.

And it is only February?

2012-02-06T05:24:00.000-08:00

My business world is changing at a faster pace than ever before. There are some tremendous opportunities bought about by the foundations of the company and product we now have. The challenge is to be more alert, sharp, attentive and harder working than ever before.

When we set NEXUM up I had a vision and a dream, which in truth is not due to mature for a couple of years, but the reality is it is unfolding now. Have you ever set up your own business? It is a very fulfilling process demanding from you a wide range of resources that you never fully appreciated you had. Blind optimism is one such resource as is tenacity, relentless struggle, refusal to accept you may fail and a focus on the dream regardless of the pressures that will hit you at all points of the process.

Like many business people I am a self starter, I wish I had been born like that but in truth my mind set has been carved out of disappointment, frustration, pain of failing and ambition. I feel embarrassed but note ashamed to say that we have been successful, we have a great company, great product, great clients and great potential - all luxuries not commonly found today. Someone recently said I was lucky.... hmmmm - no luck involved - waking up early, weekly objectives, focussed tasks, hard work and most importantly a great business partner and an excellent company team.

2012 looks set to be a more challenging year, with more money to invest in product and company development, some new areas of personal development need to be worked on, a lot more hard work, a few more sacrifices. We are set to achieve a 20% increase in business this year, which is the same as last year, the year before that, right back to our first year of trading. I like 20% growth, it is sustainable achievable and most importantly deliverable. Plus my personal dream and goals are all based on 20% improvement.

I was asked recently for some advice, I replied "wake up early each day, work hard, value every minute, be sharp, never make assumptions, be realistic and most importantly be enthusiastic" - I am still working on a few of these areas :)

Travis Perkins has talent

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

TP invited us to a fantastic event at Northampton Rugby club. Which is nice. BUT it was a real revelation to me and I went home feeling proud, why?:

1. Travis Perkins is a UK company
2. Employs more than 15,000 people
3. Has prospered through the recession
4. Are innovative but have traditional values
5. The main board of directors were bold enough to host and judge this event
6. The CEO did a duet at the end and plays a mean guitar

OK, I am sure TP is not perfect and I am sure there are areas of improvement. BUT generally I am also pretty sure they have it 85% right in most areas, which is pretty amazing.

Most importantly I feel proud, because NEXUM (my company) supplies TP with something that helps them achieve some of the things they want to.

There is a lot of negativity around BUT there are also a lot of positive things happening.

I am particularly proud to know Nazmeen and Joe, who have special qualities and I hope I get to know Nick in the same way.

Well done TP.

That hurt

2011-10-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

The blog has been quiet for a while as I have been in a period of reflection and thought.

My nephew died a few weeks back, it was a real shock and knocked me and everyone else for six. I had seen him a few weeks previous at a wedding and spent more time with him than anyone else. He had a few problems and if you know me you will understand why I would spend so much time with him that day.

I have a particular view of death and see it as a process of life that needs to be understood and embraced. BUT that is all well and good when the person is 70+, but a young lad :(

You can imagine the emotions floating around, sadness, anger etc. I had to remain neutral and also remain silent on some of the things I knew about him - the reasons why I was trying to help him.

During he last couple of weeks I have pondered my efforts and initially thought I had failed and felt remorse and guilt for not trying harder. But know I can see that I tried and did everyone thing in my power to help him, it just was not mean't to be and some times that is life. No rationality, no fairness or reason - just is - and learning to accept that is a key process we all need to learn.

Someone once said to me "if you get involved you face the consequences", but I am a get involved type of person and I have had to face the consequences too often, but this is offset by the fact that I care and am passionate about people and if I give too much some times with no fear of the consequences then I make no apologies. In fact I might now just start giving more!

Period of thought over. Systems re-set. Hit the start button and lets move ahead.

Pressure, cutting corners and compromise - NOT the thing to do

2011-10-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

“Once live, the business encountered some short-term issues in the transition which has caused a significant, temporary reduction both in the amount of stock and range of sizes reaching its UK stores,” SuperGroup said.

A while back the directors of Supergroup announced that they would not be taking a pay rise (The Times reported) 'In August, SuperGroup said its directors, including chief executive Julian Dunkerton, have had their pay frozen for next year after a rollercoaster first 12 months as a quoted company.'

Then today we have this piece of news.

I have been in software (programmer, installer, designer, salesman, marketer, business owner) for 20+ years and have experience of large corporate projects (Unilever, Otis, Carrier, Emap, GMAC, Lombard, Abbey National, Nationwide) and the smaller onces, plus all the ranges in the middle. Rule 1 - Because of commercial pressure never compromise software testing and live dates, if you do the risks are monumental.

For Supergroup (read full Times article here http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/retailing/article3184644.ece ) I suspect that this is the case, reading between the lines.

Clearly in this slowdown commercial pressures are enormous and in retail time to market, time to delivery, just in time - TIME is the big area. Having the most effective warehousing and distribution solution will make enormous differences to bottom line - such is the nature of retail.

At some point the switch was flicked, the new system went live and all hell broke loose, at enormous costs. (The Times) 'The rapidly expanding chain behind the Superdry label said that the problem would reduce annual profits by between £6 million and £9 million.'.

Fascinating.

Fathom Technologies Limited

2011-09-14T02:24:00.001-07:00

I was really very sad to hear that Fathom Technologies Limited have gone into Administration

In the late 80's and early 90's I knew the founders and directors of Fathom Technologies well, the main drivers came from a company called Law Data Systems based in Leeds (bloody great company). They did what all young and ambitious people do, they thought they could do it better so they left and to a large extent succeeded.

Fathom did well over the next ten years and grew their customer base. But managing a company's growth is an amazing challenge where your have to let go and give more control to people with skills. Hiring, delegating, giving ownership and responsibility, letting go of some things is a painful process for the founder(s) of any business. I have seen so many mistakes made in this area by so many people, fortunately my fellow board members are much wiser and more mature than me and as we have grown the process of adding people with skill sets to take us to the next level as been a major focus - I am probably the least capable person in our company and I am one of the owners!

The Fathom I knew had some amazing people, a dynamic sales director, charismatic MD and focussed projects director. They suffered with the loss of the sales director (who was a handful but they all are :) ) , the MD suffered an illness in later years and the projects director appeared to take on the responsibilities of all.

I don't know the reasons that caused them to end up in Administration. Competition is good and although we only came across them on few occasions it was fun.

I wish Fathom well and hope that they are able to survive in some capacity.

This is not the time to play safe, stick your head in the sand and hope for the best

2011-09-14T01:58:00.000-07:00

Big investment in infrastructure and it is the right thing to do. This is not the time to play safe, stick your head in the sand and hope for the best.

We have worked really hard during the last six years to build this business up, get the quality high, make the product appealing etc. It has been a really hard slog and on the journey sacrifices have been made to follow the dream. In April we had a big meeting to talk about where to next, no five year plan - just a where to this year and next. A good discussion about what is best for the company, the team, the clients etc. BUT as a business meeting there had to be an element of reality, you know the finance stuff, targets, cash-flow, etc - I really enjoyed the whole process, it energised me and recharged my fading batteries. Some ties when you look ahead and around, you should look also at what you have done as it clarifies everything. During this reflective period in the Spring I felt really proud and pleased with the plans agreed. Outside work friends and family asked how things were, I said good and then announced that rather than take more money out of the business we were ploughing even more straight back in to improve the team, the product, the quality and ultimately our market share. It is the only way forward.

Four months on we have some amazing new hires in the team, not just high calibre BUT people we want to work with and be around, over the coming weeks they will be exposed to clients and that in itself will further boost the confidence of everyone involved in NEXUM team and clients alike. One of the new hires is a smart phone app developer, he has already spun out a great new app to wrap around NEXUM.

There are tough times ahead for us all, but if we keep the team tight, the quality high, clients happy and continue to build and invest we will bask in the sunshine of success when the economic clouds fade away.

I was interested to hear that the UK Government now believes in investing in infrastructure, the US is down that path already. Always learn from history, much of the infrastructure in the UK originates from the Victorians, 6+ decades of infrastructure investment gave the UK sewers, roads, hospitals, parks, museums, music halls, seaside resorts, government registries, a rail network, canal network etc4. Much of this investment came from business people. I do not class myself as a business leader, but I am a businessman growing a business, employing people, manufacturing a software product, exporting - 100,000+ simmer businesses exist. Eventually the growth of the UK, Like the US, will come from the masses of determined business people moving forward step by step building solid companies with solid foundations, not fired by greed but by a desire to make it good for themselves and all around them.

9/11 my personal experience

2011-09-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday September the 10th 2001 I welcome my 5 American colleagues into the office as we commenced our busy day of activities. I had taken our product set into the US several years earlier and we witnessed significant growth. I loved and love the way of doing business in the US, I loved it so much that I moved out there in October 2001, yes a month after 9/11.

Tuesday September 11 was a normal warm September day in London. My US colleagues were into day two of our sessions, all part of a plan to migrate knowledge between products and approaches. At lunchtime, as the day had gone so well, we decided to hit the pub next door. Our offices were just off Fleet Street and at this time of year London was and is buzzing. After a while, the world changed in a few short moments.

In June 2001 I took a picture of myself laying on the floor just outside one of the towers, a while later I took another picture at the Top over looking the towers twin. The guy in the lift, a black Afro-American, was the same guy who operated the lift during a previous visit earlier that year. I recognized him, he had the type of character so attractive to those who employed him to operate the lift, and he had some stories and had told me how he was in the complex when it was attacked years previously.

In November 2011 I stood in a line at Portland Airport (Maine) waiting to board a flight to Chicago. I had parked at the airport, a National Guardsman checked my plate on the entrance and could see it was a rental, asked for my ID, saw I was an ‘Alien’, searched the car, frisked me and let me park. On entrance to the Airport, my ID was checked again, I was again identified as an ‘Alien’, searched ad allowed in. Now in the line three security guys in black uniforms carrying automatic rifles asked if there were any ‘Aliens’ in the line, ONLY my hand went up. No surprise as when I was on the BA Flight to Boston a week earlier I was one of only five passengers, yes five. Again now identified as an ‘Alien’ I went through the search and questioning process. Did I mind, nope.

In July 2011 I had flown from Dallas, to Las Vegas, then onto New York. I missed flights twice and just hung around in the airport waiting for the next available flight. Catching planes in the US was like using a cab, turn up, hop on, and hop off. Easy. Doing business in the US was as easy. Anything is possible. Trouble was this freedom made the absolute horrific possible.

Doing business in the months after 9/11 was very difficult, travelling became a very slow process that required you to be calm and wait – easy for us English. A weeks trip in the US would now require two weeks, because travel had to be planned, booked, precise and as an ‘Alien’ it added more security checks.

In October I moved out to Portland Maine with my pregnant wife, not a problem unless of course you were an Indian born British National pregnant and carrying a small bump. I had spent many years working in the US and thought I knew pretty much everything about the country and the people; I had travelled to more than 30 states, more than most Americans. BUT living in Portland, Maine, with my wife showed me a new side, depth to the people I met, we met during our time.

Portland was used as an Airport for one of the terrorists to board a plane to Boston, he then boarded a flight to New York and the rest is history. This person stayed not far from where we were living. Ever been to Portland, Maine? An amazing place with an amazing people. After a while my wife was getting slightly bored with people approaching her to let her know that they understood not all Muslims were evil and that Portland and America understands. My wife (who is a lawyer) spent time explaining people that she is Indian and not a Muslim. Her experience was shared by many ‘Asians’ living and working the US at that time. They had never been thought about or judged as this is not the American way, but now despite what people said they were initially being viewed with suspicion. My business partner and long time travel companion Satish could and would no Longer use his favorite rucksack.

More than a tear rolled down my cheek on Tuesday September 11th 2001 as I looked across the table at the horror on the faces of my US colleagues, two of them had relatives in the area at the time. When the second plane hit I knew then that the world and the people I had been fortunate to have experienced would change forever.

“Jim, are you sure you still want to come over, you can leave it till things settle down?”

During the year after 9/11 I travelled to a large number of cities, was stuck in airport lounges because of false alerts for hours and met a larger number of people with their own tale. But on a flight to Atlanta I sat next to a guy in a suit, once in the air and seatbelts off he leaned over and I noticed the handle of a gun under his arm, he glanced back and could see that I had seen. He touched my arm with and whispered in my ear “Don’t be alarmed I am just going to show you my ID, I am a US Marshall, on this flight for security reasons, Remain calm, I am armed, BUT for the protection of the passengers and crew” then with a rye smile he said “that includes you”. It soon became public knowledge that armed officials were on flights.

Such was the fear.

Ten years on and last week we booked our attendance at a national conference in the summer. We formed our new company six years ago and are now ready for the US again. Americans have an amazing level of resilience supported by an optimism and self-belief which few other nations share of even understand.

I never lost anyone in 9/11 and I am not American, but the experience changed me and helped shape me. Yesterday I thought about the elevator man, with the great sense of humor and the stories he told. Despite politics or beliefs it is these human stories that make 9/11 so real to all of us, wherever we are.

The whole thing exploded into chunks, which we grabbed and digested immediately. The client was amazed at what happened next

2011-09-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

Improve, implement, review and tune

How dynamic should this process be or could be? I remember years ago attending a project management course where the lecturer (IBM’er) preached the virtues of ‘chunking’.

A few months back during a client meeting I reminisced and recalled the ‘chunking’ lectures. Discussions progressed with this and other clients and soon the whole benefit of short rapid fire successes became the focus of all future discussions.

Roll the clock forward and our business has changed to cope with the adoption of ‘enhanced chunking’, what I mean is we have added a few new people to the team to ensure we have the resources and skills able to cope with client ‘rapid fire improvement request – BUT what does this mean?

Well typically if you take a business and look at it’s day to day operations there will be a number of areas that could be improved that will either save or generate revenue – this is key. Recently we looked a clients data and identified a number of areas where improvements could be made; including better customer contact, faster transaction processing, automating some decisions etc. Like most organisations they have finite resources and budgets, BUT an improvement to the highlighted areas would certainly reduce manual effort and stimulate other positive benefits. The challenge was ‘what can we do at NEXUM to help’.

During a telephone conference we ‘chunked’ a package of changes to delivery the benefits, in essence the whole package included seven ‘chunks’, each one would cost x to deliver within a very short time frame, BUT would deliver a measurable benefit within an equally short time frame. The game plan was when Chunk 1 had been delivered and proven we would move on to Chunk 2 and so on. Within a 9 week window all chunks would be delivered and proven. This type of fragmented approach has helped the client make a range of improvements to the business that would have normally been dismissed through lack of budget or internal resources.

Chunk 1 saved sufficient time and money that it justified Chunk 2 and so it continued. Each chunk represented a link in the chain – the ‘value chain’.

For me business development is all about taking the problem and working out a way through it to create a win win for me and the client. Ideas are rarely new and for this amazing approach in NEXUM I was able to draw on that series of lectures attended in 1998. – it was an education then that created a tangible business value today.

When did you last read Dylan's lyrics 'Times they are a-changin'

2011-08-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

You have a limited shelf life?!

2011-08-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Wish washy? If so you have a limited shelf life!

If you are “wishy washy” your business shelf life is very limited in today’s market. If anything the ‘economic slowdown’ has taught us to focus, focus and focus more. More companies and people have failed at a greater rate than any time since the great depression of the 30’s. We should all re-assess where we are, what we want and where we are going because this is the world as it is and will be for a few years more to come. There should be a sense of urgency about you because the assumption that business life will improve is just that, an assumption and to make it happen we must all change the way we work. I have and am and will continue to do so.

The most import three ‘business’ words I know today are Key, Result and Area. My Key Result Areas are…., what are your Key Result Areas? What are you colleagues? Your organisations?

I run a software company. Our core operation is in the UK with a ‘Centre of Technical Excellence’ in India, as a business we focus on our Key Result Areas, as team members we individually focus on our own Key Result Area’s – when it comes together we are focussed, tight and efficient, have realistic expectations supported by a strategy considering all outcomes and eventualities.
Key Result Area’s – the most important three words? Well yes, they are at present. If I sat down with you I would ask “what are your Key Result Area’s?” or re-phrased “what should you be focussing on each minute of each working moment that will maximise the chance of a successful outcome within your role of the business?”

A marketer would be look at their objectives and for example identify awareness and lead generation within a specific vertical market as a Key Result Area, they would then analyse what they require in order to ensure the target and objective is met. Do they have the right skills, resources and knowledge in order to achieve this objective? A billing or revenue management may identify customer contact as a Key Result Area, do they have the right skills, resources and knowledge to achieve a target or objective?
For me this is the most important process that I can follow. Each day we must re-calibrate ourselves. A few years ago at NEXUM we produced our business plan for the year ahead, it was supported by budgets and forecasts this creating an expectation. The expectation in turn was supported by planned activities and tasks, allocated and aligned to teams and individuals. It was an excellent process and helped us achieve our objectives. The global change in business climate has change us, a few years back we stopped creating an annual business plan and in favour of repeating the process quarterly and eventually monthly. This change enabled us to establish the absolute correct Key Result Area’s most appropriate to eliminate business risks and generate growth in the business. Despite the recession we have managed to grow the business by an average of 20% per annum. The whole process gave us vision, which unlike hindsight is an achievable attribute.

My August break is coming to a close and my role as a glorified taxi driver ferrying my children from event to event is sadly also about to cease till next holidays, BUT as I have been ‘parenting ‘ my Key Result Areas for September have been coming together. One challenge for me is to identify an even better way of positioning NEXUM within a customer to achieve event more benefit, this is a major Key Result Area for me as it will filter down to our software development and processes alike, help customers generate more value and drive us forward. Having focussed on this area I may have something now.

You must be inspired by Dixons Stores, why? They are BIG and face BIG challenges in a changing world

2011-08-12T02:02:00.000-07:00

We can learn a lot from the big boys, they may have a lot more to work with but they have much more to lose too. Take a look at Dixons Stores Group (DSG) owner of PC World, Curry’s, Pixmania and much more. A company I love to follow, not only because they are one of our (NEXUM’s) major corporate clients BUT also because they are at the coalface of the economy a pulse for the nation. On top of that they occupy an increasingly competitive space. Add a turnover of £8Bn and Dixons watching becomes a very educational pastime. (as is Travis Perkins watching – another client that I love to watch).

So, Dixons are in the high street and the web super highway, selling pure product. This is a very price sensitive environment, where customers will compare price across competitive sellers. The market is vast and diverse, that 60 inch flat scree 3D TV you want may be less on another web shop elsewhere and for some that will be enough to clinch the sale, but not for all.

Take a look at John Lewis. Unlike Dixons and other retailers they are not struggling in the same way, why? Much of the reason is Brand value and what that means to the customer. John Lewis is a warm brand, you know the employees are shareholders, you know that they will deliver on time, you know that if there is a problem they will help you out, the shop staff in a John Lewis store appear more experienced than their rivals, they are not pushy, they offer better advice – all in all the emotional generated when considering John Lewis contributes that vital proportion of emotion persuading you to select them. John Lewis has a loyal customer segment and for many of them the thought of buying the cheapest and spending hours shopping around for the best bargain does not figure in their decision – AND this is the market that Dixons and others all want.

Dixons do not have a few decades to change the brand value and build loyalty within a customer base; at best they have a year as the economy slows even further. Enter marketing and the creation of a BRAND, Dixons will launch Knowhow, which is a customer service blended in and around all of their product offerings from computers to washing machines, the whole point of the exercise is to give customers the John Lewis experience, a strategy to blur the lines of decision making by the consumer when considering their purchase.

Initially when I read about ‘Knowhow’ I scoffed at it being gimmicky BUT, after further thought I marveled at the effort that they are making to rebrand the organization and attempt to reposition it. In a similar way I marveled at McDonalds at the way in which they refurbished all their outlets, seemingly tacky at first then suddenly…

The real point of this blog? In our own markets daily we currently face competition, which will get stiffer over the months to come. Your business can become what it needs to be with a little imagination and inspiration from maybe amore successful competitor.

Paying attention to your brand and what it means to people is as important as the product or service you provide. BUT be WARNED if you set the expectation that you have a quality solution you must deliver or else the brand value will destruct.

Finally, when we won the contract to provide NEXUM to Dixons I knew they were special through the people we met and the decisions they made. A company that sells more PC’s than any other decided to use NEXUM as a fully hosted cloud service delivered through our data center – because it made commercial sense. Inspirational?!

Franklin D. Roosevel's First Inaugural Address - it's with a mention

2011-08-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 4, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation by radio for his First Inaugural Address and announced his plans for a New Deal.

I AM certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. 1
In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties.

They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. 2

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence, and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment. 3

Yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. 4

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish. 5

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. 6

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men. 7

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. 8

Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now. 9

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources. 10

Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land. The task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, State, and local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, and unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities which have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act quickly. 11

Finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency. 12
There are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the several States. 13

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment. 14

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States—a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that the recovery will endure. 15

In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors. 16

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed strife. 17

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems. 18

Action in this image and to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations. 19

It is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure. 20

I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. 21

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis—broad Executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe. 22

For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less. 23

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life. 24

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it. 25

In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.

Why do beliefs influence success? I am a fool.

2011-07-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

I fretted about this for days, no weeks. It started a while back when I was asked "Jim we are looking at holding a problem solving workshop and need an independent chairperson to manage the meeting, would you....?", within a nano second without a thought I said "yes off course, love to". Fool I am.

I guess I was flattered to be asked and honoured when they said they would also pay. Easy ride then..... nope!

I discovered that the session was to be between two groups representing the operational and technical sides of the business. One is a slave the other the master - as both sides told me at a later point.

As the days unfolded I realised that my participation was NOT to just sit on the fence and watch open warfare, sorry discussions take place. This type of event had taken place before and failed.

I decided to start at a very base level and get to grips with the beliefs of both sides. It became clear that there were some real issues between the groups driven by some deep seated beliefs about the 'other side'.

Our beliefs (I am not referring to religious ones) determine our view of the world and how we cipher information that hits us ever second of every minute of every day, so clearly I had some belief issues going on here.

I won't go into detail but just say that over the next week I made a lot of phone calls to the individual team members on both sides in an attempt to unravel their beliefs. My plan was to try and manoeuvre the meeting in a way that come the final judgement day all parties would be more reasonable.

Judgement day came and took place a few days ago. It was a meaty meeting, clearly the business had a lot of demands of IT and IT had a lot of demands on the 'users', I thought it was quite a difficult session indeed and there was tension, at times you could cut the air with a knife, at other times the air was blue, red and shades of purple with the occasional shade of green thrown in.

The ALL day meeting ended and I was shattered. "That was a great meeting Jim", "Jim, thanks for calling during the week today I tried a little harder to understand their position better"....... UHHHHHH? Most of the 16 attendees told be afterwards that the session was a good one and really helped them understand the other departments pressures and needs more. Bloody hell, I thought the session was a failure.

That day reinforced my firm view that the beliefs we have affect our success each day and ultimately our happiness and sanity. The only way to improve is to constantly challenge those beliefs and ask that vital question of yourself "But am I right?"

Yesterday NEXUM slickly processed 35,000+ fully automated direct debits with a value of £5,000,000+ BUT can you guess who for?

2011-07-12T03:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday NEXUM slickly processed 35,000+ fully automated direct debits with a value of £5,000,000+ for FIRST UTILITY now a daily occurrence

First Utility are one of the fastest growing providers of electricity and gas within the UK with a large customer base focused on central England. Their business offers services to both consumers and businesses.

So far you maybe thinking, hmm interesting BUT the way in which they have harnessed technology to create one of the most efficient environments possible is quite simply breath taking.

I will not go into detail about some of the smart metering technology they use and how we work with that, as although that is amazing I prefer to focus on their use of NEXUM.

Some bullet points:

1. They offer their clients a rich online portal to manage accounts
2. The internal customer service teams system and the online portal seamlessly update in real time
3. The customer service team and the online portal consists of data from various systems to create a complete and consolidate customer picture
4. Their core systems are either in house (on-premise) or hosted remotely
5. NEXUM is one of their core systems
6. NEXUM is hosted within our data centre
7. The client online portal and the internal customer service teams system consists of NEXUM functionality and data
8. NEXUM has been ‘woven’ into the experience the client and the internal customer service teams have when viewing accounts
9. NEXUM manages the core workflow for each account
10. NEXUM automates payments, communicates with the banks and processes rejections
11. NEXUM automates arrears management and reminders
12. NEXUM automates customer contact
13. NEXUM generates paper driven communications to an external printing company

The fact that this ‘experience’ looks to the end user like one slick, fast, consolidated system is a testament to the technology behind NEXUM and how it can take a subject like ‘cash collection’ which was historically seen as a back office function and ram it home to the front of end of the business right in the face of the customer. BREATH TAKING.

As a marketer I fully appreciate the value of ensuring the customers experience is perfect in today’s climate, within the Utility where people can switch providers on the click of a mouse it is acute.

I am bloody proud of what we have done with First Utility. Have I mentioned South East Water yet?

I am knocking on a bit now, the body has seen better days BUT when I am on the hunt I look for that little something to get me excited.

2011-07-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

I am knocking on a bit now, the body has seen better days BUT when I am on the hunt I look for that little something to get me excited.

So it is Monday, I am in the office and I have a whole day of second interviews. Each candidate has passed an aptitude test set by Glen and passed parts of it. With the eminent Satish I know have the task of meeting each one to see who lights my fire. This is a search for a pretty senior technical person, a high salary that needs to fit straight in, slot into clients and be productive in no time.

By lunchtime I am not excited, in fact each person has something but then so much missing in other areas. Glen tells me that the candidate I least like has the highest score on the aptitude test, which shocks me because I would not let them near a client. I make the point that we have an office in India full of gifted techies.

The afternoon drags on then I meet the ONE. He has been through the woods, seen the tree’s, hunted for the light and solved a way out through the maze – I AM AWAKE.

I cannot say much but let’s just say this guy had something, the one thing that really excites me and gets me going at work – COMMON SENSE, wrapped up in a polite package able to communicate. BINGO, set the fireworks off.

I will let the team negotiate the package with the agency and hopefully he will take position in our new London office in September. We have a very tight team at NEXUM, have all worked together for more than a decade, we have trust, loyalty and faith in each others unique ability (even the younger 21+ year old members) and this guy will slot straight in.

In 2009 11% of our new NEXUM contracts won were for a hosted solution. So far in 2011, 23 contracts won with 74% fully hosted by us.

2011-07-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

In 2009 11% of our new NEXUM contracts won were for a hosted solution. So far in 2011, 23 contracts won with 74% fully hosted by us. The marketing strategy behind this was amazing fun as it touched every part of our business from product development, employee skill sets, mind sets and business costs.

I always look at every sales opportunity as a one lap horse race with hurdles, jumps, straights, a few hills and the odd bit of sand. When competing for a contract I visualise the course ahead, right down to specific details, the weather, the size and frequency of jumps. Around the course I label points, some bits will be easy other parts difficult. In essence I am working out a sales strategy with pictures - mainly because my brain cannot cope otherwise and I need to follow a plan to win.

Each 'course' will share features with all other 'courses' I have encountered such as contracts, IT, Fit, business case etc. I reckon after years of working in IT and starting two successful companies I understood the process - THEN ALONG COMES HOSTING AND THE CLOUD WITH A BANG!

Now in my 40's this is an amazing and exciting new chapter for me and my company NEXUM, a whole new world and the speed in which we have managed to adapt and seize the opportunity is a massive credit to my business partner Satish and our employees. We now have more than 60 dedicated servers within the datacentres plus an array of shared or cloud server. Five years ago this just did not exist for us.

Although I am a business owner and an ex techie I am a marketer by profession and re-positioning our business to capitalise on the amazing speed of change within the technology world has been such an great time for me.

NEXUM is now used by some of the worlds leading businesses in their sectors, often in a hosted environment managed by us. Each day we have nearly 2,000 people log in and start work - last week we had 23 help desk items created, all resolved within the times laid down in the support service level agreement. five years ago the number was far greater as many related to the clients own environment (printers, servers, network speed etc) now most are under our umbrella of the datacentre - safe, secure and sorted!

I hope I have at least another 20 years in this market and am so optimistic about my chances of being wowed frequently by new technological advancements.

J

Support Network

2011-07-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

As a Computer Software company owner I am not referring to anything related to technology, quite the opposite in fact.

To survive let alone prosper we all have a Support Network, unique to us. It may include people, habits and comforters. We all tend to have a Support Network for work and one for our private lives - which may overlap at some points.

People can include love ones, colleagues, associates, clients and friends. The people within your Support Network will be special to you and from each of them you will take a piece required to provide you with support. One maybe wise, another humerous while another rational

Habits, do not assume all are bad! Some maybe vices such as drinking, smoking, while others will help you synchronise each date such as a regular wake up time, regular route to work, regular stop off for Coffee. Some habitually write a to do list each day, others read the same news paper at the same time each day. Either way your habits help you 'locate' yourself each day.

Comforters, yep from an early age we need these. But it may include religeon, an activity or pastime or maybe even a regular break away.

Right now you can recognise some of the people, habits and comforters forming your Support Netork.

If you now begin to think of all this as a Support Network does it look complete to you? Do you have what you need around you? If not it is time to identify the bits that are missing and change the components that are not working.

Without faith that your Support Network is complete you cannot really begin to live life to its full potentional.

Passionate Kiss on Saturday could save the day today

2011-06-20T00:57:00.000-07:00

Passion, without it where would we be as human kind - it drives so much, creates so much, changes so much. Without a passion for motor cars would Ford have bothered, would Edison have bothered with the light bulb, would you have fallen in love, would Picasso have painted, the Beatles performed music?

Passion is a healthy state on the whole to be in. Oh and that first kiss "life is so simple when you are young", they say. But maybe as we age our cumulative experiences cloud our thought process making us perceive life is more complex. Maybe life is and should be seen as simple as ever?

I gave a class on Saturday to a clients sales team. They are 7 weeks into the new financial year and have a sales conference in Birmingham during July with 400 of their colleagues from all departments including finance, production, supply etc. 2010/11 was a tough year, they lost some market share and failed to hit the numbers predicted with their sales plan for the year. The groups Managing Director asked me to sit down with the 27 regional sales managers to review their plans, thoughts and ideas and then feed back my thoughts. I requested that he did not attend, I also made a promise to the sales team that I would provide my findings to the MD and keep their names anonymous - this is the way it must be if you decide you want to improve as opposed to conduct a witch hunt.

Any great sales person needs passion, in my mind it is a pre-requisite, mandatory trait. They also need to be honest with themselves and others.

Investing a Saturday with a clients sales team is not the norm for me or my preferred activity (kids are more important) BUT needs must and when a contact asks for help you must try and accommodate.

I reviewed 'what happened?' in 2010 and it was clear that the bar had been set to high to ease short term pressure of expectation from senior management and main board members. The VP of Global Sales was now on 'gardening leave' following a mutual agreement with the board. Oh shit.

I am not an expert on their product range, but sales is sales and most rules apply. I asked them to present a typical bid, cover pricing, walk me through the sales process, touch on their sales forecasting, explain the relationship between them, marketing and finance. As you can imagine it was stupidly complex, on the receiving end playing the role of either a client or an internal senior board member it made me dizzy. I had made notes, notes and more notes. After a short break I presented back to them precisely how they had presented to me. 27 faces looked shocked. Bingo they could see how it looked to the rest of the world, horror as they realised just how confusing the whole process had been.

The sales guys had introduced panic into their approach in 2009 as the recession hit, panic and passion is NOT a good combination and finally ends in desperation and poor planning - 2010/11 financial performance now understood.

We had started with breakfast at 8AM, it was now 2:30 PM and everyone including myself were exhausted. I stood up and declared "we need some radical changes here IF you as sales managers are to survive, there 28 people here including me, please now split into 14 pairs. I would like to get out of hear by 4PM, that leaves 1:50 hours. In that time we are going to learn to kiss, not just any kiss, but a passionate kiss". Yep, they were shocked - so was I.

I added, "You are all now experts at confusing the hell out of people, clearly you were all great sales people once, when you were younger and have now risen to becoming senior sales managers BUT for some reason you see life in such a complicated way that everything you do is complex. Complex sales plans, complex pitches, complex proposals, complex commuications, so needlessly complex. WORKING TOGETHER once acting as the client the other as the sales guys you are going to learn to kiss and be so passionate about it that the kiss will be the most passionate thing you focus on every day. Now I don't mean a physical kiss, I mean for everything you do Keep It Simple Stupid - meaning plan and present everything as simply as possible. Simple means clarity, focussed, with objectives, honesty, reality. Your sales activities must be simple, as a manager the same, you must request simple understandable feedback from your sales team, translate that into reports for management and ensure prospects and clients benefit from this new approach.". All 27 sighed with relief.

For the next 1.5 hours I tasked them to

1. Simplify the sales pitch and presentation
2. Reduce the sales stages
3. Create a focussed message easily understood by prospects

When completed I asked a couple of the two person teams to present their NEW KISS to the group.

Today is monday June the 20th and three of the sales managers have key presentations to prospects. All three decided, because they feel passionate now, to spend some of Fathers day (yesterday in the UK) refining a new approach. I am expecting three calls today after they have each finished their individual sessions. Confident?

"life is so simple when you are young" So why change?

Jim

How the hell did we lose that contract?

2011-06-17T00:48:00.000-07:00

Those that know me will appreciate my interest in the 'science' of winning bids. in fact I am writing a book on it. Imagine how I felt when news broke that Bombardier 'managed' to lose the Thameslink bid. Sadness, surprise and fascination. I have requested details of the 'bid' from the Department of Transport under the Freedom of Information Act, I am that interested - such is my obsession with the 'science of winning bids'.

"How the hell did we lose that contract" would have been screamed across the Atlantic from Bombardiers Canadian HQ to the UK/German Operation. The press have picked up on the fact that a 'German' bidder won the contract, funny that the 'UK' bid was a Canadian owned, UK/German collaboration. Siemens aim to create 2,000 jobs in the UK, but Bombardier stand to lose much more as a result of losing this and other recent bids.

A close friend of mine and an expert in such matters believes that Bombardier may have been slightly complacent over the bid due to the fact that they own the last surviving British based rail manufacturing site; did they really believe that Great Britain PLC would really take that into consideration?

A a businessman I totally understand the need to outsource, reduce overheads, maximise spending and drive efficiency to maximise profits BUT this country is NOT a business, it is a society (a highly structured system of human organisation for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members) hmmmm, as individuals within we need to think long and hard about what we have done and where we want to be...

Watch out I might start preaching, so back to business. How the hell did they lose this and other bids? First rule of winning a bid is understanding the buying criteria, second rule is to make sure you can meet that criteria and third rule is to make sure the 'buyer' really wants to buy from you. Trust me, there is no need to make it more complex that that - I started NEXUM with my business partner some time ago, take a look at our web site and see the bids we have won during the recession, it is impressive BUT there is no secret trick here and I am not some sales whiz, it is simply the Four P's - right product, price, people and pitch.

The Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP stated "The choice of Siemens Plc with Cross London Trains (XLT) as preferred bidder represents the best value for money for taxpayers".

Best Value (the worth of something in terms of the amount of other things for which it can be exchanged or in terms of some medium of exchange). I sell value propositions to clients, it is not necessariliy the cheapest option - VALUE comes to mean:

1. It will work
2. Be on time
3. Deliver benefits
4. Be cost effective

So as a person fascinated with 'bids', I conclude that Bombardier failed to convince that their solution would be reliable, be on time, deliver all the required benefits and be cost effective. The press are raising emotions and presenting the nasty Germans as the evil deal doers and the British Government as the traitors who have abandoned the nation - FACT is (in my opinion) the Canadian owned Bombardier f*&$@d up. They should have got it right, with a 150 year old British factory at risk of closure they should have had the winning team and the winning bid on board - you were up against Siemens people! Smart, efficient, cover every angle, minimise risks, work bloody hard SIEMENS.

AFTER THREE DECADES OF MANUFACTURING DECAY WHEN WILL THIS COUNTY WAKE UP? Whose car industry flourished while ours crashed? Germany (Audi were shite in the 80's I remember, don't even mention Skoda). The list of failed UK industries where German, French, Dutch counterparts have grown is endless.

Can we fix the problem? Oh yes......... more on that later.

Should not have said that

2011-06-13T02:38:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to attend a forum attended by marketers from a wide range of businesses (B2B and B2C). The original guest speaker cancelled at the 11th hour and I received a call and accepted the request. Not sure where the organisor found my name at that stage, but maybe it was from either another seminar I had given or attended. Clearly they had assumed I knew what I was talking about. Oops.

Because it was last minute I had not taken the time to ask much about the forum, assuming it be around my specialist knowledge relating to technology, business growth etc.

So, both sides had made assumptions due to the lastminute.com nature of discovering each other.

I managed to arrive ontime and sat down. Within ten minutes around 45 people arrived and the meeting organisor sat down and commenced. "This morningssession relates to the relationship between sales and marketing and how improvements can be made. Jim Stanley is our guest speaker, Jim is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing and is also a Chartered Marketer. I have asked Jim to attend as he started life as a techy anorak, then moved into software sales, formed his own business which gas grown to include corporate brands such as Heieneken, Dixons Stores, Travis Perkins and Wolseley PLC. If anyone understands the close relationship between sales and marketing, it's him."

After this introduction it was clear that the organisor knew something about me, I was now ready to start, with ego duly inflated.

"Jim, Marketing Week recently published some research regarding the fact that in the UK only 48% of marketing and sales teams share the same performance objectives and only 42% of marketers of marketers know what their three highest and three lowest performing campaigns were last year. It is clearly as issue, what is your take on this?"

Me. "There is clearly a % of marketers that really should not be employed, 42% based on the survey don't really deserve to be in a job. Fact is most organisations (with maybe the exception of Facebook etc) require a massive level of sales to generate income, marketing is responsible for the generation of awareness, interest and desire - sales converts this into business. The two are in many ways inseperable and should, in most cases, me a fully integrated function. Personally, If marketers do not see this then they need to be reconsidering their careers". I kind of spat this out without much thought as it is what I believe.

I soon noticed the change in mood. It was time for coffee and the organisor took me to one side.

"Jim, most of the people here represent the % you refered to. They are here because they feel alienated by sales, their organisations are not hitting targets and they need help. You have just told them to change careers?".

I soldiered on. Clearly some were feeling sensitive. I suggested some communication techniques i.e. sit down with sales, talk, design a plan together and implement it.

The sad thing is that some clearly felt that they were in a difficult position and seeing the wood for the tree's was near impossible. But a few did see it my way. Some of the 45 in this group will survive others will not - but they are really in the wrong job at the wrong time - the current econmony dictates the the whole business must share common goals and be focussed on achieving them,

practice to be the best, worse or plain mediocre

2011-06-07T02:14:00.000-07:00

They say 'Practice makes perfect', but it also can make you worse, average, poor, rich, mediocre, healthy,ill.

Fact is we ALL practice things everyday, some we devote enormous amounts of energy on and others less. Where this energy is spent determines the effect and outcome. At college a classmate could drink at least 8 pints of beer more than me on a regular basis, he practiced constantly, each day in fact. Many years later I shared an office with a colleague who was the most critical, negative and downbeat person I had ever met, they practiced this every day for many hours and clearly over a number of years had perfected the art of 'Gloom'. Likewise a friend that smoked 30 a day never complained of a bad chest, whereas if I smoked one I would feel the tension in my lungs the next day.

I have met people that can run faster than me, eat, drink, smoke more than me, that can ride a bike better, speak more languages, present more effectively, add and subtract quicker, write more creatively, play the guitar with zest, accurately bowl a ball, strike a football consistently in a straight line (unlike me) - none are super human and have extra capacity, in fact the ONLY common factor between them all is that they practice what they do best (whether for good or poor effect) much, much more than me.

Practice makes you perfect. Little and often is the way to go. Each day exercise for 20 minutes. Eat small amounts on a regular basis. Read a little on each subject on a regular basis. Can you spot the theme here?

You will become what you spend most of your time practicing.

Lawyers practice law - ever wondered where that saying originates from? Or doctors practicing medicine? Race competitors have practice sessions.

I strongly believe that to change yourself or your business organisation you need to review what you spend most of your time practicing on, then adjust or re-calibrate your activies, AND IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO START.

Part of my 'job' is to review what my company and our clients (and myself) spend most of our time practicing, I can then finely review, adjust and implement some tweaks to (hopefully) improve the outcome. By reviewing activity, behaviour and communication and implementing better methods to practice we can all change and overcome any challenge.

Best practice?

The phone call I feared

2011-06-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

We all make a lot of contacts in business and we all try and help each other out, but nothing prepared me for the call I received. It is confidential so I cannot divulge too much as the identity maybe guessed, but I will say that this business contact was/is in a sticky predicament (aren’t you).

The facts are that his organisation faces some real challenges over the coming months and if my contact is to survive they will need to demonstrate a capacity to help solve the problems faced – and wow do they have some challenges. My contact could seriously face the prospect of unemployment which would be devastating.
At some point they pondered who could help and for some reason picked my name and number.

The ‘dreaded’ call came through and I was both surprised that they had called and shocked my the enormity of the task ahead of them and their employer.
“Jim, what can we do” – WE?!, then it dawned on me that this was no normal chat, my contact actually wanted me to help.

We had a long discussion and I listed all the issues or challenges that they ahead – it was a big list, then we ordered them in terms of severity and priority.

In my mind I was trying to sort them into some kind of order and formulate an approach or a strategy that may work, but at the same time I said “Look this is pretty serious, I am not convinced how much I can help or whether a win win outcome is possible – have you considered bailing out?” – If you know me you will be equally shocked that I even considered my contact bailey out, but as I saw it the engines were on fire, the wings had dropped off and the alarm bells were sounding!

I then had an idea….

“OK imagine we are all standing together, me, you and the key people in your organisation. Ahead of us is an Army assault course, each obstacle on the course is one of the challenges and issues you face ahead in business now – in essence all your problems are on this course. To get to the end of the course we need to ensure we all have enough energy at the end to make a final push, so designing the course we should initially have a number of small obstacles that we can overcome that will drive the confidence of the team up to go onto the more demanding ones. Let’s get a pen and paper and draw that course up and add the obstacles, then beside each one list the people we need and resources to overcome it”

My contact replied “Jim are you suggesting a draw a picture of an obstacle course and present that to the board of directors ?”

I responded “Yes I am suggesting do just that, it is the only way my simple mind can possibly visualise the challenges you face and how you can attack them – just like an obstacle course (which I love by the way)”.

It has so far taken two weeks to draw the ‘obstacle course’ with all the challenges, with a picture plan how to beat each one, move on the next, beat that and succeed overall. I did not do the drawing, my contact had, it looks amazing.

There is a board meeting next Tuesday (I cannot attend) and my contact will pin the large picture on the wall and walk them through it.

Good Luck (I know you are reading this as I said I would post it!!)

The Art of War - by 2,500 year old Sun Tzu

2011-05-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

Written over 2,500 years ago by the legendary Chinese general Sun Tzu this book contains much to use in todays world. Although I am not an advocate of modern warfare today's battles that shape the world are fought in the business arena and this book is as applicable when applied here as it is to 'warfare'. In fact the reason why I strategise is influenced by this. Also note that China has developed during the previous 50 years into the global power of our age, with an empire that is global. Much of Africa and South America is 'occupied' by China BUT not by using brute force and armies BUT through commerce. many prefer to think that this global growth is through luck gained in the 70's, 80's and 90's by having a cheap labour capacity - luck or design?

We have much to learn from history.

Actors

2011-05-16T00:52:00.000-07:00

Actors, actresses, are very interesting human beings as they have an amazing capacity to change their mind set and persona in a snap. A key attribute of an actor is the ability to assume the character and traits of another person, regardless of their own unique features. Often referred to as 'getting into character', it is a real trick. Stuck at an airport once with one, I asked how they managed it, "I simply try and understand how the character acts and reacts to communication, situations and events, I think as they think and become them.". As a person fascinated with the human mind the whole conversation and subject intrigues me. Imagine if we had this skill? The ability to change? To become what we can?

Our belief system prevents us from all become actors or at the very least using some of their skills to overcome situations. Actors blank out their beliefs and become. Your belief system is impregnated with impressions from your experiences in life, what you have been taught and to an extent your genetics. Much of our belief system sits in our subconscious and rules decisions we make every second of the day. Our conscious experiences deliver these beliefs to the subconscious, then we become. An actor adopts this natural technique, they may believe that they are a long suffering spouse or a successful icon in order to deliver the performance required from the role - temporarily they become the character. We can apply these techniques to our own lives, combating extreme emotions. The next time you feel depressed or tired visualise a type of person that would be the opposite to the way you feel, close your eyes and imagine their emotions, the way they talk, walk, sit, look. Take 10 minutes to do this, beathe the way they would breathe and feel your mind and body slowly change. While in this state ignore your own feelings, beliefs, thoughts. Interesting?

I have asked the BBC if I can borrow ten minutes of the programme to show students at a forthcoming seminar

2011-05-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

One of the most (possibly the most) important aspects of marketing is awareness. In 1936 at a sales seminar Dale Carnegie stated “Sales is a numbers game, if you want a hundred customers speak to a thousand prospects”. For many ‘sales’ it is a numbers game, pure and simple – how you execute the marketing and sales stages is key.

Once I was a pure techie, then got involved in pre-sales support, then software sales, then owning a software company – it was at this point that I became interested in marketing (product development, market demands, targets etc), completed an MBA (after too many years), eventually became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and today am (soon to be) a Chartered Marketer. I hold seminars on the subject and on occasion lecture to students and have an event coming up soon. The reason for this explanation is not an ego trip BUT because last night episode two of The Apprentice, summed up, encapsulated, explained, made clear and demonstrated the number one, numero uno lesson of ALL marketing – AWARENESS rules!

The best idea last night was the one developed by the ‘boys’ team, it was better developed, better executed, had better expansion opportunities, was scalable, was better presented, made everyone laugh and everyone liked it…… except for Wired online magazine and I thought there reasons were %$^%&^%&^%*&^*&. The boys were over the moon, joyous, celebratory, confident…… BUT it all went wobbly… why? Wired did not like the girls product that much BUT they were scared of the boys product for very strange reasons – trouble for the boys was Wired have a global reach when pushing apps and as such their market is 100 times larger than the other online magazines.

The web presents marketers with access to vast audiences where he who pays most and has the most ‘subscribers’ is able to shout loud across continents – and Wired have that. The girls product was soooo bad it only managed to get 10,000 people downloading it for free in 24 hours, the boys lost the task, as they just never had the reach. AWARENESS won the day as it always does.

I have asked the BBC if I can borrow ten minutes of the programme to show students at a forthcoming seminar. It basically sums up most of what I have learned over 15 years.

Great idea - so why did it fail?

2011-05-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

This is an extract from a seminar I held in March 2011 entitled "Great Idea - reducing the risk of project failures"

I meet a large number of credit professionals, senior business managers, partners, directors, share holders and main board members on a regular basis and am often struck by the volume of ideas they have each time we meet. Some ideas progress and some stay in the ‘bottom draw’ and I like to offer myself as a sounding board to my contacts.

For the ideas that progress a proportion of worthy ones succeed whilst others fail, likewise some bad ideas progress then fail. The ‘bottom draw’ ideas stay there mainly due to either a lack of confidence, conviction or time.

I sat down with a salesman to discuss the value of his activities, the sales pipeline, order expectation etc. No surprise that a proportion of his target was at risk as he had no real idea of the motivation the prospective client had around the purchase – or “What was the original idea and the thinking behind it?”.

All business large, small, successfully and failures come from and evolve from ideas, their ultimate outcome is a direct result of ‘ideas’ had by people involved in the businesses journey.

I use a simple template for all ideas I have and tend to gather the same information if dealing with a contact, client, friend on their idea.

1. What assumptions does the idea rest on?

Every idea rests on a belief and as such is made up of assumptions. “If I automate this then that will be improved and the result will be…”, “I plan to develop this and sell to them and should achieve sales of x”, “If I add x members of staff to focus on Y then the end result should be an improve in Z”.

2. How can you test these assumptions?

I see myself as a business professional and my academic and practical training over the previous 15 years has focused on the science of marketing. As an ex ‘Techie’ I love this aspect, the analysis, trending, forecasting etc. When applied to ‘assumptions’ some real magic happens, firstly the risk of an unsatisfactory outcome is reduced, a greater level of success is assured and you gather some real intelligence to test your idea. “If I increase calls to clients and send statements on a regular basis then payments will increase by x%” really? How can we test this? Well my company NEXUM have ways of doing this BUT it is pretty pointless making assumptions without testing as you are creating more activity in this case and setting an expectation that there will be an improvement?

A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.
Plato

3. If the plan goes ahead, what are the likely financial results in the event of
a. Acceptable success
b. Maximum success
c. Partial failure
d. Total failure
Please do not assume! Regardless how good your idea and the plan be realistic and think about the worse possible outcome in addition to the best. If the idea is a total success then what are the factors? A total failure – what could cause that?

4. What criteria do you intend to apply to establish the outcomes above?

Expectation is based on an anticipated result
A result is defined by a specific criteria

“I plan to sell 400 widgets next year delivering increased profits of 120%, this is based on each unit costing x, plus the cost of sales being reduced by using reselling channels within a,b,c,d sepcfic locations”

“I plan to reduce our dales sales outstanding by targeting accounts that have W and historically have paid X days late for no apparent reason. There are Y thousand accounts in matching this criteria and the total benefit to the business will be a reduction of 3 days delivering a value of Z.”

5. Is the trade off between maximum gain and maximum loss acceptable?

What are the consequences and the risk attached to all outcomes? Can these be influenced? To the positive or the negative?

6. How, if approved, is the project to be managed?

Managed? Who and how will be controlled and managed to ensure the outcome is as per expectation? Which person will take overall control? Who will manage specific tasks and activities?

“Practice Golden-Rule 1 of Management in everything you do. Manage others the way you would like to be managed.”
Brian Tracy

If you were being managed you would probably want to:
a. Be told what is expected
b. By when
c. And why
d. Communicated with effectively
e. Respected
f. Rewarded

7. Where is the risk in the project?

Oh my!! Just some responses from clients, contacts and friends within the last couple of weeks.

“Jim, I had my doubts about them from the start but it was not my decision to progress now I have to pick the pieces up.”

“Jim we are really busy at the moment and attend many internal meetings with little time and will just need to work through the project as best we can.”

“At the end of the day Jim I cannot force people to look at the information I send and that is the problem. Sometimes it is like banging my head against the wall.”

Projects are generally at risk if :

a) There is not a proper plan behind the idea clearly identifying who does what, why, where, when and the outcome – ALL participants – staff, clients, managers, owners, decision makes, project sponsors, MUST buy into the PLAN!!

If you go with a plan without commitment – SHAME ON YOU!
If you go with a plan without believing – SHAME ON YOU!
If you go with a plan without resources – SHAME ON YOU!

b) There is a lack of honesty and realism amongst all parties involved in the project.

All agendas must be on the table, none hidden away!

Great ideas are those that delivery to expectation and are well executed by a team of people working together in

Every sold to Americans?

2011-05-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

Ever successfully sold solutions in America? I have done, for a number of years. Want to know the secret? Give them exactly what they want, when they want it for the price they want to pay. It is pretty much as simple as that. The biggest mistake is coming from Blighty believing you know best and make any effort to change them or their habits. So Jamie Oliver and Tesco (Fresh & Easy) what have you learned?

As a rule Americans like tasty things, they like comfort and they love convenience and great service. Understand this and you have nailed it. Pretty much. Not understanding this has resulted in Jamie losing a fortune and a reputation and has cost Tesco £180 sqillion quid.

Become a Business Consultant

2011-05-05T01:04:00.001-07:00

I was shocked yesterday and annoyed really as the person stood in front of me and a group of others was clearly an expert in “How to charge money by over complication”.

I was scheduled to follow him with a talk and that is the real reason for my annoyance. Those around me were making comments such as “Oh he we go” and “Failed doer becomes consultant” – a touch unfair I thought.

My entire presentation had to change, well could change to seize the mood of the moment. Here is how it started…

“Fact is if a company has receivables, this means it has made a sale but has yet to collect the money from the purchaser. You need to understand the reasons why and fix it IF you want to… thank you for your time”. Well after the “IF you want to..” there was a bit more but that is basically the gist of it.

I did say:

“Your receivables maybe at an acceptable level with little risk of the customers paying and as such a valuable asset.

Your receivables maybe too high with risk attached placing a level of nervousness about this asset

Your receivables maybe high because your customers like to pay late and need to be chased

Your receivables maybe high because your customers do not want to pay because they have issues with your company and what it has provided

Your receivables maybe high because your internal procedures over complicate the process of converting the sale into cash

Fact is it is probably a combination of much of the above and your customers will fall into many of theses categories. By ‘fine tuning’ elements of your business you can dramatically improve, BUT you should adopt a ‘chunking approach’, small steps forward to achieve an objective.

Your objectives should initially be set to short term wins, then medium and long term. Your initial plan should focus on the short term wins and all others should be out of scope at this stage. Objectives within the plan should be based around issues within the business that cause frustration around receivables. A recent simple plan I suggested included:

1. Contact

a. Ensure each customer receives contact on a regular basis
b. Ensure your customer has a point of contact for queries
c. Ensure you have accurate contact details including email addresses and mobile telephone numbers if possible

2. Follow Up

a. Ensure you follow up on any commitment made to a customer
b. Ensure you follow up any customers that could not initially be contacted
c. Ensure the customer follows up on any actions they have

3. Information

a. Understand what customers owe you and when it was due
b. Understand any reasons for non payment customers have
c. Understand who in your organization is contacting customers for payment and what they have done during a period and what the result was

Does anyone have any questions on this simple plan above?”

As I asked this question of the audience a number of hands went up.

“Jim, it looks simple but we cannot contact all our customers on a regular basis”

“Jim, we have a lot of administration around the simple process you outline and sometimes it just is not possible to be efficient”

“Jim, we get some of that information, but often it is not that valuable to us as we don’t get a much time to analyse and change”

I replied. “In this simple plan of objectives we all agree that this is what we should do as a minimum in order to become efficient, and you can easily identify reasons why you have not been able to achieve it. YOU know the reasons, do you know how to FIX it?”

“Yes” was the unanimous response.

“But I guess you all need time to create your plan, maybe some support from your business to improve a few areas. But today is May 4th , I reckon that you could provide some real improvements to your business by July 4th if you had some support” I replied

“In the short term focus on fixing one area within your day to day operation, understand why it is a problem, what you would do to improve it if money and resources was not barrier then find a solution – AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED THIS YOU WILL HAVE BECOME A BUSINESS CONSULTANT”.

But you may not have the time and a good solution is to use a consultant to act as a resource, BUT please make sure that they keep it simple.

Strategy & Plans & variables

2011-04-13T05:22:00.000-07:00

Having a strategy is advisable, but the trouble is your plans, regardless how good, will be subject to variables. Growing a business through an ‘economic slowdown’ is subject to many variables, many caused by dramatic pace of change of ‘demand’ and ‘decision’ factors. Fortunately we supply software solutions to businesses and an ideal client for us is one that already has an inkling of an idea of the benefits associated with adopting our type of technology within their organization. But any sales experienced people will know that this is just the start of the process…. But this is not a sales training article so I will stop here.

Back to variables, we developed our strategy some years ago as part of a plan to take our business to 2015 – a ten year plan. Our approach incorporates all the variables that we could think of and in the ‘plan’ factored how this would impact results. Because we are very niche and specific in what we do we were able to accommodate economic variables within our plan. Although our strategic approach to the markets is confidential an example I can share relates to ‘budgets’. At the end of all sales processes the client need to pay an amount in some way that enables us to commercially survive and expand. The ‘recession’ caused a shock wave through the global business community and many projects and decisions were delayed – potentially fatal for a business like ours. But not only did we survive, we grew – in fact we have grown year on year throughout the down turn. It is not possible to share with you the secrets of our approach, but the fact is we re-aligned, became even more focused and sharpened our saw.

Sharpening our saw is the key to our successful growth. I have a chain saw at home. Used on a regular basis to chop through various trees in the garden (some times a chop is not that necessary, but I find it relaxing!). A few years ago someone knocked on the door having heard me in the garden with the chainsaw, introduced themselves as a travelling knife, saw and blade sharpener then suggested that he sharpen the tiny blades on the chain of my chainsaw. He mentioned a fee and I became skeptical of the benefit, he then made an offer “If you don’t notice a difference, don’t pay me”. How could I refuse!!

An hour later the chainsaw was finished and I took it for spin around the garden, it was now slicing like a hot knife through butter – lesson learned I paid the man. It is a fact that the tool is now twice as efficient.

Back to business, at NEXUM, we sharpened our ‘saw’ and basically become twice as efficient (not three or four times), twice as sharp at everything. We worked harder and smarter on marketing, sales, product development, relationships, back office procedures – just about everything – we were sharp!

Net result, we completed our year-end in March this year and although it is subject to an audit it looks like our best year to date, which is what we said last year and the year before and the year before that.

Variables? We constantly monitor the ones that affect us, that impact on our strategy and act accordingly. We have to act smarter and do more that any of our competitors, if they try 110% to get it right then we try 200% to keep it right. The plan that we set out in 2005 and are target for 2015 was pure ambition peppered with some dreams and fantasy – BUT we are getting closer and closer. The plan? Ambition? Simply to become the worlds most respected and revered manufacturer of credit software.

10 Little known facts about our business

1. Most employees have worked together for more than 10 years
2. Employees can take as much time off as they like (never abused and often under used)
3. Employees do not need to come into the office to work (all have a choice, most prefer to come in)
4. The business cost £1.4 Million to establish initially
5. The shareholders privately funded the business
6. All shareholders are directors
7. All directors participate daily in the business
8. We owe no creditors (we always pay on time)
9. We have no debtors (all clients pay ontime)
10. ALL decisions (product, strategy, targets) are discussed, defined and set by the company as a whole based on common consensus.

Our business is fit and we know it (although some of us are err, are not quite as fit!).

Large exciting contracts this year included

Banque PSA Finance (Peugeot Citroen finance)
First Utility
Heineken
Herbert Smith LLP
MWB plc
Banque PSA Finance

Recruitment

2011-03-07T02:22:00.001-08:00

As you can imagine through implementing NEXUM into a wide range of businesses were are often part of a re-organisation and improvement project. Apart from identifying a need for better credit collections technology, improving businesses processes and team skills can be part of the project remit.

We are often asked to identify core people skills and often refer candidates. If you look at our company activity we are very active in a large number of organisations, all improving their cash management capability (people and technology). As a result we have decided to add a recruitment arm to our consultancy company Risk2Resolve specializing in credit control, accounts receivable, collections, debt recovery, legal and ‘technology’ based roles. We are actively looking to place candidates in our contact base and are interested to hear from you whether you are interested in a new role or seeking to recruit.

Because of the sensitive nature of our business we have non-disclosure agreements will clients and contacts and recruitment follows this process too. If you have any interest please contact me direct on my mobile 07793 965020 for an informal and confidential discussion.

Rugby, football and my recent near suicidal sales tactic - what a week of life lessons

2011-02-28T01:27:00.000-08:00

Having cruised past 40 relatively physically and emotionally intact, I often reflect back on lessons learned from experience and wiser people and am amazed that we all continue to learn more. The world is constantly on the move and none of us understand what is around the corner. Who would have thought a year ago much of North Africa would have folded together in unison, not the governments that back that.... ooops sorry no politics. Fact is we are where we are today for reasons, the main (in my opinion) being choice and circumstance (maybe some luck and help from 'other' places).

I reflected this weekend on winning and success. A large proportion of my 'awake' time is consumed by work, both my sons football and at the moment the six nations rugby. After a very fortunately 'couple of hours gap' over the weekend to 'think', I concluded that all three areas of interest of directly connected, linked and share common components, summed up by this thought:

The final outcome is the result of what you did right minus what you did wrong and any victory could be more attributable to the fewer mistakes made than areas excelled in.

Proof:

1. England Vs France Rugby Six Nations this weekend. Yep, England played well but did you see the mistakes made by France? Take away the errors in decision and where would the result have been?

2. Arsenal Vs Birmingham Carling Cup Final. A perfect example of how a final mistake caused by tiredness and confusion can end a dream (no I am not an Arsenal fan).

3. Suicidal (?) Sales tactic..

We have an opportunity, it has dragged on for a while and in my 'professional' opinion we have done most things right. We are preferred supplier, have agreed contracts, but the signed contract was lacking. Now this is a well sized company and one of my main contacts is the Head Of Finance (we had budget), so why the delay? So I asked. It appears the Group CFO has been lecturing the main board on making bad decisions and spending agreed budget wisely and he had basically p@#@%d a few people off; now in a position to sign a contract for a system for his department would it be safer to do nothing and avoid the risk of being criticised or judged by his peers? In the privacy of his own mind he had decided yes, but had failed to communicate the reason for 'signature delay' to any one else. I only discovered this after gentle probing and the fully reason after the contract had been signed by him, how?

1. The Head Of Finance told me that the Group CFO is always reluctant to make final decisions, despite the fact that they had spend 9 months evaluating credit solutions from 11 vendors and finally made their decision after 23 separate main meetings and assessing numerous evaluation documents. "Jim, sometimes he will sit on a contract for months even though its been approved by legal etc!".

2. "It is very difficult to get his attention on the matter Jim, it's on his list somewhere but he is renowned for delaying."

So last week I pondered on what I should do. After months of hard work and dedication we are stuck in a position where we fit the need, tick the boxes, finances are agreed, contracts are good and everyone is 'tickety boo' SO WHAT TO YOU DO!

In fact that bit of thought 'tickety boo so what do you you do' sounded a bit poetic and reminded me of a poem I once read, in fact I used to have a copy stuck in my car, in side my notebook and on the fridge and have given copies to people over the years. This poem often motivates but occasionally causes discomfort as it hits a nerve, BUT I HAVE NEVER EVER used it as a sales device, especially on a long campaign one such as this.

NOW YOU SHOULD ALWAYS RETHINK ABOUT SENDIN AN IMPORTANT EMAIL BEFORE YOU DO SO, but last Wednesday I never did. Hey I was on a virtual skateboard flowing through the bends and grooves of the best skate park again, 16 without a care in the world - well that's how stupid I must have been to send this email, extract as follows :

"Hi Douglas,

Hope you are well and managing to grab some tie with the family this half term.

I understand that the contract has been delayed, is this correct? I understood that all terms had been agreed, budget is in place and that you have power to sign. I have tried to call and left messages with your secretary. With a board meeting approaching next week I would like to be able to confirm that we have the contract in place and would be grateful for any assistance you can give.

I appreciate sometimes the burden of making the final decision can set you on a pedestal, which can be good and bad. You have taken references and should be confident that NEXUM will deliver the projected benefits required by such a collection system within the time frame required. But I am mindful that sometimes just making that decision can still remain a challenge.

A few years ago I was given the following poem by a person I trusted, initially I was surprised and if I am honest slightly offended by the connotations, but that said it is a poem dear to me with great meaning and I often send it to people I admire.

You are the man who used to boast
That you’d achieve the uttermost
Some day.

You merely wished to show,
To demonstrate how much you know
And prove the distance you can go….

Another year we’ve just passed through.
What new ideas came to you?
How many big things did you do?

Time left twelve fresh months in your care
How many of them did you share
With opportunity and dare
Again where you so often missed?

We do not find you on the list of Makers Good.
Explain the fact!
Ah no, was not the chance you lacked!
As usual you failed to act.

I received no reply for several hours then, suddenly a text message NOT an email came through. "Jim, contract signed. Douglas"

Maybe a little cold in reply, but hey it is the result that counts.

I am not sure that i will mention the email and the poem to anyone or to Douglas (name changed to protect privacy), some things are best known, acknowledged and appreciated. Douglas knows that I understand him better as a person and him me and in sales that level of empathy and trust is where it is at.

By the way Kaufman wrote the poem nearly 100 years ago.

regards

Jim

Cooking skills, data blending and profit analysis

2011-02-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

My wife is a great cook; I can get along with a saucepan (just). If you lay out tomatoes, onions, potatoes, garlic, chilies, herbs and spices the dish that I create maybe edible but hers will invigorate your taste buds. It does not matter how many times I watch her cook, the way she blends and prepares the ingredients then staggers the cooking time of each create a culinary delight – then I try and it may not kill you.

Great wines are blended, good décor, high fashion, the way in which apple create gorgeous objects like the iPad, magic mouse etc. all originate from the same raw materials than lesser rivals but the way they blend them into the end product creates the market gap.

Blending is the key to success. The measurement of what you do to create an end result relies on a crucial blend of time, skill, knowledge and experience, get the balance wrong and the results will vary extremely.

So to data analysis, management information, reporting, key performance metrics, business intelligence or what other labels you may have for it. The value of the result is determined by the data you have blended into the formula creating the information requested.

I recently created a profit-reporting suite for a client, which is not what he asked for. “Jim I asked for a sales report, cash flow report and an aged DSO analysis.”, I replied “I know but I thought this would be better, it is a better result based in blended the key ingredients that you gave me to analyze”.

The conversation continued and I added, “A sales report will let you know how you are performing to target and break it down by salesperson, region, product, margins etc.

A cash flow report will let you know how the cash is profiled to come in based in factors governing the sale.

A Days Sales Outstanding report will tell you how the cash flow performed to the expectation created at the point of sale and subsequent invoicing.

There are hidden dangers in the above. The top sales guy may generate the worse levels of customer satisfaction, creating delays in payment, resulting in higher business costs and reduced profit. Your average performers may be generating the most profitable business. This is why we developed a profit reporting suite”.

Take the raw ingredients and blend. What comes out depends on what you do.

What we gave the client mixed sales figures and other accounting information from SAP; four spreadsheets that they held covering some legacy products, credit management information from NEXUM. Today the client can highlight the most profitable salespeople, departments, customers, and regions together with the poor performers. In this time of austerity we have enabled them to model – a subject for another day!

Algorithms - The wonder of

2011-02-02T02:15:00.000-08:00

Algorithms form the basis of much 'intelligence' behind many information based technical solutions. For example Biometrics, forensic, identity, forecasting, predictive and navigational systems use algorithms. In fact the software that my company creates is based on these, during previous months I have spent much time with working through complex algorithms as part of our general push on automating activities and decisions with the credit processes that our software addresses. As a sequence of commands using data to create activities and results an algorithm is as good as - yep you guessed it 1. The Data 2. The code behind it 3. The rules defined.

I had to laugh today as I read that an algorithm maybe to blame why the new crime map on www.police.uk may not be as accurate as initially hoped. I laugh as we have created algorithms associating data to geographical maps and we all here learned through trial and error. The underlying data needs to be correct, but also the way you choose to represent it is key - you know "statistics and lies" - interpretation is key to the validity of any meaningful management information.

Mastering algorithms is key to really great reporting and forecasting tools. Everything we do now is stored data somewhere, within marketing departments they use this information, run it through algorithm based systems to predict purchasing, payment and supply trends. The stock market uses them to forecast ratios and risk and economists use them for the same reasons. Fact is the outcomes are rarely totally accurate because you are predicting the future based on current and historic data. However historical analysis, matching data, collating information is often and should be totally accurate.

Algorithms don't get much publicity, but have always been in the background and within each and every major technological innovation during the last 30 years. They are set to grow and impact on our lives more. Next time you see some thing and think "thats clever" chances are algorithms are in there somewhere - e.g. ANPR (automatic number plate recognition), Congestion Zone cameras, Bloomberg share tools etc. Medical systems now use them as do Police systems - look ups the SAGEM Algorithm to see how this has been applied to central intelligence and police systems to help find and match criminals etc.

The Data Centre

2011-01-28T04:20:00.000-08:00

The doors slide and make "sheewooosh sound" just like Star Trek, to gain access you need ID, are searched, scanned, use a biometric scanner and are subjected to a retina scan. Just this process alone is worth the visit, in fact I go there often and also take some lucky clients and prospects. It's a marvel of technology.

A couple of years back we started off with one server in the datacentre, now we have a couple of racks (like a rack of ribs) with in excess of 30 servers just in that location. The centre also provides co-location, to simplify the data/software from the 30+ servers is replicated across other servers located in similar environments in other geographic regions. If one server goes down, another kicks in - in essence providing our clients with 100% uptime. It's bloody magic.

The 'racks' are covered in a fine web of tiny cables (looks like an alien spider has crawled over it), this web contains special substances and covers much of each servers service area. IF a part of a single server catches fire then the web is so fine and extensive that only that element affected will be extinguished, the server will be isolated, the clients access uninterupted and possible risk to the rest of the rack stopped. Bloody amazing.

The whole system, all servers, all racks also self tune to ensure performance is optimum, they can share processing, load balance etc.

I have been lucky enough to have lead our sales of this service to our clients and we now host complete systems for large corporate clients such as Dixons Stores Group(comet, pcworld etc), Heineken, First Utility etc plus a host of smaller businesses.

As you can tell I am so excited about this, it brings out the amazed child in me and at 45 the process of selling this solution is incredibly fulfilling as I am a techie at heart.

Within NEXUM approximately 60% of new contracts now use the hosting model, that was 10% three years ago. We can create a dedicated server environment, fully installed with Office, NEXUM, reporting tools etc within three days - ready to use and test. If it is a shared server then this reduces to 24 hours. Both are fully wrapped in disaster recovery, provide 100% uptime, can be accessed from any location and provide a virtual environment for your staff and clients to access (they just need internet connections).

Years ago (early 1990's but the issues are the same :) ) I was an IT manager and back-ups, speed of servers, users PC's being upto date etc was not only a constant worry it was expensive, off loading that problem and virtualising the server would have not even been a dream then.

As a director and share holder of both NEXUM and Risk2resolve I have a pretty free reign over what I do, but its focussed by the need to achieve results. I have spent the last two months working with the teams on Business Intelligence, now we have some exciting projects blending this with virtual servers to deliver efficient reporting services to our clients and their customers. It feels like a new frontier, one which I am grateful and thankful to be able to explore and development.

DAY 2 on decaf

2011-01-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

It is Day 2 and I am off the coffee and tea. Day one was easy, today it is harder. For some reason I feel tired and a tad grumpy :)

I have been reading about the effects of coffee on your body and in essence this is a detox. I was (am) without a doubt addicted to coffee. I love the stuff, in fact I can tell the difference between brands and the process of grinding coffee beans then making a fresh coffee is oh......... BUT as a non smoking non addicted to other stuff type of person I have let Coffee take a grip on me.

This is a real experiment for me, I know that it will have an impact on me over the next week or so and apparently it takes a good four weeks to get out of your system completely.

Decaf is OK though (ish).

The ten second rule

2011-01-18T06:34:00.000-08:00

I love to learn something new, interesting and of use, especially at the start of a new year!

In conversation with a very wise person, the 'ten second rule' came up as a topic. To be honest I had never really heard of it, so I asked.

"before every act of communication inject a buffer of ten seconds before you either make a statement, ask a question, pass judgement, react, reply or comment. Use the ten seconds to think about your reaction, response, reply, statement, question or comment."

(ten second pause)

OK it is harder than you think, but the results are amazing - really. Recently I
have tried to employ the ten second rule at some, work and play. If I am asked a question I now have time to think why the question is being asked, what my reply will be and how it will be received. If I am asking a question I spend the time deciding how to phrase it and the reaction/ reply I would like.

It really is like playing speed chess as it trains your mind and has helped me give more thought to every day communication with others. The 'ten second rule' has also helped be react better in difficult or challenging moments.

The only downside being it can annoy others, especially if they are used to you reacting or communicating quickly!

Responsible?!

2010-11-15T02:24:00.000-08:00

Interesting time reviewing a clients business and the teams in place. As usual you start with a review of the business, procedures, targets, outcomes and results. From here you open up the what, where, why and how's and eventually end up with a pretty good picture of what the business should have done, what was achieved and what went wrong - from here we begin to improve.

Once the initial stages, above, have been completed my next question was to each team, managers and head - "So, who is responsible?". You should see the colour drain from faces, the beads of sweat that forms and the finger tapping, sheet scribbling and the looking down at the floor. The I stood up and went to a whiteboard...

"let me explain my question, to set you at ease." I start to talk. "Responsible - is from response and able - for each of the items we have discovered, what went wrong,what went right, were you able to respond at that time. Sure as head of finance the buck stops with you, but you reply on the credit managers and their teams who are responsible day to day - but are they able to respond to day to day actions and exceptions?"

Suddenly the mood changes. I can give you a target and expect you to achieve it, this is your responsibility - but do you have the training, the tools and equipment to respond and act.

"So, let us start again. For each of the areas in the business where issues lay, what do you need to be able to respond, how can we help you becoming response able?"

What followed was a shopping list. Some items were dropped, but at the end of the process we delivered a solution to ensure they were more able and better prepared as a business to achieve the cash targets in place.

Major momentus moment - the future is orange

2010-10-05T02:27:00.000-07:00

It is one of them Eureka moments, when your heart skips a beat, your hands feel clammy and a bead of sweat runs down your forehead.

This week we received amazing news on our latest NEXUM software development, it is so exciting and I am like a child waiting for Christmas. After all the investment, sacrifice and years of hard graft it looks like we have hit a real moment in our history.

If this new product looks half as good, works half as well, performs half the tasks and delivers half the benefits to clients I will be truely very very happy indeed.

Since we started this business we have really focussed and tried so hard as a team to bring it all together, with success. BUT this new product, will demonstrate to the world our vision and capability.

How do I know it's good. When after a 'normal' meeting with our bank, I am contacted by the investment arm expressing a 'sincere and real' interest in offering us an 'injection' of funding - then I realised that this new product must be good.

In a polite way I said go away, wait for the flotation instead :),the banks had closed ears when we needed them (thank fully we never took any help from them and retain 100% ownership and control).

NOW we have a lot of hard work as we prepare for final stages and product launch. Cannot wait to look back in a years time!! Need a stiff coffee.

in 12 months I will look back on this blog and think “thankfully I was wrong”.

2010-10-01T02:38:00.000-07:00

Today is October 1st 2010 – I mark this date – it is important. The world is changing and in 12 months I will look back on this blog and think “thankfully I was wrong”.

There is discord in the ranks and file of people, there appears to be a sense of discord in the air. Public workers once secure now feel risk over their futures. Bank employee’s ‘ A Job For Life’, now fear impending job cuts, rationalisation and re-organisation (READ AUSTERITY). Thriving entrepreneurs who once borrowed at x rate and invested for y return now look at a desert of finance lines. The wheeler dealers wheel but don’t deal much. Meanwhile more cash is pumped into the system, but the bankers invest in high returns and low risks and are now attracted by bonds, guilt’s and currency – plus the rising attraction of commodities – not lending.

Three years ago everyone I knew was on the up, some were rising stars. Wives competing for ‘Best Kitchen’, ‘Best Garden Furniture’, ‘Best new car’, ‘Best Holiday’ etc was common gossip around the village. Husbands spoke of how they had turned x into y. A local Ferrari club even started, we are talking top range models in the main – lots of carbon fibre – you get the picture.

Then BANG. Don’t get me wrong there is still some money around, a few Ferraris survived, but talk was now about how “she has gone bust”, “He lost everything”, “They are selling up”. As quick as it came it went, like a tidal wave. In the main the banks were to blame as they withdrew finance on developments and businesses ventures and called in loans.
What worries me now, today, is us and our minds. I own two businesses, I take risks, I have sailed very close to the wind, but it is the solid people in my businesses that make it survive, they give it sustainability. They cannot cope with the thought of the risks I have taken in building these businesses up and I never did expose them to the risks. When my business partner and I went without income, they always had it, each and every month. ALL businesses need these rock solid people in order to survive and grow.

Most government and bank workers are risk averse; their level of stress tolerance is much lower than mine. They need security and a surety that ‘stuff’ will happen.
SO,THE REASON WHY TODAY IS IMPORTANT. This month the government are believed to be announcing the widest level of cuts for more than 50 years. Each government department and local authority is expected to reduce ‘cost’ from between 10% and 30% at (at least). There will be wide spread job cuts and reductions in services if this happens. More importantly for a country that prefers security to risk, the mind set of these steady people will take a beating, BIG TIME.

More stress. From work, from home, from dreams being shattered, from role change, from job loss.

So what do fearful people do that are unable to cope with stress? HISTORY TELLS US.
if you know me you will know me as an optimist, always up beat and up for the challenge. A capitalist. A person that strives for business growth and success. BUT it might surprise you that I have also read a lot of Karl Marx alongside Tony Robbins and Napoleon Hill. In his book ‘The Communist Manifesto’, Marx writes an opening line ‘The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles’. As an IT person I like variables, in Marx’s statement ‘class’ is the variable as we now have new class structures. But history tells us that in times of opulence the classes work well together, in hardship they oppose. Marx had a vision for a society that was equal, consistent and fair – a state at odds with human nature as Russia and China have proven.

In a perfect world I would be a Buddhist Monk, with no thoughts of materialism, emotional attachment or desire. BUT I like fun, food, passion and much more – and in that sense the majority of the world I like me.

So, will we see more protests, more strikes, civil unrest, depression, broken relationships? I think so. We will all hit a bottom over the coming months and years, then dig deep and unite because although we live in denial and hide our past, there is a reason why we have invented more than most in the world, grew the largest empire, created the industrial age, created the internet – we are British. We survive when the odds are against us; we stare defeat in the face and laugh. We have repelled the world’s greatest military forces from our shores, we have created great nations (yes America you do owe us much, and you China and you India, Australia, Canada!!).

When talk is about China and India being the world dominant powers, they should not ignore this great melting pot of human excellence that is Britain, so good that they called it Great Britain. I come from Irish decent, my wife Indian and the richness that migrants have given this land in 1,000 years created a diversity and fibre that is this country, a union.

This is history we are living, our greatest survival yet. Time for ‘trench warfare’, 'Battle of Britain', 'D Day rescue' mentality, so come on, bring it on – I am ready!

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still, and wider, shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet!

Feel proud today

2010-09-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I often arrive in the office earlier than most, but today I was last in. As I walked along the corridor I could hear the hustle and bustle of the 'software' manufacturing centre that is NEXUM. I took my time this morning and listened; a meeting was in place between our chief development guru Glen and our Indian office, in the next room a project conference call was in place with a large utility client, in the background I could hear Satish (my business partner and clever bloke) in a discussion about completing phase one of the Heineken project. I am normally head down, and rarely take the time to 'snoop' about, but today I did.

I feel really proud right now. Satish and I started this business up from scratch, it took a lot of time and money plus sacrifice - BUT we have no external investors, no debts, great cash flow, full order book, growing workforce and opportunities. Satish and Geoff (Chairman) have kept me on a tight leash, and ensured that we have a long terms sustainable business. Proud of them for that.

Today we had an R&D meeting, there are some new developments in the pipeline, requiring a substantial sum of cash - it was an easy decision to authorise and approve the budget. I feel proud of that.

We also approved budget to take on more people, good caliber folks with the skills we need. I feel proud of that.

And finally, I had a great call with one of our clients, Irwin Mitchell, regarding an exciting project we are working on that is expanding. I feel proud of them.

Today is a day to be proud and although there is a recession, it is tough out there, and I, we, us have never worked harder - I make no excuses as I have a lot to feel proud about.

Energise yourself daily, it's a must have!!!

2010-09-10T03:21:00.000-07:00

Each day, in different ways, I energise myself. It is always early in the morning, before the world awakes. Sometimes the 'energisation' process is based on reality i.e. something that has given me the strength and power I need to attack the day ahead, other times it comes from something I am focusing on, or I recreate a feeling, an emotion that gives me power.

Some may call it meditation, but there is no water flowing, serene scenes and fragrant smells. That said, my eyes are closed, I do switch off, but in mind mind I visualise plugging myself into a mains supply of mental and physical energy.

I am mentioning this as I was asked recently how I have coped managing my own business through the 'recession', and this is basically it.

Whether faced with gloomy decisions, difficult situations or great/slim opportunities this is what I do each day, without fail.

For me 'creating' a state of mind is key. The skill of doing this, like meditation, comes with constant and relentless practice and with that success at achieving the 'state' you need and with that more power and strength.

One piece leathers and broken bones

2010-08-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

One piece race leathers, stylish touring jackets, array of helmets, boots, gloves, luggage, exhaust systems, wheels, Tyres, spare parts, complete bikes - surely the place of a motorcycling addict? Well it was. From my youth to my late 30's motorcycles were a big part of me, whether racing around a track, touring through Europe, riding the pacific highway, or whizzing around 'rings' in Germany at high triple digit speeds - I was obsessed. Was. I am not sure whether it is my accumulation of broken bones and how the injuries now affect me daily (the clicks and grating of joints) or witnessing some awful crashes as I chased riders, one in Germany ending in a fatality - but for the last two years the bikes have sat silently, only on occasion starting up just for a bit of maintenance.

I have always been a bit of an adrenaline junkie, love a challenge, love the risk. I guess now cycling has taken over. On my road bike, hitting 50 down a hill, with a bit of polystyrene on my head, gives me a thrill. Flying through a forest, hitting roots, jumping gaps and sliding through the undergrowth on my MTB gives me a thrill.

But today more plays on my mind, I have the family to think of, I need to work each day and the thought of sleeping upright again for months on end why bones fix no longer appeals! On a motorcycle you either hurt a lot or worse if you fall off, it is the upper level on the scale of facing death, on a cycle it's the opposite end. Hate to admit it but age has taken over my decisions, now made with the head not the heart.

So what of the motorcycles I have and all the bits? They will stay put, because one day................. Well that's will be another adventure.

The perfect wheelie

2010-08-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

It's the holidays and I have had some time to kill over the last day while my sons attend a football school, great opportunity to perfect the wheelie. It is a 'must do' thing, after all according to my wife at 45 I am in a mid life crisis - this helps her explain why I am so addicted to cycling. I like road riding and mountain biking, one is graceful the other for the hooligan within. Today was about being immature again. I had the chance toss ride for a few hours and decided to practice my wheelie skills.

Correct gear choice, hard on pedal, lift bars, weight back - all together - SHIT!!! Hit the deck, that hurt. Maybe not such a hard push, and pull on the bars, maybe a little less weight on the back. Try again. SHIT!!, that bloody hurt......... Wind forward an hour.....

Focus,slow the motion down, not such a rush now, in gear, push, pull, gently lean back, bars straight, pedal, pedal, pedal,pedal, pedal... Drop the front, wheel touches down..... AMAZING!!!! That was at least a 6 foot long wheelie. Try again........ Wind forward an hour...

Same drill, now it feels like i am in slow mo, the front wheel is up high, I'm hung off the back, and the pedals are rotating, rotating, rotating... This was perfect, felt magical, awesome feeling, 30 feet long..... For me the perf

Camper

2010-08-06T22:16:00.002-07:00

It will of no surprise to most that I am a camper. I always have been, from my earliest solo trip (with my best pal Jamie) at 16, the at rock concerts, motor racing, hiking etc.

For me it is the only way to travel, as travelling is about the journey not necessarily the destination. I have had some great normal holidays to far flung locations, zooming off by plane, straight into a 5*, but for me camping hits the spot very time.

As I get older, now with my two great sons in tow, the experience is heightened. The magic of camping for me is:

1. You need to be bothered
2. It takes real effort
3. You have to be organised
4. You are at the mercy of the elements
5. It brings out the best and worse in fellow man or woman
6. Food tastes better
7. Coffee comes into it's own
8. The magic of fire caresses you
9. Modern materials enable you to camp in all weathers
10. It is a real escape for all your senses

Within a few hours of arriving at your site, beer in hand, you sit back and yesterday becomes last year.

It is 6 am as I type this. I'm am in my tent, with my 6 year old son Arun beside me, while Jaan ( the big son) still sleeps.
The magic of the iPad connects me effortlessly to you, the kettle is on the stove, rain hits the canvas, my first coffee brews.

For those with children, you recognise this from a book 'the mouse found at nut and the nut was good!' - sums up this trip.

For me right now, I am the luckiest man on earth, blessed with a wealth so great as i look upon my sons here on the south coast.

Growth for a sustainable business

2010-07-30T02:24:00.000-07:00

This is our second time around building a sustainable business. 'Sustainable' is different from 'get rich quick'. Maybe due to our nature we prefer to manage long term growth, reliability and sustainability - dull to some maybe. But our plan has always been to double up on the previous financial period - this method/approach allows you to start off with a low expectation, then after five years it becomes exciting.

As a shareholder/director the only questions are 1. Is it worth the investment 2. Can I sustain myself through this growth period.

From my position,for NEXUM,the decision was right - but I knew that. When you dedicate five years of your business life you have to make sure it will work - after year 1 we know that, years 2 we knew that.... Year five we know that. Focus and dedication and an absolute driving determination to succeed.

NEXUM is performing above expectations at this point in time. My familiy have sacrificed a lot and so have I, but it is my passion and part of my life and will be for many years to come.

2010-07-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to see an idea grow into something so substantial that you cannot help but feel proud of the outcome. Picture one of the UK's leading law firms and Europes largest brewer, with the law firm pitching a bid to win a lucrative business contract. Imagine you owning a growing software company with deep technical resources, amazing drive and ambition, then having an idea that will help the law firm position to win the bid, well the 'you' is me and boy did I have an idea. We are now in the process of delivering that idea I had and it will revolutionise the way that large corporates work with external agents such as law firms. Today I feel very proud. Today I am extremely excited. Today I can see the fruits of my ambition.

Oh Apple how could you not

2010-06-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

When I first heard that the iPad was coming I imagined a large iPhone and not a large iTouch - difference being you can talk and you can use the camera.

Taking pictures with a larger device maynot be an absolute essential but who is the iPad marketing at? From a business perspect it has some value for browsing the web, dealing with emails and opening an attachment BUT the value of also being able to video conference and make calls would add enormous value.

From my companies perspective this type of device opens up a new market.Our software is available on the iPhone and users can browse an account, update entries etc, plus with an iphone you can take pictures and attach to comment lines. The iPad offers a much large space to view information and the potential is enormous, but the omission of a camera and a phone capability will take away some value.

In three years time you will be what you are today but...

2010-05-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

In three years time you will be what you are today but for the contacts you make and the experiences you learn from.

What you are today is a combination of what you have learned and who you have met. Where you will be in three years time will be what you are today, but the people you meet and the experiences you learn from can change that.

Life is all about decisions and events. "You never know what is around the corner", which is true but the people you meet and your knowledge can greatly influence how you deal with each event and the decisions you make.

Have any regrets in life? I do, and when I think about it the people I have met and the decisions I have made cause the regret. So the regrettful event is an experience, which we should learn from and ensure the contacts we make in future lead to a different outcome.

I am a greater believer in 're-invention', what you are today is not what you have been or what you could be. You life in three years could be totally different to the life you have today, both in terms of love, health, wealth and happiness.

Why three years, I think it is unrealistic to change your life significantly in anything less. But you need to develop a three year plan.

If like me you own a business then you need a three year plan for both your business and private life.

For me people make the biggest impact on both business and personal outcomes. I have the great pleasure of having met some truely great people, but on occassion one or two come along that are best avoided!

2010-05-11T01:39:00.000-07:00

Need to throw light on a situation,lack focus or energy,need a lift? Try taking a shower, a shower of light! You can take a shower at any time, in any place and no one will ever know!

How to take a shower of light

Close your eyes and imagine standing under a shower. See and feel large drops of white light falling over you. Feel the light as each drop embraces you. Imagine turning the temprature up and see the white light turn in to a rainbow of colours. Choose your favourite colour from the shower of light and imagine now bathing in this new, envigourating shower. Feel and absorb the colour. Be aware of the properties of this colour entering your mind, body and spirit. If another colour comes to mind, repeat the process. When you are ready turn the shower off and imagine the shower of light gently stopping, with droplets of light slowly fading away.

If you have tried this how do you feel? Hopefully if you relaxed and managed to complete the process you will feel better, with higher energy levels and a clearer mind.

This process of visualisation has changed your state of mind. A pint, glass of wine, cigarette or comfort food could not achieve the same feeling. You feel pure, with more power and the triumphent feeling of empowering your mind has moved you forward in life!

The power of our mind. I meditate on a regular basis, it helps me deal with the ups and downs of life, makes me stronger for the challenges ahead and keeps things in perspective.

It is a new era - you become what you think about most of the time

2010-04-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

Without giving our game away, the ‘economic downturn’ has encouraged us to work in a different manner – very different. When the stuff hit the fan we decided that there was really only one approach, blind optimism. Blind optimism fuelled by unattainable dreams. Maybe a global meltdown was not the best time to adopt this approach, especially as we had employees and their families to consider.

You end up where you want to be. Negative thoughts cannot rule your head and as every obstacle hit us, we brushed it aside with the passing comment “that was an experience” and carried on.

The power of dreams – unattainable? On our website we have a news area and announce some of the new contracts won. There are two versions of the news area, the current and the news in 3 months time – both in web page form. The news in 3 months time web page is private and only available people in my company. A year ago the forward looking ‘3 months time’ news was great, three months later it became so, then again and again. The ‘3 months time’ news web page I am looking at right now is amazing. For some reason every action I take every day seems to be bonded by the predictive ‘3 months time’ news section, it acts as a focus for all my activities and drives me forward fuelling my ‘blind optimism’.

It seems that the ‘economic slowdown’ has created some amazing opportunities, but not those expected, seen or maybe every wanted. The greatest opportunities lay in ourselves, the way we think, act, focus and do stuff. I certainly think differently, act differently and do stuff differently to the way I did a year ago and at my age I find that AMAZINGLY FULFILLING!

Credit Management & The Art of Persuasion - lessons from a Postman

2010-03-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

Companies grow through their success in sales. More effort and more budget is spent on marketing and sales than almost any other area of business. The target for this massive investment is YOU and YOUR mind. The objective is to persuade you to purchase a car, a phone, shoes, shirts, dresses, trainers, TV's, holidays etc from 'their' brand as opposed to a competitors. Persuasion is key. The trouble is the value of a sale is in the payment, as we have seen companies can have great sales, but with poor cash flow they die. Persuasion is not confined to the art of selling, it applies to the 'art of getting paid'. Fortunately most organisations are paid for their services and products, however it can be a case of when that causes issues. A proportion of companies are only paid after persistent chasing, some are paid on a threat of legal action and a number have no intention to pay either through dissatisfaction, lack of ability or intention to avoid payment at any cost. The 'art of getting paid' through persuasive techniques requires a passion and dedication akin to the best performing sales people. The 'art of getting paid' relies on human psychology.... read more at http://www.jimstanley.co.uk/linkedin1.htm

Just think how to fail, to achieve ultimate success.

2010-02-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

During a recent meeting I listened to a range of presentations by top company executives relating to create a plan for success. The idea was for them to look at their operation and create a winning formula to help them power through the economic downturn in readiness for the predicted upturn in the coming years. Great stuff!

As you would imagine the meeting members focussed on some create ideas to improve the the business. After a couple of hours the Managing Director called a halt to the meeting and with a frustrated tone to his voice said "So far we have discussed many things, much has been said before, nothing really new has come out, we have traded through a difficult time and this will continue, what the hell can we really do next - I need answers NOT text book strategies!". As you can imagine the room was in shock and silent.

I was then asked for my thoughts; "well, so far the meeting has been really upbeat and very creative, but maybe we should consider another, compliementary approach? Why don't we create a strategy for failure!". In amazement the meeting members studied my face, was I joking? I continued, " To ruin the business, achieve the worse possible performance amongst the teams what do we need to do? If we study this then the answers and actions for a strategy to succeed will appear".

The challenge in life is not what you want to happen BUT what will happen to stop it, I believe that if you understand the reasons for failure then your plan will stand a greater chance of success.

Become negative to open the door to success!

ON A PROMISE

2010-02-17T01:49:00.000-08:00

A promise used to mean so much more when word of mouth was the main form of communication. I remember many years ago I did a deal on a handshake, the client was a very honourable person, “old school” and as the weeks, months and years unfolded he proved true to his work. At some point in time human nature (fear, greed etc) took control and law’s came into effect to govern our nature. But our yearning to believe and have faith and respect those that we trust remains, in an growing cynical world the value of a ‘promise’ holds a much higher value in our minds.

As you would expect my mind applies the value of a ‘promise’ and the trust it creates to the collections process. The very best sales people create trust within their clients and ensure that this relationship has longevity. This same principal can be applied to collections. When chasing overdue accounts you have two options; to create fear or to create trust. Some may feel that my approach is ‘soft’, but trust me as I explain.

I believe that in collections there exists a range of ‘states of mind’ between the creditor and the debtor or the ‘3 stages’.

Stage 1 - Trust

Stage 2 - Credibility

Stage 3 - Commitment

Every collections process known to us is based on these three core stages, proceeded by a ‘promise’.

“When I purchased X I promised through the agreement that I would pay £Y to you by Z Date”

“When you purchased X from us we promised through the agreement that we would provide X to you for £Y price by Z Date, but you have failed to pay”

“I have failed to pay because you did not deliver as promised”

“But you have failed to pay despite numerous promises, I no longer trust you”

In this simple example there is no longer credibility between the creditor and the debtor as trust has been lost. The only way now to achieve trust is to gain commitment. The creditor needs to investigate any issues for non payment and once completed the debtor needs to commit to pay the agreed amount by the revised date. Once completed ‘trust’ and ‘credibility’ enters the relationship once more and a seemingly poor relationship can commence on a better footing.

The ‘3 Stages’ apply to each and every situation, including delinquent accounts. As an example, you have a batch of accounts that are delinquent; the customers are now debtors and despite all attempts they have not paid, they have broken their promise. Look at how the ‘3 Stages’ now apply:

Stage 1 – Trust
You no longer trust the customer/debtor, they clearly have either an inability or no intension to pay.

Stage 2 - Credibility
You now need to establish why the promises have been broken. Are they avoiding payment for a genuine reason or not? If they have a credible reason then you can re-negotiate a repayment plan.

Stage 3 – Commitment
If credibility was established then the debtor must give a commitment to pay under a new agreement. No genuine reason equals no credibility which means you can safely assume no commitment therefore you must use the law to enforce the payment.

The ‘3 Stages’ should be applied to each and every aspect of your credit and collections function. Not only should it be applied to customers/debtors, it should also be applied to your staff. As part of your agreement with them they promise to perform a function, based on the trust that they will do this their actions build credibility and you commit to reward them. The ‘promise’ based on their employment agreement is the key.

I urge you to adopt this approach, it will dramatically simplify the way you work, the strategies you follow and the way you manage.

Our software NEXUM incorporates the ‘3 Stage’ methodology underpinned by powerful work flow and monitoring functions. NEXUM ensures that customers/debtors and employees are managed against their ‘promise’ to you. Broken promises and a breakdown in trust are quickly identified and processed efficiently.

Struggle(delete that) 'thrive' up that hill!!

2010-01-25T01:34:00.000-08:00

I am a keen cyclist, not very good but keen! The weather in the UK has been awful since December and recently began to break. My regular bike rides have been affected and my fitness (coupled with Christmas excess) has plummeted.

Yesterday I went for a ride along a regular route, normally a fast route, constant, with plenty of hills! Within the first ten minutes I felt my lack of fitness and by the time I came to a 'killer' of a hill (Titsey hill for those that know it), my legs and lungs had given up - I was defeated. Clearly I had ignored my lack of fitness and was now facing a long hard 'slog' upwards, feeling very despondent.

Then the anger grew within, ordinarily I would struggle up at this stage but would at least make it with some rigour. I looked upwards, looked back, breathed in, swore, gritted my teeth in anger and set-up. Each push was a hard push, my lungs ached and my legs felt stiff - the anger grew and I knew that if I continued to plug ahead at a pace I would eventually arrive at the top - eventually I did just that. What changed during the 'process' was my mind set - rather than struggle I began to thrive on each push of the pedal, out of the seat I swung the bike from side to side enthusiastically. I was still unfit, my lungs still ached, my legs were still dead - BUT my mindset had changed - that was the only and main difference.

The energy to change my mindset at that low point came from memory, I have faced these challenges, low points before, I now what can be done if my head is pointing in the right place - to some extend it is now ingrained.

You never give up, there is always a way and the journey will be littered with obstacles - but the journey adds so much more value to the destination when you arrive!

Credit Management, a back office function? Don't make me laugh!! Says the marketer.

2010-01-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

As a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing I am occasionally asked to give talks to other members and groups. I am an oddball amongst my contemporaries, as many of them have dealt with large brands, budgets and campaigns, I have emersed myself in the world of credit and collections for the past 20 years. A few years back one asked how do I cope with being a credit guy and a marketing professional? He then said "on the rare occasion we talk to one of the credit people they always put such a dampener on all the great stuff we are talking about generally". "hmmmm" I replied.

Fast forward a couple of years and with my background and bias towards credit management, coupled with the privileged position I hold within the Institute - the same marketers are fussy about 'retention, risk vs reward, profitability' and much more. The old blurred line between credit management and marketing is at last getting clearer.

Below is an extract from a recent lecture.

People do not stop buying!

How hard is it to win new customers/ clients? New business sales have always been at the hard end of business. Often large budgets are spent on marketing and sales to generate growth in this area. Then a recession hits and a whole new dimension hits sales, winning new business contracts is as tough as it gets. More people competing for fewer opportunities, you do not have to be a marketing professional to do the math!

For the Credit Manager, the sales and marketing team should be your greatest friends and allies – with out their great, enormous and fantastic efforts you would not have invoices to manage, chase, resolve, fix, credit back etc! BUT for any organisation focussed on sustained, solid and profitable growth the Credit Manager must be one of the most important resources to your finance, marketing and sales function!

Customer retention is key; as we start this new decade the focus for any business must be to build firm foundations to support the structure moving forward. Apart from having sound products and services, the right people and a great profile in your chosen markets – you need the highest quality customers/ clients possible. You need to retain the ones that you value and make profitable those that you do not.

Example:
Customer A buys a widget from you for £500, customer B and C buy the same product at the same price. All are on 30 day payment terms, your terms and conditions state that late payment attracts interest at 2% per month. Customer A pays within 30 days and has no complaints, customer B raises a dispute and claims delivery was late and delays payment, customer C raises no dispute but does to pay. Customer B always raises disputes, pays 30 days late and has accrues £10 in interest charges, which he refuses to pay as it took you time to investigate the claim. Customer C always pays 30 days late together with the interest charge, rarely raises a dispute but always eventually pays. Customer C places one order per month, customer B places 3 orders per month and customer C places 5 orders per month. Which is your most valuable customer?

Sales would argue that customer C is the most important and you would have to agree - although they pay late they also pay an extra 2% for the privilege – it is likely that due to the current climate that they have little credit available from the bank – so use you. Sales would also argue that customer B is second and customer A is third – but as the credit manager you would have to disagree. Customer B is a pain, generating a large amount of internal administration due to the level of disputes raised (most have no grounds) which eats into the profit of the organisation – BUT they are clearly very happy paying late as, despite the complaints, they continue to re-order. The fact is that customer B generates less profit per transaction than the other customers – this needs better sales account management. Customer A orders little, pays on time and rarely complains – maybe it is time to review their credit limit and increase the level of sales to them!

All these customers need to be retained. Your organisation needs better information on your customers/clients in order to make informed decisions. The role of the credit management is pivotal in retaining and building new business. As a marketing professional having access to credit information would enable me to segment my market, identify new opportunities and retain business. People do not stop buying, BUT they may go else where. For the marketer risk assessment from the credit manager is crucial in focussing the sales function on the right accounts.

Sales guys will always chase rainbows, the big opportunities – however based on the example above (critical information fed back from credit management and marketing) they should be chasing customer A (opportunity to increase credit rating and generate more business) and C (the rate of interest you pay is significantly lower than the rate this customer pays each month for paying late – you credit team will use technology to closely monitor this customer) and just tolerating customer B – regular, healthy orders, little risk BUT a pain (when the economy upturns you review B!!).

Frozen

2010-01-18T05:25:00.001-08:00

There is a stream nearby and 10 days of freezing had this effect. The stream is tiny and these shots are very close up, apart from getting cold and wet - I had to get at some interesting angles! Passers by on the footpath above must have thought I was kneeling in the water praying to a frozen branch!

Human Kindness

2009-11-26T01:34:00.000-08:00

In the same way some people are capable of inflicting extreme violence, some are capable of extreme kindness - what triggers the emotion behind either fascinates me.

I rarely ask people for favours, nor do I push people to a limit of discomfort - maybe if I were different I MAY of achieved more (but would I want it?). My 'attitude' transfers into my business life. I jointly own two businesses, both are reasonably successful, I take little from each - I could take a lot more - but in order to sustain growth I take what I need not what I want. I enjoy the journey, and that is what life should be - each part of your life each day a journey. I cycle to work most days, I could take an easier option and drive in each day - but the journey gives me mental and physical strength - I have to go to work each day so I may as well make the journey an event or the event of going to work a journey.

So the journey of life is what we make it, our attitude towards others and theirs towards us intrinsic in the satisfaction and results we attain each day. Recently the kindness of a client took me by complete surprise, because they went beyond anything I would ask or expect. We were lucky enough to win a very important deal, unbeknown to me the key decision make knew my client and my client had actually put them onto us and endorsed our software solution. I discovered by chance in a casual conversation what had been happening behind the scenes. A few days later I was with the client and asked them “why did you not let me know that you were influencing the deal?”, the reply was “You would not have asked me to get involved and I did not want to embarrass you, fact is you deserve it and I actually felt I was doing my contact a great service by recommending your solution”. I was amazed! I like the client, we have done a good job BUT even though I am a marketer I never realised just how strongly this client felt about my company and our solution.

Starting a business is the commencement of a journey, with up’s and down’s – like my journey to work the event can give you strength, my clients actions on this journey I am in business is a perfect example of human nature and extreme kindness – what triggered this example? I now have an idea.

There needs to be emotion

2009-07-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

Emotion is probably the most vital ingredient that I see in the daily substance of life. There needs to be emotion to effect change, the change depends on the emotion as it will spark and activity - the catalyst for change.

In business I try to determine an outcome through the targeting of a businesses emotional needs. A solution to help clients better manage compliance will only strike a cord if their is an emotion attached to the need that will encourage them to want the solution - for example heavy fines for failure to comply with a law will create an emotion of fear which in turn will encourage individuals to take measures to ensure they comply. In this case the emotion is the fear factor. A client wishing to grow his business in a market full of opportunity will be encouraged to develop growth strategies to increase revenue, the emotion of hope and opportunity will prevail and the client will support change. The current fear of failure encourages clients to protect their cashflow and invest in solutions to better manage this risk. Emotions change, the art is to identify the needs behind them and focus on these.

Photography (my other passion)only becomes an art form when it captures of stirs an emotion otherwise it is purely a recording of time. Recently the subject if weddings and portraits has come up again - fact is you need a lot of emotion that needs to be natural otherwise shots will look like poses and less natural - all I try and do is capture that moment of emotion.

So what ever you do, get emotional about it!

A million thanks

2009-06-16T03:39:00.000-07:00

There are times in life when life caresses you and in turn you embrace every breath of it! Last weekend we attending a friends wedding. The warmth and generocity of all that were there was amazing and just made me realise just how beautiful the world can be. The family and friends of the bride and groom helped bring out the best in me and returning to the UK and felt a glow having had such a great time. As reality begins to hit now, the richness gained from the Dublin experience brings a smile to my face all day - A million thanks to all those we met!!

dragonfly

2009-05-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

May Bank holiday and nature is alive - picture taken by chance!

Bad hair day

2009-04-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

Speaking to a client, they announced they were having a "bad hair day", having no hair I discovered I to can have these. From the point you wake to the second you sleep what will go wrong does wrong! The remedy is to give up on the day, crawl under a sheet and hibernate for a while until your mood changes!

Whether it is preoccupation with other thoughts, a bad hair day starts on a negative fotting and your belief system translates evry action and event in a manner creating negative energy. But it is possible to turn the tables, take a deep breath and start again with a new frame of mind. Blocking these negative signals creates positive energy which in turn lfts your mind and spirit. Negativity products negativity and postive thinking positively works!

The power of the mind!

Audible impact - the stress of sound!

2009-02-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

We have the gift to match a piece of music to our mental state, laying on a beach would invoke a desire for one musical piece while aerobic exercise would require something completely different. In the same way that our emotions can select a sound, sound can trigger emotions; picture the music from a tense thriller, horror film, love story or tragedy. Most Oscar Academy winning films have relied as much on the soundtrack to stir emotion as they do imagery.

There is a distinct and inseparable relationship between sound and our emotions. We have a constant audible stream hitting our ears from dawn till nightfall. The sounds that hit us, literally do just that and take the form of many types – some selected by us others forced upon us. Considering the power that sound has over us we have to consider why the world we live in can be so stressful.

Consider waking in the morning, first sound the alarm, followed by the sombre drum of the morning routine, then for an urban dweller the sounds of the busy streets as you venture to work. Car horns sounding off, people shouting, background chatter, brakes screeching, music blaring from cars and buildings, phones ringing etc. Suddenly the audible impact is building. In the work place, the sound of keyboards, printers printing, phones ringing, photocopiers. Just imagine how much sound is hitting your mind! Your brain registers each and everyone and attaches it to an emotion. The finally we have the sound of speech, the individual words and the associated emotions they create when your brain registers the sound.

It is often said that it is not what people say to you but the way you receive it. A comment made at the end of day and received by a mind that has been bombarded with sound and emotions will often have a different meaning to the same comment made first thing in the morning, such is the power of the mind and how volatile it is during every waking moment – all driven by emotions, many of which are stirred by sound.

Ideally we would have a sound ‘spam filter’ built into our head, like what you have email etc – all the junk sound is filtered out prior to entering your mind and creating some of the emotions we want to avoid. By sound I include the spoken word. Our minds are so powerful that we have the ability to create such a filter, methods of switching off to specific sounds and words spoken by specific people.

Buddhists and other people with the power to meditate are able to change their mind set and adjust their emotions to detailed specific conditions and occurrences. Through mediation people can ‘block’ sound out, only let certain sounds in and redefine the minds meaning of sound and speech. Much of the sound we encounter creates emotions based on our belief system, which is defined and developed from the day we are born to the day we die. Meditation also gives the power to adjust our belief system or correct it. A negative person has a belief system that interprets sounds and actions an emotional disruptive way, an optimist will receive identical sounds and action in a constructive way. A person with the belief that they are uninteresting will also appear that way to people; such is the impact of their belief system on others, while a confident person will come across as charismatic or maybe arrogant depending on the intensity of their self belief.

The power of the mind can be used to adjust these personal belief systems through the power of meditation. Athletes will often rehearse a race stride by stride prior to a race, they will even create the emotion of crossing the winning line – such is the power of the mind that their belief system will increase the intensity of their physical strength and skill.

My son’s favourite football player, Christiano Renaldo, always follows a set physical and mental patter prior to one of his legendary goal scoring free kicks – this empowers him with a belief system prior to kicking the ball – the sounds of the fans in the stadium us used to re-enforce his mental strength and approach. This again is a form of meditation.

Regardless of your personal goals, your belief system is key to your success and happiness and the role of sound within this is as important as physical action. Approaching each day without mental preparation (meditation) is a mistake as an unprepared mind is open to the interpretation of meaning of sounds and actions based on an unruly and untrained belief system – causing stress and unhappiness.

So imagine approaching each day where moans, groans, gossip and complaints fall on ‘deaf ears’ (interesting old saying) and you selectively focus on sounds and events that stimulate you and strengthen your personal belief system.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” another interesting old saying!

Ouch! That fall hurt

2008-12-14T03:26:00.000-08:00

As I type I can feel the sinews in my arm muscles stretch and pull with an aching pain. The joints are stiff and it is quite hard to walk comfortably. It has been a long time since I felt like this, not since 1999 when I crashed my motorcycle at the Snetterton race circuit at more than 100MPH, all I sustained then was a multiple compound fracture to my collar bone. What saved me was preparation - the right kit, worn just in case - it saved me. Today - it was the same.

I cycle now every Sunday morning, rain, snow, heat, sleet, hale, gale. Each Sunday in winter I peel on the layers - normally padded cycling bottoms and shorts on the lower body. This morning was cold, near freezing - all prepared I ventured out, unsuspecting on just how bad things would get. Although it was cold and foggy, the roads were wet and grippy and it was all good. As I hit high ground on at the top of the North Downs in Ken the weather dramatically changed. Normally my ever cautious pal Andy would keep an eye out, today I was on my own and oblivious. I was cruising at a steady pace of about 16 MPH, it felt much colder and the fog was denser - then BANG. I hit the deck, it was black ice. I have ONLY seen this once, last year and Andy steered me clear of the affected road.

My hip took the full force, 13st slamming against cold tarmac at 16MPH, then sliding for 10 feet, then into a small ditch. Fortunately, although badly bruised and aching, there was no damage. My 'proper' kit saved me from any cuts and probably the icy road helped reduce the friction.

I try and learn lessons from as much as I can be bothered to learn lessons from and pain is a good punishment for not listening. Today I learned:

1. When your sensible friend/ advisor is not around try and think as they would
2. Prepare for the what if's - I was wearing proper kit (fortunately. I was prepared for getting cold, wet and coming off!

Like the business world, preparation for the unexpected is king!

Survival

2008-12-02T04:44:00.000-08:00

1. See the facts

Understand where you areBusinesses vary and their experiences of the recession do so accordingly. Sure most will be affected by a slowdown, some more than others and your own business will have products or services that will suffer in one or more market sector. But you need a thorough understanding of where your business is, what area’s are at risk and what areas have potential to either grow or remain the same.

2. You need to act

There is a risk or standing still, filled with worry and fear of what might happen you just freeze. This is a common reaction, the opportunity for you is to think and act smarter – that way you could significantly extend the edge you have over the competition. The more you do the more will happen – that’s a fact.

3. Cashflow is king

"Revenue is vanity... margin is sanity... cash is king” At the moment providing you have the funding to continue trading you have few worries. Shareholders will concern themselves with growth and profitability, which are important, but in reality cash-flow is the main priority. Cash will give you a buffer, time to act and space to think and manoeuvre.
Focus on cash. Keep an eye on potential debtors. Be concerned with risk.

4. Keep an eye on the future

Be calm and do not overdue the cut backs. Just remember that you can save a fortune in cutting back on people, advertising etc BUT be careful when and where you cutback or else you risk digging yourself a big black hole! Fact is you need to keep an eye on the future and what you will need to grown and take advantage of any upturn, a worse position would be for you to not have vital resources available to capitalise on an opportunity.

5. The customer is King

Keep customers close to you. Talk to them on a regular basis and understand how the recession is affecting them, loyalty is key and working with customers through the next twelve months is vital. It is easier securing orders from existing customers than new ones.

6. Time to get creative

What you currently do as a business may not be working too well, BUT that could mean it is a great time to become creative and think of new products or services to offer the market and your existing customer base. Remember you have a base of customers, the relationship is already in place, what more could you provide them?

7. Cut crap

Review all of your existing costs and assess which ones are absolutely crucial, cut the ones that are not. Be selective and exclude the small numbers at your peril. Pennies make pounds, so a large number of small savings could create one massive cost reduction.

8. Look for opportunities

It is a good time to buy, so look for opportunities. I suspect that most things now are or near the bottom of the market so what you buy today will certainly appreciate in value over the next 12/24 months. Another great idea is to view competitors as an opportunity, most will be suffering either the same or worse than you and some of them could be in dire straights. There could be an opportunity to acquire them now at a very favorable price – in essence you are buying a future opportunity, a slice of market share or an asset at near bottom value.

9. Be nice

Customers, business partners, employees and family members have long memories. Times are tough for most and could get tougher; you may feel like screaming or worse! Your mind set today will not be the same in a year’s time, the way you treat people could significantly impact on your chances of recovery and growth. Say it with a smile.

10. Is everyone onboard on ship?

Remember that your employees are feeling the same or worse than you. You know the true picture while they can only guess. People will look towards you for strength, be calm and be cautious with what you say, when you say it and how you phrase it. Try and keep people motivated and onside. If things are tough then tell them so, but also give them an ‘upside’ – make them aware of something positive that you are doing to bolster the companies position.

Do you have the time?

2008-11-18T03:38:00.000-08:00

A number of scientists believe each creature has a finite number of heartbeats available during their life time. Each species has a varying heart rate; Einstein's earlier theory of time and space, special relativity, proposed that distance and time are not absolute. The ticking rate of a clock depends on the motion of the observer of that clock.

For example a lizard will catch a fly in the blink of a human eye – the fly we would find hard to spot in the first instance – in fact we would spend hours trying to swat the fly with an oversized bat! The Lizards view of the situation is different; it is relative to it’s own experience of space and time which differs enormously from our own. Time for a lizard moves much faster than our own. The lizard first spots the fly, them takes aim, out comes the tongue, he flicks the fly up and into his mouth – to us this happens in seconds – to the lizard it’s a drawn out experience.

As humans our experience of time is unique to us as a species, we wrongly assume that the experience of time for all other creatures is the same. If I try and swat a fly it is by chance that I succeed, as my experience of time is much slower than the fly’s – in fact the fly probably laughs off my feeble attempt, to the fly it must look like I am moving in the slowest of motion. Think about it next time you try and catch a fly!

Perception of time is much overlooked by us. “Time flies when you are having fun”, “The weeks have flown by” etc. Perception of time is also down to the individual; what one person can achieve in an day maybe great, but another can achieve the same in an hour.

On the basis that each second is of tangible value then what we can do in that time frame can be of enormous value. Some of us (me included) are unable to do as much in a day as others, it is not that I am incapable I am just no able. To enable myself I need to change my perception of time and how I fill it.

You see I do not want time to fly. I want to try and slow down my perception of time as much as possible. If I can have one thought per second at the moment then I want to try and get to three thoughts per second. The ultimate ambition is to have total control over how I perceive and experience time, to have the ability of adjusting this appreciation on-demand. For example, the next hot summers day with the cool breeze gently flowing will last a lot longer and likewise the next traffic jam on the motorway will past by with speed.

I might be mad but I reckon it is possible to create more time in my life time. To you my experience of time will look unchanged, but my own perception will be totally different to yours; because time is a state of mind. A second is only a second because that is what your watch says, before the introduction of the ‘clock’ the second, the minute and the hour had no value – so why should it now?

Wow - what a woman!

2008-10-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

This is not what you think! Lieutenant-Colonel Malalai Kakar was Afghanistan’s highest-ranking female police officer. Kakar, just over 5ft tall, became a revered figure in Kandahar after dispatching three assassins in a shoot-out. Malalai Kakar, police officer, was shot dead on September 28, 2008, aged 45.

She was a champion of oppressed women in the wartorn state and portrayed in the international media as something of a fearless feminist action hero. As Kandahar’s deputy commander of police she vigorously enforced her own brand of justice, unafraid to beat criminals that she caught. Kakar carried on with her duties despite attempts on her life and a succession of death threats. Even the Taleban acknowledged her bravery in their death threats.

Kakar was the first woman to become a police detective in the ultraconservative Kandahar — a dangerous place for any police officer let alone a woman. Kandahar, the birthplace of Taleban extremism, is the largest city in southern Afghanistan and its surrounding province of the same name has a population of about 900,000.

Kakar rose through the ranks to become the country’s most prominent policewoman as the head of the crimes against women department of the Kandahar police, leading a team of nearly a dozen policewomen. Her main roles were to sort out family disputes, protect women from domestic violence and run the women’s prison.

Since 2001 the Afghan Government has been rebuilding the police force with international assistance. Women have been encouraged to join the force to handle crimes against women because Afghan culture forbids men from approaching another man’s wife. There are a few hundred female officers in a force of 80,000.

Known simply as Malalai in Kandahar, Kakar achieved legendary status in the province after killing three assassins in a shoot-out. In 2004 the police chief, Khan Mohammed, described her as “truly another Malalai” in reference to her namesake, a national heroine who rallied the Afghan Army in 1880 to defeat British invaders before being killed on the battlefield.

Kakar did not exploit her femininity. She presented herself as a typical, tough-talking, swearing officer and did not hesitate to dispense instant justice. On one occasion she beat a man who she discovered had been keeping his wife in chains in his basement. “I’m very famous as a dangerous person in Kandahar,” Kakar once said. “People fear me. If I go near the shops, they take their stuff and leave.”

However, with the Taleban’s resurgence in the past couple of years her vocation had become increasingly dangerous and on many occasions the Taleban had posted a “night letter” on the door of her home warning her to quit the force “or else”. Other policewomen have been targeted — Bibi Hoor, from the western province of Herat, was killed in June — and more than 750 officers, including a handful of policewomen, have been killed in the past six months.

Kakar was slightly built; she stood just over 5ft tall, but was a woman of remarkable determination. She was the first woman to graduate from the Kandahar police academy, in 1982. Her father, a policeman, recruited her into the force at 15 — treating her no differently from her brothers who were also officers.

After the Taleban came to power in the mid-1990s and put her on their hitlist, she went into hiding. She was not sure if they just wanted to see the woman who had killed three Taleban fighters in the 1980s or if they actually wanted to arrest her.

After fleeing to Pakistan, she married a UN worker in an arranged marriage — which proved to be more successful than many of those she had to deal with in the force — and they started a family. Once the Taleban were removed from power in 2001 she returned to Afghanistan and the police force with the support of her husband.

“This isn’t an easy job but it is important that women do it,” she told Marie Claire magazine. “We need to be a part of the new Afghanistan.”

At home she played the traditional role of a wife and a devoted mother of six. In the mornings she cooked her children breakfast and got them ready for school or their household duties. She spent a long time saying goodbye to them because she could never be sure what would happen. She did not discuss police work with them and tried to prevent them worrying about the death threats by rising early to take the night-time threats off her door.

She was usually accompanied to work by her younger brother, a fellow officer, changing their route every few days. She sometimes wore a burka which could hide both her identity and her firearm. Her family lived in an army compound for greater protection but this was not enough to protect her from the Taleban. Kakar was killed by two members of the Taleban on a motorcycle who shot her in the head as she left for work. Her 18-year-old son, who was preparing to drive her, was also shot and later died in hospital. She is survived by five of her children and her husband.

Her murder was a stark reminder of the dangers posed by an emboldened Taleban, who are fanatically opposed to women being educated and allowed to work, and is a setback for the growing women’s movement in Afghanistan.

This article was taken from The Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4957228.ece

My comment:

I read the obituaries in The Times on a regular basis, not because I am morbid BUT because this is a celebration of a persons life and more often than not they are people to be inspired by and we should be thankful that they lived.

It is easy to forget that safety, liberty, free speach, equal rights, free health care and education are 'luxuries' that we enjoy day by day. We enjoy these benefits ONLY because people in the past have suffered and fought to strive for these basic rights. Not so long ago this country endured slavery, high mortality rates, infant deaths, disease, poverty and oppression. Afgahnistan is not a safe place and probably will not be 'safe' for many decades to come, BUT eventually the will of the people will shine through and heroic people like Malalai Kakar would have made it possible.

While we worry about a lack of credit we should be thankful for the 'free' things we enjoy on a daily basis and maybe remember those that made it possible such as:

Nye Bevan - for our free health. Bevan had fought tooth and nail to ensure all the people of Britain could receive the best medical care available whether they were a banker or a miner, free at the point of use.

Samuel Whitbread - In 1807 Samuel Whitbread proposed to deal with the whole of the Poor Law with the introduction of a Bill in the House of Commons. Of particular interest is the first part of the Bill, which dealt specifically with education. Whitbread advocated making the parish responsible for education and proposed that each child should have two years of education between the ages of 7 and 14. He thought this would reduce crime and pauperism. So, whitbread started the ball rolling for free education.

William Wilberforce - When William Wilberforce presented his first bill to abolish the slave trade in 1791 it was easily defeated by 163 votes to 88.

Wilberforce refused to be beaten and in 1805 the House of Commons passed a bill to that made it unlawful for any British subject to transport slaves, but the measure was blocked by the House of Lords. In February 1806, Lord Grenville formed a Whig administration. Grenville and his Foreign Secretary, Charles Fox, were strong opponents of the slave trade. Fox and Wilberforce led the campaign in the House of Commons, whereas Grenville, had the task of persuading the House of Lords to accept the measure. Greenville made a passionate speech where he argued that the trade was "contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy" and criticised fellow members for "not having abolished the trade long ago". When the vote was taken the Abolition of the Slave Trade bill was passed in the House of Lords by 41 votes to 20. In the House of Commons it was carried by 114 to 15 and it become law on 25th March, 1807.

The world that we live in i.e. Great Britian is no longer a place of extremities and injsutices, but much of the world continues to suffer. So maybe our bad news, credit crunch, recession, slow down, Madonna and Guy etc is a luxury to enjoy also because we no longer suffer the worse.

Be happy

2008-10-09T01:18:00.001-07:00

Apart from humans the number of species that worry are few and far between. The inability of much of the animal kingdom to worry affords them an amazing ability to focus on the task in hand. Most feel fear, but few worry needlessly as we do.

Our wonderfully creative minds give us so much, likewise this blessing takes so much away. If only we never worried so much, how better off emotionally would we be?

I accuse my self of not being a 'worrier', in fact I am pretty numb to the whole process. As a result I find it easier than most to face adversity with a smile on my face. I say 'accuse' as it can be advantageous (some times) to worry about what might have. If you fear something and worry about it you could (sometimes) prevent a materialisation of the said event occurring. For example if you worry about car crime in your area then that fear may cause you to fit an alarm to your car. A person that needlessly worries may exaggerate the fear and add an immobilised, steering lock, wheel lock, laser beam movement detection etc.

I was not worried about the credit contract (much), the basis that interest rates would not increase I knew that my world would be manageable. Others I know cashed in stocks, moved savings, sold assets and stocked the cupboards with non perishable foods - just in case the world collapsed. The few million other 'worriers' like them through their actions nearly forced the markets to collapse - in fact its an open chapter still.

But I should worry more, just to ensure - have a contingency plan. But I know if I do that then my usually optimistic outlook may change and I am not sure what the world of the eternal pessimist looks like of whether I could survive as a 'worrier'.

All I know is that today I need a smile on my face, I need to see the bright side and keep a focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. Like an ant, focus on the task in hand not what might happen around the corner.

Get Creative!

2008-09-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

Get creative!

It’s tough out there. For the last month I have been busying myself darting all over the place trying to cover as much ground as I can. Fact is opportunities are fewer for us all and we have to work harder and smarter to maintain the status quo.

I realised recently that I have tried to do too much in the time I have, which is a strange way of looking at things – none the less its true in my case. Fact is by stretching myself to limits I had taken away a key requirement that I need in my day to day role – creativity.

There has never been a time more important than now to be creative. With fewer opportunities I need to recognise any changes and ensure that what I have in my portfolio can deliver a benefit to the market. One of my clients specialises in providing services to professional service firms, with them I am identifying new services currently in demand by clients. This throws up a range of issues, as the staff are having to embrace these new services in order to ensure my client maximises the opportunity. The whole process requires creativity. It is a mistake to continue pushing your traditional products or services if the market is dramatically changing – swift action is required and a change of strategy can save the day.

But rushing around takes away the time to think, evaluate and chew over the best approach. So, I have paused as it is time now to Get creative! Hey presto, today while at a client site I have not rushed in, instead I have assessed an idea and found a way of making this a compelling proposition to their clients – in today’s market that is not an easy task. Rushing around I would have missed this.

Take some time to think, ponder and get creative!

Prone to stress?!

2008-05-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

Observation is one of the greatest mental attributes with have. When we get the chance to observe we learn.

While travelling many years ago, I came across an ex serviceman who had been travelling the globe for many years; as many do. His advice "if you don't want to get mugged don't go out, or at least don't be surprised if it happens while walking through Brazil dressed as a tourist!"

I guess the relevance of this advice is generic, basically avoid situations that you cannot cope with. Observing people I see that many get stressed on a frequent basis, often caused by situations that they should have avoided. Avoidance, or the skill of avoiding stressful situations is one we should all try to master.

I am particularly good at coping with certain situations, but equally bad at handling others. I try my best to avoid the ones where my level of competence is below par!

The problem with stress is it’s a double edged sword. I cause positive stress to propel myself forward, to try and achieve a positive result. This stress I control, I switch it on and off. Negative stress is beyond my control, caused by external factors where I have no influence. Although I have no control I can do my best to avoid the 'know to me avoidable forms' of stress.

I will not commit to something I cannot deliver. I would never employ a friend or relative........ You get the picture.

Identify what causes you stress, try to formulate an approach to making you aware when these situations are about to occur.

Spend some time observing the lives of others. Take some time to observe your own life. You are in control.

Economic slowdown

2008-05-22T03:40:00.001-07:00

A decade without boundaries, that's the way I see it. For ten years the world had no economic boundaries, credit readily available, new designs to attract the masses, the reality that you could have that new car or holiday by using 'profit' locked into your property, the world had no boundaries.

Being 42, I owned my first home when the property market crashed in the late 80’s; I also started my first business in a recession. I have had debt and experienced negative equity and genuinely wondered where the money for this months payments would come from. Unfortunately the economic 'world' runs on cycles, during the last twenty years these have been boom and bust cycles, more extreme in their up's and downs than ever before. You become very rich very quickly and very poor as quickly!

The world is now starved of readily available credit, as a result we all spend less, company's sell less, people earn less, less VAT and Tax is paid, the government earn less and son on. BUT HEY, this is an opportunity in disguise. IF you are prepared to be positive, work a little harder, play a little smarter, make fewer 'crap' decisions, then you can ride the wave.

I love marketing, I understand what it is. Marketing is at its most potent when there are extremes, extreme growth, or extreme slowdown. Mediocrity hurts marketing.

So, how can marketing help during an extreme economic slowdown? Firstly, there are two types of marketing - personal and commercial. Market yourself - position you to win amongst your colleagues, bosses and clients - Commercial marketing - position your business to win.

Personal marketing during an economic slowdown

I am an employer and I also have clients. As an employer the qualities most valued in an employee are creativity, application, reliability and a positive attitude. Like most I despise 'moaners and groaners' or Marvin’s as I call them (Marvin the paranoid android in Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy). A Marvin will be always be complaining, negative and draining - to survive as an employee DO NOT BECOME A MARVIN. Now is the time to prove your value, because when cutbacks come you do not want to become one of them.

My Top Personal Marketing Tips

1. Improve your working day - make a difference to the way you are perceived

Arrive at work 30 minutes earlier, this means going to bed earlier the night before, and waking earlier. You will feel fresher as a result and mentally more astute and able to react to the demands of the day. Your boss will notice this, his thoughts will be "business is tougher and this person is making more of an effort". Sounds corny, but trust me this new positive attitude in the face of adversity will impress.

2. Feel good in yourself - you can then cope with the problems and issues

A healthy body means an healthy mind - it is true. Cut down on the alcohol and the coffee - both are depressants and affect your sleep patterns and the way your body functions. I love a Guinness and a glass or four of red wine - but if I have to perform the next day I know that this is a no no. If you exercise on a regular basis then great, you know the benefits. IF you do not then it's time to start, apart from the health benefits it’s a mental escape from reality. I belong to a gym and am useless at keeping to a routine, BUT I also cycle EVERY Sunday without fail, it is the one time I can clear my thoughts and treat my body to a bit of a workout. At the end of a cycle my heart thanks me, my lungs thank me and my mind thanks me. Find something you enjoy away from the family and work, it must be aerobic, but just make sure you do something.

3. Slowdown, add 10 seconds to everything - think about what next!

At work and at home the pressure will begin to build. Everyone will become more and more demanding. DANGER - do not react too quickly to any demand or situation - take 10 seconds to think and ponder your reply or next action - slow down. This is a real weakness for me, I can be a real hot head sometimes, BUT by adding a 10 second delay gives me time to calm down, detach from any emotion and open up a new channel of thought. Your boss says the figures are down, deals are not closing and he needs your answer now, what are you going to say? Take 10 seconds........... "I can give you a knee jerk answer now, but I would rather take some time now to review the circumstances behind each deal and create a way of moving these forward" - you have just given yourself a couple of hours to get creative. NEVER react straight away, always take at least ten seconds to think things through.

4. Keep smiling - convince yourself

If you act like a loser then everyone will treat you like a loser, if you act miserable then everyone will be negative and miserable towards you. THIS IS A FACT. Next time you are on a train or in a store, catch someone’s eye and smile - their instinctive reaction is to smile back. Be positive around your boss, keep a smile and be happy and he will be positive towards you. Adopt a negative attitude and his will become the same towards you, if your business is feeling the pinch the last thing you want is a negative attitude from the boss.

By adopting a positive attitude (and sometimes it is very very hard)you will convince yourself that you are this positive smiling person, the brain reacts differently to situations as a result, more importantly people react differently to you.

By the way I am still learning....

5. Remember Kipling - IF

RUDYARD KIPLING was one of the greatest Indian poet's, writers and teachers. If you never have, it is worth reading his poem 'IF, here is the first part of it..

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

6. Don't be an Ostrich

The world is changing and situations will change. Stay in control and do not bury your head in the sand, otherwise your arse will get bitten! Understand all your commitments (financial, personal, work) and deal with them. Do not let events just flow without your input, time is incredible and as time rolls forward events and decisions will take place - make sure it's you creating these events and making the decisions. Some will be very tough to take and make you feel quite uncomfortable - BUT IF a recession is coming it is so important for you to stay in control.

7. Human nature and the common man

Remember most people will not think in this new way, they will not adopt the right attitude, for them times will be very tough. Changing and adapting to a slowdown takes courage and conviction and it’s much harder than just burying your head. You are fighting human nature, BUT DO NOT give up.

Like any product or service you can repackage yourself and market your attributes, in essence this is what you are doing. Same approach. Position to win.

ENERGY!

2008-05-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

I cycle, I cannot help it, but I am compelled to escape the world early on a Sunday morning for four hours or so. Some days I have a great cycle, I fly! Average speed is the focus, on a good day I watch the trip computer with an eagle eye to ensure my average does not dip below 17.5 mph, don't ask why 17.5 - it's just the route I take which is between 30 and 40 miles is hilly and I know I have done well if I average 17.5. BUT some days I struggle, but why? The bike and the route are the same, the weather conditions do not really bother me much, the difference is in me and my mind set, how energised I feel. If I am pumping I am pumping, I great hills with an attack spirit, other days I grit my teeth and dig deep for every revolution of the peddles. Where does the energy come from? I have tried different foods to eat prior and during a ride and they make a difference, but the energy comes from somewhere else, but where?

Today we had a board meeting for one of our companies, Bware solutions. Our chairman is a chap called Geoff Dearing - if I mention.. Lawyer, ex judge, several heart operations, rally driving, circuit speaker on litigation and a whole lot more, has kissed death, now retired and still works 70+ hours a week, oh and has 6 holidays a year (at least) you start to get a feel for Geoff. Couple all this with being a totally good bloke, honest and reliable friend, you begin to understand that he has some ENERGY. Geoff will maintain that it all comes from the gap between his ears. I reckon he is right, Geoff is charged!!! He is 18 years my senior and has twice my energy, fact is his mindset generates the energy, his body feeds the physical aspects but the enrgy comes from the grey matter.

You can talk yourself into energy, I have tried and it works. "I feel great today, I am buzzing" - I tell myself - guess what within 5 minutes I am. This great discovery, the secret to Geoff - all came about why I pondered why my cycling varies so much. Fact is when I have a great ride it is because I want to have a great ride, my mind is engaged, I want to enjoy the moment, I need the escape, mind and body connect and BANG here comes 17.5 mph average (now 18!! on a good day).

So the secret to achieving the most from what you do, is to do it with energy and that comes from within, its the grey matter that sets it off and YOU control that. What's more YOU can influence what the brain does, you can convince yourself to feel a certain way. IF others can make you feel crap or great then for sure you can do the same to yourself.

SO, the next business meeting you have PUT SOME ENERGY INTO IT!! You want to exercise, then put some energy into it! You want to make a change, then put some energy into it!!! Because if you don't no one else will. ENERGISE!!

Perfect decisions & flawed choice

2008-04-16T02:57:00.000-07:00

My wife was telling me about the husband of a friend of hers; they are a successful couple and I certainly respect them for what they have achieved for their family. Successful people are always a bit of an enigma to me; I wonder what makes them tick, how they got to where they are. Success to me is not just about wealth, there are plenty of 'rich' people that I would not class as successful - as their balance of life is all wrong. But my wife made a passing remark to me that has stuck and prompted this blog entry; "XXXX said that her husband has a natural talent for making the right decision" - WOW! Because I kind of know the couple I believe that that’s a true remark made by his wife to mine. The guy in question Mr X, appears to have a natural talent for making the right decision, in fact it's probably an art form, call it the 'Perfect Decision'. Artists, footballers, Actors, doctors, teachers can all be naturally talented, so surely this guy in his life can also be naturally talented - at making decisions.

Profound.

If you are like me, you can look back on your life and ponder some of the decisions and choices you have made and how they have impacted your life. Some of mine were great others not so good - such is the spice of life. BUT if my talent was making perfect decisions within a reasonable period of time then maybe, just maybe some areas of my life may have been different. But then I would not be me :)

I spent five years working within the Royal Air Force, attached to a unit responsible for selecting aircrew. As you can imagine it was a demanding selection process, examining every aspect of the candidate’s life, their mind set and their potential. From the many thousands that went through the process a handful met the demanding criteria and were selected to fly fast jets, once selected few failed. You could say that the selection process was geared towards making the perfect decision. BUT the RAF had time on their side; it could take years to get the right guy through. Interestingly enough, I met a large number of exception officers in the Air Force, physically supreme, mentally way up the rankings, yet they failed to be selected to fly fast jets - reason being? During the testing process those that fell at the final hurdle did so because they made a crap decision at a key moment - in the forces that is a 'life or death' decision point. So apart from having the fitness of athletes and the mental prowess of a professor, these pilots also needed a natural talent for making decisions.

Like my wife's friend’s husband and the fast jet pilots I can make perfect decisions, trouble is unlike them I cannot make them in a split second, I need time to ponder the options, weigh up the risks, work through the scenarios. I failed at the final hurdle to become a fast jet pilot, I have been successful in business, maybe (definitely) not as successful as my wife's friends husband, but I recognise that although I now rarely back a bad choice or a wrong decision I also take longer to ponder each decision as it presents itself.

I am a great believer in self improvement, that's why we are all here after all, and each day I exercise my mind to improve my effectiveness at making decisions.

Now translate all this into a business environment. Profound. Think British Airways Terminal 5, think Yahoo rejecting Microsoft then thik Steve Jobs at Apple, Richard Branson sponsoring the London Marathon etc. When all these decisions were made, would'nt you just loved to have been a fly on the wall! Profound.

Marketing in the 15th Century

2008-03-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Marketing is by no means a modern practice. In fact it is one of the oldest professions. Take St George, the red cross on a white background, the pride of all true Englishmen. But why?

Who was St George? What is myth and what is fact? Did he really slay the Dragon? Was he English? He is after all the Patron Saint of England.

Most authorities on the subject seem to agree that he was born in Cappadocia in what is now Turkey, in about the year 280 AD. It is probable that from his physical description, he was of Darian origin, because of his tall stature and fair hair. He enlisted into the Cavalry of the Roman Army at the age of 17, during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian and very quickly established a reputation amongst his peers, for his virtuous behaviour and physical strength; his military bearing, valour and handsome good looks.

St George, having defended his faith was beheaded at Nicomedia near Lyddia in Palestine on the 23rd of April in the year 303 AD. He was executed for defending the Christians against their slaughter by pagan elements within the Roman army.

In the year 1348 King Edward Ill established the Knights of the Garter, which is the oldest order of Chivalry in Europe. The Order of the Garter was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Edward the Confessor and St George. The Insignia of the order consists of a collar and badge appendant known as the George, the Star, the Garter and the Sash with the Investment Badge called the lesser George. In essence the Knights of the Garter had a brand!

It was in the year 1415 AD that St. George became the Patron Saint of England when English Soldiers under Henry V won the battle of Agincourt.

In 1497 in the reign of Henry VIII, the pennant of the Cross of St. George was flown by John Cabot when he sailed to Newfoundland and it was also flown by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. In 1620 it was the flag that was flown by the Mayflower when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in Plymouth Massachusetts. It is also the flag of the Church of England and as such is known throughout Christendom.

During World War 2 King George V1 established the George Cross for outstanding acts of Civilian Valour and one of the earliest recipients was the Island of Malta, for its outstanding courage in~ the face of the constant bombardment by the Italian and German Airforce. It is, coincidentally, the Island that was so closely associated and governed by the Crusaders who arrived from the Island of Rhodes in the 14" Century, following their 200 year war with the Turks. Remember that St George was himself a Turk!

The story is a powerful allegory, emblematic of the triumph of good over evil. From the 14th Century there has been a need to create a brand depicting characteristics aimed at stimulating individuals and generating goodwill together with enforcing the virtues and morals of the message. For English Christians, from the crusades, early explorers and pilgrims through to our armed forces, the brand of St George, the flag and all it represents is a triumph of marketing. After all this is a person who was not English and had never visited England. Today the St George is associated with some negative messages attached to patriotism and right wing beliefs. But we have twisted its meaning again to mean something quite negative, surely a reflection of the nations feeling towards itself and brand UK. NEVER under estimate the power of an image and the brand identity it generates!

subconscious

2008-02-16T06:13:00.000-08:00

Effectively managing your motivation at a conscious level is an objective for many of us. Unfortunately it’s our subconscious that often takes control on a regular basis and often rules the day.

Our subconscious influences our everyday decisions, these are based on our memorable experiences merged with thoughts we have had, coupled with what we think might happen next.

For example; if I attempt to lift that tree trunk I know I will fail because I remember failing to lift a smaller one before - we are therefore motivated to give up on our effort, even if I try my lack of motivation and self belief will result in me not using much of my strength and energy. Likewise, examples exist where people have lifted heavy objects when attempting to rescue a loved one; they have managed to accomplish seemingly super human feats with no fear or thought of failing, why so? Well they have not gained any super powers; it is just a case of having the right motivation.

The other day I overheard a conversation on the train; two women were discussing a mutual contact, which centred on the fast approaching London marathon. One said to the other “I have been training for eight months for this, I run four times a week, Sunday being my long run, but I am still struggling, whereas Lou seems to just do it, unlike me”, the other lady replies, “Well Lou has always been very single minded, in fact quite stubborn, when she does something everything else is on hold, not sure I would like to be like that!”…… “No” they both agree.

The fact is that their mutual friend, Lou, focuses on something and trains her thoughts around this single objective, that’s the reason she cracks on with the training, the reason why she will finish the 26 miles, fact is she is motivated. Her friend however is motivated to find it hard work, because she is not solely focusing on the event in hand, fact is she is probably thinking about being at home, warm and comfortable. The only difference between the two is the motivation.

So maybe the quacks are right, the secret is to think about what you want, move to one side the distracting thoughts and focus on the task in had – how simple is that! Well in fact it is a struggle, unless you get your subconscious working in your favour.

Motivation

2008-01-12T01:11:00.000-08:00

motivation

noun
1. the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"
2. the condition of being motivated; "his motivation was at a high level"
3. the act of motivating; providing incentive

There are thousands of books, tapes, cd's, DVD's, MP3's, websites, downloads covering motivation, why? Because many of us perceive this to be one of the big 'things' lacking in our daily lives. Fact is we are all motivated on a regular basis. In my 'mind' motivation is the collaboration of our thoughts to drive us towards a common action. This morning I was motivated to get out of bed when the alarm rang; one thought told be I was thirsty, another that I was hungry, another that I had to be in the office by a set time to meet a colleague, another thought reminded me that I would be late if I just lay here, while another urged me to get up to get my sons morning juice ready - all of these random thoughts hit me within the same time frame, the overall impact of which drove me out of bed, into the shower etc. Motivation is driven by our thoughts.

What motivated the murderer, the entrepreneur, the author, the artist, the thief, the liar, the prophet, the terrorist? Although they all acted in different ways, they shared motivation between them, with entirely different outcomes.

Most of us want to be 'motivated' to create happiness in our lives, motivation is often associated with the drive to become successful and accumulate wealth. This is our mistake though, our misunderstanding of the subject. Fact is we are all motivated each day, the challenge is how do we control our motivation benefit us and others.

Nowhere special

2008-01-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

Reading this now, you are somewhere. It maynot be where you want to be, but it is somewhere. If you are somewhere and it is not that great, then imagine what nowhere is like! I have travelled from somewhere to nowhere and what an amazing journey it has been!!! The next time I ask and someone says they have been nowhere special, then I wull understand what the 'special' reference means! Nowhere is special!

My journey to nowhere

Surrounded by an organized structure of support; meaning people to do stuff, regular income hitting my account and a six month activity plan driving forward - to nowhere. Nowhere meaning no support structure, no income, no clients and no scheduled activities. Just belief & three likeminded colleagues.

I never knew the meaning of sacrifice until August 2003; sure do now! My view is that many of us live mediocre lives, but safe ones based on little risk and tangible set rewards. I was the VP of a company, earning £130k+ per year, but I had no control of the future as key decisions were made by others - my only risk lay with the ability of others 'above' to make the right choices and decisions. In 2003 I became a 'thought' leader, a main decision maker, master of my own destiny. So which career posed the greatest risk.

Day 1 of nowhere

"Shit! I have no emails in my inbox"
"Shit!! I have no meetings planned!"
"Shit!!! I have no sales calls!"
"Shit!!!! I have no customers!"
"Shit!!!!! We have no product!"
"Shit!!!!!! We have no revenue coming in!"
"Shit!!!!!!! I have no income!"
"Shit!!!!!!!! We are going to have to live off savings!!!!"

Day 2 of nowhere

"OK we know what we are good at"
"OK we know the types of people we have sold to before"
"OK we know the markets, the benefits, the business case"

Day 3 of nowhere

"Shit! we have no product in place that’s ready to sell!"
"Shit!!!!!! We have no revenue coming in!""Shit!!!!!!! I have no income!""Shit!!!!!!!! We are going to have to live off savings!!!!"

Day 4 of nowhere

"OK - others have products we can sell!"
"OK - let’s resell"

Week 2

"That’s great news thanks.... Oh really, that's no so good...... Can I discuss the opportunity.... Yes! Oh you are not interested at this point in time....."

Week 3

"That’s great news thanks.... Oh really, that's no so good...... Can I discuss the opportunity.... Yes! Oh you are not interested at this point in time....."

Month 2

"That’s great news thanks.... Oh really, that's no so good...... Can I discuss the opportunity.... Yes! Oh you are not interested at this point in time....."

Month 3

"Excellent, next Tuesday is good for me..... the morning of the Monday is good..... sorry I only have the following Thursday available.."

Month 4

"I can discount the order by 15% on the basis that we can deliver next month as it utilizes available project days we have..... great news..... "

Month 5

"Shit! We gave some customers!"
"Shit!! Now we have to deliver!"
"Shit!!! They are going to pay us!!"
"Shit!!!! I may earn a salary at some point"
"Shit!!!!! this feels really GOOD!!!"

Fast forward to 2006

"Errrrr, we have staff, we have income, we have customers, we have product"
"Blimey, that was a rollercoaster ride!"
"Errrr, where are we now?"

Now I am somewhere

When you make a decision, for a period of time you will not know what will happen next, this magical moment of time is called 'nowhere', in my case it did not last long. When you are nowhere you have the freedom to consider choices and make decisions that will eventually always take you back to 'somewhere'.

My journey from somewhere to nowhere and back to somewhere was not as random a process as I make it out to be, in fact some major choices were made and decisions implemented that steered our business in a direction that was favourable, we ended up somewhere. It's those special moments when you make a decision that determines what will happen next, for every action there is a reaction. For me it was a case of identifying the 'reaction' I wanted from my action then deciding on the action to take - if that makes sense!

Although I am now somewhere, it is not the same place I was before. For me somewhere has changed, destiny is mine and it depends on the choices I consider and the actions I take each day - before someone somewhere did that for me!