The Business Bulletin - Issue 19 by Paul Green

The

Business Bulletin By business owners, for business owners

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Issue 19

Spotlight on Kevin Robinson PLUS Creating a powerful sales letter How to make remote workers still feel part of the culture Workplace bullying takes many forms

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Are you keen to see your business grow? Then you need to keep track of the gures… Building a successful business takes determination, energy, focus, and know-how. But even the best business idea cannot ourish without one additional critical input; information. At Essendon Accounts & Tax, we love nothing more than helping a business thrive. In fact, it’s become our speciality. Are you a Family Business? We can act as your virtual Financial Director providing expert advice through a hands-on approach. Whatever accounting and tax support you need, we can help. Want to make a prot? Let us take on the grind of tracking what’s coming in and going out, so we can then model your cash ow and provide you with the information you need to make swift and critical business decisions. Looking to outsource your payroll and bookkeeping? Payroll and bookkeeping exist in ever-changing complex landscapes that require up to date knowledge and expertise. Would you prefer to spend your time working on your business? We can help.

ACCOUNTS & TAX

Need assistance with a tax issue? Whether you are a sole trader, in a partnership, a director of a limited company, or simply an individual with a regular income, expert knowledge that enables you to maximise the numerous tax allowances and reliefs that are available can save you a fortune. Speak to us. Looking for support from a Financial Director? All top athletes achieve the peak of their career by working with a coach, and we know that every business keen to reach the top needs a team of trusted advisors. We have the expertise you need.

At Essendon Accounts & Tax, not only do we believe that building a long-term relationship with our clients makes a difference, but we do it through taking a practical hands-on approach. Whilst you work on your business, we’ll pour over your paperwork, balance the books, provide you with the information you need, and tackle the tax man on your behalf. We will save you time and stress, so you can enjoy seeing your business grow. Give us a call today on 01908 774320 or visit www.essendonaccounts.co.uk

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

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,

Design & Layout: Pixooma Ltd.

Proof-reading: James Tarry

© 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 Five crucial bookkeeping tips for a small business owner Roger Eddowes

Personal guarantees – be wary! James Blacklaws

Creating a powerful sales letter Stephen Church

Trust is crucial to good leadership Mark Billage

Too many cooks?

Who should join a mastermind group and what size is the best fit? Paul Green

What is emotional intelligence and why does it matter? Mhairi Richardson

Why small businesses need a marketing strategy Andy Sarson

Don’t panic! Judith Hanson

Achieving goals

– what does social media success look like in the recruitment space? Christina Robinson

Three therapists walk into a bar! Bob Allen

How to make remote workers still feel part of the culture Sue Pardy

Spotlight on… Kevin Robinson

Where do bugs come from? Daishik Chauhan

10 trends defining cybersecurity in the year of identity Bharat Panchal

Stop blaming your software! It might be you! Lee Jackson

Workplace bullying takes many forms Suzanne Denise Brogan

How to deal with low-level depression Tayo Bowyer

Book Review: Mhairi Richardson

Issue 19 | 5

FINANCE

The Business Bulletin

Five crucial bookkeeping tips for a small business owner The one thing that small business owners hate doing is bookkeeping and accounting. However, the one thing you need to get right to ensure your business succeeds… is bookkeeping and accounting.

The problem is, unless you’re a

each time it’s completed; ask your

or numerically hyper-organised,

1: Don’t let yourself slip into bad habits

accountancy is a feature of running a

It’s easy to put off what you don’t feel

you the nod. Basically, do whatever

business that can trip you up.

inclined to do but, with bookkeeping,

it takes to make sure this weekly

a stitch in time really can save nine. So

vigil happens. Because if you don’t, it

to ensure your business doesn’t suffer

be disciplined. Allocate time in your

quickly becomes a massive task that

because of your lack of talent – a.k.a

diary to doing your books every week

can eat up more than just a weekend…

interest – in this area? Take note of

and block it off as a slot that can’t be

Not to mention that HMRC could end

these top 5 tips.

reassigned. Promise yourself a treat

up breathing down your neck too.

whizz at figures, naturally into detail,

So, what should you watch out for

6 | Issue 19

spouse to nag you until it’s done; don’t pay yourself until your cashflow gives

COLUMNIST – FINANCE

2: Accept that the devil’s in the detail Accuracy matters. You will no doubt have heard urban rumours about bookkeepers staying up all night to track down a missing ten pence. That sounds absurd to many but getting those details right is what ensures mistakes haven’t been made

How UK businesses can offer work to Ukrainian refugees Roger Eddowes

further up the line. You may still ask why that matters anyway. The

New government guidance has been released

answer is simple. The figures and statistics you’re

for any business that wants to hire Ukrainians

managing are the critical business information

displaced by the war. If you want to offer them

you need to make decisions. Every entry into your

work, then there are some rules you need to follow…

accounting software has to be made in the right

The support for Ukrainians from the United

place. Otherwise the reports it spits out at the end

Kingdom has been unprecedented. Apart from

of each month, quarter, or year will be wrong.

the Government military and economic support,

However, if that isn’t motivation enough,

our citizens have been welcoming refugees into

consider this. Every time you make a mistake, your

their homes and even businesses want to help. The

accountant has to fix that at a later date. And that’s

Government’s new guidance covers recognition

going to increase their bill. Plus, if you’re submitting

of professional qualifications, information about

VAT returns regularly according to the Making-Tax-

employee rights as well as how to determine the

Digital rules, you don’t want the VAT man to get the

immigration status for their right to work in the UK.

wrong idea!

The first thing you need to do is complete a Vacancy Information Questionnaire outlining details

3: Keep your regular transactions on the straight and narrow

of the roles on offer. You will then be contacted

Ensure you enter regular payments and receipts

within just a few days to discuss the roles you have

the same way every time. Just get into the habit of using the same labels, cost categories, and classifications each session. Nothing stands out more as a poorly run business than disorganised

by the National Employer and Partnership Team in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) available. Any opportunities will be shared across the entire DWP Jobcentre Plus network and with the Refugee Employment Network (REN) which is a charity working with organisations supporting refugees into work. If Ukrainians hold professional qualifications, they’ll need them to be recognised in the UK when they work in a regulated profession. My own industry is the perfect example of this, and you can speak to the UK Centre for Professional Qualifications if you need to. And finally, any individual arriving under the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme will be granted leave to remain in the UK for three years which means they can live and work here as well as access benefits and public services! Remember, the same employment rights that every UK employee is entitled to must be extended to eligible Ukrainians you want to hire, so the likes of the National Minimum Wage will apply.

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

FINANCE

The Business Bulletin

Every time you make a mistake, your accountant has to fix that at a later date. And that’s going to increase their bill

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, small-to-medium and family businesses to ensure they receive the best possible accountancy advice. Using an extensive

entries. If you were to suffer the ignominy of an inspection, you’d instantly lose credibility as soon as the inspectors spot these errors. So be consistent.

revenue before your tax is calculated. That all sounds good and well, however, it can also be a bit tempting

good feel for what is and what isn’t allowable for your type of business.

unnecessarily. Plus, you run the risk of

Many small business owners have

overpaying tax; nobody wants to pay

expenses that are a mix of business

more tax than they should.

and private. You need to be aware

powerful these days. It’s highly likely that there are sections of your software you don’t need to use. If you’re unsure, of course check with your accountant and get advice. But don’t go filling in tabs and entries unnecessarily. Keep things as simple as you possibly can, and it will be easier each week to go in to do the updates.

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

that unless an expense has been

keeping it simple, you’re still bound

incurred wholly and exclusively for

to have questions from time to time.

the purpose of business, it isn’t an allowable expense. There are some exceptions, for

Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and speak to your accountant. They’re as keen as you

example heating, electricity, council

are for your business to succeed.

tax and internet usage. Those things

However, they’re also very aware of

you can claim a percentage back, and

how easy it is to trip up. Make the

your accountant will be able to advise

most of their support, and you’ll find

you on what that percentage should

the task of working the figures gets

be. But other than those exceptions…

easier. And who knows, you could

just don’t be tempted. You could find

end up saving yourself time and

yourself at the wrong end of a tax

reduce your accountant’s bill into

avoidance claim by HMRC.

the bargain.

One thing you should always

5: Take advice on allowable expenses in advance

bear in mind when you’re doing

You’ll probably already know

Once you’ve got yourself into the

that allowable expenses are tax-

habit of working on your books on

deductible. Thus, what you spend

a regular basis, and once you’ve got

on them can be deducted from your

your head round the detail whilst

8 | Issue 19

Godparent due to his caring, hands-on

Speak to your accountant and get a

simply add to your accountancy bill

Accountancy systems are ferociously

the best guidance and practical solutions, he has been called a Business

to sneak some extras through. Don’t.

And don’t forget, mistakes do

4: Stick with KISS – keep it simple, stupid

network of business contacts to leverage

your bookkeeping and accounts, though, is it’s worth having a good accountant waiting in the wings.

The Business Bulletin

FINANCE

Personal guarantees – be wary! One of the recent hot topics relating to the CBILS and Business Bounce Back Loan Schemes (BBL) was the absence of a personal guarantee for a majority of these loans for limited company borrowing.

It has been a standard requirement

The absence of guarantees from

without telling their partners with

for a majority of limited company

the whole of the BBL (loans up to

whom they are likely to hold a

lending that a personal guarantee

£50,000) and for all CBILS facilities up

significant amount of their assets

from at least one director is in place

to £250,000 (and for many over this

jointly. This can include property,

to support the debt, regardless of the

as well) significantly increases the

vehicles or any other assets of value.

quality of the business and the size of

risk to the lender and in this case, the

the lending facility.

Treasury, who have guaranteed BBL’s

This ensures that the director(s) of the business cannot walk away

in full and CBILS up to 80%. There are several reasons why this

from liabilities in the company name

step was taken when the scheme was

without having to find the ability to

rolled out (time, ease, underwriting,

repay from personal resources.

etc) but, instead of rehashing old

While there are ways to mitigate this risk, a majority of this debt will remain exposed and, in all likelihood, with the partner remaining in the dark.

content, I would prefer to focus on a survey of over 1000 small business owners by Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance which has found that more than 1 in 5 (22%) has not told their life partner that they have signed a personal guarantee.

JB Commercial Finance

Personal guarantees in business lending

James, an ex-banker, is a highly

“We have estimated that over

James Blacklaws

experienced and fully Independent Commercial Finance broker, authorised and regulated by the FCA. With whole-ofmarket access. He specialises in helping businesses declined by their banks; businesses looking to grow, survive and purchase commercial property. 07722 432128 james@jbcommercialfinance.co.uk jbcommercialfinance.co.uk

420,000 small business owners in the UK were acting as personal guarantors for business loans prior to the pandemic. Furthermore, around £2.1bn in CBIL loans were taken by business owners and directors which had personal guarantees attached.” In a nutshell, this means that these individuals have agreed to personally secure business debts

Issue 19 | 9

FINANCE

JB Commercial Finance

So, what does this mean? While keeping partners unaware of business dealings has always happened, in this age of increased reliance on computer-generated decisions and credit scoring, it is increasingly risky to keep a secret.

Does your business need cashflow finance?

If adverse credit information is registered against a director for a business debt at their residential address, then this impacts everyone who lives at this address. It is highly likely that a CCJ registered at an address will preclude anyone living there from obtaining credit, irrespective of whether they

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

were involved in the original debt or not. It can also have a major impact on the availability of mortgage products, a majority of which are held in joint names. When looking to re-mortgage as a couple, it may come as a surprise to an applicant to find out that their partner has adverse credit history which

Has your bank turned your business down for finance? Dont know where to turn for business funding?

may restrict the range of mortgages they can move to or even prevent them re-mortgaging at all! I can imagine a few nasty shocks in the Bank when this happens!

The importance of credit history in today’s environment I have often written about the importance of credit history in today’s environment. In fact, if I could offer one piece of advice to anyone, whether they run a business or not, it would be to check and protect their personal credit history. With the rise of algorithm-driven lending and digital Banks,

See our video

it will only become more important to make sure you are as attractive as possible to a potential lender and credit history is a vital part of this. While it may be surprising to many to read the

Call JB Commercial Finance for a free initial consultation

numbers above, it comes as no surprise to myself or, dare I say, a majority of people in the financial service industry. I am never shocked by the secrets kept by partners in relation to their business activities and risks.

Telephone: 0116 3440 322 Mobile: 07722 432 128

I always suggest that when agreeing to sign a personal guarantee, a client takes legal advice from a trusted and qualified solicitor (not essential with many lenders) and advise anyone who they share joint liabilities with that they are taking on this risk. At least this way, there are no nasty surprises down the line.

James Blacklaws

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SALES

The Business Bulletin

Creating a powerful sales letter How’s your direct mail programme working? How are your response rates? Say a big ‘hello’ to the most powerful instance of copywriting you’re ever likely to use. The sales letter. What? More potent than web copy? Yep – most certainly.

After all, by the time your reader

– well, that’s down to you and your

the sake of much of what follows,

is on your website, skimming

copywriting skills.

we’ll assume these to be one and

through your lovingly crafted web words, they’ve already made

the same) is different. Your reader wasn’t expecting to hear from you.

way, they’re already in your grasp.

You’re nothing but a gate-crasher

Whether you let them slip through

A sales letter or sales email (and for

and you’ve invited yourself onto your

a choice to pay you a visit. In a

12 | Issue 19

They haven’t asked you to pitch. You’re nothing but a gate-crasher,

COLUMNIST – SALES

Everybody sells! Julie Futcher prospect’s doormat (or inbox) with a single intent – to exchange your product or service for their cash.

Your ‘knock on the door’ Clearly, to give yourself the biggest chance of success, your sales letter needs to be pretty damn perfect – every single detail – from the content and style to the stamp on the envelope. Yes, even the stamp. Getting your sales letter right is a big deal, so we’re going to cover it in two parts, beginning with the envelope – your ‘knock on the door’.

Why is it that a lot of people believe that it’s only salespeople within an organisation that are responsible for selling? I’ve recently been working closely with a client who has been investing a lot of time and money into the generation of new customers. I delivered training to their sales team on how to maximise their sales calls and face-to-face meetings which achieved the goal, i.e. new customers. When we looked at generating sales from existing customers, it became apparent that

Your persuasion powerhouse

their customer retention wasn’t good. I was tasked

You’ve carefully selected your list. You’ve worked

stopped spending.

long and hard over every word, sentence, and paragraph. Your letter is a persuasion powerhouse with every key element firmly in place, including compelling benefits, powerful testimonials, a wonderful P.S. and an irresistible offer. But – all your hard work, your copywriting genius and painstaking attention to every tiny detail will count for nothing unless your prospect opens the envelope. So tell me – when you pick up your post from the doormat and sift through the assortment of postal flotsam and jetsam, which do you pick out first? Is it the magazine, the leaflets, the bills or the begging letters? I’ll hazard a guess it’s the one with the most appealing packaging – in other words, the most attractive envelope. But picking the most attractive might be a little bit like dating (What do I know about dating? It’s been nearly 40 years). What’s attractive to one may not appeal to another.

Let’s look at two distinct approaches –

to speak to some of them to find out why they had Interestingly, getting a cheaper deal elsewhere was not the main reason. What was, however, was the way in which they had been spoken to and/ or been dealt with by other departments. These included accounts, goods-in and admin support staff, all of which were not what you’d perceive to be “customer-facing.” As a result of their bad experience, they took their business elsewhere. During a training session to address this, the team were surprised to be there because “we’re not sales, it’s not our job!” This example shows why it’s not just “salespeople” who have a direct impact on the revenue generated from customers. Every person within a business has an influence! Customers, quite rightly, demand excellent service and communication and failure to give this, will have a detrimental effect on whether they return. Ensuring everyone within an organisation attends training to understand this, and how they must play their part, is essential. Revenue generated from repeat customers is easier and less costly to create.

Option 1 – Keeping it personal Here the aim is authenticity – making your prospect feel that this is you, in person, standing in front of them, chatting about your proposal. With this option, you need to avoid using teaser copy or illustrations. Your envelope should quietly state importance, dignity, value. Next – the stamp. Maybe just a detail – but it’s details that count. An envelope with a real stamp will have much greater appeal than a businessy-looking franked envelope. To add an even more personal, subtle touch, you might use a commemorative stamp.

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

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The Business Bulletin

prospect to think: ‘Hmm, I should take a look at this.’ Here are some

come across as authentic. OK – we

examples of effective teaser copy:

SALES

Handwrite the envelopes. Yes – seriously. This will help you to don’t live in an ideal world. If you’re sending your letter to thousands of households around the country, you can’t possibly hand write each one. But, if it’s a few hundred you’re sending out, or even a couple of thousand, paying someone with neat penmanship to write them is a pretty good option. If handwriting isn’t possible, do the next best thing. Print the name and address in a dark blue font which imitates handwriting. Avoid window envelopes. They’ll make your sales letter appear like a bill – not a good look. Also, don’t let your company’s name or logo appear on the envelope. Just keep it clean and clear. Option 2 – Treat your envelope like a billboard With the ‘billboard’ approach, you don’t try to disguise the fact that you’re advertising your products

WHAT’S INSIDE COULD SAVE YOU THOUSANDS … and give better financial security for your family.

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When writing teaser copy, all the

immense value of well-researched and produced commercial content.

rules of good copywriting apply –

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■ Be benefit-oriented ■ Speak directly to your prospect. Make your

ad, the dust jacket of your book, the

copy attention-grabbing,

display window of your shop.

intriguing and tempting Your teaser copy, if well-written,

Test … and test again

or services. You’ll confidently apply

will determine whether your

So how do you know which of these

‘teaser’ copy to the outside of the

prospect stops, looks and listens. It’s

two approaches to apply? You

envelope. The idea is to get your

the come-on – the headline of your

simply have to test. Try one way. Try the other. See which one gives you the highest number of quality leads

All your hard work, your copywriting genius and painstaking attention to every tiny detail will count for nothing unless your prospect opens the envelope.

or sales. With direct marketing, they say there are two rules – and two rules only – ■ Rule 1 – Test everything ■ Rule 2 – See rule 1

Issue 19 | 15

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

Why small businesses need a marketing strategy Here’s a scenario for you … you decide to throw a party that everyone will remember and talk about. There’ll be loads of drink, fantastic food, great atmosphere, and conversation!

Now imagine doing that without some sort of plan? There’s no guest list (maybe you tell one or two people and hope they invite their friends), no ideas about what food you’re

■ work IN their business, ■ deliver the best they can manage ■ buy whatever advertising is

going to do or drink you’re going

cheap or seems like a good

to buy. You just pop down the local

idea at the time

supermarket on the day and get whatever they have on special offer that day and hope you can throw something together. Given this scenario, I want you to imagine the type of party it will be now. Would you really rely on one or two people to get a bunch of the most fun, outgoing, and best party guests to your house? Would you get food without some sort of menu, and a shopping list? Of course, you wouldn’t. So then, why would you run a business in the same manner?

Vision but no direction Yet, that is exactly what many small business owners do every day. They have a vision for a business:

■ attend events because they think they should This they are hoping will attract the right kind of customers who appreciate their work and are willing to pay a decent price for their product or service. And then they expect those customers to tell anyone and everyone about them, without teaching them how to refer the right kind of customer (Think party guests!). The simple fact is doing whatever is easy and buying cheap marketing, counting on a few people to spread the word might get you minimal results, but are they the results you want to build a long-lasting business? Just like that party, you can’t build

offering the best product or service,

a successful business without a

standing out from the competition,

plan. You need to outline a strategy:

and serving lots of happy, satisfied

understanding who would make the

customers who talk about their

best customers? Whom do you want

business for years. But instead of

to invite to do business with you?

mapping out a planned direction for

What will you offer? How will you

achieving all of this, they go to work

package it? How will you deliver it?

every day and primarily:

How will you promote it?

16 | Issue 19

Develop your marketing strategy I believe there is a straightforward process to develop your marketing strategy – by strategy I mean the what, who, how, why, where and when – by setting categories and asking yourself the following questions:

Market positioning ■ What makes you different/ unique? ■ How are you better than your competitors? ■ What makes you an expert? ■ Where do you ‘sit’ in the marketplace – budget end, middle or expensive? Objectives ■ Are you trying to raise awareness? ■ Do you want to establish trust/ credibility with customers? ■ Are you targeting a specific sector or sectors? ■ Are you simply trying to grow and increase revenue? Competition ■ Who are your competitors?

COLUMNIST – MARKETING

Reaching success and smashing goals Andy Sarson

Christina Robinson

APS Marketing Consulting Services Andy helps small businesses

“Hey Christina – what does success look like on

‘make their marketing pieces fit’,

social media?’

by developing marketing strategies with affordable plans and campaign delivery designed for growth and to get results. With more than 30 years’ marketing industry experience at marketing agencies and large corporates, much of it working with local and regional sales outlets, he has the knowledge to find the right marketing mix to reach your target audience to achieve the

There isn’t a straightforward answer, as it’s different for everyone. Ultimately – your success is what you make it! However, professionally, I’d take the following things into consideration before deciding what success means for your business.

best possible ROI. Services include marketing strategy and planning, project management, campaign management and, of course, marketing consultancy. Andy is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing 07773 366393 andy.sarson@apsmarketingservices.co.uk apsmarketingservices.co.uk

Should you measure social media success by how many leads you get? B2B… Yes. Absolutely. (A little tip for you, though, make sure you define what a lead looks like for social media. For most people telling me social media doesn’t bring sales to their B2B business, this is often the first thing we need to fix. Defining

■ What share of the market do you want and how does that compare? ■ Do you have a niche product or service that’s better than your competitors (and why)? ■ How are you different? Once you have answered those question, do a good old fashioned SWOT analysis to identify your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and

the lead and planning the follow-up!) B2C… I’d suggest not! Products under £50 are more of an impulse purchase. You’ll look to see sales, and look to see your email database grow, but if you’re getting a bunch of messages from people asking questions but not buying and not signing up. That might be a lead, but it isn’t a sale! Measuring on conversion is always a much better option than actually measuring leads when it comes to defining success. But social media isn’t just about sales! Your overall marketing plan should have clear objectives, I suggest breaking these down and knowing exactly why you’re active on each platform you choose. I always use our accounts as an example of this. The one objective I have is to create reassurance when people are doing their due diligence! So, go back to your strategy. If you don’t have one, create one! Or check out our strategy planning service! Ultimately – social media success is driven by a solid strategy with clear goals and measurable outcomes. What it looks like is down to you!

Green Umbrella Marketing 01604 726758 christina.robinson@green-umbrella.biz green-umbrella.biz

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

threats … be very honest. This will tell

doesn’t, so you don’t waste time and

to find out what works best for you

you where you think your business

money and be flexible enough to

to achieve your marketing strategy

is now and where you want it to be

change your plan to suit the market.

objectives.

You could use a mix of:

Speak to an Expert

going forward.

Strategy to plan

■ Website optimisation

As a business owner have you been

Using what you now know, you

■ PR

doing all the marketing ‘in-house’

need to investigate what marketing approaches/options you need to

■ Social media

hoping that what you do will work? Or have you used a marketing agency

use to attract and keep prospective

■ Direct mail & Newsletters

who promised loads and delivered

customers … this will be your

■ Email marketing

little? Well, the good news is that you

marketing plan. Consider what you want from your

■ Print & Online Advertisements

can generate considerable increases in the quantity and quality of enquiries

activities in six months or so, and

■ Sponsorship

into your business with a co-ordinated,

then work back looking at the best

■ Events

measurable marketing strategy

ways to achieve this. Try and ensure the activities you use are measurable so you can understand what works and what

■ Networking

aligned to your business objectives

There are many more options and to a degree it will be trial and error

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? At QRB we offer a range of training and coaching services for you and your teams to adapt and adopt to your changing environment We help your people plan, monitor and adapt changes to your business to help you achieve better, smarter and more structured ways of working

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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.

Achieving goals – what does social media success look like in the recruitment space? Let me start by saying that the important part of our headline is that last part ‘…in the recruitment space’. Why? Because success literally means the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Our purposes are all based in recruitment. So, to measure achievement (and therefore success), you need to make sure you are measuring against appropriate recruitment-based metrics not general ones.

If, for example, you are selling T-shirts

trying to measure how successful a

recruiters say they are not getting

through Facebook ads, then you

fish is by the speed it can climb trees!!

the leads they hoped from social.

can clearly stick a big pin marked

So, what can we use to measure

When we dig in a little though we

‘success’ in the number of shirts sold.

success in social media? Well here are

usually find that what is happening

As we are not selling t-shirts so that

a couple of examples…

is the leads are coming in, but the

general metric simply does not work

source is not being recognised. So, if

for us. We need to look at what social

Leads and opportunities

media can do for recruiters, then

Yes, I would say this is a very good

your leads there are two things that

build our definition of success around

measure of success – however it

you need to have in place. Firstly, you

that. If you don’t you may as well be

needs refining a little. We often hear

need create the opportunity for the

you want to measure the success of

Issue 19 | 19

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

MARKETING

The Business Bulletin

source of the lead to be recognised.

regular posting and interacting on

That often literally means asking if

your active platforms. Of course, you

the candidate or client saw you on

can always look at the all-important

social media. Secondly, you need ask

metrics such as growth in followers

yourself if the lead is the right metric

or interaction with your content as

or whether it is better combined with

well. One metric to certainly consider

conversions? For me, the answer is

when you are thinking about success

the latter. If social media played a

is traffic to your website. If your social

part in an opportunity that converted

media is working to help raise brand

to a placement or a new client for

awareness you should see that at least

example, then you have a success you

partially reflected as click-throughs.

can measure. Social media should be

Again, here you should be measuring

accountable, as all marketing should,

success as a recruiter not in general

but it’s important to make sure it is

terms. You would hope that there is a

accountable to realistic metrics.

meaningful click as a response to your social posts. Success needs context and

Social media is vital to enhancing your brand

can also vary from one recruiter

How do you measure brand trust?

sector they are operating in. A

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

to another depending on what

01604 726758

Apart from measuring sales and then

single placement for a very high

christina.robinson@green-umbrella.biz

arbitrarily allotting some part of that

level management position that

green-umbrella.biz

to brand awareness, putting a number

originated on LinkedIn may be a

on it is probably an exercise in futility.

success for one, while 20 new temps

What you can very easily measure

attracted by Instagram may be a

are the building blocks that help

goal for another. Whatever measure

create brand. Social media marketing

of success you decide on I would

success is about showing up and

suggest you be as specific to your

being active. Success could therefore

business and sector as possible. Get

look like achieving your goals around

granular to see the real results.

One final thought about what you should defiantly not see as success… beware of the vanity numbers that look great but mean little. Getting followers for example is often erroneously set as a goal. There are various tricks of the trade that could be employed to increase followers,

There are various tricks of the trade that could be employed to increase followers, but if they are never going to convert, refer you, or enhance your brand, what use are they? 20 | Issue 19

but if they are never going to convert, refer you, or enhance your brand, what use are they? Getting active followers on the other hand is often the actual result you want. It is really important to avoid the bear trap of vanity numbers; and go for actual measurements of real success. So, in the end, success on social media really looks like appropriately set goals, which, when achieved, have a specific positive outcome for your brand and your recruitment business goals. What they actually are will be driven by you.

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OPERATIONS

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How to make remote workers still feel part of the culture The last few years has seen a massive increase in remote working, largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed on people to quash the spread of the virus. Whilst it’s probably fair to say some businesses were already embracing remote working, many others weren’t. However, the lockdown forced many businesses to operate on a remote model unless they operated in an industry where this was not possible.

As we inch our way back to some kind

office-based it can alienate remote

1s enable the employee to feel

of normality it is clear remote working

workers from the business and its

included and part of the wider team,

is here to stay and this article provides

core culture, so there should be

and the structure of them doesn’t

some thoughts as to how businesses

no or little difference in terms of

need to be vastly different to those

can ensure remote workers feel part of

how communication is managed

who are office-based.

a company’s culture.

throughout a business, regardless of how employees work.

1. Communication

3. Reinforce company culture

This is absolutely key. Whether your

2. 1-to-1s

workforce is all – or part – remote,

These discussions with remote

reinforces company culture

how a business communicates

workers can be used to review

requires strong leadership so it is

with its employees is a critical part

progress, check on wellbeing

vital managers are equipped to

of how culture forms and evolves.

and disseminate any important

provide the coaching and support

If communication is better and/or

messages or issues affecting the

their employees need, for example;

more frequent for those who are

business. Importantly, such 1-to-

setting stretch goals and objectives,

22 | Issue 19

Developing behaviour which

COLUMNIST – OPERATIONS

establishing performance expectations, managing by output, fostering a culture of accountability and

What does a project manager do?

critical feedback.

Russell Parker

4. Employee choices

Over the years I’ve heard many views on what

All employees are different and those working on a remote basis will have different needs and requirements, especially around how they like to be managed. Having individual conversations with the employee to explore how they prefer to be managed creates an employee-centric approach, helping to increase engagement and motivation. Putting each employee at the heart of the conversation will make them feel they matter and are important to both the manager and the business.

project managers do, some good, some not so good! Everyone has an opinion from it’s the simplest job in the world to one that carries much responsibility and is very complex. So, which is it? On our project management courses we cover seven main areas which explain what project managers do. We mention that if you are looking for a project manager then these are the areas of experience to enquire about for prospective candidates. Also, if you’re looking for a role as a project manager then these areas are the ones to talk about your experience in during your interview. One of recent course attendees did this in his job interview and got offered the job straight

Feeling appreciated is key to feeling part of something

away! Here they are, in case you are wondering, project managers do; ■ Organize project teams and identify people or groups of people that can affect or be affected by the project and decide on how best to engage and communicate with them. ■ Know the desirability, viability and achievability of what is being delivered to help identify if the project is a justifiable investment of resources. ■ Plan, what needs to done, when and by who. ■ Identify what needs to be done to ensure the project delivers something that is fit for purpose. ■ Manage both the unexpected events that occur and the events we identify as possible events that can cause both negative and positive impacts on the project. ■ Monitor the progress of the project and report its status to those stakeholders that have an interest in knowing this information. Cover these areas and your projects will have a better chance of success, more details can be discovered on one of our courses or just get in touch qrbmc.com

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

OPERATIONS

The Business Bulletin

5. Recognition Feeling appreciated is key to feeling part of something. Recognition can take many shapes and forms and, often, a mixture of recognition from the senior lead plus peer-led recognition can help cultivate a sense of belonging. It can be as simple as encouraging team members to say ‘thank you’ to a different team member each week, with each thank you focusing on a specific accomplishment or positive behaviour so it feels authentic and genuine. Similarly, a manager can recognise a team member of the week/month on the same basis.

6. Team building activities Having a variety of team events can be a great way of connecting team members, whilst also engaging and motivating. Virtual team events will go a long way to integrate remote workers with the whole team and/ or bring a team of wholly remote

There are a whole host of onboarding platforms out there to support businesses of all shapes and sizes and they can greatly facilitate the speedy integration of a new employee into the company and give them the knowledge around values, beliefs and culture. Further, such platforms can help with all the necessary admin associated with new starters, ensuring everything is in place when the employee starts. There is nothing more unwelcoming for a new employee, especially one working remotely, when the business appears unprepared for their start and can often alienate them from day one. The culture of your business isn’t something you can teach, or simply state as being the case, it’s something your employees experience, so giving some

Sue Pardy Face2FaceHR 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 sue.pardy@face2facehr.com face2facehr.com

consideration to how remote workers can feel part of the organisation is key.

workers together. Online events don’t have to be just about having virtual drinks – for example a book club or recipe sharing might offer something a little different. If any team-building events are in person, be sure to invite remote workers and don’t assume they won’t be able to attend – an invite goes a long way to making a person feel included.

7. Onboarding process A clunky and ineffective onboarding process can give a poor first impression of a company. However, in a world where remote working is on the increase, how you welcome new employees into your business and culture is more important than ever. More than this, it presents a great opportunity to familiarise the employee with the company culture at the earliest time.

24 | Issue 19

The culture of your business isn’t something you can teach, or simply state as being the case, it’s something your employees experience

Like what you have seen? Spread the love and share!

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

The Business Bulletin

Spotlight on Kevin Robinson

Kevin Robinson is the head honcho; the big cheese if you like, at 13 Media - a video production company, and also Your-Copywriter.com. Your Copywriter, is focused on helping businesses with their blogs, websites, anything that has words! New brand ‘Walkroud Media’ is planned for the summer of 2022 and will provide product photography and infomation video for online retailers and other SMEs

26 | Issue 19

The Business Bulletin

up 13 Media? That’s a long story, so I’ll try and cut it short. I spent many, many years, in senior sales and marketing roles in international distribution for the electronics industry. I looked after Southern Europe and did a bit of travelling around. Then the market changed very dramatically. This meant that people in the sales side, like me, were making a lot less money to be frank. The industry was working with very low margins. One morning I thought ‘I don’t actually

I think to provide something to help people, and get paid along the way for doing it, is a pretty good job right?

want to do this’. So I drove into the office and resigned with the intention

studio. But then, as time developed,

very helpful and most said, you’ve

of retraining and becoming a sound

what happened was people started

got too many fascets, you’ve got too

engineer. I did a H.E. qualification and

to get to know me and what my

much going on, people are confused,

came out the other end as a video

background was and they started to

nobody knows what to do anymore.

producer and screenwriter. I then

say things like “you couldn’t work with

I then had to make a decision. We

went into lecturing and I taught for

our graphic designer, on the cross

looked at bundling products together

well over a decade full time and 20

marketing could you?” And, “can you

and saying ‘we do these packages’.

years overall.

look at the words on the website?” So,

We looked at that for a quite a while

eventually by 2017, we’d given up the

but it didn’t quite work. There was

stories are told; the narratology,

studio and I was dealing with people’s

too much variety to keep it in house.

how we understand language of

messaging and marketing full time.

The other option was to split a brand

story. That was why I took a master’s

Which is where we are now and the

off and the requirement for copy

degree in screenwriting. Then, in 2013,

new brand. Your Copywriter is really

was so high that we felt that was the

(hence the name 13 Media) I left the

the penultimate development in a

way to go. The more I talked about

university where I was teaching for

range of services.

it to people, and the more I thought

My interest always was in how

redundancy reasons. Partly it was due to department reshuffles but I took the opportunity to move on

about it, I realised that it was time to Why did you pull that out as a

split it off.

separate entity and create a new

because I was a little bit disheartened

brand for it?

with education. I started 13 Media,

We were getting to a stage where

with the intention of helping SMEs

I had too many ingredients in the

and small businesses have access

one banner recipe so to speak. The

to a level of video production, audio

13 Media brand was cluttered - there

production, and so on, that they

was too much going on under it. I

wouldn’t normally have. At the start

spoke to various people, including

we had a video studio and a recording

my business coach, who were all

What’s the future of videography going forward? To be honest, I think at the bottom end of the video production side is waning. In terms of cost effectiveness to businesses - people can do their own and they can do it reasonably well. We live in a world where you can learn the basics of most things very easily on YouTube

I’m a storyteller, I tell stories. It’s what I do.

within a few hours. Whether you then choose to do it or not, whether it’s worth carrying on doing it, is another matter. Nowadays we are selling the creativity, our expertise and our time. I don’t think many people are selling

Issue 19 | 27

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

What led to you eventually setting

The Business Bulletin

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

specialist equipment use or specialist knowledge anymore. Technology has reached the stage where, even with 20 something years of video production, I’m not altogether sure whether something has been shot on a phone. That’s a massive change, 20 years ago we were turning up with £15-20,000 of video equipment and a three-man crew. These days, we’re doing video with a quarter of that in cost of equipment, and I now shoot on my own quite frequently. It’s kind of reached the stage that photography went through, whereby there is a layer above, which is the professional stuff,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHscHfyHv5w

and there’s a layer beneath where you can do an adequate job yourself. I think it’s probably an industry that is collapsing into a very low margin marketplace. So sensibly, as a business owner, I’ve got to say, that can’t be the sole focus of our business anymore. Emotionally as a video producer, we still do video as a main part of our business, but I think in the long run, people will just be doing it themselves. What would you say is your “why”?

part of the of the why I do this. The

someone, and get paid along the way

truth of the matter is, like a lot of

for doing it, is a pretty good job right?

business owners, I’ve got experience in a range of areas, and I could probably go and get a reasonably well-paid job. But I don’t want to.

Secondly, the other “why” is I’m a storyteller, I tell stories. It’s what I do. I am fascinated with how they work. I am sure everyone else thinks that is

We’re currently doing a project

boring as hell. I get told to shut up at

for somebody for example, that is

home a lot, but I love it. When I was a

a rebuild on a website. We’re doing

kid, we used to watch television, and

the copy and I’m working with other

I was more interested in how it was

people to finish it. When it’s done,

shot and how the story was working

not only is it going to help them in

than what actually happened in the

I think is as clichéd as it sounds, 20

their business but promoting their

plot. To this day, I often have to watch

years of working in education and

products will then help other people.

a show twice sometimes because I

helping people develop is actually

I think to provide something to help

missed the story while I was thinking about how they were using film language or how the narrative was working in the script. With the advent of technology and the ease of creating video content, is there still going to be a place for the good old-fashioned written blog post? Yes. In fact, there’s more of a place for it. What you have to remember is that when you put a blog up on your website, you do more than just put words up. People get all tied up in knots about Google and worrying about the algorithms and all the technicalities. They’re important, but what you have to remember is that the blog is there to push your sales

28 | Issue 19

SPOTLLIGHT ON…

The Business Bulletin

funnel. You need to combine that

What would your top tip be?

with a very simple principle: Google

When we started the Your Copywriter

answers questions. So if you’re writing a blog that answers a question for somebody you are doing it right. That means text. Google looks at your words. Your blog: it’s your brand, it’s your voice, it proves your use to people, it informs and educates. So blogs are here to stay for a good while.

brand as a separate entity it gave me a chance to think about how I saw the business. Because of that, I changed my whole thinking. A lesson that I think I’ve learned over the last eight years, and one I embrace now, is think

We are currently working at

of yourself as a shareholder. I would tell

bringing walkround media online,

anyone starting up their own business

and my daughter, Bella, will be

just that bit of advice. Think of yourself

joining me in that adventure . She

What would you say has been your

as a shareholder in the company. I

is also training as a media producer.

biggest challenge to date?

know people say “it’s my baby”, and

She knows from the start that it is

Like most businesses, we had a

I get the emotional investment.

business first. Yes, we have fun, yes

period where we had a very hard time

Walk away from that emotional part

it should be a great place to work,

commercially. Everybody says don’t

regulary though and just look at it

but it still a place of work. She will be

have premises if you can avoid it. But

purely as if you were a shareholder.

thinking as a shareholder.

the mistake I made wasn’t necessarily the premises, it was the way we went about it. We ended up with a white elephant building for about eight months and we couldn’t get rid of it or use. I said to myself I’ll never do it again. I made the mistake of allowing one thing to change my plan and that created the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced. We just wanted to walk away from it. It became 14 hours a day of battling. Wrangling with people who really didn’t care about my business, and it felt very much like the universe was was working to try

We live in a world whereby you can learn the basics of most things very easily on YouTube within a few hours.

and stop me succeding.

Issue 19 | 29

RESOURCES

The Business Bulletin

Where do bugs come from? In popular perception bugs are literally mistakes in software; a result of carelessness from software developers or a lack of testing and QA. Maybe a number needed to be saved to 5 decimal places and instead was only saved to 2 places. So, when a calculation is done later, the numbers don’t match with expected values. Perhaps an algorithm representing a business rule was improperly implemented within the code, so given a particular set of input values the user is returned something unexpected.

We’ve all had that moment of

A fuller definition of a bug is

image or the wrong font on a header.

indignation and frustration using an

anything in your software that causes

It could be serious; perhaps crediting

application where we think ‘If only

a deviation in expected appearance,

the wrong customer account when a

[insert expletive] [insert company

behaviour or output. That deviation

button is clicked.

name] wrote better [insert few more

could be trivial: a misaligned

choice expletives] software and tested it properly!‘.

So is it really all down to mistakes and carelessness on the part of people like me? Well, it’s a bit complicated.

Bugs of complexity A general rule is that the more complex the software, the more intricate the business rules or behaviours, the higher the potential for bugs.

30 | Issue 19

COLUMNIST – RESOURCES

Is AI in your life? Ashish Kumar This can occur either through misunderstanding, or as a consequence of the complexity and amount of the resulting code, or from failure to anticipate and test every potential input and verify the outcome.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a wideranging branch of computer science that is concerned with creating and maintaining smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. The

You can be sure that the number of bugs rises in direct proportion to the number of lines of code!

purpose of intelligence in AI is to make a person’s

Errors are often the by-product of the design and

places while keeping humans safe.

specification process. For example, consider the following process

life better, improve productivity, relieve people from mundane tasks, streamline and optimise business operations, and reach the remote and dangerous

Should I use Artificial Intelligence? Most of us are already utilising the benefits of AI in

1. A user performs an action A 2. The application returns and response B.

our daily lives. Such examples include, but are not limited to, Siri and Alexa, spam filters, the Netflix recommendation system, etc.

3. The user then does C 4. The application responds with D.

What are the four types of Artificial Intelligence? ■ Reactive machines

What happens if a user tries to do C before A? Will it still return D after C? Or will it return B? Or something else? Will it crash the application?

■ Limited memory ■ Theory of mind

Suppose nobody considered this possibility when the

■ Self-awareness

software was being discussed, developed or tested.

■ So, how does this affect me?

When it is discovered later having caused an error, you have a ‘new’ bug! Bugs can lie in your system for a long time – even years before they surface. A line of code may only be executed when a very particular set of circumstances arise, such as a leap year, or when an input includes a very specific set of values in a particular order – or both! At other times a design decision or feature can become a bug!

The future of AI is something that is hotly debated among scientists and the public. Some people are optimistic about the benefits it can bring to society while others are concerned about the possible negative impacts. However, it is no doubt that whatever the case, AI will ultimately become a huge part of life for us all, whether we know it or not. Does this mean I should be using a bespoke AI in my business? One of the greatest questions when it comes to

Undercover bugs In the early years of computing, memory was expensive. Developers decided they could save memory by using just 2 digits to store the year in all dates. However, as we approached the year 2000, there was concern about a worldwide computer meltdown caused by what became known as the Millennium Bug, where computers would get ‘confused’ about the meaning of the 2-digit year: would ’20’ mean 1920, or 2020?

integrating the latest technology trends into our own businesses is “Should I be doing this?”. The answer, as always, lies in what you want from AI. In conclusion… AI is revolutionary and will only become a more prominent feature in our lives as time goes on. It’s worth looking into AI and seeing how you can make the most of the technology. So watch the space on this…

In a similar way, your software developers may decide to make certain choices for your application that are harmless or pragmatic now but could

Web Alliance

become a bug later. 0800 677 1786 ashish@web-alliance.co.uk web-alliance.co.uk

RESOURCES

The Business Bulletin

Bugs from the outside! Bugs can be exposed by apparently unrelated changes to the environment on which you run your application, leading to users scratching their heads thinking ‘But it was working fine yesterday!‘. Getting a shiny new computer is great from a performance and security perspective. However, your application, particularly if it is a few years old, is unlikely to have been tested on the new computer’s hardware and operating system. The software may not run reliably on your new computer, and you may have errors or even system crashes as a result. In some cases, upgrading your operating system, installing a security update, updating a malware or antivirus program or even your

web browser can make your software behave differently. If your application gets data or relies on processes from other systems, bugs or changes in those systems can have a knock-on effect on your application. For example, you may have regularly been importing a file into your database for years until one day it throws an error. It turns out that the input file format has been changed – the fields are in a different order. Or it now uses letters and digits in a field which previously only took digits, and your application code didn’t preempt this possibility. There again, your application has the bug – even though there is no actual ‘error’ in your system.

Daishik Chauhan Crucis Consulting Daishik Chauhan is a full-stack contract software developer, software and IT consultant, and Microsoft Azure solutions architect. Through his company, Crucis Consulting Limited, Daishik specialises in technical and business analysis, delivery planning and coordination, and Microsoft database and software consultancy. 07949 243306 info@crucisconsulting.co.uk crucisconsulting.co.uk

The Business Bulletin

RESOURCES STRATEGY

10 trends defining cybersecurity in the year of identity Bharat Panchal C4 Secure After 30 years working in IT, Bharat

2022 began with remote and hybrid work continuing to shape how organisations do business; ransomware and other attacks doing

decided to focus on helping businesses by offering the RSA SecurID® Suite. This uses identity insights, threat intelligence and business context to provide secure access to all their users, across all applications. He delivers peace of mind

more damage than ever; and business users

to end-users and to management. With

and consumers alike demanding digital access

contravening strict rules on data access

that’s easy, convenient and secure.

Bharat’s help firms don’t worry about and GDPR regulations or about loss of data due to malicious attacks or plain forgetfulness. 01604 439303 sales@c4secure.co.uk

The common denominator for

that illustrate the ways in which

cybersecurity in these challenging

identity both reflects and defines

circumstances? Identity.

cybersecurity today. Read on to

In a time when businesses must operate without a protective perimeter, when the stakes for protecting private data and intellectual property have never

learn more about the challenges and opportunities in identity – and, by extension, cybersecurity – that are top of mind for 2022. Prior to the pandemic, zero

c4secure.co.uk

on multi-factor authentication (MFA), governance processes and other identity-centric measures—is increasingly becoming accepted as a powerful means to a secure end.

been higher, and when users are

trust was often dismissed as hype.

growing increasingly impatient with

But that’s changing, especially as

cumbersome access, identity has

organisations rely more on mobile

become central to how organisations

connectivity, cloud operations and

1. The staying power of zero trust

secure their resources and enable

other security-sensitive ways of

As long as passwords are hard for

their users. Here, we share ten trends

working. Zero trust – built largely

users to remember and easy for

Issue 19 | 33

RESOURCES

The Business Bulletin

hackers to guess, they’re going to

the need for organisations to

opportunities—and keep an eye on

continue to present a significant

prioritise investments in modern

this one.

obstacle to secure access. Today, two

authentication, cloud infrastructure

forces are tipping the balance toward

entitlements management (CIEM)

passwordless methods: business

and other capabilities to help

users and consumers who are less

manage cloud and mobile risk.

willing to accept inconvenience, and cybercriminals who keep finding more ways to abuse credentials.

2. Toward a passwordless Utopia After years of spreading the word about how to use multifactor authentication to achieve secure, convenient access, we’re now seeing MFA become even better established (and in some cases, required), with widespread acceptance of methods like pushto-approve, FIDO and biometrics. As a result, the focus is shifting to easy and secure rollouts for organisations, and increased convenience for business users and consumers.

8. Blockchain finally breaks through – or not Identity governance and

5. Mobile and cloud: growing targets for cybercrime

administration (IGA) gives

Intellectual property is often stored

easily. But for small and midsize

in the form of unstructured data,

organisations, the operational

which is hard to secure. Is it any

requirements to establish IGA may

surprise, then, that IP has become

be more than they can reasonably

an especially enticing target for

take on. The result? Wider adoption

cyber attackers? Now more than

of managed services offerings

ever, organisations benefit from

that let them reap the rewards of

employing data access governance,

a mature IGA program without

which provides the visibility into

overcommitting their resources.

organisations of all sizes visibility into access and helps them fulfil regulatory obligations more

unstructured data needed to help stop IP exfiltration by bad actors.

6. Locking down unstructured data

9. Managed services: more, please Business-to-business, business-toconsumer, business-to-employee—

Concerns about data privacy have

after years of distinctions among

3. MFA: from how-to-do-it to how-to-do-it-better

not diminished since the adoption

use cases for authentication, we are

of the EU General Data Protection

now seeing a convergence in which

No one wants to compromise online

Regulation (GDPR) in 2016; if

one platform is configured to meet

anything, they’ve accelerated. In

different needs. It’s a perhaps long-

Brazil, for example, where the General

overdue streamlining that recognises

Data Protection Law (LGPD) recently

the essential common thread

went into effect, companies are

underlying all markets, even if there

exploring social logins, location-based

are differences in specific capabilities

authentication and other indirect

and how they’re delivered.

privacy and security, but everyone’s patience with complex, timeconsuming security requirements is wearing thin. Business users and consumers today are continuing to embrace passwordless and other ways to speed and simplify authentication, while organisations are looking to technology that helps streamline identity governance and compliance-related processes.

ways of authenticating to address consumer data privacy concerns and comply with the new law.

7. Around the world, privacy rules

4. Easy, flexible, agile everything

In the evolution of identity, 2022

Organisations are moving more

disappointment, depending on how

operations to the cloud, and people

you look at it. Some see promise in

are relying more than ever on mobile

blockchain as an enabler of secure

devices for just about everything

digital identity; others anticipate

they do. That makes both those

privacy and data security problems

platforms increasingly attractive to

with its use in authentication.

cybercriminals—and underscores

Consider the challenges and

34 | Issue 19

is the year blockchain will be a resounding success—or a continuing

10. Welcome to the age of business-to-everythingand-everyone Here’s to 2022 and the role identity will continue to play in delivering secure, convenient access, no matter what changes come. As your organisation looks for new ways to seize opportunities and tackle challenges in the digital world, you may need to seek help.

Stop blaming your software! It might be you! I’m breaking up with you Ever had that awkward conversation with your CRM? “It’s not me it’s you” as you explain you have to dump them? As business owners, we’ve likely been through many software products in order to solve problems in our business. We adopt them with excitement and enjoy the honeymoon phase, only to drop them months later.

Have you stopped to consider why?

Apple, Commodore and countless

Do you wish you could have a long-

other micro-computers took off

term relationship with your software?

offering more than just games!

Make awesome memories? Be

Thousands of home and business

successful together?

applications popped up allowing business owners to build databases,

The good old days To help us understand what the problem is, let’s hop in a time machine and go to the late 1970s and early 1980s. Computers had finally gone from being an enterprise solution, to technology that was available to the home user and small business.

write letters, manage finances and even the holy grail; desktop publishing. Yet in those days,

Why aren’t we doing more with more? You’d think that with so much computer power in our pockets, we’d be super-efficient business owners, producing high-quality leads and converting high-ticket projects. We have wi-fi, the cloud, web-

individuals had to make do with the

based software, portable devices, “AI”

meagre technological resources

and so much more than the business

at their disposal. Whilst we talk in

owner of 40 years ago, yet somehow

gigabytes and terabytes, they were dealing in bytes! Yes, in just a few bytes (or kilobytes if you were lucky),

many of us still feel stuck!

My theory is this… Before our reliance on technology, we were forced to establish and

people were solving

document a process for our work.

business problems

Reminders and tasks had to be

and experiencing

written down. Letters had to be sent.

newfound success.

Phone calls had to be made. There

What an exciting

was no automation, everything had

time it was!

to be thought out and action taken.

Issue 19 | 35

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RESOURCES

There were also limited

Example: We started with lead

distractions. Social media didn’t

generation and the sales process.

exist, and our only forms of social

This was something that had

networking would be at business

changed very little over the years.

networking groups or industry events. Imagine a world where networking was a physical activity in the diary followed up with a few strategically placed telephone calls? Back then, when the computer entered the small business, it was instantly adopted as a tool to support already existing processes and procedures. Today, we tend to look for that next magic fix and the

Early software was often designed to replicate the physical. To assist the business owner rather than to “do it all” for them. I remember a contact

Now take a look at the software you have. Are you using it in such a way that emulates and enhances business workflow? If not, can you

Here are the stages with identified: ■ Opportunity identified ■ Lead established ■ Discovery ■ Proposal ■ Negotiate and review ■ Close the sale

software with the best sales copy will normally win our attention!

Review your software

Then we fleshed out each with a step-by-step process from beginning to end. Documentation doesn’t need

make some changes in how you use it in order to bring some balance? In many cases, the software you have will more than do the job. When using something with a specific task in mind, you are more likely to get the required output and value from it. IF on the other hand you realise you have adopted a sledgehammer to put up a nail for a picture, then now is the time to look elsewhere and perhaps have that “breakup conversation” with your existing solution!

to be complicated. Nested bullets work just fine!

directory in the 80s that did its best to replicate the look and feel of a Rolodex. So cool! Multitasking wouldn’t exist for some time, so automated reminders were few and far between, so the regular business owner still had to check their source of information. Be that a paper notebook, or their Apple II. In short: Technology supported the business owner, rather than today, where the business owner often feels a slave to the technology.

■ Opportunity identified ❙ Opportunity added into our CRM ❙ Followup task assigned to relevant sales team member ❙ First contact made and recorded in task ❙ Followup task created ❙ …. And so on ■ Lead established ■ More steps…

Lee Jackson Agency Trailblazer

What’s the solution? Document your processes and procedures

Sanity check what you do Next, take some time to review your documentation. Have others read through and be honest

First, stop looking at new software,

with yourselves. Are your existing

stick with whatever you are using for

procedures the most efficient? Can

the moment. Then take some time

you see any potential bottlenecks or

away from the tech to map out your

problems?

business processes. Yes, grab a pen and paper! For each business activity such as

Having what you do written down allows you to sanity check and potentially improve upon what

lead management, invoicing, billing,

you’ve been doing. You can then

etc., document each and every step,

move on to the next stage with

along with who does what.

confidence and clarity.

36 | Issue 19

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

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STRATEGY

The Business Bulletin

Trust is crucial to good leadership As I reflect on where we are as organisations, hopefully having weathered the storm of the pandemic, I am more convinced than ever of the significant part which trust plays in successful and effective leadership, and therefore the teams they lead.

Marcus Buckingham who works

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the

levels of organisations when there is

with the ADP Institute completed a

most essential ingredient in

a lack of trust. Without trust, how can

global workplace study in 2020 on

effective communication. It’s

I believe that leaders have my best

the foundational principle that

in mind? You need your employees

engagement and resilience. One of their findings around trust in leadership should make you sit up and take note. When you trust your leaders, you are more likely to be engaged and bring your best, but only 7% of those interviewed felt that they had that level of trust in their lives. This

holds all relationships.” – Stephen R. Covey Trust is the engine that relationships are built around. And the truth is that trust is crucial if we are to succeed in work.

and your colleagues to trust you. And trust means you take action that places you in the hands of others. “Trust is choosing to make something important to you vulnerable to the actions of

is the lowest it has ever been! In short,

What you can fail to appreciate at

someone else.”

organisationally, we have a trust crisis.

times is the high cost you bear at all

– Brené Brown

38 | Issue 19

COLUMNIST – STRATEGY

What is it to be accountable? Paul Green Accountability is defined as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions“. A lot of businesses I come across do find it difficult to get sh*t done and move their businesses forward. Rather than the things-to-do list getting shorter, it just seems to get longer. The problem with this is it has a compound effect on the whole process of taking action to achieve the goals you have set yourself, causing you to be… ■ overwhelmed & frustrated ■ stressed & anxious ■ annoyed with yourself And if that wasn’t enough, other things can kick in causing the situation to get worse rather than better:

The cost of no trust High-Trust v Low-Trust what we know: ■ Compared with people at low-trust organisations people at high-trust organisations report 74% less stress. ■ Research has shown that having a sense of

■ procrastination? ■ lack of focus and enthusiasm? ■ distractions? This means that your business is potentially stagnating or at least just plodding along. If you find yourself in this situation, it is not easy to pull yourself out of that particular rut…so what can you

higher purpose stimulates oxytocin as does

do? The first step is to notice that you are in this

trust. They mutually reinforce one another

dilemma in the first place. Then you can start to

producing more oxytocin which produces

put things in place to help you focus, for example:

happiness.* ■ Joy at work comes from doing purposedriven work with a trusted team. ■ Oxytocin the research tells us increases a person’s empathy. ■ High stress inhibits the production of oxytocin. ■ High-Trust organisations are 286% more productive than low-trust organisations.** The best way I can think to illustrate the value of trust is to make it clear what happens when there

■ Turn off notifications ■ Limit how often you check emails ■ Allot chunks of time to focus on your actions ■ Avoid social media and other rabbit holes What can help is getting yourself an “accountability partner” to support keeping you on track. When you are beholden to someone else, it seems that most people are more likely to get their actions done and get cracking with their business. If any of this resonates and you need some help with getting your list of tasks from to-do to done, then check out the BusComm Accountability Circle.

is a lack of trust in relationships and, in this context, the team. If trust is low in the team, then you will question whether your colleagues or the team leader have your back. You will be second guessing what they are saying and whether they will deliver on their promises. All of this slows down the process.

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

The Business Bulletin

STRATEGY

When trust is high people are

teams succeed or not, whether they

free to collaborate knowing that you

reach their potential or not. Teams,

have each other’s back, that you can

when they work well together, do

trust what is being said, and your

amazing things. They reach targets

colleagues or teammates will not

that seem impossible, output is

cut across you or humiliate you. The

up, people enjoy working with

slower the team moves, the more

colleagues… I could go on. The truth

costly it becomes to the organisation.

is that the oil that high performing teams run on is trust.

“When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” – Stephen R. Covey There is a predictable effect when

“Vulnerability is not weakness, and that myth is profoundly dangerous. Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” – Brené Brown 6. You are not a superhero. Be honest as a leader about your strengths and weaknesses, this is

How can you build trust? “Trust grows when our motives are straightforward and based

trust is there and when it is not, and

on mutual benefit – in other

the consequences are significant. It

words, when we genuinely care

is why this is a key issue in whether

not only for ourselves, but also for the people we interact with, lead or serve.” – Stephen M.R. Covey

about celebrating the strengths, gifts and skills in the team. 7. Create an environment that doesn’t punish vulnerability. 8. Do what you say you will do. Follow through on promises made. 9. Competency – Exhibit the capabilities and experience which give the team confidence that you can lead.

Here are some principles that help build trust: 1. Self- Awareness – if you don’t

Mark Billage Smart Culture Over the past 25 plus years, in different leadership roles, Mark has worked in different sectors, from financial services to charity and people development. He has set up businesses, served on Boards of Trustees, and led a medium-sized charity as their CEO. As the founder of Smart Culture Ltd, he provides quality training and coaching to leaders and their teams. Mark wants to

deposits in yours and the team’s

2. Be intentional. Building trust

mark@smartculture.uk smartculture.uk

trust account

takes time. It will not be a quick fix. But the longest journeys start with the first step. 3. Leader goes first – if trust is to be built then you need to exercise trust in your team. 4. Trust is built when the leader support to each team member.

07791 755990

heart if you look to add value to them then this will make great

brings the right challenge and

environment.

have the best for the team at

yourself.

leadership. This transforms team culture, bring their best contribution in a safe

people. If people know that you

know yourself you can’t lead

help leaders to be more effective in their and relationships around them, so all can

10.Finally act in the interest of other

5. Be vulnerable. Team members should be able to be open about mistakes and quick to take responsibility, be vulnerable again leader goes first.

* Research conducted by Paul J. Zak – reported in Harvard Business Review (Jan-Feb 2017) ** Kouzes & Posner – The Leadership Challenge Published by The Leadership Challenge. 2012. A Wiley Brand. One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco CA 94104-494

40 | Issue 19

STRATEGY

The Business Bulletin

Listen to the audio version

Too many cooks? Who should join a mastermind group and what size is the best fit? Mastermind groups have been around for quite some time now and a lot of businesses benefit from them. However, many businesses also don’t use them and seem to manage just fine. So, who will benefit from one and what size is the optimal group?

Benefits of a mastermind group

what a mastermind is and what the

on a regular basis to share ideas,

main benefits of being in one are.

advice and guidance. They support

Just for completeness though let’s

each other by creating a kind of ‘hive

I am sure, since you are taking the

just run back over it. A mastermind

mind’ situation with the intention

time to read this article, that you

usually consists of a small group of

of helping each other thrive. Instead

have already done the research into

business people who come together

of working the vacuum of your own

Issue 19 | 41

STRATEGY

The Business Bulletin

However, while these benefits

input from others. Business owners

sound very attractive in themselves,

can sometimes be very focused on

they do not include some of the

themselves and their own views.

‘hidden’ bonuses that come along with

Others can be highly opportunistic

a mastermind if one is right for you.

‘sell to the room’ style personalities. These could well be approaches

Paul Green The Business Community The founder of The Business Community is Paul Green, a business owner himself since 2003. He loves working with small businesses; in particular family-run businesses. Having experienced the trials and tribulations that face a small business on that entrepreneurial journey, he is passionate about making sure businesses don’t make the same mistakes that he made en route! He is a big believer in collaboration and encourages businesses to work together to grow their businesses; as well as offering help and support to each other for mutual gain. 07949 703137 paul@buscomm.co.uk buscomm.co.uk

business you have the opportunity to mix with others, swap good practice and mutually develop. At the meetings you will take part in what is effectively a communal support and development group. The benefits include: ■ Focusing on your goals and the goals of other businesses ■ Referral and network opportunities ■ Sharing your challenges and successes for better results ■ Accountability to keep you on track ■ Getting feedback and input from a variety of professions ■ A forum for developing your business ideas with other professionals ■ Access to new concepts and opinions

42 | Issue 19

Who should join a mastermind? This is more about the person and the extended benefits than anything else. If you look at the list above, it is clear that every business would want those results. However, a mastermind is about being a group and not just about an individual business or person. That is an important factor because you need to be able to give as well as benefit. Here’s why… When you are surrounded by

that work for you, but they are not likely to work in a mastermind setting. There is a great word for this, Gestalt, and it is often used to mean a whole that has qualities that are not available to its individual parts. The successful mastermind can be thought of as a gestalt entity. A thing where the individual parts work together to produce something new and better. To work it needs individuals with personalities that are distinct but capable of joining with the whole. If that is not how you

people who are focused on growth,

are, then a mastermind is not the

you will tend to focus more on your

right place for you.

own growth. You will be encouraged to think bigger and aim higher. make you see things differently and,

How many is the perfect group?

assuming there is a good mix of

It’s probably more about the mix of

business in the group, you will see a

people than how many. You want a

range of thinking and professional

balanced, collaborative group that

processes at work. A solicitor will

is focused on helping each other

approach things from a very different

as a mastermind. So, realistically

angle than a graphic designer

you need at least three. Moving

for instance and will often have a

up the scale it gets a little more

totally different way of thinking.

nebulous. The amount of time you

Both have equal value and most

spend together, the way the group

importantly having access to both

works, and other factors all make a

is a rare opportunity. Being part of

difference. If I had to put a number

a mastermind group will help you

on it, I would say 6 to 8 is probably

develop the habits that make a

the optimum for most groups.

Access to different viewpoints will

business successful and give you a

A mastermind is a place of growth

place where that attitude is shored

and development for those who are

up and encouraged.

themselves prepared to grow and

You, as a member of the

develop while taking others along

mastermind, need to be prepared to

with them on the same journey. They

give that back to the group. Altruistic

say too many cooks spoil the broth

collaboration is not something that

but they only spoil the broth if they

comes easily to everyone. If you are

can’t collaborate to create a better

not prepared to be involved with the

meal for everyone.

group as a whole, then you may not be suitable for a mastermind. You need to be open to change and able to accept and consider the value of

Join FSB and unlock a range of services for your business At FSB our mission is to help smaller businesses achieve their ambitions. We are the UK’s largest grassroots campaigning group promoting and protecting the interests of the self-employed and smaller business owners.

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Right from the outset, FSB members have access to a range of services, including: • 24/7 legal, tax and employment advice line • Debt recovery service • Range of local and virtual events - open to all • An extensive online legal hub with over 1,300 documents and templates • Easy access to funding • Specialist hubs including our start up hub fsb.org.uk/start

To find out more or join today, call 0808 2020 888 or visit fsb.org.uk/join *FSB Business Essentials Membership starts from £147 per annum with a £30 registration fee in the first year. This rate is applicable to businesses with no employees. Rates increase depending on your number of employees. Please see the website for full details of subscription rate bands. Registered Office: National Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses Limited, Sir Frank Whittle Way, Blackpool Business Park, Blackpool, FY4 2FE. Registered in England No. 1263540.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Business Bulletin

What is emotional intelligence and why does it matter? Back in 2018 LinkedIn published an article that referred to the following statistic from talentsmarteq.com; “People with high emotional intelligence earn, on average, $29,000 more annually than those who score low on EQ — People who perform well get paid more, and there is a direct correlation between salary and emotional intelligence. For each percentage-point increase in EQ, a person can add $1300 to their annual salary.”

That is a staggering statistic and as it

monitor one’s own and other people’s

was from 2018 who knows what those

emotions, to discriminate between

figures would show now. We know it

different emotions and label them

makes a difference but what is it and

appropriately, and to use emotional

how do you increase it?

information to guide thinking and

■ Actively listen to others

behaviour”.

■ Understand the nonverbals

Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) has been defined, by Peter Salovey and John Mayer, as “the ability to

44 | Issue 19

In very simple terms a high level of EQ gives you the following abilities;

■ Recognise your emotions ■ Recognise and relate to the emotions of others

cues of behaviour in active communication

COLUMNIST – PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Who am I….? Judith Hanson ■ Control your own thoughts and feelings ■ Manage your emotions and express them in a socially acceptable way ■ Receive criticisms positively and benefit from them ■ Forgive, forget and move on rationally Now as you read through the list you may have spotted some areas where you could improve. I, for example, am not great at receiving criticism positively and this is something I have to work on.

Don’t panic, this isn’t going to be an existential review of the meaning of life! I just thought it would be good to introduce myself in this first of my monthly columns and talk about what I do and, more importantly, why! But firstly, thank you to Paul Green for the opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas about topics that are of particular interest to me (and hopefully you) in my area of expertise.

You may struggle to manage your emotions or find

I help people with anxiety, fears and phobias

it difficult to read the emotions of others, whatever

to make changes to improve their mental health

it is we can all work to improve our skills. Well, the

and, more importantly, bring the joy back into

good news is that unlike IQ which remains static or

their life. Stress, feelings of overwhelm and being

declines EQ can be developed and increased at any

out of control can have a devastating effect and

age as long as you are prepared to learn and change.

my aim is to help people with whatever is going

To help us to break it down further, Daniel Goleman, a psychologist, science journalist and author of the best-selling 1995 book: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ – defined the 5 key components of emotional intelligence as listed below:

on right now and to teach them techniques to maintain good mental health. So why did I decide to move from a successful training business into running a hypnotherapy practice? The answer is quite simply that, although my business was going very well, I wasn’t in such a good state, mentally or emotionally and…not

■ Self-awareness – the knowledge of what we feel

physically either! We are one system and our

and why we feel so. Understanding yourself –

mental and emotional state affects our physical as

how and when you react to certain triggers and

well as our mental health. I realised that, despite

how others see you are all invaluable abilities and

the fact that I had “escaped”, my experiences

essential for great leadership.

during my last years in the corporate world had

■ Self-regulation – the ability to express our feelings in the right way. When you understand

done significant damage. So it all started with finding help for myself

yourself and your emotions you can begin to

with no plans to turn it into a business. I had some

adapt and adjust your behaviours to make sure

counselling and coaching, learnt self-hypnosis

you get the best responses.

and then embarked on extensive training in

■ Motivation – the internal drive to change the way we feel and express. When you are selfaware and self-regulated you should feel the motivation to improve and to continue to get more from your communications.

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and coaching. I saw and experienced some amazing transformations in peoples’ lives so, having got those qualifications, I decided to train to be a clinical hypnotherapist and start a new business and, as they say, the rest is history!

■ Empathy – the ability to relate to others’ emotions and see the world from their perspective. Being able to put aside your own perspective and to be able to feel what someone else is going through is a very powerful ability. ■ Social skills – the power to communicate effectively and build strong connections at home or in the workplace. To be effective you must be able to take your skills out into the world socially and connect with people to help yourself and

Therapies for the mind

others to communicate better. 07881620586 judith@judithhanson.co.uk judithhanson.co.uk

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Business Bulletin

get so angry when someone cuts you

and always looking to find ways

up on the road?

to do things better. Working with

And although we may be strong in some areas we may have weaknesses in others. As an example very sociable people who find it easy to interact

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

colleagues or a coach can help you gain feedback regularly on how you are improving. Also, another good tip is to reflect

with others may actually lack any

on how you have reacted or behaved

degree of empathy, preferring to

during the day. Could you have

forge down their own path rather

handled a situation differently, could

than consider what others may think.

you have remained calmer or been

Or someone may be very self-aware

more direct? Try and imagine you are

but lack the motivation to change

looking at yourself through the eyes

how they feel and express themself.

of your colleagues or family.

Assess yourself – there are many

program to the needs of your business.

free online tests out there so give one

C– Practice.

She enjoys working with newly formed

of them a go and be honest when

Practice, practice and practice some

completing it. Then share the results

more until it becomes second nature

with people you trust and who know

to you and you really start to value the

background, a focus on the detail, a high

you well – see if they think the result

skills and see the results they bring.

level of emotional intelligence and a

is a true reflection of you? The more

teams, established team or teams who just feel they should be achieving more. Mhairi is also a coach with a strong SME

strong desire to develop talent and grow high performing teams. 07970 002129 mhairi.richardson@tomrom.co.uk tomrom.co.uk

feedback you have the clearer you will be in which areas you need to work on. Some good questions to ask yourself are: ■ Am I thinking the right way? ■ Should I have used those

Building your EQ will be a continual process, and you will have times when you revert to a less EQ type, but every step you take to improving it will help you to be a more effective communicator and a happier person.

words today? ■ How would I have reacted if I were in his/her place? ■ Is there another way of looking into the matter? ■ Am I on the right track? ■ Is my family happy with me?

B – Make changes and learn how

So we know what EQ is and the

to improve.

benefits it can bring so how do I

This is probably the hardest part,

improve my skills?

it is an area where people struggle the most often simply lacking the

A – Know where you are weak!

motivation to improve. May sound

Sounds simple but in fact, many

simple but if you don’t want to

areas of strength or weakness when it comes to EQ. Understanding yourself is one of the greatest skills you can master. Do you know why you take an instant dislike to some people, or why you cry at weddings or why you

46 | Issue 19

responding to a question or a situation. Just take an extra second to more fully evaluate what is being asked of you and by whom, and how they are going to feel about your response. If you feel your mind being clouded by negative thoughts, try and think of something more positive and distract your mind. When you do respond try to put yourself in the shoes of the person you are responding to, try to be considerate. Practice communicating more clearly, ask people to clarify what they have

An ABC to getting started with EQ

people are not aware of their own

For example, perhaps you give yourself to the count of 3 before

change then you won’t! Part of a high level of EQ is knowing that you can and should change and wanting to improve your communication with others. Learning how to improve is a question of continual improvement

heard from you to make sure you are being understood. Be patient and understanding, remember that people communicate in different ways and you may need to adapt your style to be better understood.

Don’t panic! I’ve been talking about depression recently so I thought it would be good to look at panic attacks, which can happen when you are suffering from depression, anxiety, a fear or phobia. You will be diagnosed with a panic disorder if you are experiencing frequent panic attacks but, fortunately for most of us, we will only experience a few in our lifetime…and for the fortunate ones, none at all.

Symptoms can include:

My first panic attack came out of the

extreme physical activity – to fight

blue as the plane I was on began

and kill the sabre-toothed tiger who

its take-off run. We were taking our

is attacking us or to run back as fast

■ Racing heartbeat

young children on a plane for the first

as we can to the safety of the cave.

time and I had been happily chatting

Unfortunately, they can be triggered

■ Fast, shallow breathing

to them a moment before and I

by perceived threats – things that

■ Feeling faint or dizzy

had really enjoyed flying since I was

we are worrying about in our minds

4 years old. I had three more panic

that either haven’t happened yet or

■ Sweating

attacks and then didn’t fly for ten or

have but there is no action required.

more years but…I’ll leave that story for

So we are left with the symptoms

another blog!

that result from our body’s resources

The point is that I know about panic attacks from first-hand experience – how frightening they can be. I felt totally out of control and scared and I have seen clients who have taken themselves off to A & E, convinced that they are having a heart attack.

being readied for action, with focus on getting oxygen to our muscles as quickly as possible, when there is nothing we can or need to do.

■ Nausea or a churning in your stomach ■ Chest pains ■ Trembling or shaky limbs ■ Dry mouth ■ An urgent need to go to the toilet ■ A feeling of dread or even dying ■ Numbness or a tingling

Do you know the symptoms Panic attacks are a full body experience, they are a rush of intense mental and physical symptoms that can come from nowhere and appear very quickly (as I found out!). Put very simply, they are the result of a flight or fight reaction to a threat and are preparing us for

sensation in your extremities Your panic attack will include several of these symptoms and can last anything from 5-20 minutes and in extreme cases up to an hour! Although having a panic attack is frightening, it’s not dangerous. Having an attack won’t cause you physical harm or

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Business Bulletin

any lasting damage and it’s highly

we are left with an automated

aromatherapy session or take a yoga

unlikely you’ll ever be admitted to

system that reacts to the threats

or pilates class – whatever gives you

hospital for one. Just be sure that the

in our mind as if they were a life or

time to relax and calm your mind.

symptoms aren’t anything else and if

death situation.

you are unsure speak to your GP or a nurse practitioner. As with depression, it can be really hard to talk to someone about how you’re feeling and those close to you may witness your attacks so it’s difficult to hide the fact that you’re having them. You may not know what’s triggering your attack or it may be triggered by something that others might see as insignificant.

Treatments The main two treatments are

and anxiety as well): Regular physical activity – it can be a workout at the gym or a gentle

and, depending on how severe your

stroll in the sunshine, whatever is

symptoms are you, may need a

right for you

combination of both.

Look at your diet as there is increasing evidence that what we eat

Things you can do yourself

embarrassed – your fight or flight

During an attack

system is operating exactly as it

Next time you feel an attack coming

should and it’s out of your control.

on try the following, it might not stop

Fortunately, we don’t meet many

the attack, but in a lot of cases it will

sabre-toothed tigers wanting us for

reduce its length:

can have a tremendous impact on our mood. Avoid sugary foods and drinks; processed foods; caffeine and alcohol. If you’re a smoker, think about stopping or, at least cutting down. To make it easier, switch to a different brand and smoke at different times and places to try to break the habitual aspect of smoking.

As soon as you feel the slightest sign do some mindful breathing, smoothly. In for a count of 6 and out

Complications of panic disorder

for a count of 6 (or 4 or 5 as long as

As with depression, anxiety and

the in and out breath are the same

stress, your panic attacks are likely

length). This is the most effective

to get worse if you don’t take any

thing you can do as it tells your

action. In addition, there is a chance

brain that there is no life or death

that you will start to self-medicate

threat. Practice this breathing when

with drugs, alcohol or another

you feel fine so that it’s easy to do

addiction. Your panic attacks may

Therapies For The Mind

when you feel the first sign of panic.

lead to you developing other fears or

Don’t try to fight it – it will fight back

phobias as your mind is constantly

Judith is a qualified Clinical

harder! Instead just let it be, remind

on high alert, looking for other

yourself the attack will pass and that

threats to your life – the good old

you aren’t about to die. Focus on

fight or flight system again!

breathing slowly, deeply and

Judith Hanson

Hypnotherapist (DipCHyp, HPD, MNCH), and NLP Master Practitioner and Coach. As a member of the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) and

something positive, peaceful and

the Complementary and the Natural

relaxing.

Healthcare Council (CNHC) she is bound by their Codes of Conduct. She also undertakes regular training, as well as frequent supervision, to update her knowledge and skills, in order to provide a professional and effective service. She treats everyone as an individual and by developing a good relationship, based

Preventing a future attack Read some self-help books for anxiety and panic, preferably based on CBT principles (your GP should be able to recommend some)

on mutual respect and trust and always

Try to stop yourself from doing the

does the best for her clients.

worrying that makes your brain think

07881 620586 judith@judithhanson.co.uk judithhanson.co.uk

that you are under attack – easier said than done I know but self-care is an important way to limit or stop the attacks. Have a regular massage or

48 | Issue 19

can do (these work for depression

talking therapies and medication

Please don’t feel ashamed or

lunch but, unfortunately, that means

The other important things you

Three therapists walk into a bar! When people find out that I am osteopath the next question is usually ‘what is the difference between an osteopath, a chiropractor and a physiotherapist and which one would be the best for me to see?’ Here is my attempt at a simple answer to that question which I hope makes sense. If there is anything you are not sure about please feel free to contact me for more information.

Osteopath, chiropractor, physiotherapist?

Choosing a therapist can be like entering a maze

I have made some generalisations so I apologise to all of the therapists who read this and say ‘that’s not what I do!’ This summary is aimed at helping people understand a bit more about why we do what we do as therapists and I have deliberately kept it at a ‘high level’. Feel free to post comments if I have missed something fundamental about the way you practice, as anything that increases understanding can only be a good thing. Probably the most important point to make is that anyone using the title osteopath, chiropractor or physiotherapist is a highly-trained healthcare professional that has studied for 3 – 5 years and must be registered with the appropriate regulatory

What they do

within your body’s structure and function. The treatment approach can involve a combination of manipulative, structural, cranial and soft tissue techniques which

Osteopathy is a system of diagnosis

are effective for a wide range of

and treatment based on the view

muscular, nerve and joint problems.

that when the body is balanced and working well, it will function with the minimum of wear and tear. Osteopaths use a detailed case history and physical examination to identify musculoskeletal problems

Like osteopaths, chiropractors take a case history and perform an examination to diagnose problems involving your muscles, joints and the nervous system. A chiropractic exam is more likely to involve the use of MRI, X-rays or CT scans as well as other diagnostic tests to identify any problems. They treat muscles, joints, and bones using a range of techniques, with an emphasis on manipulation of the spine to resolve any problems identified. Physiotherapists treat

authority i.e. General Osteopathic

problems associated with

Council, General Chiropractic

ligaments, muscles, tendons,

Council or Health and Care

and joints and are known

Professions Council.

for their provision of post-

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

surgical/fracture rehabilitation. As with the other health professionals, they will take a detailed history and use orthopaedic tests to diagnose problems and will use mobilisation techniques, manipulation, stretching and exercises to treat musculoskeletal conditions.

Similarities and differences Although equally well trained, osteopaths, chiropractors, and physiotherapists treatment approaches are based on different principles and philosophies. Despite those differences, there are many similarities with each profession using orthopaedic and neurological

Whenever there is a lot of ‘jargon’ with no clear explanation of what might be happening, feel free to walk away and find someone else that you feel comfortable with

tests to examine and diagnose the problems presented by a patient. They may use different techniques to resolve the problems found, but the

Who should you see?

end result is always to improve health

Does any of this help you to decide

and to see you getting better.

the best type of therapist to see? Probably not! In my experience ‘word of mouth’ is still the most popular way most people find a therapist usually from a good review from friends or family members. The next best thing is to use the internet to identify some therapists you like the sound of and call them. It is a

Bob Allen Sollus Healthcare Bob graduated as an osteopath in 2011 and is an experienced workstation assessor as well as a qualified functional strength & conditioning coach, Otago team leader and mental health first aider. All of this experience means he can provide you with comprehensive support and a jargon-free explanation of your problems whatever their cause. It also means that he can identify where osteopathy is not appropriate and refer you to a GP, consultant or another practitioner if required. 07515 014308 info@sollushealthcare.co.uk sollusosteopathy.co.uk

good sign if the person you speak to sounds knowledgeable with a clear understanding of your proof of what is happening. If the therapist is able to explain their thoughts in a clear and understandable way that is even better. Whenever there is a lot of ‘jargon’ with no clear explanation of what might be happening, feel free to walk away and find someone else that you feel comfortable

call them. It is a good sign if the therapist sounds knowledgeable with a clear understanding of your problem and can provide an explanation of how they could help you. If they respond with a lot of ‘jargon’ and technical terms that leave you confused, feel free to find someone else as they either don’t understand what is going on or have communication difficulties. Always ask lots of questions and as long as you are happy with the answers and the therapist’s treatment approach you have made the right choice. Choosing a practitioner is really as complicated and simple as that, with one approach to a treatment being very similar to another for resolving musculoskeletal problems. I chose to practice osteopathy

with. Always ask lots of questions

because it suits my philosophy and

and as long as you are happy with

the way that I like to work, but it is

the answers and the therapist’s

really about the practitioner and

treatment approach you have made

whether their approach to treating

the right choice.

you works for you.

The next best thing is to search the internet to identify some therapists

50 | Issue 19

that you like the sound of and then

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Workplace bullying takes many forms Personally, I have experienced sexual harassment, abuse and discrimination.

One former Chairman referred to his

misrepresentation, tax and VAT

penis as “The Beast”, the Managing

crimes. What many don’t understand

may think you are not worth their

Director, now Chairman, referred

is the long-term damage their

time. Realistically narcissists hate

to me and a colleague as “thick as

behaviours can cause to others,

themselves.

shit” in front of our teams, and had

or they do, but simply don’t care. I

to be coached before meeting by

never had time off sick, went back

the HR Manager because of his

to work a week after major back

“anger” issues. “The Beast” was

surgery, having been signed off for 8

convicted of two counts of criminal

weeks, but as the bullying got worse,

damage after he was caught on

I dreaded driving to the office, I felt

CCTV painting “BITCH” on my car,

physically sick, not knowing what the

returning a month later to throw red

narcissist had in store for me that

paint over it. He should also have

day. Would he be all pally again or

been charged with harassment and

treat me like I was his moral enemy.

intimidation as a section 4 offence, malicious communication, witness intimidation and stalking but the British Judiciary failed me, and many others like me. Another sent racist, sexist and

in hospital. I was protective of

sometimes wish I hadn’t

provided a key to filing cabinets when

have bothered.

had the displeasure of working with. The only light at the end of

reason. Edited.

working on holidays and whilst

very few kept in touch. I

rewarded the laziest slime ball I ever

read, and I kept it all these years for a

repaid my loyalty, hard work and

being sexually harassed at work, and

I have PTSD, they allowed and

description of a narcissist I have ever

money, and this is how they

emails. He also was aware that I was

clients’ files than my safety. Knowing

this or who wrote it, but it is the best

What all these individuals

my team, but when I left,

more concerned was he about the

I cannot remember where I found

forget, I made them a LOT of

wholly inappropriate messages and

I asked for a key to my office door,

If you are unsupported, you

I have been asked why I put up with certain behaviours for so long, and I liken it to a victim of domestic abuse. If you are told you are

this tunnel, I am a witness in an

not good enough

HMRC and police investigation

for long enough,

into an estimated £7.8 billion

you begin to

fraud, money laundering, fraud by

believe it.

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

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Dear Co-dependent Partner or Employee, What I am about to say is not something I’d ever say or admit (to you), because to do so would end the winner-takes-all-game that is my main source of pleasure in life – one that effectively keeps you carrying my load in our relationship. And that’s the whole point. When I say ‘I love you’ I mean that I love how hard you work to make me feel like your everything, that I am the focus of your life, that you want me to be happy, and that I’ll never be expected to do the same. I love the power I have to take

emotionally fluffy, and I love looking

my status and doing my job to keep

down on you for your childlike

you in your place, in pain, focused

innocence and gullibility, as weakness.

on feeling my pain, blocking you

I love the way I feel that, through the use of gaslighting, what you want to discuss or address will never happen, and I love this ‘power’ to train you to feel ‘crazy’ for even asking

from feeling valued in relation to me. I’m superior and entitled to all the pleasure, admiration, and comforting between us, remember? ‘I love you’ means I love the way

or bringing up issues that do not

I feel when you are with me, more

interest me, effectively lowering

specifically, regarding you as a piece

your expectations of me and what

of property I own, my possession.

I’m capable of giving you, while I

Like driving a hot car, I love the

undermine of you.

extent to which you enhance my

I love how easy it is to keep your

status in the eyes of others, letting

sole focus on alleviating my pain

them know that I am top dog, and

(never yours), and that, regardless of

so on. I love thinking that others are

what you do, you’ll never make me

jealous of my possessions.

feel good enough, loved enough,

I love that you are there to blame

advantage of your kindness and

respected enough, appreciated

intentions to be nice, and the

whenever I feel this ‘neediness’;

enough, and so on. (Misery loves

pleasure I derive when I make myself

feeling scorn for you seems to protect

company.) It’s not about the

feel huge in comparison to you,

me from something I hate to admit,

closeness, empathy, emotional

taking every opportunity to make you

that I feel totally dependent on you

connection you want, or what I did

feel small and insignificant.

to ‘feed’ my sense of superiority and

that hurt or embarrassed you, or how

entitlement, and to keep my illusion

little time I spend engaged with you

of power alive in my mind.

I love the feeling it gives me thinking of you as weak, vulnerable,

or the children, and so on. It’s about

Nothing makes me feel more fragile and vulnerable than not having control over something that would tarnish my image and

I have been asked why I put up with certain behaviours for so long, and I liken it to a victim of domestic abuse. If you are told you are not good enough for long enough, you begin to believe it.

superior status, especially when you question ‘how’ I treat you, as if you still don’t understand that getting you to accept yourself as an object for my pleasure, happy regardless of how I treat you, or the children – is key proof of my superiority, to the world. You’re my possession, remember? It’s my job to teach you to hate and act callously towards those ‘crazy’ things that only the ‘weak’ people need such as ‘closeness’ and ‘emotional stuff’ and by the way, I know this ‘works’ because my childhood taught me to do this to myself inside. It makes me light up with pleasure (more proof of my superiority) that I can easily get you flustered, make you act ‘crazy’ over not getting what you want from me, make you repeat yourself,

52 | Issue 19

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fly away from me? It gives me great

later hate yourself for because of

pleasure to not give you what you

doing you a favour by being with you

your niceness. Everything you say,

yearn for, the tenderness you need

and throwing crumbs your way.

any hurts or complaints you share,

and want, and to burst your every

you can be sure I’ll taunt you with

dream and bubble, then telling

later, to keep you ever-spinning

myself, ‘I’m no fool’.

your wheels, ever trying to explain yourself, ever doubting yourself and

I love that I can control your

I love that I can make you feel I’m

I love that you keep telling me how much I hurt you, not knowing that, to me, this is like a free marketing report, which lets me

attempts to get ‘through’ to me, by

know how effective my tactics have

controlling your mind, in particular,

been to keep you in pain, focused

by shifting the focus of any

on alleviating my pain – so that I am

‘discussion’ onto what is wrong with

ever the winner in this competition

break the code, you’d have to look

you, your failure to appreciate and

– ensuring that you will ever weaken

through my lens, not yours! It’s my

make me feel loved, good enough –

(control) me with your love – and

job to show complete disinterest in

and of course, reminding you of all

emotional-closeness stuff.

your emotional needs, hurts, wants

I’ve done for you, and how ungrateful

and to train, dismiss and punish

you are.

confused, trying to figure out why I don’t ‘get’ it. There is nothing to ‘get’! To

accordingly, until you learn your

I love how I skillfully manipulate

‘lesson’ that is. To take your place

others’ opinions of you as well,

as a voiceless object, a possession

getting them to side with me as

has no desire except to serve my

the ‘good’ guy, and side against

pleasure and comfort and never an

you as the ‘bad’ guy, portraying you

opinion on how it’s treated.

as needy, never satisfied, always

That you can’t figure this out, after all the ways I mistreated you, to me, is proof of my genetic superiority. In

and the like. I love how easy it is for me to say ‘No’! To what may provide you a

genes are never kind, except to lure

sense of value and significance in

and snare their victims!

relation to me, with endless excuses,

because, due to the self-loathing I carry inside, I need someone who won’t abandon me that I can use

and that I instead keep your focus on my needs and wants, my discomfort or pain. I love feeling that I own your

as a punching bag, to make myself

thoughts, your ambitions, and

feel good by making them feel

ensuring your wants and needs are

bad about themselves. This is how

solely focused on not upsetting me,

I pleasure myself, and the way I

keeping me happy.

numbly deny the scary feelings I carry inside that I hope to never admit, ever. I hate any signs of weakness in me, which is why I hate you, and all those I consider inferior, stupid, feeble and so on. And I love that, no matter how

Your Narcissist

complaining, selfish and controlling,

my playbook, those with superiority

‘I love you’ means I need you

Forever love-limiting,

I love being a drug of choice you ‘have to’ have, regardless of how I mistreat you, despite all the signs that your addiction to me is draining the energy from your life, that you are at the risk of losing more and more of what you most value, and

hard you beg and plead for my

hold dear, to include the people

love and admiration, to feel valued

you love, and those who love and

in return, it won’t happen, as long

support you. I love that I can isolate

as I’m in control. Why would I let

you from others who may nourish

it, when I’m hooked on deriving

you, and break the spell, and I love

pleasure from depriving you of

making you mistrust them, so that

anything that would be the wind

you conclude no one else really

beneath your wings, risking you’d

wants to put up with you, but me.

Suzanne Denise Brogan Brogan & Co Brogan & Co was set up as a telecoms business originally, in 2018. With over 25 years in the industry and managing many accounts for that time, Suzanne decided earlier this year to slightly change the direction of the business whilst maintaining the existing clients. With nearly 40 years of sales experience and over 30 years of telesales experience, she decided to freelance for others, who probably don’t need a full times salesperson with all of the costs associated. 07801 253771 suzanne.brogan@protonmail.com broganandco.co.uk/

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

and say and do things that you’ll

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

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How to deal with low-level depression Not everyone is depressed to the point of considering taking a drastic step like self-destruction. Far more of us are fed up just enough to be somewhat dissatisfied with virtually everything.

I think Pink Floyd said it best:

share here. My method might not suit

student became agitated, hopping

everybody, so it’s a good thing that I

from foot to foot. Finally, the student

don’t claim it does. All I can say is, “it

shouted, “Sir, it’s hot! It’s burning me!”

Day after day

suits me, sir,” and it does help a little,

Calmly, Hui replied, “Then let go.”

Love turns grey

so just maybe, it’ll help you too. Give it

Like the skin

a shot. What’ve you got to lose?

On a dying man. Night after night We pretend it’s alright But I’ve grown older And you’ve grown colder And nothing seems very much fun anymore. Source: Waters, R. (1980). The Wall, Part 2. Retrieved from lyrster.com/songs/ day+after+day+love+turns+gray+lyrics.html

Frankly, this is why Roger Waters is a millionaire, but I’m broke. He says something here deep and meaningful in a beautiful way I never could, but it’s okay. I’ve accepted my lot in life, which, I think, is where you’ll find most or perhaps all of the mildly depressed. Some clever wag–I forget who– said, “Pointing out a problem without offering a solution is merely whinging.” Too true, mate. So, given that we understand the problem, what’s the solution? Who knows, fella, who knows? If I had a solution, I’d not be a sufferer, but I don’t, so I am. Instead of a solution, I’ve got a coping mechanism that I’m happy to

54 | Issue 19

If you can’t change something, change your mind “Confucius, he say”–actually, let’s face it, Confucius, he say too much. Still, he did come up with a few zingers; unfortunately, none apply here in the way I have in mind, so it’s yar boo and sucks to the old codger, I’m afraid. Instead, we need to turn our attention to Zen. Hui Neng, the 5th patriarch, and my favourite Zen master, once gave a famous lecture. An importunate student kept pestering Hui for the solution to a nagging problem. Eventually, Hui proposed that the two meet in the dining hall during the evening

A mild but persistent drabness to everything The malady is tenacious and unrelenting; it will not let go. There is loneliness in the middle of the crowd. There is ennui in the midmorning and tiredness in the late night. The sweetest chocolate is a jaded remembrance; the prettiest girl is tomorrow’s wrinkled hag seen today, and (remember Mr. Waters’ gloomy reprise?) “nothing is very much fun anymore.” For the mildly depressed, this is the constant companion, this solemn and intimate knowledge of, and friendship with, Fate: O Fortune, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing

meal. Later that day, the student

ever waning;

came up to Hui and reminded him of

hateful life

their appointment. Hui nodded and

first oppresses

handed the student a hot cup of tea,

and then soothes

telling the student to grasp it firmly.

playing with mental clarity;

Obediently, the student took hold of

poverty

the scalding hot cup but eventually, of

and power

course, it got too hot for him, and the

it melts them like ice.

The Business Bulletin

“O Fortuna”

You see, it’s a little more subtle than “everything is always terrible” because for the mildly depressed, that just isn’t true. Instead, the plaintive complaint is, “what’s the point?” Yes, every sorrow will pass, but so too will every delight.

Sundry aids for the mildly depressed.

a daily mantra as we head into the

Here are a few of my favourite bon

catastrophe brought on by diligently

mots. Please feel free to filch and use when and as needed. It’s no skin off my nose!

Well, it seems to me that I’m standing on the gallows, dangling on the edge of the precipice as I wait to dangle on the end of the hangman’s rope, I might as well be British about it and have a laugh. The solution to being inescapably on the gallows is, therefore, gallows humour! For a long time now, I have gathered little bon mots that sustain me through the gloom, not by promising the silver lining at the end of the cloud, not by pretending to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but by echoing some profound and cynical aphorism into the chamber of the abyss. If life gives you lemons, it’s no surprise. That’s the kind

chasm of the oncoming economic foolish leaders, pursuing any and all goals save the interests of their sodden and hapless sheeple.

The lucky ones die first. My absolute favourite and bestest aphorism. As you grow older and

Might as well have a laugh

This is well worth repeating as

learn the meaning of the phrase, “Betrayed by my body,” at least you can rest assured that one sweet day will be your turn to get lucky. If you’re not confused, you’re misinformed. Need I say more? Attend any scrum meeting and actually pay attention, and you’ll soon find out I’m right.

There’s more where this came from Space and time do not permit me to share with you other gems from the gallows, but I trust I have now furnished you with a lit torch that will allow you to navigate this tedious vale with a slightly jauntier step born entirely of a new freedom gained from the happy abandonment of all hope. There’s no point worrying, so don’t worry.

We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible

Cheers.

for the ungrateful. For so long, we have done so much with so little that now we can do anything with nothing. Source: Retrieved from bestquotations.com/catquotes. php?categ35

of stunt that life pulls all the time.

Tayo Bowyer I, Tayo Ex-teacher, ex-software engineer, exradio presenter. Current public speaker, podcaster, proofreader, and writer. Tayo was a longtime denizen of the moribund hallways, strictures, structures, and suffocating academic and corporate conformism conventions. After gaining his freedom in 2020 by essentially telling his employer to “naff off,” Tayo is free now to express himself. As a result, he is poorer but happier, and he is perhaps a living embodiment of the notion that health and peace of mind beat wealth and angst. At least for the older man. 07437 955341 tayobowyer@gmail.com itemitayo.co.uk

Issue 19 | 55

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

translated from the medieval Latin poem,

BOOK REVIEW

The Business Bulletin

Book Review: Deep Work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. By Cal Newport Do you struggle to maintain focus?

more we do it the stronger we get.

need us to shut off the world and this

Do you get distracted by social media,

For most of us, it’s going to take a few

is a great way of getting them done.

emails or do you procrastinate and

hours in the “Deep Work” gym So,

I have found that I am getting more

struggle to get everything done?

what does it entail? Well, you’ll have to

and more moved over to deep work

Our super-connected world has

read the book to get the full detail but

time and am getting more done and

made us lazy. We can get answers at

as with most “get it done” concepts

have more free time. Win-win.

the lightning speed and ultimately,

you have to plan! One of the things I

we will all choose the easy way to

liked best though was that while you

get the answer over the difficult, it’s

need your focused time and have

human nature. Just think about work

to remove your distractions for that

situations where people will ask the

period Newport suggests that you

same question over and over because

schedule the “non-productive” time

it is easier than having to remember

too. That means you can set aside 20

or work it out themselves?

minutes of mindless scrolling through

We all struggle with distractions from time to time and as I am a big fan of a “get it done” book our latest read for book club was Deep Work by Cal Newport. This book had been on the wish list for some time, so it was good to finally get to read it. Newport helps you to understand what deep work is and how effective it can be in helping people to achieve.

We would recommend this book to everybody from students to CEO’s – there is something in there to help everyone.

TikTok as a reward for completing your deep work task! Maybe Tik Tok isn’t your thing but I liked the idea of getting something less cerebral or brain straining as a reward, something to look forward to. Knowing that you can have downtime also helps to motivate you to achieve during the deep work session. There are many useful suggestions

Mhairi Richardson Tomrom Team Coaching Mhairi specialises in coaching teams to help them achieve more and improve their wellbeing. Her focus is

Deep work is ultimately the ability

within this book like using your “out

to master hard or difficult things

of office” as a filter and being absolute

quickly and to produce work at an

in your email responses so that there

extraordinary speed and of a superior

is no requirement for a response

quality. It requires you to remove all

however I think it is worth reading the

distractions and focus on the work/

whole book to get the background and

project/task.

support for the concept. If you want to

Mhairi is also a coach with a strong SME

try the “shallow” approach there are a

background, a focus on the detail, a high

Newport stresses that in today’s world of instant communication and constant distraction that the value of being able to focus is becoming more

few great web resources that outline the key steps and approaches. Within Book Club a couple of us

and important and yet rarer and rarer.

have already embraced the method

He also says that working in a deep

and are very impressed with it. In

way is like exercising a muscle, the

business, we all have those tasks that

56 | Issue 19

on building trust within the team and a combination of coaching, mentoring and facilitation and she can tailor the program to the needs of your business. She enjoys working with newly formed teams, established team or teams who just feel they should be achieving more.

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

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: ● ● ●

Magazines made easy With your own beautifully designed and branded magazine you can: • Promote your brand • Increase loyalty • Deliver added value • Share ideas & information • Boost your reputation

Email mark.coster@pixooma.co.uk or call 01536 217007, or to talk about our magazine design service.

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The Business Bulletin - Issue 19

Articles inside

Spotlighton Kevin Robinson

Where do bugs come from?

How to make remoteworkers still feel partof the culture

Who am I….?

What is it to be accountable?

Is AI in your life?

What does a project manager do?

Reaching success and smashing goals

Everybody sells!

How UK businesses can offer work to Ukrainian refugees

Book Review

Three therapists walk into a bar

Workplace bullying takes many forms

Don’t panic

How to deal with low-level depression

What is emotional intelligence and why does it matter?

Too many cooks? Who should join a mastermind group and what size is the best fit?

Why small businesses need a marketing strategy

Stop blaming your software! It might be you

Trust is crucial to good leadership

Creating a powerful sales letter

Achieving goals

Five crucial bookkeeping tips for a small business owner

Personal guarantees – be wary

10 trends defining cybersecurity in the year of identity