In his book Managing in a Time of Great Change Peter Drucker writes on the five deadly business sins – avoidable mistakes that will harm the mightiest business. The first and the most common sin is the worship of high margins and of premium pricing as it always creates a market for competitors. And high profit margins do not equal maximum profits. Total profit is profit margin multiplied by turnover. Maximum profit is thus obtained by the profit margin that yields the largest total profit flow and that is usually the profit margin that produces optimum […]

To succeed in business, you need to decide on what strategies to implement depending on circumstances. Decide on which of the following strategies you are going to implement immediately. Be customer orientated Put your customer first and ensure that your service performance is second to none. Never lower your standards. Touch base regularly with your key customers and listen to their suggestions on how you can improve your service.   Focus on planning Prepare a written formal strategic plan where you document what your current position is and where you personally want to be in 5 […]

Andy Bounds, author of The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communications Stick, recently passed me on some great time saving ideas. As he says the most common grumble in business: “I don’t have time.” So he has twenty ways to change how you communicate, to free-up loads of time. All are easy. All will save you time. But which will you do? Don’t have 30- or 60-minute meetings.  Instead, make them a maximum of 20 or 45. Even shorter, whenever possible Review last week’s diary, and identify all the things that took longer than they […]