The Business Bulletin Issue 20

The

Business Bulletin By business owners, for business owners

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Issue 20

Spotlight on Jacky Sherman PLUS Five things you should be doing daily on Facebook What are your top 10 business risks?

What is R&D tax relief and why should I care?

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The Business Bulletin

A magazine that works for everyone Paul Green Founder & Chief Editor

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

Watch the video

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.

Your feedback and thoughts on this magazine are welcome – let us know your experience.

Join in!

Thanks,

Contact us to contribute an article or place an advert for future editions contribute@business-bulletin.co.uk

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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.

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The Business Bulletin

Contents For my business to raise finance, who do I need to know?

James Blacklaws

6

What is R&D tax relief and why should I care?

Sam Watkins

9

Do you hate sales?

Alison Edgar MBE

12

Customer retention – what does it mean for your business?

Kathy Bassett

15

Five things you should be doing daily on Facebook Christina Robinson

18

Five times you should trust your copywriter… and one where you shouldn’t Kevin Robinson The basics of succession planning and why it’s useful Sue Pardy What are your top 10 business risks?

Robert Isaacson

20

22

Spotlight on

28

Jacky Sherman

Five key things to consider when starting and growing your business Molly Cronin

32

Model form articles: is it time for a review?

Roger Eddowes

35

Is your mindset ruining or growing your business?

Vivienne Joy

38

People are a pain!

Mhairi Richardson

40

Simple ways to improve your sleep and be more productive Lee Jackson The Socratic way of questioning Mhairi Richardson

44

46

25

Issue 20 | 5

FINANCE

The Business Bulletin

For my business to raise finance, who do I need to know?

While an arrangement to borrow money for a business is between a client and the lender, there are numerous other individuals involved to help the process with many needed before the application is even considered.

In fact, I would say that the success

general advice regarding taxation

in a presentable manner, then this

of an application and drawdown

and how to structure their business.

can be the difference between a

facility for a business is dependent on the ‘power team’ in place to assist with all the individual requirements

An accountant’s advice and cooperation is hugely important

successful application and a decline.

If you instruct your accountant to

when applying for finance. It is

have a ‘lenders pack’ in place prior

likely that a lender will require full

to a formal application for finance

copies of filed trading accounts

you are much more likely to be in a

plus up-to-date management

position to apply quickly and with

Every business needs an accountant,

information and tax returns. If these

success.

both for auditing reasons and for

cannot be provided on time and

of the lend.

Your accountant

This ‘pack’ may include the following: ■ The last three years of trading

A broker is likely to have access to multiple lenders, many of which may not be available to the general public

accounts ■ Management information ■ A detailed profit and loss and cashflow forecast for the upcoming 12 months

A good and trustworthy solicitor While a smaller facility is unlikely to require a solicitor to be involved, a loan or overdraft facility secured against a business asset, especially a property, will require a solicitor to be instructed to complete the legal formalities.

6 | Issue 20

COLUMNIST – FINANCE

In fact, once a loan is approved and the ‘ball starts rolling’, the timescales to completion are almost entirely in the hands of the instructed solicitors.

How to use less fuel when driving Roger Eddowes

This is especially important if there is a deadline to meet (i.e. an auction purchase) or if there is a chain involved.

On this basis, it helps to have a positive relationship with the solicitor you are looking to instruct. I would always advise the following actions to be taken before an offer is even made: ■ Let your solicitor know your intentions ■ Ensure they are in a position to act on your behalf making sure they hold your up-todate identification and relevant authorities A solicitor or contract expert should also be

With fuel prices reaching record levels, it’s worth looking at ways to use less fuel as we drive around on our day-to-day journeys.

Firstly, is driving at 56mph the best speed to do? The 56mph value came purely from fuel consumption tests, in a city, at 56mph, and at 75mph as well. Of course, the most efficient would be 56mph, but it does depend on the type of car. The RAC says 45-50mph is actually the most efficient.

One true urban legend is that your air conditioner uses extra fuel because your car has

used when entering into an arrangement to sign a

to use extra energy to run it. In fact, it can up your

personal guarantee to support a lend for a limited

consumption by 10%.

company. While smaller personal guarantees are unlikely to require a solicitor to witness and review them, it is a legal agreement and should be considered as such.

So, you roll down your window and now you’re increasing drag on your vehicle which will put up your fuel consumption by around 10% because the engine has to work harder. It’s a bit of a Catch-22 situation.

One useful technology being fitted to many new cars is the stop/start option. If you come to a stop and the car senses no movement and no accelerator input from you, it temporarily turns the engine off. This can save you up to 8% fuel on a typical journey, but obviously only works in trafficheavy situations.

Cruise control is an effective way to reduce fuel costs because it smooths out your speed overall, but is only really useful at higher speeds on a motorway.

Ensure your tyre pressures are always correct.

It’s worth checking the PSI on a monthly basis as too little pressure means you will be using more fuel.

Remove any unnecessary weight. We’re all guilty of leaving things in the boot or on the back seat, but this is all weight we don’t need. The more weight, the harder the engine has to work, and the more fuel it uses.

Essendon Accounts and Tax 07595 021376 roger.eddowes@essendonaccounts.co.uk essendonaccounts.co.uk

FINANCE

The Business Bulletin

What about a finance broker?

While I am clearly biased, I would always suggest a business client instructs a commercial finance broker when considering a request for funding.

■ Do your own due

mortgage, they can also be an

at their website, reading

important part of the process of

their reviews and ensuring

borrowing money for your business.

you receive a free initial consultation before you make a final decision to instruct them

A broker is likely to have access to multiple lenders, many of which may not be available to the general public and are likely to be best placed to find the most appropriate deal for your individual circumstances.

When considering which broker to use the following is essential: ■ Ensure they are a member of an accredited trade body. The most respected is the National Association

If you can get comfortable with the above, then you may find that employing a specialist broker is the most cost-efficient decision you will make throughout the entire process.

Insurance broker If you are borrowing money for your business, then there is likely to be a trigger point for this.

■ It could be that your

of Commercial Finance

business is growing, and

Brokers (NACFB)

you require additional

■ To get the best possible protection as a client, the broker should be FCA

working capital to facilitate this growth.

■ It could be that you are

authorised with an entry

buying an asset or moving

on the FCA register

properties.

No matter the reason, it is likely

Commercial Finance broker, authorised and regulated by the FCA. With whole-ofmarket access. He specialises in helping businesses declined by their banks;

07722 432128 james@jbcommercialfinance.co.uk jbcommercialfinance.co.uk

an insurance policy to them in case of the death or critical illness of a company director. This will require a qualified advisor who is aware of your personal and business situation.

A good IFA will also offer a second opinion over any offered and agreed finance. While they are not in a position to formally advise on this, if you trust them, they can be a good sounding board and ask the commercial finance broker any tough questions. As mentioned in the first line of this article, the arrangement to borrow money is between a lender and a client but, in reality, it takes a team in regular and constant communication to ensure a smooth process.

In my experience, the difference

and having a trusted team in place

policy in place such as an increased level of public liability coverage or appropriate buildings insurance for a property purchase.

As with a solicitor, you can mitigate this potential delay by letting your insurance broker know in advance what your plans are.

Your Independent Financial Advisor While you may engage your IFA for personal financial products such as

8 | Issue 20

a lender may require assignment of

advisors together at the last minute

businesses looking to grow, survive and purchase commercial property.

pension provisions. It is possible that

have in place.

by not having the right insurance

experienced and fully Independent

a review of current insurance and

between putting professional

of cases that have been held up

James, an ex-banker, is a highly

liability, then it makes sense to have

existing business insurance you

I have lost count of the number

JB Commercial Finance

If your business is changing direction and taking on a fresh

that you will require a review of any

While this may seem obvious,

James Blacklaws

a private pension or a residential

diligence on them looking

can be weeks saved, hundreds of pounds saved and a considerable amount of stress and time.

What is R&D tax relief and why should I care?

Research & Development (R&D) tax relief supports companies that work on innovative projects in science and technology. You can even claim on unsuccessful projects. I am only referring to the SME programme in this article.

It is available to all sectors, so long as you are UK PLC or limited company.

The main criterion is that the work that qualifies for R&D relief must be part of a specific project to make an advance in science or technology.

It cannot be an advance within a social science – like economics – or a theoretical field – such as pure maths.

The project must relate to your company’s trade – either an existing one or one that you intend to start up based on the results of the R&D.

To get R&D relief, you need to explain how a project: ■ looked for an advance in science and technology

■ had to overcome uncertainty

■ Defining technical objectives

■ tried to overcome this uncertainty

■ Assessing technical feasibility

■ could not be easily worked out by

■ Predicting and preparing for

a professional in the field Your project may research or develop a new process, product or service or improve on an existing one. The process, product or service can still be an advance if another company developed it but is not publicly known or available such as trade secrets, recipes, and fabrication methods. Some practical examples of qualifying activities and what R&D might look like in different industries would be ■ Consulting with experienced staff or external consult

technical issues ■ Allocating and managing resources ■ Project managing technical aspects of the project ■ Identifying, analysing and classifying issues ■ Creating software specifically to help solve a technical problem ■ Building and testing prototypes of the intended product ■ Building and testing software iterations of the intended product ■ Building and testing pilot plants or hardware

Issue 20 | 9

FINANCE

The Business Bulletin

The Business Bulletin

FINANCE

■ Performing experiments ■ Designing and running trials ■ Carrying out other design, testing and analysis required to overcome technical difficulties

3. Externally provided workers

3. Loss reliefs

(EPWs)

If you are loss-making after your R&D

Common examples include agency

tax credit claim, you can elect to

staff, contractors, and freelancers,

carry back the R&D relief to the prior

that are doing work for you, to your

year at an enhanced rate if you were

specification and supervised by you.

previously profitable. Alternatively, you can carry it forward, offset it

Costs that you can claim are:

4. Consumable items

against future profits, or surrender

Materials consumed or transformed

it for group relief. Loss carrybacks

1. Staffing costs made up of:

consumables: this category includes

■ Gross salaries (including wages,

examples include materials for the

overtime pay and cash bonuses); ■ Employer NI contributions; ■ Employer pension contributions; and

in your R&D process are known as water, fuel, and power. Common construction of prototypes or use in trials.

expenses.

5. Software involved in R&D activities is eligible, along with software partly used for R&D, for which we make a reasonable apportionment.

2. Subcontractors You can include 65% of payments made to unconnected parties.

6. Clinical trial volunteers in the pharmaceutical industry There are five possibilities for how you could receive your benefit. In some instances, you can choose the one that is most appropriate to your circumstances.

1. A cash rebate

Sam Watkins PrimeBlue R&D Services With her years of R&D Tax experience, Sam will work with you to reduce your payments, or claim refunds for you so you can relax, knowing your finances are in safe hands. She works with limited

You can claim R&D tax credits retrospectively for two previous accounting periods. If this claim is for a period in which you have already paid your Corporation Tax, we will amend your CT600, and HMRC will issue you a cash repayment.

companies of all sizes who have been trading at least two years. When Sam is not solving the tax relief woes of

2. A Corporation Tax saving

businesses like the treasure hunter she is

If you are yet to pay your Corporation

or out networking looking for new clients,

Tax, you might receive R&D

you can find her roaming the woods around where she lives with her partner.

She is also partial to curling up with the Guardian crossword and a cuppa!

07787 520680 sam.watkins@primeblue-rdservices.co.uk primeblue-rdservices.co.uk

10 | Issue 20

immediate tax benefit in the form of a cash rebate for tax paid or Corporation Tax savings.

If cash flow is not such a concern to you, you can elect to carry forward the benefit, and this option will often

Expenditure on computer software

■ Certain reimbursed business

and group relief can generate an

Corporation Tax relief in the form of a reduction in future liabilities. If you are profit-making, this would be applicable. Your R&D tax credit claim will reduce or eliminate your Corporation Tax liability.

deliver better future value than a cash credit. However, an immediate cash injection is often difficult to ignore when your future profitability is unknown.

4. Cash credit As an alternative for a loss-making company, you can choose to receive a cash payment from HMRC in exchange for the surrender of your R&D enhanced losses. This option is helpful for companies who need a boost in cash flow, and it can be worth up to 33p for every £1 spent on R&D. 5. A combination You can reclaim the Corporation Tax you’ve already paid when your taxable profit becomes a loss due to the R&D tax credit claim (2). Or you could make a Corporation Tax saving (1) and utilise the losses by carrying back or forward to offset against profits (3). Alternatively, you could claim a cash credit in return for surrendering those losses (4).

The average claim in the UK is £56k so this could be a valuable additional income for your business.

It’s yours, it’s not a loan, you can use it for anything you choose.

Securing your business

C4 Secure

With , administrators can set which authentication methods will be offered to users based on the sensitivity of the application. For example, administrators may decide that SMS authentication is suitable for low assurance applications, but not for those that require a medium or high level of identity assurance. Also, with RSA SecurID Access, users have the flexibility to choose from the allowed authenticators at runtime, which makes a convenient experience for users.

Usernames and passwords are not enough.

Thousands of employees require on-demand, 24/7 access to your VPN. Revoking that access is not an option and neither is making the authentication process for complex. A recent Data Breach Investigations Report found that

If your employees rely on usernames and passwords alone, you’re at risk for a VPN security breach. Are you sure your users are who they say they are? Can simple authentication and vigorious security co-exist?

Found out in the RSA eBook:

is a powerful, feature-rich platform that delivers substantial productivity gains and cost savings. However, organisations rushing to adopt Office 365 risk creating holes in their wider security architecture.

See where you could be exposed and what to do to get protected, if you’ve migrated to, or are considering migrating to Office 365, contact to learn about: ● ● ●

SALES

The Business Bulletin

Do you hate sales?

8 top tips for loving sales and selling more

Love hate relationship I recently watched an online video from a thought leader in his field talking about sales. As a self-made multi-millionaire, he shoots from the hip and is always forthcoming and

position in a successful company like I

The sad news is in business,

did in my former life. But where does

everyone has to be a sales person.

that leave you as a start-up or micro

So, is it possible to move from hating

business when you have a limited

to loving? I’m not a scientist or

budget to employ a sales person?

psychologist, but in my opinion it is

So with the words of the 1980’s

to the point with his opinions. It was

Pretenders classic song in my ears,

his comments on sales people which

“There is a thin line between love and

have led to me writing this article.

hate”, I’ve started exploring if you can

He feels that in order to sell, you have to love sales because it’s full of rejections and without the love,

change your mindset from hating to loving sales.

Hate is a strong word, but you

possible to change.

My glamorous golfing career At age 11, I was introduced to golf.

Mainly because my Mum and Dad were members of Clydebank and

you will not be strong enough to

have no idea how often I hear it

District Golf Club. My parents both

survive. So that’s fair enough if you

used in relation to sales. It’s usually

really enjoyed it and it was not

have chosen a career path in sales,

accompanied by another standard

unusual for them to play 2 or 3 times

you could find yourself having a high

phrase, “because I’m really bad at it,

a week, sometimes more in the

performance, and a highly rewarded

I’m not a sales person”.

summer months. Being too young

“There is a thin line between love and hate”, I’ve started exploring if you can change your mindset from hating to loving sales.

12 | Issue 20

COLUMNIST – SALES

to be left home alone, I was frequently promoted to “caddy” on our outings to the golf club. But this quickly wore thin when the stash of crisps and fizzy

The pressure to “be an amazing entrepreneur”!

Julie Futcher

pop ran out.

So after many tantrums and false threats of

My column has been inspired by a post that

“running away to join the circus” It became apparent

Kevin Robinson of Your-Copywriter.com put on

that in order to make my pre-teens bearable, things

LinkedIn recently. The subject of which relates

had to change, so I opted for the “if you can’t beat

to “ra-ra” posts, the pressure to “be an amazing

them join them” motto.

entrepreneur” and that “greed is good, money

My parents were chuffed I had come round to

is all” ethos. Kevin observed that these types of

their way of thinking, so with a tatty old bag and

posts seem to be waning and that the “Gen Zs

a mismatch of clubs (second hand would be an

are sending a clear message that they think to

understatement, maybe 10th or 11th hand would be

want a good life with enough and a touch more,

more accurate) I decided to take up golf. Hey, how

is fine”. He concluded his post by saying “the

hard could it be, I’d seen people play and “caddied”

pressure to be an amazing entrepreneur or you

often enough surely I would be a natural at it.

are a total failure can go take a long walk on a

That couldn’t have been further from the truth!!

I HATED it, I’m surprised there was a golf course left

short pier”.

This sentiment is one that I wholeheartedly

for the other players the way I would hack up the

support! I work with a plethora of business

fairway, not to mention the numerous fresh air shots,

owners who, feel they “should” be doing this and

and cries from my Mum of “your lifting your head”.

that, and end up feeling overwhelmed. They feel

Grrrrrrr so what were my options? I was still too young to be “Home alone”, who knew I may have become the Clydebank version of Macaulay Culkin.

that they must be conquering the world to be successful.

This is c**p! Every business owner has their

Whinging and moaning was falling on deaf ears, it

own goals and should never compare themselves

was up to me to move across the line from hate to

to anyone else. We start up our businesses for our

love. So to do that I had to move from bad at golf to

own personal reasons, and if you are achieving

good. To do this I decided to remove myself from the

these goals, then well done you! If you want to

course, which I’m sure the other golfers were relieved

grow to a multi-million-pound business then

about as it meant their balls weren’t landing in my

fantastic, you go for it. If you don’t and you

moon crater-sized indentations.

want to run a business that gives you a work-

After a serious of intense professional lessons I learned the core skills I needed to play, an interlock grip, a good open stance and fluid swing. I decided to set up camp on the practice fairway, here it didn’t matter how good you were, there were no impatient

life balance, that is great too. Don’t be goal shamed and certainly don’t feel that you are not successful if you’re not the CEO of Amazon.

Success is achieving your goals! Celebrate when you achieve them!

players to hold up. I became like a boomerang, hit the balls, fetch the balls, repeat. Hour after hour just doing the same thing, with my driver, 5 iron and pitching wedge. Then, as if by magic a great thing happened. The fresh air shots and massive hacks of grass, became less and less, something was changing I was getting better and I actually started to quite like golf!!

The Sales Ace 01604 532004 julie@thesalesace.co.uk thesalesace.co.uk

The Business Bulletin

SALES

Over the years my abilities grew

3. Learn sales methodology and

and my handicap reduced, by

techniques. I genuinely believe

the age of 16, I was playing with

when it’s delivered correctly

a handicap of 12 (for those who

sales and customer service

know nothing about golf, the

are EXACTLY the same thing.

maximum handicap for ladies was

I teach my 4 key pillar areas of

36 at the beginner level and 0 at

sales, behaviours, sales process,

the professional level). I had been

sales strategy and confidence.

taken under the wing of Jock, an

This gives a firm structure and

ex-professional player who gave

teaches you the rules of sales.

his time to coach and mentor me, analysing my grip and swing until I had perfected my own methods. I even had the honour of being chosen for the club, county and West of Scotland teams. I actually LOVED golf and spent as many hours as possible playing, sometimes doing 2 rounds in one day.

4. Practice, practice, practice and practice again!! Human nature teaches us we love things we are good at, and the only way to get

1. You have to want to, because if you don’t want to you never will.

You have a choice to whine and moan or do something about it.

2. Take specialist advice at the start

SMASH IT! Training Alison’s mission statement “When it’s delivered correctly, sales and customer service are exactly the same thing”, does not come from a textbook, but a combination of my passion and experience of international hotel

good is doing things over and

management and sales for some of the

over again. You don’t become a

world’s top blue-chip companies. Based

professional at anything without practising every day.

5. Embrace the rejections, don’t fear

So how can you take my golf analogy and apply it so sales?

Alison Edgar MBE

them. In the words of my buddy Will King the CEO of King of Shaves, “a no is not a no, it’s a no at this time”. Sales is a numbers

on her work with entrepreneurs, Alison is now fortunate enough to work with multinational conglomerates such as Sky, The Discovery Channel, Yell, and The European Commission, to teach their teams to think intrapreneurially which encourages growth mindsets, outside of the box thinking, and ultimately leads to an increase in both company-wide innovation and results.

game and for every no, you are

020 3600 9967

one closer to a yes.

info@smashittraining.com smashittraining.com/

6. Mindset, if you don’t believe you can sell you won’t be able to sell.

Have confidence in your products and services, if you don’t your

7. Don’t ignore the problem, hating

of your journey, get professional

customers won’t buy. If you need

it will not make it go away. Sales

help to teach you, otherwise you

to make improvements to what

are the lifeblood of any business.

will start with self-taught bad

you do, go and do it, then come

If you don’t sell you don’t have

habits, and will never reach your

back with gusto ready to hit the

a business. Poor sales and

peak.

market.

cash flow are the main reasons businesses fail. Take action before it’s too late.

8. Always look for new ways.

You don’t become a professional at anything without practising every day.

Marketing is evolving every day, use social media and marketing to raise your brand awareness to help generate enquiries from people who are aware of your company, this makes converting them to customers easier.

Embrace it, enjoy it, closing a sale is an adrenaline rush and everyone one needs that in their life.

Happy selling!

14 | Issue 20

The Business Bulletin

SALES

Customer retention – what does it mean for your business?

Once you have a new customer, providing they are a good one you want to hang onto them, right? Selling and marketing cost time and money, so it’s much cheaper for your business to hang onto the customers you have. What do you do to keep yours?

Here are 9 ideas for you to consider 1. Tracking your customer churn

gained. It’s worth including

rate. Pick a time frame, the

the revenue you’ve lost and

2. Make sure you ask your customers for feedback.

last month for example and

gained because of customer

You’re not going to be able

list all the customers you’ve

churn as well as the reason

to improve if you don’t ask for

had in that period. Be sure to

why people left. With this data

feedback and be prepared

make a note of who’s still with

to hand you’ll start to get an

to learn from it. It’s also vital

you now, who’s left and how

idea as to what’s going on in

that you share feedback with

many new customers you’ve

your business.

your team, they’re not going

Issue 20 | 15

to be able to celebrate their

they may get frustrated if they

successes, nor solve problems

don’t understand how to use

if they don’t know about

it. Customers have deadlines

them.

and they can’t afford to spend

3. Have a customer communication calendar.

Your team should be proactively contacting your customers to find out how they are and how their business is getting along,

time learning how to master your product. Onboarding ensures customers know how

their goals on time.

7. Have a customer Loyalty

opportunities to cross and up

customers for staying with

sell your services, this applies

you. Customers will continue

whether it be contacting

to buy from you because

regular existing customers, or

they’re getting more from

those you haven’t heard from

the experience than simply

for a while. So what are you

your product/service i.e

waiting for?

you let them know before

your customers about your business every time they open their email. Content should be informative and not just a hard sell. It’s also a great way of telling customers about new initiatives and services that you’re offering.

5. Remember always to build

product/service launches.

They feel part of your tribe, these customers are your top purchasers so make sure you keep them feeling special.

When it comes to marketing these people can be the most valuable. They’re the ones that are likely to give you word of mouth referrals or tag you into LinkedIn and Facebook posts asking for

customers. This is probably

recommendations.

elements to retaining them.

Follow through on your promises, if you say you’re going to do something then make sure you do it.

8. Customer Non Essentials (CNEs) – not directly linked to the normal business you do with your customers, might be a birthday card, information about a subject

6. Have an onboarding process

you know they are interested

for new customers. If you

in, a golf match you arrange,

don’t currently have one

horse racing day out, a trip to

you may be wondering

Silverstone/track day, you will

what all the fuss is about.

constantly be building your

An onboarding process that

relationship, getting to know

helps your customers to

them as people.

understand how to use your product or service can really help with customer retention.

When users are first working with your product/service

Kathy’s passion is working with owners of successful small to medium sized companies. She can help you to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you really want to be, whether it be to grow your business long term, or to implement an exit strategy.

07952 112432 kathybassett@actioncoach.com actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/kathy-bassett

anyone else about new

and maintain trust with your one of the most important

ActionCoach

services so they can complete

Programme, that rewards

a great tool to use, reminding

Kathy Bassett

to utilise your products or

this contact will give you

4. Newsletters/hints and tips are

SALES

The Business Bulletin

interests and causes that they feel passionate about.

As a business if you’re able to pick up on these interests and perhaps choose one or two to support then you’ll be engaging and building a rapport with your clients on more than just a commercial basis.

So to sum up, having a customer retention strategy in place can really benefit your business. Not only will you spot areas that you can improve, you’ll be building trust and rapport with your customers which should, lead to increased sales. A happy customer is the best advert your business can have.

9. Think seriously about your Corporate Social Responsibility – your customers will have

Issue 20 | 17

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

Five things you should be doing daily on Facebook Does anyone still use Facebook?!

I know some of you will have gravitated

one of the best means to ‘advertise’

away from Facebook, because you

yourself and your brand.

are thinking maybe other platforms,

Think of this phrase ‘All roads lead

such as Instagram or TikTok are the

to Rome’… All of your online presence

more trending platforms. Does anyone

should lead to your brand, right? So,

still use Facebook?! The truth is, of

as I said, there are five things you

course they do! If we think about it

should be doing on Facebook every

from a demographic perspective, the

day to make sure our foundations

Facebook audience has never been stronger when it comes to the 35-55 age range. So depending on who

are in place before you even begin to invest in advertising.

your target audience is, I would say

1. Ensure you are posting a

Facebook is a really important place to

minimum of TWICE a day

make sure you’re still involved in the

Think of it as an AM/PM post. The

crowds and hanging out.

reality is not everybody who is

Back in the day I’d say don’t worry

following your page is going to see

Christina Robinson Green Umbrella Marketing Christina works with business owners and marketing directors to educate them on how best to maximise their online marketing activities to enhance their business, increase brand awareness and ultimately increase sales. Alternatively, she offers online coaching, 121 or group training to help you as a business owner

about your personal profile, focus

everything you are posting, so we

on your business page and build

need to make sure we’re posting

your brand from there organically,

enough to be seen by as many

perhaps invest in advertisement

people as possible. You can check

to really supercharge it. I DO still

this on your insights on your page…

believe that to be true, but there

if you post once or twice a day, every

are LOTS of groups on Facebook,

six weeks check your stats, what

which you can access as a page or

reach are you getting? What we’ve

often they’re groups you can join as

found is if you post up to 4 times a

once a day, it’s kind of not enough.

an individual, which I believe to be

day, that’s overkill. If you’re posting

Aiming for two posts a day is a good

18 | Issue 20

or B2B professional discover how to generate more business using tried and tested strategies.

01604 726758 christina.robinson@green-umbrella.biz green-umbrella.biz

COLUMNIST – MARKETING

place to sit, and you can schedule those ahead. For example, make sure that every Monday you’re doing a livestream, or every Wednesday you post a ‘tips and

Marketing success on Facebook Christina Robinsona

tricks’, etc.

2. Go back and check your posts from the day before Have a look at who’s interacting with your posts, invite them to follow the page. Maybe go and look at them on LinkedIn and see what companies they’re from, because this could be creating leads for you and it’s up to you to ensure you’re doing that follow up.

When it comes to Facebook, we’ve seen the organic reach of our pages become strangulated, arguably to encourage more of us to start or increase our Meta Advertising budgets! There are still some core Facebook marketing strategies that still work today when deployed with consistency. If you’re using Facebook for business purposes and thinking “why are people not buying from me?” –

3. Look at your notifications in detail

here’s some advice!

Make sure you’re responding to everything and replying to your messages. If you’ve left a comment elsewhere, and someone has responded to that, go back and reply! Take the time to go through and check EVERYTHING. 4. Go out and check other pages Your target audience – where are they on Facebook?

What are they doing? Identify a few pages that you can follow to make sure their content is in your feed.

The algorithm behind this can be a little bit messy sometimes, you might find that you’re only seeing newer pages you’ve followed. So if you can, just keep

Post every single day for maximum exposure There are a bunch of tools you can use to make this easier – Meta even created its own in-platform scheduling tools to help you with this!

Don’t POST TOO MUCH! The maximum number of posts for the Green Umbrella page is 6, for many of our clients the limit is 4. Posting more than this is when we see a decrease in reach and engagement.

Mix your posting style (photos, videos, audios,

track of a minimum of 10 pages (two pages a day)

long and short-form text, lives)

that you know your perfect client is most likely to be

We all know that Facebook works best if you use

following, and each day go to those pages, look at what

visuals… however, it is still important to use text in

they’ve posted recently, and LEAVE A COMMENT. If

your posts. Look at your “insights” and see what

someone that likes this brand or company is looking

type of posts are bringing you the best results.

at this page regularly, they’ll be looking through the comments more so than the likes, and what

Don’t use any images you find on Google!

we’re trying to do is make sure your name is spotted

You have no idea of the source or copyright of the

amongst these. We’re really trying to reach out beyond our own page to attract new people coming in.

image and the last thing you want to do is risk a fine for using an image you do not have rights to. There are many places where you can source

5. Share trending content

images, we’ve even included them in another of

This is the stuff we can’t plan for. Something that

our blogs for you!

maybe has broken in the news. Each day I want you to be looking at your news sources, look at the people you’re receiving emails from, go on to Twitter, what’s trending? If there’s something you can pick out that’s relevant to your audience, create some

If you can implement these consistently and commit to doing so for a minimum of six months you will see actionable results.

See you on Facebook!

content around that. It could be an educational piece, entertainment or giving your opinion, whatever it is, just make sure you’re using the relevant hashtags and all that good stuff so that your post is being picked up when people are reading through that topic.

So they’re the five things I really want you to make

Green Umbrella Marketing

sure you’re doing each day!

01604 726758 christina.robinson@green-umbrella.biz green-umbrella.biz

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

Five times you should trust your copywriter… and one where you shouldn’t When your business or job involves meeting the needs of others, at some point you will find yourself disagreeing with a client. Copywriting is no different.

Caution – creatives at work!

they all encounter this issue. Most

to trust your copywriter (or any

of us though are not so arrogantly

good creative) when they produce

smug that we cannot stand being

something you didn’t expect.

Sometimes, probably inevitably, there

questioned. Nor are we delicate little

is going to be a slight gap between

flowers that are mortally wounded

1. They followed the brief

our work and what the client thought

by criticism. Trying to tell you to trust

When there is a disparity between

they would receive. I have friends

us without coming across as either

what is produced and a client’s

who work in all areas that fall under

of those two things though is where

expectations, one thing is for certain,

the creative industries banner and

it all gets difficult. Here are 5 reasons

the writer will have tried to provide

20 | Issue 20

the right content based on the brief.

channel to divine inspiration. By the

promised to pay whatever he felt was

It’s rare to find a copywriter who

time you see your copy it will have

appropriate. He obliged with a sketch

wanders off trail with their work.

been researched, edited, re-drafted

of a goat on a napkin and asked for

The brief is their guide and 99.9% of

and refined.

$10,000. When they objected that it

the time they will follow it. The best

only took him 30 seconds, he replied:

thing to do in this situation is to go

4. Creativity is about control

right back to the start. Does the brief

For most copywriters (and designers,

explain what was needed properly or

photographers, website creators,

did the writer actually misinterpret it?

videographers and so on) ‘creativity’ is actually the result of a process.

2. They tried to do what was right

Creativity isn’t born from wild bursts of

for you

inspiration. Mostly it comes from hard

We are working for you, not for

work. We have a process, we follow it,

ourselves. The main reason we are not

and out pops the right result. When

upset by feedback is that we thrive on

it’s your living, clearly waiting around

it. If it is constructive, critical feedback

for inspiration is a bad idea. Can you

is a real help because it allows us to

imagine if your doctor, electrician,

produce better copy. We are trying to

or solicitor had to wait for inspiration

do what is right for you, not us.

to strike before they did anything?

Sitting in the dark with your electrician

3. We are not as ‘arty’ as you think

waiting for them to be enthused

There is an old saying that ‘good

with new ideas enough to go and fit

writing is re-writing’. That is what

your fuse box isn’t a great business

we do. Don’t make the mistake of

model. One of the reasons I don’t like

thinking that we are magicians or

the term ‘Creatives’ is that for far too

have some sort of permanently open

many people it suggests the opposite of how we work. The work you receive isn’t thrown together at the whim of a celestial muse. It is conceived and created via a controlled process, by a

Kevin Robinson Your-Copywriter.com Kevin worked for over a decade in corporate marketing. During the late 90s, he trained as a video producer and television writer before moving

‘No, it took me 40 years’ The story is probably apocryphal, but the point is valid. We recently tried to quantify experience in monetary value. To do it we took an experienced writer as a base, estimated the amount they would have written over 10 years to the lowest reasonable number, and averaged it using the cost of writing a blog article at the bottom end of the average charges.

It turned out that every word they wrote for you would be carrying around £200 worth of experience. We may not be Picasso, but… well, you get the idea As a last thought, as promised in the title, here is a reason not to trust us unquestioningly. Despite what you have heard about writers, we are human beings. Please read what we send you carefully and feedback if it is needed. Like any human being doing

professional, using proven techniques.

any job we make mistakes now and

5. We know what we are doing

this article somewhere. The occasional

We’ve done this before. We know

typo and similar mistakes are the

what works. We have your best

copywriter’s equivalent of your waiter

interests at heart. Could you

putting your food down in front of

imagine going to either of the three

the wrong person or your mechanic

professionals in the point above and

ordering the wrong part for your car. It

then doubting their skills, training,

happens, tell us and we will fix it.

and experience? You probably

again. In fact, there is probably one in

When it comes to the five things

into education where he taught

wouldn’t. If you genuinely feel your

in this list, can I suggest you trust

screenwriting, film and video production

copywriter doesn’t know what they

us? Build a good relationship and

are doing, then change writers. If not,

ask about what we did, and why we

then support them to understand

did it. Afford us the same trust you

what you wanted so they can bring

would give to any other experienced

all that knowledge, all those skills,

professional you consulted. We are

and their extensive experience, to

on your side. Working with us and

bear on your brief.

trusting us, will use our skills to their

for 20 years. He is a published author and has written 1000+ articles for a range of clients. Following the success of your-copywriter.com in 2021, new brand Walkround Media will launch in August 22 focusing on product photography and information video.

01327 317440 kevin.robinson@your-copywriter.com your-copywriter.com

There is a wonderful story about

best effect.

Pablo Picasso being approached by someone in a restaurant who asked him to produce something. They

Issue 20 | 21

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

OPERATIONS

The Business Bulletin

The basics of succession planning and why it’s useful The concept of succession planning has been around for some years. It is a process that focuses on identifying and growing talent to fill leadership and business critical roles in the future. But how do you get to grips with succession planning and how might it help your business?

22 | Issue 20

COLUMNIST – OPERATIONS

Risky business Russell Parker

What is the purpose of succession planning?

Succession planning helps identify future potential leaders, the development employees require to successfully fulfil these roles, and the timescales likely to apply. Succession planning therefore requires a business to identify the roles that are key because of their seniority and/or because of their criticality to the business. Depending on the size of a business, succession planning may apply to a small proportion of the workforce, however, larger organisations often apply it on a divisional basis so there is companywide planning.

What are the benefits of succession planning?

Before Covid I used to regularly deliver courses in Ireland and being in Dublin so often I’ve promised myself on a few occasions to visit the Guinness Storehouse. However, I’ve always put it off until the next time I visit. On this occasion though I decided I would go, you never know at the moment if I will ever return. Whilst there I learnt a little about how the Guinness business started.

Arthur Guinness started his brewing business in Dublin by brewing ale.

He was then introduced to a dark beer that was being produced in London for the porters at Billingsgate market, imaginatively named ‘Porter’.

Arthur decided to change his entire ale brewing operation to produce this Porter and called it a

Succession planning can greatly benefit any business,

‘dark stout beer’. Over time this became known as

here are some examples of why it’s a good idea:

just ‘stout’.

■ It prepares your business for the future ■ It highlights where a business is vulnerable in terms of skill gaps so you can start addressing them at the earliest opportunity ■ It highlights the roles key to the running of the business ■ It protects the business from sudden change ■ It helps to retain key talent – employees will feel valued if they are part of a succession plan ■ It promotes training and development ■ It makes the business become less reliant on certain individuals All of these benefits can apply to a small organisation just as to a larger employer, and the process doesn’t have to be onerous or lengthy.

Steps to follow for effective succession planning

I think that worked out quite well for him.

Moving a new product into a new market on the surface looks like a very risky endeavour, all kinds of things could go wrong. However, the rewards are also substantial if managed correctly.

All of us take risks in our businesses and each of us has a unique attitude to how much risk we are willing to take. Managing them becomes an unavoidable activity.

We need to firstly identify what areas of risk we have and identify the uncertain events surrounding that area we can manage. Secondly, having identified a risk, we need to assess the likelihood of it occurring and what its impact will be on the business if it occurs. Third, identify costeffective mitigation responses and finally, put those actions into place.

Having an approach to managing uncertainty in our business is a crucial factor in our success.

Knowing our limits on what we can accept and what we need to mitigate is vital to our survival.

One could say it allows us to have a stout business.

What are the typical activities of succession planning, especially if you are a smaller business? Here are some steps that tackle the basics: ■ Identify the positions for which a succession plan is necessary – in order to do this, consider how critical each particular role is to the running of the business and what the impact will be if the position becomes

QRB Management Consultants 01327 630355 enquiries@qrbmc.com www.qrbmc.com

The Business Bulletin

OPERATIONS

vacant. Consider also whether

■ Bridging any gaps and

any person currently in the

developing competencies –

identified role(s) holds all

the next step in the process

the relevant and significant

is to understand whether

knowledge and whether

there are any gaps in the

they have any key external

competencies of the planned

relationships.

successor(s) and how

■ Identify the potential successors – a business may well have one or more potential successor. Consider whether any individuals who have demonstrated they have the knowledge, skills and experience (and desire) to move to the next level and give some thought as to how long it will take for them to get there.

Is there a plan if the current incumbent leaves before the planned successor is ready?

■ Identify the job requirements – it is important to understand and break down the key requirements of those roles identified in the succession plan and understand the following: ❙ What are the key components of the role? ❙ What skills, experience and

Sue Pardy

they might be bridged. A

Face2FaceHR

development plan to address the gaps can be created and this can also indicate the timescales over which the competencies will be developed. This action plan will be different for each individual considered to be a potential successor.

■ Communication – communicate to the potential successor(s) that they are

Sue is a highly competent and knowledgeable HR consultant with over 20 years’ experience gained in both public and private sectors across a wide range of industries including retail, insurance, financial services, professional services, education and charities. She now works with SMEs across all industries providing practical and affordable HR support. Her ethos is to ensure that all support is tailored to each business as one size does definitely not fit all.

07936 663314

on the succession plan and

sue.pardy@face2facehr.com

get their input into the

face2facehr.com

development plan. This helps gain their buy-in and it is always worth checking they aspire to a senior or business-

plan can be measured. It is

critical role – not everyone

helpful if the plan establishes

does! Making the employee

what good looks like so, for

aware they are on a succession

example, if the gap is around

plan is also a great motivator

leadership experience, then

and can help with retention.

what are the indicators to be

■ Review progress – this needs

competencies does any

to happen on a regular basis

successor need?

so that progress against the

used to show that progress has been made in this area?

Feedback from others could be one indicator.

Succession planning is a useful exercise to carry out for any business.

Making the employee aware they are on a succession plan is also a great motivator and can help with retention.

24 | Issue 20

Obviously, the scale of the exercise will vary dependent on the size of the employer, but it is certainly a helpful way to future-proof any small organisation in terms of roles and skills gaps.

OPERATIONS

The Business Bulletin

What are your top 10 business risks?

Have you considered recently which risks pose the highest impact on your business? Risks will vary according to the size of your business, the nature of your business and the markets you operate in.

There are many experts in the field of risk management and each will have their own opinion however, here we will highlight what we consider to be the greatest risks to your business and question what you are doing about it:-

1.Liquidity Sounds obvious right? But do you have a monthly cashflow forecast and is it updated regularly?

Whilst the forecast will fluctuate according to business demands,

at least you have an indication of ‘expected’ revenues and costs. I already have a cashflow forecast for 2023 and whilst it will undoubtedly change, I have my starting operational budget. Create your cashflow forecast and review/update regularly.

Issue 20 | 25

The Business Bulletin

OPERATIONS

Ensure your controls and procedures are realistic, fully

Planning ahead to ensure you have suitable lines of credit available should the need arise could save embarrassment

implemented, followed and reviewed.

6. Credit control You received the order, delivered the goods and raised the invoice – great! Payment at point of sale is good however, it is likely that you will have at least some customers with credit terms. Do you have a standard procedure to ensure timely payment?

Where customers delay making payments, this could have a significant impact on your liquidity.

You still have staff to pay and they cannot wait until the customers make payment, you need to make

2. Credit Credit follows liquidity for obvious reasons. You have a cashflow forecast and can see several months ahead that one or two months in the year are potentially going to be negative.

Can you cover the shortfall from your overdraft or other sources?

Planning ahead to ensure you have suitable lines of credit available should the need arise could save embarrassment when suppliers are chasing payment or worse, you cannot

Are limits or controls placed on employees in the decision making process? Does an employee ever feel

the shortfall either from savings or your credit source.

Ensure you have a procedure

pressured to make a decision without

for chasing debtors and then ask

sufficient knowledge or training.

yourself if the chasing is worth the

What if that employee overpromises

business (or should you gift the

on what cannot be delivered.

hassle to your competitor)

In its mildest form, it could be customer however, if it resulted

7. Supply chain management

in an accident or injury then the

You cannot generate revenue from

consequences could be very severe.

a product you cannot obtain or a

an explanation and apology to the

Ensure you have a training plan

service you cannot deliver. What is

pay your employees that month.

and keep it updated.

your top selling product or service

3. Employees (job role and duties)

5. Employees (trust and dishonesty)

an alternative or substitute you can

Does your business rely heavily on

Fraud! We don’t like to think about

sources? Do you source material

a small number of key people or even just one person? What would happen or what would you do if they suddenly left or an illness limited their capability?

Create your succession plan and contingency plan, hopefully you will never need the contingency but you’re ready if you do.

this as we have fantastic employees and we’re a great team.

Unfortunately, sometimes even the least likely person commits fraud.

We don’t know why and we will never understand, but it happens.

Whether you believe an employee would ever be capable of fraud, by implementing controls and procedures to ensure fraud

(value or margin) and do you have offer? Do you source raw materials from a single supplier or multiple or products from overseas and what impact does a 5% currency movement have? How do you ensure business continuity of your key materials or products?

Know your supply chain and understand the implications they could have in your business. Have a contingency plan for emergencies.

cannot be committed then you

8. Customer reliance

Do you have documented evidence

should never have doubts or need

Do you rely heavily on one customer

of employee training and skills?

to accuse anyone.

for your sales or your profits?

4. Employees (training)

26 | Issue 20

The Business Bulletin

whereby 80% of sales are generated through 20% of the customers.

Could you survive if you lost one or two of your top customers?

With greater emphasis on your top 20% of customers, a 5% increase in your top customers will far outweigh even 40% growth in your bottom 20%.

Define your sales strategy to maximise your potential.

10. Cyber security It only takes one click and your entire business is compromised. Except it’s not just your business; how much customer confidential data do you hold too?

The weakest link in any computer system is the operator. Continuous awareness training of how cyber criminals operate together with do’s and don’ts will help minimise the risk.

Are your management systems robust, suitable and sufficient?

■ Are you focused on your risks?

■ Would you like reassurance or an outsiders view of your systems?

■ Are you ready to grow your business?

■ Is your business ready to grow?

Ensure rigorous policies are in place with planned preventative measures

9. Reputation Your reputation is everything to your

including employee training.

business and a few poor reviews or

What next?

bad publicity can have a significant

The top 10 risks noted above offer

impact on your business.

a silo perspective considering each

Poor employee support and mental awareness could damage your reputation or corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG).

risk singularly. These risks should be considered within a holistic approach of the complete business; Enterprise Risk Management (ERM).

ERM is a system to; design,

Reputation is not only affected by

implement, monitor, review

the product or service you offer, how

and continually improve risk

your business operates is equally

management throughout the

important. Ensure all employees

organisation in accordance with the

share the same business goals and

strategy and objectives set by the

expectations.

owners and or board of directors.

Robert Isaacson

Your reputation is everything to your business and a few poor reviews or bad publicity can have a significant impact on your business.

Business Mechanisms Coaching & Consulting 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 01933 38 46 47 hello@thebmcc.co.uk thebmcc.co.uk

Issue 20 | 27

OPERATIONS

Typically many businesses operate in line with Pareto’s 80/20 rule

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

The Business Bulletin

Spotlight on Jacky Sherman

28 | Issue 20

The Business Bulletin

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

Jacky Sherman runs The Consultants’ Consultant - mentoring and coaching independent consultants and small partnerships to build a better business than they could on their own. She combines her experiences, skills, knowledge and contacts to plot a path that leads to the business that they really want. As well as making sure they do the actions to make it a reality.

How did you get to where you are

been passing on that knowledge

networking. This was a concept

today?

to other people. I now concentrate

that was brand new to me. I went

I spent a lot of years in the health

purely on my favourite type of clients,

along to a big Chamber event where

which are solo consultants who left

there were hundreds of people and I

employment like I did and set up

completely lost my bottle! That's the

their own businesses as well. They

only way to put it. I suddenly thought:

need to learn how to turn that into a

I don't know how to do this. I don't

business. that earns them a living or

know how to be with these people. It

achieves whatever it is they want to

took me about a minute to go and

achieve from that endeavour. That’s

join in. I realised that I needed to

how I got to where I am now - a 20

learn how to do this – it was a new

year journey!

skill I had to learn.

service first as a nurse, and then into management, reaching heady heights of Chief Executive over an NHS Trust. Then I left to set up my own leadership coaching company, and discovered that I knew very little about how to run a business or how to network to acquire clients. I had to go on a learning journey of my own, which resulted in me getting involved with an organisation called

What was your first venture into

Asentiv, who taught me referral

networking like?

marketing - how to leverage the full

Having left the health service with

value of my network to build my

no commercial background, I set

business. For the last eight years, I’ve

out and went to this thing called

What do you think are the biggest mistakes that people make when they're networking?

I think mostly they don't prepare – hence why I ran into problems. The other thing they do is think that the clients are going to be in the room.

They feel they've got to go around

I was in the RAF, I was in the NHS, running a hospital trust - they are all communities of people working together for a shared ideal.

and sell to everybody in the room. A lot of people struggle with the whole concept of going along just to develop a relationship in the first place. Don’t think about that person as a potential client. What you really want is to meet lots of people who know lots of people who you would want as clients because they can introduce you. Your network is much bigger than the people in the room, your network is everybody they know and you access them by your relationship.

A lot of people struggle with that concept. They think they're doing it, but actually what they're doing is standing up and pitching to the room.

Issue 20 | 29

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

The Business Bulletin

Collaboration: The Green Business Network and the Forest of Marston Vale.

Not having a goal or an objective

business locally will have a green

solutions and green alternatives. The

for their networking is the other

strategy. We’re all doing our part

more we can help members offering

mistake - why are you there? What

to reduce the negative impact we

these services in front of the right

do you want to achieve? It's not just

have on the environment. I joined to

people, the more good we are doing

rocking up and saying, “I had a good

learn and ended up getting invited

for the planet - which helps us all.

time.” It's seeing some results from it.

to be a trustee and am now the chairman purely to help build the

Another string to your bow is the

What your why? What drives you

organisation. What I bring to that is

Green Business Network – what is

and gets you out of bed in the

my skills in helping people to build a

that about?

morning?

network and build a community. We

I'm chair of the local Green Business

run a networking group specifically

From a work point of view, what

Network, we have a vision that every

for businesses that provide green

drives me is a sense of community.

As a child, my father was in the colonial service in Africa. I never lived anywhere longer than two years and often moved every six months. That

I knew very little about how to run a business or how to network to acquire clients

meant we're constantly having to make new relationships. That got to be a problem when we came to live in England and I was spectacularly unsuccessful at breaking into established friendship groups at school. I was that weird woman from Africa and good girl from Africa! That was quite difficult, until I joined the Red Cross. I found it really easy to make friends when I was with people with a shared sense of purpose and

30 | Issue 20

The Business Bulletin

career. I was in the RAF, I was in the NHS, running a hospital trust - they are all communities of people working together for a shared ideal. What I like about what I do now is I'm still doing that; I'm helping other people to do that - to build their community around them, and get that support.

I get it myself from my networking groups and my inner circle of my network. I think a lovely example was when we went into lockdown, the first

It’s not just rocking up and saying, “I had a good time.” It’s seeing some results from it.

thing I did was set up “lunch online”.

My inner circle and I get together every fortnight just to support each other and see us through what was

It's not because I'm not intellectually

on you and some direct advantages.

at that point, the complete unknown,

capable of doing it, I think it's

Firstly, it helps you with your decision

but we were in it together.

because my heart and soul isn't in it. I

making – does that decision help me

like meeting people, I like being with

get closer to my vision? It also picks

people. I see it as a bit of a barrier

you up when you falter – this is where

between people – an extra layer to

I am, this is what I have achieved so

overcome!

far and this is what I am looking to

What would you say makes you different from your competitors?

I think it is my unique blend of knowledge, skills and experience and contacts. I've worked in the public sector environment. I've worked in a political environment a bit, as well as working in small businesses. I think what people say they get from working with me, which is what's really important, is making new connections and making new ways of looking at their business. I always

achieve – keeps you going.

What is your one top tip for any small business owner?

Spend time defining and developing the vision for your business. This is not a waste of time and not just navel gazing! It is really important. Once you have established it, start living it; act as if you have already achieved it.

It has a deep psychological impact

think my unique skill is really the ability to connect people to people who they wouldn't normally think of mixing with; bringing together ideas and concepts in new ways that help people take a left field look at what they're trying to achieve. Those “aha” moments people get - I think that's my key skill.

What would you say is the biggest challenge that you’ve faced?

When I started, I would have said networking because I didn't know how to do it - it scared me. Then it was technology that is my biggest challenge. Coming to terms with technology, I find particularly difficult.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ik8usWebw4

Issue 20 | 31

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

ideals. I've carried that on in my whole

RESOURCES

The Business Bulletin

Five key things to consider when starting and growing your business Due to the pandemic and global uncertainties, more people than ever have decided to take the leap into self-employment, to take back control over their future and their finances.

Molly Cronin

However, the stark reality is that

at the beginning. Don’t just launch

starting a business isn’t as simple as

straight in as a sole trader – have a

it may seem and a massive 60% will

think about who your customers

of business contracts, including terms

fail within their first three years, with

will be (see tip number 2 below!)

& conditions, shareholder agreements,

20% not making it through the first

and whether you want to grow. Bear

year alone.

in mind that each structure has its

BEB Contract & Legal Services BEB specialise in writing all types

sub-contractor agreements and much more. They also review the contracts their clients get sent, particularly those

Of course, it’s not just start-

in construction, to ensure they get a

ups that would benefit from a

fair deal. Everything they do is for a fixed price and is bespoke to the client’s individual business. The team at BEB are passionate about making sure

health check of their business and its processes. Take a look at the

agreeing to - that way, it’s far less likely to end in a dispute. Having worked with thousands of clients over the years in

always recommend speaking with an accountant early on to get some much-needed tax advice too.

following tips:

everything is written in plain English so the parties understand what they’re

own benefits and drawbacks – we

1. Choose the best business structure

2. Identify your ideal customer Setting up a new business can be

You’ve got a fantastic idea for a

daunting and there’s a lot to consider

new business and you’re excited to

but it’s crucial to identify from the

get started. You may have heard

outset who your customers will be.

the terms “sole trader”, “limited

Will you be working with consumers

together all their knowledge in one place

company” and “partnership” but

or commercial customers, or both? It

- the BEB Start-up Business Academy

what do they actually mean and

may not important, but consumers

more importantly, which one do you

(individuals) are legally entitled

want to be? Although you can switch

to extra rights, because they’re

from one to the other, it’ll save you a

not considered to have the same

lot of time and hassle to get it right

bargaining power as businesses. You

every possible profession and trade imaginable, from start-ups through to multi-national corporations, they’ve now launched a new offering putting

01604 217365 info@bebconsultancy.co.uk bebconsultancy.co.uk

32 | Issue 20

COLUMNIST – RESOURCES

What is the point of bespoke software?

Ashish Kumar To answer this let’s first see what bespoke software is. Bespoke software is a tailormade solution that will follow how the business works so that the business doesn’t have to change the natural work flow. Advantages and downsides apply to both options.

For off-the-shelf solutions: Advantages ■ Instantly available ■ Saves time for development and testing ■ Cost-effective – initially Disadvantages ■ Time is saved during the building process but lost in learning the software ■ Changes the working style of your operations according to the software ■ Possible hidden charges which may revealed later And, for bespoke software: Advantages need to be mindful of offering a 14-day cooling-off period within which they can change their mind and cancel the contract for any reason. On top of this, if you don’t tell the consumer of their legal rights, they’re entitled to extra rights. Decide who you want to sell to and work back from there.

■ Developed according to the client’s specific needs ■ Client owns the software and the data ■ Expands and changes with client’s business ■ Can be built in stages ■ Provides client with flexibility and portability

3. Get your paperwork right When you start trading, you will need to send out quotes and invoices to let your customers know how and when to pay you. There is certain information you must include to make these valid. Firstly, you must state your company name in full. As a sole trader, you should include your own name, your trading name and a contact address. If you are a limited company, you will also need your company number and registered address. If you’re VAT registered, you must include your VAT number.

Don’t forget to clearly specify who the customer is,

Disadvantages ■ Comparatively takes more time to develop ■ Can be costly – initially So, it really depends on the current stage of the business. If the business is fairly new and doesn’t need many licenses, then off-the-shelf software is a good option to go for. On the other hand, if the business has a lot of people working in it and has outgrown what already tried spreadsheets and offthe-shelf software can do, then that is the stage to look at bespoke software.

with their full business name where applicable.

Dates are important too. Quotes should have a due date and an expiry date – with rising material costs, you may want to shorten the amount of time

Web Alliance

the customer has to accept it, to reduce your risks.

0800 677 1786 ashish@web-alliance.co.uk web-alliance.co.uk

The Business Bulletin

RESOURCES

Invoices should always have a date of issue and a due date.

4. Beware of purchase orders

5. Don’t forget about subcontractor risk If you’re scaling up and looking to outsource some work to a sub-contractor, don’t forget that

You’ve had your first commercial

relationship will have its own risks

customer say they want to go ahead

too. If your sub-contractor doesn’t

with your quote – that’s great.

show up or does a shoddy job,

However, if they issue a purchase

your customer won’t have a direct

order, beware. POs will almost

contractual route to them – they’ll

always, in tiny writing, specify that

have to come through you. Having

it’s subject to the customer’s terms

a written agreement in place with

and conditions. These are likely to

your sub-contractor will make them

be completely irrelevant to the work

take your work more seriously and

you’ll be doing. If you’ve got your own

it’s a tick in the right box for HMRC if

Ts & Cs, then just thank them for the

they ever investigate whether they’re

order and state that it’ll be on your

employed or not. Think about what

own terms – it’s generally whoever

could be at stake – your intellectual

says it last that wins.

property, your materials, your

reputation – and don’t take all this for granted.

Starting a business can be scary but provided you have the right set-up from the beginning, you can feel confident you’ll be one of the successful ones.

Is Your Business Ready?

We live in changing times New business practices Ever changing technologies New and changing markets

Is your business ready to face these and other challenges?

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Put your teams through a real working simulation so they can practice their new skills in safe environments and embed their new knowledge and learning.

All our consultants are experienced practitioners in their field. Bringing real life examples to embellish the core material and facilitate the learning of the group.

Contact us today for your free consultation www.qrbmc.com 01327 630355 enquiries@qrbmc.com

The Business Bulletin

RESOURCES

Model form articles: is it time for a review?

When one director is not enough…

If you’ve already set up a limited company, you’ll probably have a dim and distant memory of some of the documents required. People often talk about ‘mem and arts’ whilst they’re in the process of incorporating, and then the subject stops being a topic of conversation pretty soon after that. And, if you’re like many business owners, you’ll have your memorandum of association and articles of association filed in a dusty corner, never to be looked at again.

However, a recent court case has brought articles of association under the spotlight. So, once you’ve finished reading this, you may find yourself grabbing the Mr. Sheen, dusting off your files, and having a good read.

Let’s take a quick step back to remind ourselves what the memorandum and articles of

What are your ‘mem and arts’?

other hand, set out how a company

Your memorandum of association

the company is governed and owned

is a “legal statement signed by all initial stakeholders or guarantors agreeing to form the company.”

The document includes key information about the business including company name, date of

Your articles of association, on the is run. The document clarifies how by its members. For example, it will stipulate the restrictions on the company’s power by including the following information: directors’ powers and responsibilities; how

incorporation, type of company, the act under which the company is registered, names and signatures of original stakeholders or guarantors, and a statement about the limited liability of shareholders or guarantors.

Individuals who add their name to the document become a member of the company. And details of members are made public through the Companies House website.

association are.

Issue 20 | 35

RESOURCES

The Business Bulletin

decisions are made; how directors are

be less than two directors and, unless

and qualified accountants are the

appointed or removed; and details of

otherwise fixed, it will be two.

people to turn to. They’ll give you

any indemnity and insurance that is provided by the directors. It will also include information on shares, how the shares are distributed, and how dividends are distributed. There will be mention of the capitalisation of profits and shareholders. Plus, how general meetings are conducted and who has voting rights etc.

Are there standard versions of these documents available?

Yes, there are. There is a standard format for the memorandum, mainly because the document requires the same information to be included for all companies. There is also a standard form of articles, called model articles, and if you use these, it makes incorporating quick and easy. With that said, however, you can customise your articles. Though if you do this, you must notify Companies House when you incorporate so they can review your draft to check they are acceptable.

Is it ok to just use model form articles?

As long as the statements set out within the standard document apply to your business then, yes, you can just use model form articles.

However, there are many reasons why model form articles may not be suitable. And a recent court case has highlighted one of the issues that can arise when a standard set of articles are in place.

The issue the court had to consider was related to the number of directors needed for a quorate meeting. Some specifics and a little detail are needed to explain this.

Article 11 (2) says that a decision of

Article 7 states that any decisions of the directors must be a majority decision or a unanimous decision in accordance with Article 8. And Article 7 then says that if a company only

make key decisions on the formation of your company. Plus, they’ll provide you with the wording you need too.

It’s worth noting that if you’ve

has one director, and no provision of

already incorporated, it is possible to

the articles requires it to have more

change your articles. With the correct

than one, certain formalities which

advice, you’ll need to amend the

would otherwise apply to a director’s

document via a special resolution.

decision, actually do not apply.

The final amended version will then

Straight off, it’s clear there is a conflict between articles 11 (2) and 7.

Article 7 means that a sole director is able to act and make all decisions, whereas Article 11 (2) counters that.

The recent case considered this with particular respect to the impact of Article 11 (2). The judgement in the case was that Article 11 (2) amounts to a requirement for a quorum of two directors. Now, that’s all well and

have to be submitted to Companies House within fifteen days of the special resolution being passed.

Overall, though, the upshot is if you’re running a limited company with more than one director, you can probably let sleeping ‘mem and arts’ lie. However, if you’re operating as a sole director, now might be the time to grab your duster and chat with your accountant.

good when you have two or more directors in a business. However, for limited companies with one director only, this is a problem.

What’s the solution?

As already mentioned, under the Companies Act 2006 a company can choose not to use the model form articles. Instead, they can use just some of articles and amend others.

Thus, if a private company wants to have a sole director it may do so, but it will need to have specially prepared articles, or at least amend the provisions of the articles.

Roger Eddowes 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,

Who can make the necessary amendments?

It’s wise to get professional advice

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

for this. Those forgotten documents

solutions, he has been called a Business

stored in a filing cabinet tend to only

Godparent due to his caring, hands-on

come out when there’s a problem, so it’s important that the company is set up correctly in the first place.

the directors can apply when it comes

Company secretaries, solicitors

to the quorum; though it must never

that specialise in company law,

36 | Issue 20

the guidance you need to be able to

approach.

07595 021376 roger.eddowes@essendonaccounts.co.uk essendonaccounts.co.uk

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STRATEGY

The Business Bulletin

Is your mindset ruining or growing your business?

Why your mindset is important and everyone talks about it Your mindset affects everything from

can be developed over time through

■ Lack of boundaries

your home life, relationships, feelings

effort and persistence.

■ Being ‘stuck’ in your business

and your business. Mindset involves mood, motivation, beliefs and so much more. Renowned Stanford University Psychologist Carol S Dweck, Ph.D believes there are two types of mindset: fixed mindset and growth mindset.

Fixed mindset is when you believe your abilities are fixed traits and therefore can’t be changed.

Growth Mindset is when you believe that your talents and abilities

Recognising which mindset you are currently in, can be the key to making long-lasting change in your life and your business. Success or failure; joy or misery? The choice is in your hands, well actually in your mind!

How your mindset affects business

If you feel like this, you may have been in a fixed mindset without even knowing it! There is good reason why business owners create this situation.

It provides CERTAINTY and this is the main job of your unconscious brain.

To be certain and keep you alive.

The first and most important step is recognising what certainty you

Having a fixed mindset when it

are serving, finding a different way

comes to your business can be

of serving it, then working through

really limiting. If you don’t believe in

ways to grow to take your business to

yourself, then why would anyone else

wherever you want it to go.

believe in you? If you don’t believe in what your business does or sells, why would anyone want to work with you or pay for your service? Your self-belief will radiate like a beacon of hope, or a flare of anxiety. If you

Vivienne Joy She Enjoys Viv helps passionate, determined women to start and scale their business with powerful mindset reset coaching and skills training in sales, marketing & strategy to learn to earn authentically,

are fixed with the belief that you are as good as you are going to get, you won’t be taking leaps to try new things, scaling your business, and trusting yourself and your intuition. A famous saying which I live by ‘If you are not growing, you are dying’.

joyfully and consistently! She-Enjoys is a safe place where women at every stage

This fixed mindset leads to things like:

come to realise what their challenges really are, rest a while, reset their mindset and business skillset; whilst connecting, networking and collaborating in a friendly space.

07921 040474 hello@she-enjoys.com she-enjoys.com

■ Undercharging or over delivering ■ Not creating higher level offerings ■ Comparisonitis ■ Working with people who aren’t right for us

38 | Issue 20

7 step mindset reframe If you are finding that you have more of a fixed mindset rather than a growth mindset, then you need to be working on switching that around!

Ask yourself these questions and write down the answers: 1. Where do you feel you want to be?

2. What are some actionable ways you can move towards that place?

3. What has been holding you back?

4. What excuses are you making?

5. What positive outcome comes from staying stuck?

6. What would you like to do to move forward?

7. How can you start that right now?

Stick the answers to your fridge, your noticeboard, your bedroom

COLUMNIST – STRATEGY

mirror. Somewhere you can see them all the time.

Really think and feel them. You are worth taking some time for. Deciding what you want, where you want to be, and what is holding you back, so that you can start believing that you can get yourself and your

How to strategically grow your customer base Paul Green

business there.

Often it really helps to talk to someone who is at a different stage of business to yourself, or is an expert at asking deep structure questions (like me). Talking it out and getting the clarity you need to move forward.

The power of your mindset

A useful tool to consider where your business growth is going to come from is the Ansoff Matrix (see below). It helps organisations identify and explore opportunities for growth.

Market penetration This is primarily a strategy to increase market share

Those who do the inner work, and continue to do

within your existing customer base. So this could

so, will notice that the way they react to previously

be selling more of your existing products to existing

stressful situations doesn’t impact them the same

customers or finding mew customers in already

way. They are not as triggered; or have a different

established market places.

reaction to a trigger. Money isn’t a constant issue to deal with anymore. Being good enough or fitting in is no longer a constant worry. You are far more confident than you’ve ever been. It can almost feel effortless, that flow you hear people talk of. You know what you want to do and be, and you’re not afraid to go and get it! In fact, not doing so, seems ridiculous.

Think about where you want to be by the end of the day, or week, or month – or even your year? Remember, you are strong, capable, adaptable, and resilient. Think of past experiences that evidence this.

Market development This involves looking for new markets to sell your existing products to. This could be new industry sectors, new geographic locations (possibly overseas) or a combination of the two.

Product development This strategy to develop new products or services to your existing customer base can be the most lucrative in terms of the potential for business growth. You already have a relationship with your current customers and therefore you are in a better position to develop something of value for them.

Diversification This strategy is going to stretch most organisations as both new product development and new marketing strategies are going to be required.

The Business Community 07949 703137 paul@buscomm.co.uk buscomm.co.uk

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Business Bulletin

People are a pain!

Speaking to small business owners about the pain of scaling up their businesses recently, one of the most common issues for them all was their people. Understanding, or coping, with the changes that employing people brings to their business.

So I thought I would share my

When you first start to employ

makes them tick. This will not only

thoughts, based on my personal

people, maybe just one or two other

help you be a better boss but it will

experiences and those of my clients

people it is relatively simple, you

also help you to see any warning

who, like myself, have been through

have a clear role for them and a very

signs. Showing an interest in

many of these challenges.

defined need. They are employed

them and their lives will open up

to fulfil a specific task for you like a

conversations about what is going

bookkeeper or an admin assistant.

on outside of work and more often

They are there to allow you to focus on

than not that is where the drive for a

growing the business and doing what

change will come from.

you are good at. To you, they are part of the team and you rely on them, you value their loyalty but you know that at some point you may have to replace them. So you keep their role

Mhairi Richardson

defined enough that they can be

Tomrom Team Coaching

replaced with as little pain as possible.

Mhairi specialises in coaching

As a small business owner, losing

But what about when you’ve been through that stage and you are looking to build an empire? Now you need to employ more people, people who are going to be representing your brand, taking the company forward, building the future. You are excited and looking forward to

people that work for you can be

finding like-minded people who can

tough. No matter how hard you try,

join you on your journey. Often there

you take it personally. And you don’t

is a tendency to employ people just

need me to tell you that you shouldn’t!

like you, or that you think are just like

But it is hard, your business is you and

you – but remember they will want

She enjoys working with newly formed

anyone leaving that or not feeling the

to excel in their own right, and not be

teams, established team or teams who

same passion for the business as you

overshadowed by your achievements.

just feel they should be achieving more.

do hurts! For a multitude of reasons,

You will need to trust them to deliver

very few of them pleasant, you have to

for you and that means a little bit of

terminate the relationship with them

letting go! You’ll be amazed at the

but, if you have done your job well, it

results if you do this right.

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.

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.

07970 002129 mhairi.richardson@tomrom.co.uk tomrom.co.uk

40 | Issue 20

will not come as a surprise or shock to them or you.

The best advice I can give you

This is a critical time in your growth and it is only fair to say that there will probably be some pain and heartache

is “know your people”, spend time

that goes along with the growth

understanding them and what

and excitement. You work closely

COLUMNIST – PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Can hypnotherapy help depression?

Judith Hanson Hypnotherapy has proved very useful in helping with depression. If you are suffering with depression you are probably feeling that there is no hope that you will ever feel better and/or have no idea how to even start – the familiar feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.

Some recent studies have shown that hypnotherapy is more effective than cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is the most common therapy approach in treating clinical depression.

Hypnosis for depression can help address the underlying cause as well as help you find much more effective coping strategies. It can also help you achieve a happier mood and decrease or with them, they are trained as you want them and hopefully, they also bring something extra to the mix that your business needs. You hired them because you saw something in them that you needed or wanted for the business and more than anything you want them to succeed. But things don’t always go to plan and either they become frustrated with you or you become frustrated with them.

So how do you avoid the pain or at the very least minimise the impact on you personally? It’s not easy but there are a few things you can do that might help minimise the impact or even avoid the situation altogether.

dispel the pessimistic and negative thoughts that generally accompany depression. People who undergo hypnosis for this disorder will often experience a new sense of freedom and a greater sense of control over their thoughts, their mood, and their life in general.

Hypnosis is, in fact, totally natural and we all go in and out of a similar state several times a day. I am sure there are times during driving a familiar journey, watching TV or reading a book when you become aware that your attention has drifted from what you were doing and you have been focused inside yourself. The key point is that you are fully in control when in hypnosis. Generally, you

1. From the outset be clear on what you are

will be offered suggestions and you will respond

expecting from them. The recruitment

to them in the way that is right for you. You will

process should be rigorous to make sure that

hear everything that is said and can remember it

you employ people who genuinely want to

afterwards if you want to.

work for you. To assist with the hiring process and to get under the skin of your candidates,

Find out more about hypnotherapy and depression.

create really strong interview questions that help you understand the motivations and values of each candidate.

2. Once employed, be clear on how they are doing, be constructive in your feedback but don’t hide from the difficult stuff. If you are not happy with their progress or behaviour YOU need to discuss it with them. Many of the biggest problems in employment come from managers or leaders not being clear and often failing to address the real problem.

3. Be consistent and transparent, never feel you can’t reward someone for fear of upsetting

Therapies for the mind 07881620586 judith@judithhanson.co.uk judithhanson.co.uk

JB Commercial Finance

someone else. If you have been clear and transparent it will not build resentment.

If you are worried about upsetting someone then you need to find better ways to have open conversations with them. So much in business is assumed – don’t let your management style be one

Does your business need cashflow finance?

of assumptions!

4. As stated above, KNOW your people, spend time getting to know what makes them tick and check in regularly. Also, know yourself – understand the impact you have and shadow you cast. Know

Are you looking to buy a commercial property and require funding?

your weaknesses and look to employ people who are strong in those areas.

As you grow you might not be able to touch base with everyone so you need to make sure that the people who are supposed to be leading those areas of the business are doing it for you and are feeding back to you openly and

Has your bank turned your business down for finance?

honestly. Consider appointing someone you trust to look after the people and culture of the business.

5. As you grow, build a team around you who can support you and listen to you when you need to rant or rave. These

Dont know where to turn for business funding?

people don’t have to be in your business but they do have to understand the challenges you are facing. Friends and family are great for this but often they may have a bias based on their relationship with you. Non-exec directors or other business owners could provide that sounding board or you could use a coach. It’s really a question of what works best for you, your budget, your business

Call JB Commercial Finance for a free initial consultation

and where you are in the ‘business growth’ journey. Getting that external perspective can be so valuable, especially when you are most involved in the day to day managing of your business.

Telephone: 0116 3440 322 Mobile: 07722 432 128 Email: info@jbcommercialfinance.co.uk Website: www.jbcommercialfinance.co.uk @jbcommercialfinance 42 | Issue 20

James Blacklaws

So it’s not all doom and gloom, but the sooner you recognise the symptoms the sooner you can make the changes. The earlier you think about these things and what the future of the company looks like from a people perspective the better prepared you will be and the better decisions you will make.

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Business Bulletin

Simple ways to improve your sleep and be more productive In the business world, there is a lot of stress and worry occupying our thoughts.

With this stress comes poor sleeping habits, which in turn lowers productivity and can affect both physical and mental health.

In order to be productive, motivated,

things you can do to improve the

and happy, how do we ensure that

quality of your sleep. This involves

sleep, the deepest and most

we are getting adequate sleep?

maintaining a consistent bedtime

rejuvenating stage of the sleep cycle.

When our son was born, I was reminded how important sleep was as I was getting about 4 hours, if that,

and getting up at the same time

Caffeine can also disrupt REM

Having some coffee at 4 p.m. to

each day, including on the weekends.

keep you going in the early evening

At first, it could feel difficult, but

is hard to resist, but if you can, try a

a night. I quickly hit burnout and

in the long term, it will prove to be

glass of water or some cordial and

had to find ways to get back some of

worthwhile. It helps to maintain the

hang in there.

those “Zs”.

body’s natural sleep rhythm, which

This article is the result of two years of experimentation.

To be clear, these tips are based on my own experiences, and you should do what works best for you!

This isn’t medical advice, please do your due diligence. If you’re having

in turn makes it simpler to get to sleep and stay asleep throughout the night. I go to bed at 9pm, I am up for 5am. This also allows an hour toddler if needed if he wakes up.

The body’s normal sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, is regulated by

it’s jeopardising your health, you

When it comes to your sleep, caffeine

should seek immediate medical and

is a powerful stimulant. While it’s

professional advice.

fine to have a cup of coffee in the morning, unfortunately you may want to avoid it at the end of the day.

Caffeine can linger in your system for up to six hours, making it difficult to

Maintaining a regular bedtime

fall asleep at night if consumed in the

routine is one of the most helpful

afternoon or evening.

44 | Issue 20

ready to conquer the evening routine.

Soak in those rays

trouble sleeping to the point where

Create a schedule

wake me up in the late afternoon

in the night for me to comfort our

Reduce caffeine

Here goes:

Personally, I find a brisk walk helps

adequate daylight exposure. (I’m sure it’s real because I read it on the internet). Increased daytime light exposure has been found in studies to aid nighttime sleep. So, if you’re having trouble sleeping at night, try spending more time outside during the daytime hours.

I found it harder to do so during winter. For me, a SAD lamp was the

answer. When you need a boost but

can suppress the production of

don’t have access to natural light,

melatonin, the hormone that helps

these lamps are a great substitute.

you sleep. In addition, the stimulation from social media, email, and text

Do a workout or three Exercise is good for your physical health, but it can also enhance your sleep. Adults can enhance their sleep quality with just 30 minutes of moderate exercise, three times a week. Additionally, exercise can help to reduce the effects of stress and anxiety, which can often lead to difficulty sleeping. For me, a 30-minute stroll every other day is an achievable goal. I also use my smartphone to track my steps and

messages can make it difficult to wind down before bed and make it harder to switch off.

Personally, I used my phone to listen to music in order to fall asleep, but of course that came with many distractions. I’d find myself mindlessly scrolling, or randomly picking up the phone to check notifications. I ended up purchasing a cheap MP3 player from Amazon so I could put my phone away from the bed, whilst still enjoying some relaxing music.

aim for a minimum of 7000 a day.

Keep in mind that exercising too close to bedtime may not be beneficial. Exercising can cause an adrenaline rush which can make it difficult to fall asleep. Endorphins are released during exercise and can also cause interference.

Avoid looking at the screens Avoid using a smartphone in bed.

The blue light emitted by screens

Sleep tight In all honesty, this took time. I still have bad nights. Through trial and error, I’ve slowly learned what affects

Lee Jackson Agency Trailblazer Lee Matthew Jackson is an entrepreneurial consultant for digital agencies. The host of the Trailblazer FM podcast, YouTube Channel, and the Agency Transformation event, he’s gained worldwide renown in the WordPress community and creative industry. His brand, Trailblazer FM works specifically with digital agency owners and their teams to develop their brand persona, build their platform, and help them scale.

07722 591777 lee@trailblazer.fm trailblazer.fm

my ability to wind down and rest.

You may have a completely different experience so I’ll close by encouraging you to experiment, read up online, listen to your body and be kind to yourself.

Night night, sleep tight, see you in the morning!

Issue 20 | 45

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Business Bulletin

BOOK REVIEW

The Business Bulletin

The Socratic way of questioning How to use Socrates’ method to discover the truth and argue wisely (critical thinking & logic mastery).

With the sheer volume of information,

think that I have always questioned

are all quite critical in our thinking

we have these days sometimes I find

things and for those that know me, I

and so were happy to find ways to

it overwhelming, knowing what and

do love a good debate! Since training

hone some of the skills we have

who to believe and where to go to

as a coach, I use this natural tendency

already gained. More than the

find an absolute answer. I have always

to ask challenging questions while

questions themselves I think it is

considered myself to be curious, I am

being aware of my own bias. And all

important to be open to being asked

fascinated by the why of things often

those questions without listening well

questions and challenged on our

much more than the how. I like to

would be a waste of time.

thinking. We have perhaps become

For book club we wanted to explore some methodologies for critical thinking and as Socrates is considered to be the “father” of modern psychology I figured there would be something to learned from his methods. I came across this little book

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

which proved to be very informative.

The first couple of chapters deal with understanding the need for and the value of Socratic questioning and this section does feel a little heavy however it is important to understand the underlying principles of Socratic questioning. As a plus, each chapter

program to the needs of your business.

has a handy summary that helps you

She enjoys working with newly formed

to recap and ultimately retain more

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.

07970 002129 mhairi.richardson@tomrom.co.uk

of the method. The later chapters deal much more with the practical elements including

the concept that we might not have all the right answers. I see this so often in leadership as the leader feels they need to know all the answers, when in fact the great leaders know they can learn from others. However, if you were to ask me “what would I get out of this book?” then I think I would have to say that in a world where we have so much information at our finger tips, we could all do with thinking a little more critically and using the Socratic questioning method will really help you to achieve that. Here are 5 all-purpose questions directly from the book to help you improve your thinking!

■ How can I see this with fresh eyes?

■ What might I be assuming?

■ The power of the pregnant pause

■ Am I rushing to judgement?

■ Identifying the hidden agenda

■ What am I missing?

■ Questioning assumptions

■ What matters most?

■ Understanding viewpoints

tomrom.co.uk

Interestingly I felt that as a group we

46 | Issue 20

a little too defensive and not open to

Thanks for reading and if you want to read the book it’s here

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