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You have probably been back at work for several weeks and are fully entrenched in the daily activities of running a business. So with 10 months ahead, how can we set ourselves to have a great 2019? I think a good exercise is to look back over 2018 and ask yourself, what worked well and what needs improving? When I do this exercise, I create 2 columns on a piece of paper with the headings as you can see below: Worked well 8 jobs resulted in good profit In 10 jobs clients were happy

The most significant and powerful change in small business marketing in the last 12 years has been the introduction of Social Media. As the online world continues to grow and evolve, new social media sites tempt us to use them to market our services and products. With many social media sites to choose from, three sites continue to be the most effective for small business – Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. So how do you utilise these sites for your benefit? The Benefits of using Instagram Instagram was bought by

In this article, I look at the key qualities and characteristics that successful business partnerships have. If you are considering taking on a partner or already have an established partnership, I hope this list can act as a checklist. 1. A successful history together Many successful business partners have often been working together for someone else. It's there, that they discover; if they have complementary working styles, how they both work under pressure and how they handle responsibility before they decide to start a business together. So

Being an effective business leader is a demanding role. It requires a business owner to direct, manage and balance every aspect of his growing business while earning the respect and loyalty of all people involved. In this article, I discuss the key qualities and values that make an effective leader. Lead with Passion Effective Leaders are passionate about what they do, and they're not afraid to show it. When they demonstrate to their team that they love and believe in what they're doing, their team will too. Humility  Jim Collins author

What is a System and what is a Process? Every business has several systems they operate; such as a Recruitment System, Team Management System, Project Management, Marketing System and so on. Within each system is a process or several processes, which are steps that work together to make the system functional. Some Simple Changes make a big difference Recently, I have been working with a client, a Landscaper. He was winning many smaller projects, but wanted to win a larger number of medium to larger sized projects. So

A KPI is known as a Key Performance Indicator. It is a measurement of the way your business is performing. A good KPI tells you whether your business is heading along the right path or not, toward your vision and goals. In this article, I will explain and give examples of KPI’s you can use for some of the key areas of your business to ensure your business develops the way you intended. Boost staff morale and productivity It is important that our staff enjoy their work, the environment

Often, when I ask a client that question, they say, ‘it’s the great service we offer or the quality of our work’. My response is, they are common answers and don’t differentiate your business. So how do we describe our point of difference so it becomes a powerful distinction and a unique selling point and sets us apart from our competition? Here are 7 tips to help you create your point or points of difference. 1. Define your target market and create an Avatar Define your best client and

Some of our decisions have a positive immediate impact of our business and others may not be noticed for some time. The same goes for decisions that have a negative impact. In this article, I will give a few examples of how our bigger decisions can affect our business in a positive and negative way and what changes you can make so you benefit. Refusing to increase your Prices Let’s say you run a maintenance business and would like to earn more money per client. A decision to

It’s March and by now our plans for the year are starting to take shape. During last year many business owners found themselves dealing with the same problems over and over again, and because they were busy running their businesses they often just tolerated the problem. But business life is like that, we often just put up with an issue if we can still move ahead and it doesn’t affect us too much. We know it’s not ideal because sooner or later it will appear again

It is important when running a business to be able to know at any time how well your business is progressing toward your goals. Some owners may say, “if I am getting lots of enquiries or doing lots of quotes things are going well”. Others will say “if we are booked up 3 months in advance, we are going well”. But wouldn’t it be great if you had a number that could tell you more accurately if your business is on track to hit your

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