Dear A funny thing happened on my way to the Forum For those of a certain age these words will conjure up a memory of Frankie Howerd introducing the beginning of every episode of his TV sitcom Up Pompeii which ran from 1969-75 and was set in Ancient Rome. Howerd of course played the slave Lurkio and regaled us all with scurrilous tales of life “above and below stairs”. Irrespective of its historical accuracy the series was enormously popular in the days when TV in the UK ran on only three terrestrial channels. For the purposes of this newsletter however it is merely an easy way to introduce a number of things that I have seen or taken part in, or have happened to me in the last month since I put fingers to keyboard for our last Newsletter. November has been a very busy month with two days spent at the Business Start up / Great British Business Show at Earls Court helping on the Ecademy stand where we were running sampler Boardroom sessions (about which more later), a day at Woking Means Business where the footfall was undoubtedly lighter than last year but where there were a number of good interactions. A day in London hearing Darren Shirlaw (founder of the international business consultants Shirlaws) and Daniel Priestley (Becoming a Key Person of Influence and MD of Ecademy) talking about preparing for Success in 2012. In addition of course there is the hurly burly of life in general with all that this brings- and quite a lot of that too this month. So where to start? Last month’s newsletter contained in its title those immortal words ” What we measure we can manage”- this is of course entirely true but sometimes measuring in one way can have unexpected consequences. In his blog “What gets measured gets done (and vice versa)” Clive Eplett http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=169458 quotes some interesting consequences of this at an airline. Clue - all to do with how baggage handling or the speed of it was measured without a rider as to quality. Two days at Earls Court left me with very tired legs and feet but hugely upbeat about the excitement and buzz generated by what was billed as “The UK’s biggest ever Business Show” at which 350+ exhibitors could be found and 250 + seminars were delivered together with any number of other sessions. More importantly we ran sample Boardroom sessions on the hour from 11.00am to 4.00pm both days, separately for both established businesses and start ups. I ran five out of the total of 24 sessions and found that all participants gained from the process where a single issue was selected, questions asked and feedback / solutions offered by those present all within about 50 minutes (allowing for getting in and out of the “rooms” and introductions). A normal Boardroom runs for half a day covers two or three issues and includes a meal. People have asked me since how practical it is to run start ups only sessions. My answer to that is in addition to the Chairman, who will always be an experienced business person with training for their role; one has to remember that most start-ups will be created by people who have already done something else. Often this will be in the same discipline for a large corporate or other employer. Thus generally everyone in any given session was able to offer useful suggestions. The other point is that while in the Boardroom concept the idea is that every one puts forward an issue and the group votes to decide which will be discussed, business issues are fairly generic and most will find in the discussion something they can take away and apply in their own business. About Boardrooms Ecademy's Boardroom programme is designed to help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed in difficult markets, against competition, and in challenging economic times. The four major benefits of becoming a Boardroom subscriber: A confidential group of peers meeting every month to support you and your business through the challenges you face as you grow, develop and succeed. A regular meeting that includes networking, lunch, refreshments, updates from your fellow members, along with opportunities to build relationships, get referrals and find associates and suppliers. Support from your Boardroom Chairman to help ensure your success. Online communication and between-meeting support from your fellow peers in a confidential Boardroom Forum on Ecademy.
You can visit a Boardroom before making a decision to join. Membership is just £99.97 + VAT (Black Stars are eligible for a 25% discount) and you can subscribe on a monthly basis (minimum term 6 months), or pay for 6 or 12 months as you choose. Find out more at: http://www.ecademyboardrooms.com or call Jeremy on 07984 128876. The new SW London and N Surrey Boardroom will be meeting in Leatherhead in January; given the interest already expressed there won’t be too many further places available so get in quick! Hear what Jeremy has to say about Boardrooms- click on this link for his YouTube video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UILqc1pOdPg view more details and book at: http://bit.ly/rHDP1U People don’t buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it! Peter Kolka wrote an excellent and thought provoking blog with this title view it at: http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=170286 It reminded me that we forget why we choose to do something at our peril, that simple words are best and passion all important. What do you think? Great Service Deserves Recognition I was irritated to say the least when one of the headlamp bulbs failed in my car and despite following the instructions in the owners handbook I could not replace it so I called Leatherhead Motor Co http://www.leatherheadmotorcompany.com this morning to ask if they could help doing this while I waited, later in the morning. In I went and out I came with lights working nicely. Examining the bill when I got home I saw they had not charged any labour on the job and called to tell them with a view to paying whatever I owed. This met with the comment “Not at all - we never charge for this”. So Leatherhead Motor Co, who look after commercial as well as private vehicles, are definitely nice people to do business with! Preparing for Success in 2012 Darren Shirlaw and Daniel Priestley are both Australians and have both formed businesses which have become successful in short order. Darren is a mathematician and former investment banker and spoke powerfully about the current economic climate and the need to ensure businesses are in the right state to take advantage of an anticipated improvement from March 2013 until perhaps June 2016. He suggested that the traditional business model where only four months of the year were spent on paying work and the rest on finding it or in design mode meant such businesses were too expensive and must change. The issue is either, too much time and not enough clients or vice versa! There is a need to focus on the stages model (timing), culture (risk) and a flat strategy for growth (capability). He also contends that businesses have to pass through “ brick wall stages” which may last from three to seven years and that the best way to get through these quickly is to put in place the systems and methods which would be used by a larger business in the advanced growth phase. Businesses should position themselves by building distribution, run as functional businesses with the right people in the right places using the right processes, and have a strategy, capacity and succession plans. Daniel Priestley spoke of the age of the Global Small Business which can trade anywhere in the world from anywhere, with a laptop, a smart phone and the internet. Of the Zero Moment of Truth and the Google Research which shows that in 2011, people need to make 10.4 interactions before buying compared with 5.94 in 2010! The need for those wishing most to succeed is to occupy a micro niche and become Key Persons of Influence. In each niche the top 10% earn 80% of total revenue generated and the rest are made up of newbies and the 90% who are “worker bees” and earn the remaining 20%. At the 1st of December there are only 31 days to the beginning of the New Year- and even fewer shopping days to Christmas! So, in addition to writing your annual letter to Santa, perhaps it is time to give some thought to what you may need to kick start 2012 in such a way that you meet both business objectives and that these deliver your own personal objectives too- whatever they may be. One thing is sure if you do exactly what you did this year you will achieve the same or a lesser result. So at SatNav4Business we are offering three special pre Christmas deals: A FREE ONE TO ONE BUSINESS PLANNING SUPPORT MEETING where we will: help you kick-start your planning process provide you with the tools and information needed to complete your plan provide an independent review of your partially completed/completed plan
A FREE ONE TO ONE EFFECTIVE WORKING SUPPORT MEETING where we will: help you assess how effectively you are working today discuss ways in which you can improve this for yourself help you to see the wood for the trees
A HALF PRICE BUSINESS BORROWOMETER READING which will assess your business’ ability to borrow. To do this we will look at: Your last set of annual accounts Management accounts for current year to date Debtors and creditors Conduct of your bank account What you do
And we will report back on: What we would lend to you How that would be structured Why And we will compare this with any current facilities you have
Price: £100 plus VAT- usually £200 plus VAT Hurry as these offers are only available to those businesses who book with us before Thursday 22nd December 2011. For further details check out: www.satnav4business.com and then email success@satnav4business or call 0845 468 1 468 to discuss your requirements further and book your session now. | 
