Even when an apology isn’t called for (whoops! Sorry …) even when the situation doesn’t call for an apology.

Less remote – more genuine

In all our business communications – spoken or written, web copy, email or sales letter, we should, whenever possible, use the active voice. It makes us sound less remote, more genuine, more human.

Just imagine if a rather wellknown manufacturer of athleticwear had used this as their tag line: Just get it done.

Stephen Church Copywriter Pro

Stephen uses his love for language and knowledge of marketing to get businesses more clients by writing words for their websites which are clear, concise and compelling. He writes other stuff too – Newsletters, Articles, Blogs & more. He loves working with businesses of all sizes, especially those who understand the immense value of well-researched and produced commercial content.

07703 472207 stephen@copywriterpro.co.uk copywriternorthampton.co.uk

Have I still failed to convince you of the value of the active voice?

Suppose we always spoke in the passive voice. We’d lose all the emotion – all the passion out of our everyday exchanges.

Just imagine if a rather well-known manufacturer of athletic-wear had used this as their tag line: Just get it done Suppose we always spoke in the passive voice. We’d lose all the emotion – all the passion out of our everyday exchanges

Human versus machine –who will win?

Since Google released the information about the ‘helpful content’ algorithm, there has been a lot of chatter about what this will mean to SEO. Until things settle down it will probably be impossible to accurately estimate the effect all this will have on SEO, however, one thing is clear – Google wants you to have people first content for your site.

What is ‘people first’ content?

People first content is something we have always championed because good story does not come out of SEO. Good content on the other hand does come out of story. So, practically speaking, people first content is unlikely to be created from keywords, but it will almost certainly feature them because they still matter in context. What Google seems to be asking for with the helpful content update is that content is targeted to the reader, not the google rankings.

The approach it seemingly wants is that people are the first priority, not the SEO. If the AI feels that your copy is targeting SEO, and has little

value beyond getting site traffic, it will perform less well.

Let’s backtrack a little before we go any further and remember what Google is there to do. You, the user, type in your question or keyword and Google scuttles off around the internet and brings you back an answer or relevant content. So, we have our first point to remember

People first rule 1:

Good content is helpful because it answers a question or provides the information the user wanted.

What the update that is rolling out over the next couple of weeks appears to be looking to do is go back to this as the driver for your content. So, make your content useful.

One other area that is mentioned quite frequently in their update is the problem of repeated information. To me, it seems that there is a very clear undercurrent that they want you to do more than collate or repeat. So, where you could, for example, grab a series of sales notes about a product and make a blog this could now be seen as repeating information.

People first rule 2:

You need to have originality in your copy and cutting and pasting probably won’t do the job. This is unlikely to mean that everything must be an entirely original idea, (Let’s face it, there are billions of humans all tippy tapping away like infinite numbers of monkeys, so I doubt Google will be expecting

everyone to create Hamlet), but it will probably want your own twist. A development. Something you have added that is good reading and expands on or contextualises the original topic in some way.

Google wants your business to do what it says on the tin. If you are a jam maker, then it will expect your content to be about jams. If you decide to run content about Marmite

to attract Marmite eaters, then you could have a problem.

People first rule 3:

Do what you do and don’t play with attracting footfall by trickery. Google wants your jam-based site to be about jam. So ‘jam or Marmite – Which is best on toast’ is probably going to be OK if you explore that comparison.

If the content is all about jam and not Marmite at all, except for a few keywords in the first paragraph, you could get penalised. Google very clearly say that word count doesn’t affect the ranking, but good content does. So, you can bang up 100 words and it will be fine then? Well, maybe not. Think this through. If you are going to develop your content properly and answer questions or inform your users fully, you are going to need a reasonable word count, aren’t you?

People first rule 4:

Word count is not important in itself, but writing to tell your story effectively is. So overly concise may not be the right option if it stifles the information. It is much better to go with the principle that you should stop writing when you have written the right amount for the story to finish*. Bandwaggoning and unrelated ‘expertise’ are also seemingly in the cross hairs for Google. They clearly want reliable, focused content that

takes people to your site for answers. So bandwaggoning, (using a currently high profile topic to grab traffic) is also not going to work. If you have a legitimate reason for writing about the latest news on a subject, then fine. If you try to twist a current hot topic to fit an unsuitable area just to get traffic, then guess what Google will do.

People first rule 5:

If you make jam, apart from Thursday afternoons when you are a life coach because you did a three-hour online course last week, leave the coaching out of the jam content. It isn’t jam and you are a jam expert not a life coach. Similarly, it’s probably best to keep away from ‘the role of jam in creating a diverse education environment’ to try and grab some footfall. People first content will always be aimed at humans, not SEO. Trying to squeeze keywords into blogs and websites will now, even more than ever, most likely result in unsuitable content that doesn’t bring people to your site. Producing well-written, people first content, that is useful and personal to your voice on the other hand, will likely meet the needs of the new algorithm and automatically produce appropriate keywords in the right context.

No, very much the opposite. Good, well-written, human-centric, content, produced by a creative, story-based, writer seems to be very much at the heart of Google’s approach. A good copywriter is now needed more than ever because writing for SEO is machine based but ‘people first’ content means writing for humans.

– This is

all the rules above will still work regardless because they are just good copywriting.

Does this mean you shouldn’t outsource to a copywriter?

Can I sell my business without a solicitor?

Are you thinking about selling your business? Even if you’ve done it a hundred times before, there’s a number of very good reasons why you should probably use a solicitor to sell your business.

You might be tempted to deal with the selling of your business without a solicitor. I mean, you’ll save several thousands of pounds, if not tens of thousands. But the law surrounding selling a business is not straightforward and getting it wrong is likely to be incredibly costly!

Say you’re selling your business for £1.5 million. I’m quite sure you’d prefer to have 100% of that paid

and in your account to enjoy, invest, retire, or spend (whatever your preference). The last thing you’ll want is the buyer making a claim, which could involve repaying the whole purchase price(!). No, it would be better to ensure you have a great business sale solicitor to protect you in the negotiations.

A good lawyer with business sales, tax and due diligence experience will keep you informed throughout the process with valuable advice.

Understand the legal process

3. The seller makes disclosures against any warranties.

4. Completion – you get your money!

If you’re attempting to sell your business without a solicitor, you’ll need to handle all of this yourself.

What documents are needed to sell a business without a solicitor?

The first part of the process is the answering of information requests from the buyer and provision of so called due diligence. This will include all the related documents supporting each question asked, and may include

Steven Mather

Steven Mather Solicitor

Steven Mather is a Consultant Solicitor and specialist in advising SMEs

on all legal issues affecting their business

– from contracts, employees, intellectual property or disputes. He qualified as a lawyer in 2008 and in January 2020 set up on his own in order to deliver extremely high quality & efficient services to SMEs.

0116 3667 900

steven@stevenmather.co.uk stevenmather.co.uk

Before you start selling your business, you need to understand the legal process involved. You should also consider hiring a solicitor to help with the sale. If you do decide to go through the process yourself, here’s what you need to know.

There are two primary methods of selling your business – an asset purchase or a share purchase. While the documents are different the process is similar:

1. The buyer carries out legal due diligence.

2. The transaction documents are prepared, reviewed, negotiated and finalised.

■ Tax returns

■ Balance sheets

■ Reports from Auditors

■ Lists of Assets

■ VAT registration details

■ Licences

■ IP ■ Funding/loan/bank information

The more historical business records you have, the better. If you’ve had regular business audits, be sure to compile this information as it’s valuable to your prospective buyer.

What legal documents are used to sell a business?

As mentioned above, there’s two primary types of business sales:

1. Asset Sale/Purchase – in which case the agreement will be an Asset Purchase Agreement (known as an APA) or Business Purchase Agreement or Business Transfer Agreement

2. Share Sale/Purchase – in which case the agreement will be a Share Purchase Agreement or SPA

Usually the buyer (or buyer’s legal team) prepares these documents, but there’s plenty of other documents which as a seller you’d usually prepare and these include:

■ Replies to information requests

It’s everywhere you look

Russell Parker

Those of you connected to my LinkedIn network would have seen a couple of posts recently of airport departure boards. I was curious to know on one level where people would have chosen as their destination and on another, I could see a potential link to service management principles. Yeah, I know, I need to get out more!

When I planned my journey from Birmingham airport to Malta, I was keen to try and make the trip in one flight. Linear delivery (see last month’s bulletin) you could say. Because of various time, budget and flight service availability constraints though, this wasn’t possible.

Next best thing was an iterative approach and break the task into separate pieces. So when I posted the first picture and asked the question ‘where should we go today?’. My first destination was on the board but not my final one.

I got some replies back suggesting places, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Channel Islands to name a few though none got mine which was Zurich.

We are all moving in our own directions, some can get there in one leap but if we can’t then we should consider breaking our service improvements down into smaller, easier to deliver chunks that move us towards our ultimate goal. We still need that holistic vision of our destination as it keeps us moving toward it step by step. Crucially it is movement toward our goal and not just looking at the whole journey and thinking it’s not possible.

If we don’t know where we are going then any plane will do, exciting as that may seem it may not be where we want to be.

Take a look at the next Agile workshop at the Red Bull Formula 1 factory.

630355 enquiries@qrbmc.com qrbmc.com

■ The Disclosure Letter

■ Board Minutes

■ Stock Transfer Form

■ Indemnity for Lost Share Certificate

■ and other ancillary documents.

So when considering whether to sell your business without a solicitor, make sure you have access to these documents or you’ll find it even harder.

Why use a solicitor when selling a business?

First and foremost, because you will be able to rely upon their expertise in

selling businesses. A good business sale solicitor will give you advice on the deal, the words on the page, how to protect your interests, what disclosures to make and how, how to minimise the impact of the warranties, restrictions, and much, much more.

A business sale solicitor will also be insured – get it wrong yourself and you’ve only you to blame – but if a solicitor somehow gets it wrong, then you can claim off their insurance.

There are often hundreds of pages of complex legal documents in a business sale. Each word and sentence, if wrong, could be very costly. So be prepared to go through tens of thousands of words to make

sure there’s no gaps or loopholes for the buyer.

If you’ve decided you don’t need a solicitor when selling your business then GOOD LUCK to you. However, if you determine that having a solicitor might be a good idea then you’ll want to look for a business sale solicitor who is experienced, who does business sales a lot, is recommended, and who is approachable and contactable.

to make a

difference in

BENEFITS OF BEING A SUPPORTING US:

• Opportunity

•

why

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nominate

of the NCA

Charities

• Regular charity updates and stories

those

• Significant local networking opportunities.

How operationally efficient are you?

There is an old adage in transport – you can have whatever you want, as long as you are prepared to pay for it. Truth be told it applies to most industries. If resources are unlimited, most demands can be met. But this set of circumstances rarely takes place. Perhaps an urgent order where a factory line has stopped or a sample for an important presentation. But the reality is the vast majority of operational activity is closely monitored and governed to make sure it is efficient.

How do we ensure we get the best from systems and humans to achieve operational efficiency?

But what do we mean by efficiency? Efficiency is concerned with minimising waste or effort, whilst still delivering an effective outcome. Or more broadly managing systems and resources to deliver a product with minimum waste. This is known as operational efficiency. Where time and effort is spent monitoring reviewing and correcting performance using real time data analysis.

Technology has enabled us to utilise systems to manage this operational efficiency. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for example are a trusted and reliable approach. Co-ordinating, calculating and then presenting the information to drive operational efficiency. The next steps are already being seen with the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make decisions in the operational efficiency realm as part of the transition to a more digitalised workplace.

Whilst these developments advance what can be achieved, it is worth exploring if we can use anything to complement these outcomes and achieve more.

The providers of technology ensure their scoping, training and implementation process is very accurate and responsive, but are we missing additional interventions to

run along side these developments? Is there more that can be done to boost operational efficiency?

Perhaps this can be crudely demonstrated by David Walliams infamous ‘computer says no’ sketch about a particularly abrupt and unhelpful travel agent from the BBC TV comedy Little Britain. This level of inflexibility with systems is one of our potential human foibles. How do we ensure we get the best from systems and humans to achieve operational efficiency? Here are five steps we can take to ensure we achieve this:

1. Skills of observation, information gathering and communication. The ability to look at key information, collate and ask questions is obvious, but so often underutilised. Technology will provide the information, but it needs to be interpreted, understood and in context. Only 25% of employees felt fully prepared to use data effectively according to a recent survey1. Training will tell you how an operation or system works, but what to do with the information is perhaps a little more subjective. Communication of these findings in both directions has to be clear and concise. Misunderstandings create confusion and waste resources.

2. Ability to look beyond the obvious, examine and fully understand information.

The ability to analyse something, by breaking it down, removing bias and look at the unconventional can help us spot issues, patterns and broaden general understanding on some of the operation’s features. Too often the adages of ‘it always does this’ or ‘this is how things are done’ means opportunities to identify waste and improve are lost. In addition, over-reliance on a system risks the ‘computer says no’ issue as above. Creating a level of complacency, which is hard to change.

3. Confidence to think ahead, remove silos and identify how resources can be used in a better way.

Operations departments can settle into a reactionary approach to problems. Often down to other pressures or underuse and examination of what the key performance information is advising them. By making time to step back and start to look at things unconventionally, to image and to be curious forms the basis of continuous improvement. Thinking differently can provide solutions to problems that have bedevilled a business. Innovation starts with thinking differently and removing pre-conceptions, allowing freedom to play with ideas and explore. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Observed Albert Einstein.

4. Confidence and ability to monitor, prioritise and plan effectively. Once we have effective questioning, examining and understanding of key outputs we are in a much better place to build a way of working solution to constantly achieve operational efficiency. We can combine what we know from

the outputs, with innovation from thinking unconventionally. We can monitor what is required to achieve business objectives and ‘think on our feet’ with unconventional solutions to solve real-time efficiency issues that are presented.

5. Ability to take a step back and learn lessons to achieve better outcomes.

We can draw conclusions and ask what we could have done better. This forms an integral part to an ongoing commitment to operational efficiency. We can dig into outputs from operational systems and ask do they fit the brief? So, for example we may have introduce a new shift pattern, what impact does this have

on minimising waste and maximising resource use? This is a key feature of learning and improvement. Without careful review of our progress how can we learn lessons and improve?

In order to achieve operational efficiency, we need to use all available tools. Systems can provide a considerable amount of information and control and are highly effective. But, when combined with the fundamental human skills of critical thinking, lateral thinking and problem solving the potential is vastly increased. This goes to the heart of industry 5.0, which is rapidly approaching on the horizon .

(1) The Data Literacy Project – 2020

John is a partner in a training and consultancy business. The focus is developing people with the skills needed to optimise business performance. They train in the fundamental human skills of critical thinking, lateral thinking and problem solving to be applied to the business objectives of quality, efficiency and growth.

394475

john@sarapenrose.co.uk sarapenrose.co.uk

John Henderson Sara Pensrose Ltd

Spotlight on Eleanor Lester

Eleanor Lester runs Shrewd PR. She is a PR and marketing consultant and helps businesses to manage their reputation both in the media and through all the communications that they put out.

How did you end up where you are today? What was your business journey?

I actually started out as a receptionist for a London based PR agency. I'd left university and PR wasn't really on the horizon. I thought I was going to be a buyer for Fenwicks, but that didn't work out. In chatting to all sorts of people, it became apparent that I had good communication skills that could be used in a PR and marketing sphere.

So, I started to put some feelers out and applied for your very basic junior account roles. In common with a lot of youngsters today, I got rejection after rejection - primarily because I didn't have any experience. I finally came across an advert in PR

week for a receptionist at a London agency, I got an interview. During the interview, I said to the MD, “Look, I see this as a foot in the door, what I really, really want to do is actually work on the account side.” I don't know whether it was the fact that she saw a kindred spirit or what, but I got the job!

Then I worked my way up to working with one of the account teams - doing all the very basic menial tasks like clipping the coverage and putting together the clippings booklets for the clients on a monthly basis. On the back of that I got an opportunity to work on one of the computer games clients that we were working with and started to place regional competitions in the

days where you had a plethora of regional newspapers and they were always looking for space to fill.

With the advent of social media over the last decade, what changes have you seen in terms of how you approach PR for your clients now?

I think there's been a massive change. PR is much more readily available to everybody. The important thing to remember is that because it's about reputation, and it's about managing your reputation, it pervades every single communication that you put out. We need to be careful and considered in our approach with the use of social media: what we put

out on our LinkedIn pages, what we're putting out through our blogs, and every platform we use.

When social media started to become more widely utilised the term "Citizen Journalist" was coined. I think to an extent that is right, these platforms give us the ability to get our messages out there and they also allow us to comment and give our view point. It's really important to use social media wisely and to build a relationship with your target audience.

The thing that struck me when I was starting out, and when we came to set up Shrewd PR was that there were businesses out there who were wanting to communicate, but just didn't know how to go about doing

it - they were looking for a holistic approach.

They wanted to make sure that their marketing messages dovetailed with their PR. I think that is the important thing. Where the industry has changed considerably is the fact that with all these opportunities, we can be much more consistent in our approach to putting out our messages using all these platforms.

What would you say are the most important outlets from a PR perspective?

It depends on what messages you're trying to get out. In terms of working with social media, that is a very good way of actually building a rapport with your community, you can be quite niche in doing that.

If you have got a story that you want to get out to a wider audience, then something like the broadcast media and the BBC can be quite useful. If we look at the way in which the pandemic has potentially affected all our communication, and the opportunity, certainly within local BBC radio for local businesses to shine, and really put themselves out there; showing how they are working within their community to help and support has been tremendous.

It's difficult to say which one actually necessarily leads over the other, I think it depends on who you are, and what your target audience potentially is. I would certainly say that if you are starting out, then working within the social media arena, and working with bloggers and influencers can be quite cost effective, and quite an easy way to start to build that relationship to get the word out there.

Because everybody is on social media all the time, it's easy for us to interact. As a business we can follow people, and we can then interact in that way. People are much more accessible. Whereas working with a traditional journalist can be more challenging, you have to get

through a switchboard or an email first. Whereas, if you're approaching a company direct through social media, you have the opportunity to send them a direct message and tell them a little bit about yourself from there.

Do you find you have to be more responsive more quickly now with social media?

With social media you most definitely have to be aware of what is going on and how people are reacting to your content. Brands are very aware of the pitfalls and have teams in place to respond to any negativity. As a general rule of thumb think before you post and if you’re not sure how something will pan out run is past a trusted colleague or contact first.

If you're approaching any person within the media, you have to be really careful. You have to set your goals. Don't ever treat anything as being off the record. Many years ago I forgot this advice and found comments that I thought had been made off the record published in print. I was very lucky that I'd not said anything controversial but it was certainly a surprise to see my words in print!

There can also be times when you have a journalist contact you

You have to be ready to respond quite quickly and be careful what you post on social media

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX4kPptAnF4

…working with bloggers and influencers can be quite cost effective

with a tight deadline for a story that they're working on. My most recent experience of this was an email at 5pm on Friday with a requirement for copy to be with the journalist by 12noon on the Monday. Thankfully with a bit a co-ordination between me and client we met the deadline.

What’s your why - what drives you each day to fight the good fight?

I think I've been very fortunate. I have a really lovely group of clients to work with and no two days are ever the same. They all have their own challenges. I think that it's also the fact that because I take a holistic approach, I’m involved with all their marketing activities. We look at what their next launches might be, what their next challenges might be. I love a challenge. Also, I really enjoy speaking to journalists and getting coverage; seeing my client’s names up in lights.

That could be on a website, in print, or a broadcast interview. Or when an influcencer picks up on a client and choses to tell their followers about them. It's great to see when the PR activity really starts to make a difference for clients, when their phones start to ring or their order numbers go up. Whilst you can't necessarily directly attribute it to PR, the fact that you've got coverage, increases their

brand awarenss and develops their credibility – it all helps.

Does it have more impact with a journalist or someone receiving a story if it's coming from a PR professional like you?

I definitely think working with a PR consultant can actually open doors for you. PR consultants will have a contact book of journalists that they work with, which means that they’ll know who to target your story to. . Having said that, a good story by itself will always out. You don't necessarily have to be with a PR company, but it can certainly help. In my experience, most clients will say that they find it easier to get those opportunities by working with a consultant or an agency.

Are there any particular clients that you prefer to work with?

On the basis that every company, from my viewpoint, needs PR and marketing, I will work with any SME and micro business. I don't have a particular niche. The one area that I've never worked in is technology. I’ve worked with a broad range of clients from franchise businesses, fashion, beauty, homewares, drinks and lifestyle brands. The right client for me is somebody who understands that they could do with some PR and marketing help. Either

they have a team and they need some outside expertise or they've tried it, they found that actually it takes an awful lot of time and they want to outsource it.

Outside of the pandemic, what’s the biggest problem you have faced?

There are a couple of things I think, in common with most small businesses, it's finding your clients, and making sure that you've got that lead generation coming in.

The other thing is being aware of all the new types of PR on the horizon and being able to adapt to that. When blogs, social media and digital PR started to become apparent, there was a shift in clients starting to use them. It was honing your skills for new media. What will be the next big thing, can you see what's coming, look at how it could be used from a client perspective and help to move it forward.

I remember many years ago having a conversation with a client, just as Twitter started to come to the fore, and we were talking about how that might possibly work for them. At that stage we decided that we were going to just watch and see what was happening. After watching what was going on within the Twittersphere for a while we began to realise that we could use it to put out the odd little tip here and there and direct people to areas of interest on their website. It also provided us with a platform that we could use to engage with journalists and the client’s target audience.

So, the biggest challenge remains to keep up with the constant changing face of PR in the digital world.

Has there ever been a better time to ditch the password?

Raise your hand if you hate entering passwords….

Now keep your hand raised if you happen to use the same password for multiple accounts or services. Yes, lots of people do this, and it’s a leading cause for users getting hacked.

Think about it. If someone can gain your password for a single service — either through a data breach, social engineering, or phishing attack — your identity and personal information could be compromised. This can lead to anything from people spying on you covertly to hackers stealing money

from your bank account. But there are alternatives to manually entering passwords. Major vendors, like RSA SecurID, have banded together via the FIDO Alliance to replace passwords for good.

Password keys are unique digital keys that are easy to use, more secure, never stored on a web server and stay on your device and hackers can’t steal passkeys in a data breach or trick users into sharing them.

Passwords are key to protecting everything we do online today, from

everything we communicate to all of our finances but they are also one of the biggest attack vectors and security vulnerabilities users face today.

Identity authentication uses Touch ID or Face ID for biometric verification, and with end-to-end encryption.

Authentication utilises a private key, which is a secret and stored on your device, and a public key that goes on a web server. Phishing is virtually impossible because

you never present the private key; you merely authenticate using your device.

Face ID and Touch ID verification give the convenience and biometrics as an example.

So, despite all the previous hype around killing the password for good, this time it could be happening for real.

This isn’t a future dream to replace passwords, it is about completely replacing passwords, and it’s starting now.

Passwordless Authentication: The time is now, and help is here

Hard to remember and easy to breach passwords have always posed a security problem for organisations. But the problem has become much more critical now, with growing numbers of people accessing applications and data from far beyond traditional security perimeters. To successfully secure applications and data in the digital world, organisations need secure access that doesn’t rely on passwords. But how do you go from a passwordsfor-everything approach to a passwordless future? By taking it one step at a time, on a path paved by these best practices:

Take a gradual approach that’s easy on users

Passwords may be a pain to deal with, but people have become comfortable with them over time. Moving away from passwords gradually will make it easier for users to transition successfully to a new way of authenticating. Begin by adopting modern authentication methods – biometrics, FIDO, OTP, etc. – in conjunction with, rather than in place of, passwords. It’s a less disruptive approach that helps ensure users stay productive as they adapt to the change.

Make authenticating both secure and convenient

The point of moving beyond passwords is improving your security posture, of course – but it’s important to do so without sacrificing convenience for users in the process. A key part of achieving this balance is implementing risk intelligence to determine how and when step-up authentication is needed. This can be a gradual process that moves from static policies to conditional access to dynamic, real-time risk-scoring.

10 benefits of bespoke business software

Ashish Kumar

There are various options for software that can help run your business. You may be using off-theshelf solutions, however it may be time to look at a bespoke package. Here are the reasons why:

Offers complete ownership and individually crafted solution so businesses don’t have to change how they work and try to adapt to the software.

Simpler integration with other systems and departments across the business. It can integrate into other needed parts of the business without any compromise.

Offers complete flexibility and scalability – can grow or shrink with the business accordingly. As we all know business is always evolving and any software needs to follow the direction of the business.

Easier to maintain and get all the support needed to keep up to date all the time.

Follows the complete workflow of the business and streamlines in-house processes without having to compromise the existing working style of the business.

Return on investment especially in the longer run.

Distinction and competitive advantage over competition that puts you ahead of the game.

Full control of data and business processes; offering complete independence.

Needs time and money initially, but very costeffective and saves lots of time and money moving forward. Proven to be much more profitable in the longer term.

Offers greater control, simplicity, and using bespoke software is much more effective and efficient.

Unsure what solution will work best for your business? Get in touch to explore further.

Apply strong authentication at weak points

The risk of compromised credentials is highest at the weakest points in the credential lifecycle, including enrolment, password reset and emergency access. In the transition to passwordless authentication, make these the first points protected by biometrics, FIDO devices and other strong authentication methods that don’t rely on traditional passwords.

Keep your eyes on the prize

You’re not going to eliminate passwords overnight, and you may have some systems and applications – both legacy and SaaS – that will continue to require passwords for a time, if only for a small subset of users. Ultimately, though, ending costly large-scale password management, reducing the risk of a credentialsbased breach, improving the user experience and other benefits make moving to a passwordless future well worth the initial effort.

Historically, organisations offered remote work options as a way to attract and retain top talent.

Equally, it was an opportunity to act as a competitive differentiator and enable agility.

But, as remote operations become the norm, companies can employ exactly the right person for the job. No longer is it relevant where your staff lives, in relation to your offices; the world has opened up.

However, remote work options can bring their own issues. For instance, it is critical that organisations have the right level of threat visibility and response in place to support workers.

In all of this change, still, business continuity remains imperative. Therefore, organisations need to ensure they stay ahead of threats to minimise any impact on their business. As technology has evolved, we now live in a time of immediacy, urgency and high expectations.

As a result, everything needs to be speedy and efficient: from grabbing a take-away coffee to business solutions.

For example, employees staying connected and productive anywhere in the world is no longer just considered a benefit, but a real necessity. This is particularly relevant in the current climate. Whilst COVID-19 has forced us further into a remote working world, the ease in which we’ve all adapted is remarkable.

Further, the benefits of the convenience and effect on the environment are supported by our overwhelming reliance on technology. However, this remarkable transition is not without its fair share of added challenges. With help, firms don’t need to worry about contravening strict rules on data access and GDPR regulations. Nor do they need to worry about loss of data due to malicious attacks or plain forgetfulness. Organisations are turning to cloud and mobile applications. As a result, their risk of being attacked is increasing, leaving their systems exposed.

In addition, there’s a probability that a single compromised identity can lead to a catastrophic data breach. With most attacks relying on compromised identities somewhere in the chain, identity has become the most consequential threat vector.

Now, more than ever, organisations need a high level of assurance that users are who they say they are.

Therefore, to be effective, and to ensure their businesses stay agile, they need a secure access solution without the need for passwords.

The whole package must be user friendly; not slow users down or be too complex.

It must provide them with a common and convenient experience, to any application, from any device.

Bharat Panchal C4 Secure

After 30 years working in IT, Bharat decided to focus on helping businesses by offering the RSA SecurID® Suite. This uses identity insights, threat intelligence and business context to provide secure access to all their users, across all applications. He delivers peace of mind to end-users and to management. With Bharat’s help firms don’t worry about contravening strict rules on data access and GDPR regulations or about loss of data due to malicious attacks or plain forgetfulness.

Is GDPR going away?

The simple answer is no. With data now being worth more than oil and gold and cyber criminals seeing data theft as an easy way to make money, we will continue to need some sort of regulation governing its use.

GDPR and other data protection regulations affect every type of organisation from small charities to big corporates and it can be difficult wading your way through what is required. Particularly as things seem to keep changing and it has been an

interesting time for Data Protection legislation over the last couple of years. With the introduction into UK law of EU GDPR in 2018 and the reconfirming of it at the beginning of last year when it became UK GDPR. Then at the end of last year, Boris’s

Government announced it was going to change things again and put together the new Data Reform Bill. This got to the second reading stage in parliament when we got a new Prime Minister and was promptly thrown out…it seems that

the uncertainty will continue for a while yet.

On Monday 5th October 2022, the Culture Secretary announced at the Conservative Party Conference that they were “replacing GDPR”. The previous conservative Government had already proposed the Data Protection Bill which detailed a number of changes to the GDPR which had been through the consultation period and was awaiting its second reading in parliament.

This was halted when Truss entered No.10 as part of her commitment to ‘cut through the EU red tape’ which puts any Data Protection reforms back to square one. It may be on their intended list of measures to bring in during this Parliament, but we are likely to be at least 18 months – 2 years from any alternative legislation.

Indeed, if the EU doesn’t agree with the changes, we risk losing our adequacy which bans the free flowing of personal data between the UK and the EU (and vice-versa). Furthermore, if you have any clients, suppliers or employees who are EU nationals, then you will still need to uphold the principles of the GDPR, irrespective of what the UK laws say.

Natalie Cramp, CEO of data science company Profusion, reacted to Government proposals to introduce new legislation to replace GDPR, saying: “The announcement that the Government will pause its reform of GDPR in favour of introducing a new data bill adds more unwelcome uncertainty for UK businesses.

“On a practical level it’s difficult to see how a new bill could be written and passed with adequate consultation ahead of the next General Election. As Labour has a very different take on GDPR, it’s very hard to say what the final outcome will be.

“We could see the Conservatives passing this legislation in 2024, a Labour Government confirming that GDPR will remain, or an entirely different approach which may not be finalised until 2025 or beyond.

“Without any clarity it makes it very difficult for companies, especially in the tech industry, to make concrete plans on how they expand. Creating a large customer base in Europe could prove a costly risk if the UK’s new data regime is significantly at odds with GDPR.

“The EU may revoke the UK’s ‘adequacy’ status which will mean UK businesses that deal with EU citizen’s data will face large costs and compliance hurdles. Similarly, it will make the UK a less attractive location for foreign companies because they will have to deal with legal and operational costs complying with two different data regimes.

“GDPR is not a perfect piece of legislation but it is a huge improvement on what came before. It puts consumers in control of their own data and online privacy and this principle needs to be protected.”

And Data Protection is not just about wading through red tape, with 6 out of 10 businesses being subject to cyber attacks in one form or another it is essential that you look after any data you hold, dealing with a data breach can not only be costly to you in terms of resources and potential fines (up to 4% of your yearly turnover) but it can also lead to a PR nightmare. Good data protection and cyber security practices give you peace of mind and gives your customers greater confidence in your business.

So, for now, it is business as usual as far as Data Protection regulations goes, you still need to comply with UK GDPR. Which means having the right policies and procedures in place including a Privacy Policy,

Gayle’s passion is helping organisations protect themselves, their customers and their data from the everevolving threats of the digital world – whether that’s through consultancy or practical, hands-on training. When it comes to protecting your data, you’re in safe hands. Gayle has helped lots of organisations successfully prepare and implement programmes for GDPR.

07767 331866

gayle.parker@datasense.ltd datasense.ltd

a Record of Processing Activities and registration with the ICO and if you use any software like Mailchimp or Hubspot you will need a Data Processing Addendum. You will also need to ensure that any staff you employ have regular training (at least yearly) on how to handle personal data and embed good practice within the organisation.

Gayle Parker Datasense Consulting

Is Your Business Ready?

Business strategy – scary words!

Business Mechanisms Coaching & Consulting

Businesses refer to their strategy but what does that really mean? Strategy is commonly defined as “A plan of action designed to achieve a long-term goal or overall aim”.

So the ‘plan of action’ could be to double sales and we’ll hire another salesperson. No, this is not strategy, this is simply wishful thinking, a knee jerk reaction and a hope that additional resources will achieve the long-term goal.

How many salespeople have joined a company, been given a customer list and told to ‘go sell’. They know the goal is to increase sales but they don’t know the business strategy or their unique selling point, the USP.

Business Mechanisms Coaching & Consulting was created by Robert and Sarah-Louise Isaacson to bring together their expertise, knowledge and skills under one umbrella to ‘minimise business risk – maximise business potential’. Robert completed his MBA (Master of Business Administration) in 2021 whilst employed as a director of a UK SME. Robert’s expertise is focused on strategy, business development, sales and finance including risk management. He has been in sales for 30+ years

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Robert Isaacson

Business strategy concerns:

■ The analysis of a situation

■ Choosing intended future actions

■ Implementation

Before we get carried away, I just want to distinguish between business strategy and operational strategy.

■ Business strategy concerns ‘what we do’.

■ Operational strategy concerns ‘how we do’.

It is too easy to get lost in the detail of ‘how’ before you have established the ‘what’ you do.

Business strategy concerns the analysis of the external environment together with a thorough understanding of your internal resources and capabilities (tangible, intangible or human). Next you need to understand your key success factors to analyse how your business obtains its competitive advantage. A thorough understanding of these factors enables you to develop a clearly defined business strategy to be shared with your employees. When your employees know and understand the business strategy you can really leverage your position in the market.

“What on earth is he waffling on about? Resources, capabilities, key success factors, competitive advantage, what – I just want to grow my sales!”

Coach, mentor, advisor or consultant –who do I need?

Paul Green

The above terms are often interchanged which makes it unclear how these roles differ and who you should turn to as a business owner for support.

So let’s take a look and see if we can clarify:

■ Coach – fundamentally what a coach does is supports you with your business goals by questioning, listening and challenging; leaving the ultimate decision on the actions you take down to you. They will not be telling you what to do and, as such, may let you make mistakes for the learning experience.

■ Mentor – essentially a mentor has been there, done it and got the t-shirt! They are the “how to” manual to be successful in a specific industry sector or skill set and will tell you what you should be doing to move your business forward based on their experience and knowledge.

■ Advisor – if you’re looking for more of a generalist that can help across a number of areas within your business, then this is what an advisor does. They will have experience running their own businesses or a track record of improving a business’s performance.

■ Consultant – the role of a consultant is to be a specialist in a specific field; tending to focus on one particular aspect of your business. They would be brought in to focus on a particular problem such as sales, marketing, finance or operations.

You may also experience a blend of these “hats” when working with any of these “labels” as their advice/support/guidance may not just fit strictly into the way they have been described above.

Sure, if you throw enough mud around, some of it will stick and you will increase sales however, focusing your efforts according to your competitive 07949 703137 paul@buscomm.co.uk buscomm.co.uk

The Business Community

How many salespeople have joined a company, been given a customer list and told to ‘go sell’.

Only move onto implementation when your organisation is aligned and employees are fully engaged.

advantage will yield greater results with just a little more effort than you employ today.

‘I can just pile it high and sell it cheap though’. Of course, and if that’s your competitive advantage then it could well be your business strategy but you should still be aware of how you retain that competitive advantage or somebody else will eventually sell it cheaper.

Most people have heard of the term SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and it is useful to understand your current position however, it is a snapshot in time and should be used in conjunction with other tools to develop your overall strategy.

So why doesn’t every business have a detailed strategy?

The simple answer is time and/or knowledge. A thorough strategic analysis is not a 5 minute job and the outcomes will be heavily dependent on the quality of the research however, thorough understanding will take you 3-5 years into the future,

a SWOT analysis will be accurate until tomorrow. Sufficient time must be dedicated to the research and analysis to obtain the best outcome.

There are many frameworks to consider and how the research and analysis are conducted will be unique to your business hence I’m not going into great detail in a blog post or editorial, we can discuss this further at a later date.

Finally, the critical aspect to your business strategy is implementation.

First you must ensure your management systems together with your policies and procedures support your business strategy. This will be unique to your business and can be quite complex however, if these systems are not aligned then implementation will become troublesome.

The second aspect is communication, communication, communication. I cannot stress the importance of communication in implementation of absolutely anything.

You know your business strategy but never underestimate somebody

else’s interpretation of your expectations.

Many years ago, in a previous life, I thought I should only need explain something once or perhaps twice if it was complicated, if I had to explain it again a third time then it’s due to the recipient’s ability to listen or follow instruction. BIG MISTAKE; If I need to explain something a third time then I am clearly not communicating it properly, or not in a way the recipient understands. I or we, need to change how we communicate. DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING, ask for feedback; what is the recipient’s understanding of what is required? Ensure all parties are working together and pulling in the same direction.

Only move onto implementation when your organisation is aligned and employees are fully engaged.

What next

There are several options available:-

■ Do nothing, it’s working as it is so leave it alone (– short term thinking).

■ Do it yourself (- but ask yourself where your time is best spent).

■ Get some help!

The winning strategies for a successful life

It’s been rainy in Solihull UK, and I was feeling run down and lowenergy last week, so I went to see my local homeopath. She looked at me and asked what I thought was a very unusual question:

‘Are you having a really good week?’

As I had just closed several deals which meant that in theory I could pretty much take at least a day off! (though in practice, I know I will not), I said ‘yes, I suppose I have.’

‘I thought so,’ she said. ‘I’ve never seen you this stressed.’

What was interesting to me about that exchange was that it hadn’t occurred to me I could get just as

stressed out by things going too well as by things going poorly.

When I looked at the common elements to both scenarios, the connection became clear – whether things seem to be going extremely poorly or extremely well, my focus is in the future, not in the moment –and the future (over which I have no direct control) can be a very stressful place to live.

In fact, the only moment we have any real control over is this one – and of course, this one right now.

As I drove home in the rain, musing over my ‘moment’ theory, I heard the unmistakable sound of a car skidding towards me in the rain. I snapped out of my thought-trance, slammed on my own brakes, and mercifully everyone was completely fine.

Better still, I had found the moment (you know – this one) – and in just a few moments, all the stress I had been feeling dissipated, replaced instead by a gentle ‘background bliss’.

I have been fairly solidly grounded in the moment (it’s happening right now) since then, and have reaped the benefits of relatively stressfree living.

But as I sat down to write today, it occurred to me that narrowly avoiding a car accident, useful though it was for me in finding the moment (are you here yet?), was not a terribly practical tip to share. So instead, here are three of my favourite non-life threatening ways to ‘find the moment’ along with a special experiment which neatly addresses many people’s fear that finding in the moment means losing out on the gifts of the past and the potentials of the future.

1. Stop breathing (but only for a moment)

One of my favourite quotes, for which I have never satisfactorily found an author, is: “Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments which takes your breath away.”

In the past week, I have had my breath taken away by:

■ Seeing my wife come down the stairs dressed to the nines for an evening out

■ Seeing my dogs cuddled up with one another sound asleep on the sofa

■ The view out over the valley on a midnight hike with a friend

■ A scene in a movie about a family that live in a lighthouse

“The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.”

Each time you lose your breath in the beauty of nature or even a sappy, happy movie, you find the moment – and by taking the time to collect those moments, you get to relive them in every moment now.

2. Have an ‘in body’ experience

One of the great things about having a body is that it is always anchored in the present moment. So anytime you’re looking for the moment, you know you can find it right where you are sitting (or standing) now.

Just take ten seconds or so (about the time it takes for three gentle breaths) to scan your body from your head down to your stomach. This simple process, which author Gay Hendricks calls ‘The Ten Second Miracle’, is a quick and gentle way of not only finding the moment but finding out what is going on for you in this moment.

3. Live the questions

In the book ‘Unconditional Bliss’, Raphael Cushnir shares a simple two question exercise for finding and living in what the Hawaiians call ‘the moment of power’. Simply ask yourself ‘What is happening right now?’ and take the time to answer. Then regardless of what your answer is, ask yourself this: ‘Can I be with it?’

Even if your answer is ‘no’, simply sticking with these two questions will reliably guide you into the moment even when everything around you is trying to take you anywhere but here.

Here’s an experiment:

While it is possible to do this in your head as a ‘thought experiment’, I have found it is infinitely more impactful to take the extra minute or so to actually do it on paper.

1. Draw two circles on a piece of paper.

2. Next, draw two horizontal lines across the middle of the first circle, forming a narrow band (like the equator). In the second circle, draw one horizontal line near the top of the circle and one near the bottom (like the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn for those of you who remember your geography!)

3. Now fill in the sections of each circle from top to bottom as follows: past, present, future

4. The first circle represents the way most of us live – the majority of our time in the past or future with just a few precious moments each day, week, month or year solidly

Dr Colin Thompson Cavendish

Colin is a former successful Managing Director of a wide range of companies, former Group Chairman of the Academy for Chief Executives, as well as many other prestigious roles. He is also an author/writer for IPEX, Graphic Display World, News USA, Graphic Start, many others globally. His focus is on helping companies raise their `bottom-line` and `increase cash flow`.Plus, helping individuals to be successful in business and life in general. Author of several publications, research reports, guides, business and educational models; as well as over 4000 articles/reports and 35 books published on business and educational subjects worldwide. He is also an international speaker/visiting university professor.

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colin@cavendish-mr.org.uk colinthompson.org.uk

grounded in the present. The second represents what’s possible – living in the depth and breadth of the present moment while always able to dip into the past or future as necessary.

5. Choose one day this week to really experiment with living moment by moment. Instead of beating yourself up each time you ‘wake up’ to find yourself lost in the past or future, congratulate yourself for noticing, find the moment, and enjoy!

Have fun, learn heaps, and enjoy putting things into their proper perspective!

Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments which takes your breath away

Cost of living crisis –what can be done?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the campaigning of celebrities such as Marcus Rashford, MBE, drew wider attention to the scale of issues surrounding food insecurity but the issue existed long before then. There has for many years been an increasing need for services such as food banks, in fact over the last decade there has been an exponential growth in food bank usage.

The pandemic undoubtedly had an impact, the trend was escalating rapidly pre-pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis is most certainly that – a crisis, just how bad will things get?

The need for food banks has increased by 123% in the last five years and this certainly looks set to continue rising.

Statistics from The Trussel Trust

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic UNICEF, (United Nations Childrens Fund) who are responsible for humanitarian aid around the world had to step in to support UK children. This is the first time in UNICEF’s history that they have supported the UK. One could argue that with the UK being the 6th

richest economy in the world that UNICEF shouldn’t have needed to step in, but hungry children do not care for politics and the need was, and indeed still is very real.

According to the ONS (Office National Statistics) there are 12.7 million children in the UK. Over a third of these, children, (an estimated 4.3 million) are living in poverty. Many children rely on school to get a hot lunch, but out of the 8.9 million children attending schools, just over 20% are eligible for free school meals.

Rather unsurprisingly, there was an exponential increase in the number of children becoming eligible for free school meals during the pandemic with an additional 128,000 children. However, children were not in school due to lockdowns and there was, of course a lot of

negative media attention on the response to feeding those eligible children during this time of need.

Whilst it is desperately sad and frustrating for us to think of people, particularly children going hungry there are much wider health, wealth and social implications at stake.

Within the UK today we have very real poverty and this brings with it health inequalities. Income is associated with health, whereas those in the bottom 40% of income distribution are twice as likely to report poor health than their counterparts in the top 20% of income distribution. Poverty (in particular persistent poverty) is associated with the very worst health outcomes and we have seen the statistics above of how many children are living in poverty in the UK today.

Health is about much more than the individuals’ personal health it is a reflection on society and indeed on the country itself.

“Put simply, if health has stopped improving it is a sign that society has stopped improving. Evidence from around the world shows that health is a good measure of social and economic progress. When a society is flourishing health tends to flourish. When a society has large social and economic inequalities there are large inequalities in health. The health of the population is not just a matter of how well the health service is funded and functions, important as that is: health is closely linked to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age and inequities in power, money and resources – the social determinants of health.”

Source – The Marmot Review 10 years on – Health Equality in England

When we consider children living in poverty and the associated health issues, we are also potentially forecasting their future health outcomes.

“We could see the first generation of children to be expected to have shorter life spans than their parents if current trends on obesity, nutrition and lifestyle continue”

Source – The Lancet Volume 371 Issue 9607

Whilst it may sound strange to reference obesity in the same context as food poverty it is entirely possible and sadly, common. The types of foods available cheaply (or indeed those donated) are not always supporting optimal health due to being ultra-processed, high in sugar, salt and fats and low

When not to play aeroplanes…

Judith Hanson

We all spend at least 50% of our waking hours on autopilot. Just as a modern plane is run for most of a flight by complex software, we are run for most of our day by habits. Our “software” consists of habits of thinking, behaving and responding to what happens to us (and to our emotions and physical sensations).

These habits have been created over our whole lifetime as our brains are good at automating anything we do regularly with no judgement about the value of what is being automated. So the habits may be really useful; they may once have been useful but are now outdated and some have never been useful and are, in fact, very unhelpful.

So how can we switch off autopilot if it’s taking us in the wrong direction? The mindful approach is to change our experience by “intentionally paying attention to it”. This can be as simple as stopping whatever we are doing or thinking about and focusing on the physical sensations in our body or on our breathing for a few moments.

If we want to change an automatic reaction to a particular person or situation (the “hot buttons” that our nearest and dearest can become very good at pushing!) then we need to take a breath so that we can choose to respond in a more helpful way. Taking a breath by focusing on our breath and lengthening and deepening it will calm us, clear our heads and give us the space we need…and guess what? If we do that often enough then our brain will create a new useful habit for us!

Therapies for the mind

in nutrients. It is also common to see obesity and malnutrition within the same populations.

How can we help?

Sometimes the problem can feel so big and so removed from our day-today lives that it can feel impossible, but there are ways in which we can help. The need exists for food banks, we can argue that there shouldn’t be a need but that won’t help those who are hungry. Nobody wants to live in food poverty, this isn’t a choice. Food poverty can take away independent food choices and a reliance on what has been pre-packed for you. We can help to ensure that those packages are nutritious and do contain items we would want to eat ourselves, and perhaps most importantly contain items that can easily be transformed into family meals.

Food parcels

We know what nutritionally balanced food should look like; bright, colourful, fresh but, unfortunately most food banks are only able to deal with ambient donations and deliveries meaning that goods must be in tins or packets. How do we ensure that we are donating nutritious foods

this way? Let’s take a look at tinned goods – tinned goods can be very healthy we just need to be careful how and what we pick:

Tinned vegetables

Tinned veg is just as nutritious as fresh as it’s packed soon after picking. Most tinned veg will only contain water but in terms of additives, look for water & ascorbic acid in the ingredients rather than a long list of additives.

Tinned fruits & sugary items

Tinned fruit is a great source of nutrients but choose in fruit juice not syrup to avoid too much sugar. It’s also worth mentioning that providing sugary foods is not necessarily a ‘treat’. People requiring food parcels need appropriate nutrition not just calories. Biscuits, sweets, chocolates, etc., do not provide any nutrition to support health. This is not to say that people cannot eat them but they should not replace nutritious calories in the form of real foods.

There has been research into food donations and the amount of sugar which they contain. One shocking report showed this energy breakdown from the food parcels analysed in the Oxfordshire area: –62.2% of energy was

Louise Mercieca The Health Kick

Louise is an award-winning Nutritional Therapist, award-winning author and presenter on her own Food Channel for Early Years Nutrition. Whilst she is passionate about formative nutrition, she mainly works with adults on preventative nutrition. How can we use food instead of eventually needing medicine!? There are lots of confusing, contradictory and often, misplaced advice in the world of nutrition. Louise aims to make the message clear - food and health are intrinsically linked!

07557 343 896 louise@thehealthkick.co.uk thehealthkick.co.uk

provided as carbohydrate and 569% of the DRV (Daily Reference Value) was provided by sugar. Food bank parcels distributed in Oxfordshire, UK, exceeded energy requirements and provided disproportionately high sugar and carbohydrate and inadequate vitamin A and vitamin D compared to the UK guidelines.

Source – BDA (British Dietetic Association) Feb 2020

With more than 14 million people living in poverty including 4.5 million children, it’s apparent that more needs to be done to prevent the escalating health and wealth divide. No one wants to need a food bank and no one should have to but where there is a need, it is of paramount importance that those in need of food parcels receive adequate nutrition as malnutrition is very real and can be very serious. Ensuring that donations are healthy and well thought out can really support an individual or family’s health and well-being.

…there was an exponential increase in the number of children becoming eligible for free school meals during the pandemic

Empathy, support and guidance

Why so many businesspeople have a mentor

No matter how successful they are, no matter where they are in our business journey, one thing most successful business owners agree on is the importance of a mentor in their past and continuing development. So why do so many people see having a mentor as a critical factor in their success?

A mentor or a coach?

There is often some confusion about the way your coach will interact with you and the purpose of a mentor. It’s completely understandable that this happens because initially they both seem to be taking an advisory role. The role played by your mentor is very different than the one played by your coach though and it is not uncommon for a business to utilise both.

A coach is there to offer support with developing specific skills, usually through a proven methodology. So, they will usually work with you for a defined period during which focus on very specific business goals to produce a measurable outcome.

A mentor on the other hand is far more developmental and focused on creating opportunities. They are also therefore often experienced in your industry or something relevant to your business. The relationship is usually ongoing, and their role will be to develop you personally and

professionally through empathy, experience, a good understanding of business and often their own network of contacts. They are there not only to help you develop an effective business but also to support your own growth as a businessperson and individual.

It’s the difference between having someone show you how to create an effective business plan and someone who will help you develop the ideas, concepts and values that will underpin that plan.

Why is a mentor important?

For all its advantages and pleasures, being in business can be difficult. You are mostly alone in the decisionmaking process and there is usually nobody to bounce ideas and strategy

decisions off. The danger of being the sole decision maker is that you can create a sort of hall of mirrors for your ideas where everything you are thinking becomes a reflection of itself. You can soon find yourself taking the wrong road and making unjustified decision. Your mentor will be there to offer ideas and challenge your approach to make sure that you are seeing things the right way. Having someone to support you (and occasionally play Devil’s advocate) who knows your industry and you as a person cannot be underestimated when it comes to clarity in your decision making. Business owners will often talk about how their mentor helped them become a better decision maker by honing their ability to see problems clearly and develop solutions.

Listen to the audio version

The mentor is more than a sounding board though. They are part of your ongoing development and growth. With their help you should be able to look at how your business is performing and the role you play in improving it. This is sometimes as much about your personal growth as it is about the strategy and direction your business is taking. They are there to look at what you do and how you do it with an experienced eye. They will also hold you accountable for your actions and ensure you are meeting your obligations as a leader and businessperson.

Probably one of the most underestimated effects of having a mentor though is that they will understand. Systems, processes, and theories for business development all have their place but frankly, being in charge can be lonely at times. Your mentor will be there on a regular basis and have the empathy to offer support (or perhaps even a stern word or two if needed) when you really feel the pressure.

Who should you choose as a mentor?

This is a very difficult question because there are so many different considerations and unfortunately no hard and fast rules to apply. As with

many problems though the best thing to do is probably break it down into smaller questions. Before you choose your mentor ask yourself:

■ Would you trust their advice?

■ Do they know enough about your business area to be able to offer that advice?

■ Do they share your values and standards?

■ Can they challenge you?

■ Will you accept being challenged by them?

■ Is there mutual respect?

■ Do they have specific expertise that is relevant to you.

There is a mutual benefit to mentoring.

Finally, remember, mentoring is a two-way process. At its core, mentoring is about an ongoing commitment to an overall cause, and usually that cause is you and your business world. This is a key area and again where a mentor differs from a coach. A good mentor will be invested in you as a person and not just offer business theory solutions. In fact, most mentors will happily tell you about how they find mentoring an opportunity to grown themselves

Paul Green The Business Community

The founder of The Business Community is Paul Green, a business owner himself since 2003. He loves working with small businesses; in particular family-run businesses. Having experienced the trials and tribulations that face a small business on that entrepreneurial journey, he is passionate about making sure businesses don’t make the same mistakes that he made en route! He is a big believer in collaboration and encourages businesses to work together to grow their businesses; as well as offering help and support to each other for mutual gain.

07949 703137

paul@buscomm.co.uk buscomm.co.uk

because you are learning as you go. The process of mentoring is a partnership not a teacher/student relationship and, once you find the right mentor, that relationship will provide the support and accountability you need to succeed on your business journey.

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Book Review:

Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential.

By Dr. Carol Dweck.

First and foremost, I would recommend that everyone read this book or at the very least get to understand the concepts of a growth mindset.

I’ll be honest and say that I found it a tough read. Dr. Carol Dweck does like to give multiple examples to illustrate each point which I know people find useful. However, because I had already grasped the concept of the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, I found that a little tiresome. However, once you reach a section that resonates with you that changes.

When I first read this book, I had 2 pre-teen children and so the sections relating to how we should encourage a growth mindset in children were the most impactful to me.

Reading it now some 15 or so years later it is much more the fundamental concepts and the application to business and leadership that interests me.

In very simple terms a fixed mindset is represented by the following thoughts:

■ Either I am good at something or I am not.

■ If I have to make an effort then I am not good enough.

■ Feedback is criticism.

■ Failure demonstrates my limits.

■ I will stick to what I know I am good at.

These behaviours are encouraged by a society that values natural talent over effort. We have created a culture where we are praised for simply being ourselves, for looking good, for being good at something rather than for the efforts we make. Think of a child who is constantly praised for picking things up quickly – “Well done Mhairi you learned that so quickly! You’re so smart!”. Mhairi is happy because she has been praised and she learns that being quick to learn makes her smart. So, what happens when Mhairi finds something more difficult to learn? Yes, that’s right Mhairi thinks she is not smart! This is a tough one as we want to encourage our children and praise them but we have to be careful about the messages we send them. Perhaps a better approach would be to say “Well done, you did that really quickly, and I liked the way you rechecked your work or tried different approaches but maybe we need to try something a bit more difficult to see what you can learn”.

As parents, teachers, coaches, leaders and members of society we can help to encourage more of a growth mindset by remembering the following:

■ Making an effort is essential to growth.

■ Taking on new challenges also helps you grow.

■ Making mistakes shows you

are pushing and should be welcomed as learning.

■ Feedback is how you gain external perspectives and should be valued.

Get your copy of Mindset –Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential by Dr. Carol Dweck.

Mhairi Richardson Tomrom Team Coaching

Mhairi specialises in coaching teams to help them achieve more and improve their wellbeing. Her focus is on building trust within the team and a combination of coaching, mentoring and facilitation and she can tailor the program to the needs of your business.

She enjoys working with newly formed teams, established team or teams who just feel they should be achieving more.

Mhairi is also a coach with a strong SME background, a focus on the detail, a high level of emotional intelligence and a strong desire to develop talent and grow high performing teams.