4028 days ago
Aha, I am less in trouble I am now only one article in arrears at 24n.biz, the small business website that I write for. And I have three ideas of what to write. Hip Hip hooray! This is the latest offering in my weekly series on tips for small businesses ( SMEs).
It is 13 years and 17 days since I started my first company and prepared to launch my first product – a website with the (then) revolutionary concept of charging for access. Older and (I hope) wiser, last week I launched a major new product yet again. Once again it is a financial website. This time it is free to access. Naturally it is brilliant and I urge you to trot along to www.shareprophets.com and register at once. Thirteen years ago I had five months to prepare for product launch – this time it was one month. But the five point checklist is the same.
4037 days ago
Bugger. I wrote a cracking piece on the train but Microsoft 8 saved another file on top of it and it is lost. Anyhow, I am now six down in five days with one piece in my head to rewrite and then I shall be zero columns in arrears with 24n.biz the online magazine for SMEs - my series on small business tips. Catch up continues...what the hell did I write on the train that was so good?
Of course you are immortal. Er… no you are not. One day you will die and the stresses and strains of running your own business might just make that rather sooner than you think. And so what happens when that sad day happens? Have you planned for it? As someone who owns and runs an SME your death planning is a touch more difficult than that of mere wage slaves.
No doubt you already have a will. You have left everything to your nearest and dearest. Or alternatively to the ex-wife. Good. That is the easy part. But what is your business worth without you and how is that going to benefit your heirs?
4037 days ago
I am still in trouble. This is five down in 5 days but I am still two columns in arrears with 24n.biz the online magazine for SMEs - my series on small business tips. Catch up continues...
And so you opt to change a manager. The existing incumbent or structure is not delivering – you have no choice. The process will be painful both financially and emotionally. I rather feel that at the moment having done just that on Friday. It is a financial hit and it was emotionally draining. I hit the red wine afterwards – it was the only mature, adult way to deal with it.
And so what now? The new incumbent starts today. What is my six point check list?
4041 days ago
I am still in trouble. This is four down in 44 hours but I am still three columns in arrears with 24n.biz the online magazine for SMEs. And so tonight will be reminiscent of "essay crisis" nights at Oxford. I am sitting up all night just determined to slog on until I reach my goal. I shall be writing little else other than articles with tips for small businesses. Enough is enough, it is SME time and so here is my fourth offering.
I received a letter today complaining of a bad experience at my restaurant. I have not had such a letter before. I suppose that makes it hurt all the more. One reaction is to say “most folks love us” this is just a fluke, bin the letter and to carry on as before. I guess you might term this the “ostrich approach.” It is not a path to follow.
Firstly? Is the customer right? I checked with my staff on duty that day about the specific complaint (the composition of one dish and the time delay in serving). The staff denied it acutely but I rather suspect that they would say that. It is hard to see why a customer would make a specific allegation up. And so there is no choice: go speak to the customer. At worst they will tell you to sod off and state that you have lost their business for good. But you have already so you have nothing to lose.
4042 days ago
I am still in trouble. This is three down in 24 hours but I am still four columns in arrears with 24n.biz the online magazine for SMEs. And so for the next 24 hours I shall be writing little else than articles with tips for small businesses. Enough is enough, it is SME time and so here is my third offering.
And so you have identified a member of staff who is somewhere between not very good at their job, downright bad at their job or criminally delinquent – what do you do? In an ideal world we would simply be allowed to fire them but we do not live in an ideal world. One of the main reasons NOT to take on full time staff is that it is so bloody hard to get rid of them if they are not up to the task assigned them. The net effect is that Britain’s incredibly “useless worker friendly” employment laws create unemployment.
But we are where we are. There is no real sign that the laws are going to change to create even a level playing field between those that risk their own capital (employers) to create jobs and those who simply earn a wage.
There is a lot of talk from HR professionals about “managing out” underperforming staff. That is to say warning them when they fail to meet the set objectives in their job description and going down a pre agreed process of three warnings and then termination. In theory you end up paying just the statutory notice period at the end and so it is a “cheap” option. In theory…
4043 days ago
I am in trouble. I am now six columns in arrears with 24n.biz the online magazine for SMEs. And so for the next 24 hours I shall be writing little else than articles with tips for small businesses. Enough is enough, it is SME time and so here is my second offering.
I can tell you that my restaurant in Clerkenwell is brilliant until I am blue in the face. As it happens the Real Man Pizza Company is brilliant but to quote Christine Keeler (or was it Mandy Rice-Davies) “he would say that wouldn’t he?” Yes of course I would. But if my customers start to say how much they like dining with us, which of course they do, then maybe you might just perk up and pay attention. Your existing customers should be your number one advertising resource. If they do keep coming back that is proof that they like you.
4043 days ago
I am in trouble. I am seven columns in arrears with 24n.biz the online magazine for SMEs. And so for the next 24 hours I shall be writing little else than articles with tips for small businesses. Enough is enough, it is SME time and so here is my first offering.
At the start of the year I outlined plans to market my excellent quirky Italian restaurant via old and new media and promised a report back after three months: it was a new foray for www.therealmanpizzacompany.com and I was uncertain of the outcome. Has it been worth it? On balance yes but to say that it has been a company transformer would be over-egging the pudding.
The amount invested in cash terms has been trivial. We have an in-house web design capacity and so that took up some time. The hard cash outlay was about £50 for targeted Facebook adverts kitting one strictly defined market segment: students in central/East London.
New media gurus will measure tangible new media metrics.
4082 days ago
Another one of my occassional articles for 24n.biz on tips for SMEs or small businesses.
The restaurant I took control of six months ago hit that magical point last week. Hooray! It is no secret that the Real Man Pizza Company, which I bought in September, was historically a consistent and heavy loss maker. But we have done the basic things that others neglected to do: cut overheads, squeezed suppliers, adjusted prices that hadn’t changed since Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, upgraded, tweaked and improved the product offering. It was not rocket science. And it has worked. For a couple of months it has been making an operating profit. Last week it made a small profit including the central cost (me). So what next? It is the point any start up or turnaround business purchase dreams of hitting, but what next?
4085 days ago
This article is from 24n.biz where I write occassional pieces on small business (SME) tips. Out today…
It was promised long ago but like all IT projects there were delays but finally at my small business our new website is live. Check it out HERE – heck I have done one of the “to dos” already. More on that later. So have we achieved our goals?
Well I think so. There is some debate still about our introductory image – the Celtic Sea God Manannan Mac Lir. I think it arouses interest and will draw more folks in to discover more about our Celtic Italian restaurant in Clerkenwell. My business partner Nigel reckons that it will scare the kids away. We shall see. But my 6 point check list of primary objectives have all been achieved. Look at your website and ask:
4086 days ago
The latest article on Small business tips from me in SME online website 24n.biz is live:
It was a rather humbling experience. Our restaurant has an enormous flag above it. It is painted a bright red. Even Stevie Wonder could not help but notice it. Or so we thought. And so we strolled into the local printers shop 300 yards away from Clerkenwell’s Real Man Pizza Company. restaurant and asked if they could drop off the posters back at our place later. Where are you? Really? I had never noticed you?
Jeepers the restaurant has been there for 45 years. Under its current name and design it has been there for two years. And there is a potential customer – an admitted lover of Italian food – working three hundred yards away who does not know that we exist. We joked about it but it is a very serious point.
It is all very well for you to plan to grow your business by tapping into new markets or reaching out to potential new customers but those should be steps three and four. Step one is ensuring that your existing customers are happy and trying to tap them for a bit more business. In the restaurant game that means persuading the odd extra one to have a coffee after the meal or perhaps to have a pudding – surely our new spaghetti all chocolate must tempt you? But it is the same in every business: you easiest sell is to an existing customer.
4105 days ago
My weekly Small business (SME) tips column from 24n.biz starts, as ever, close to home. There are some who dismiss Facebook and twitter as a complete waste of space when it comes to marketing. There are others who swear by new media. I wonder. For what it is worth I offer a few observations based on my own experience of trying to persuade more folks to try to come to the quirkiest Celtic Italian restaurant in Clerkenwell, London – the Real Man Pizza Company.
4108 days ago
You may remember that I suggested to you as a new year resolution/ small business tip that you review your contracts with key suppliers as a way to boost profitability. I drink my own medicine and so at Clerkenwell’s finest Celtic Italian restaurant, The Real Man Pizza Company , I have started to practice what I preach.
In case you have not taken my advice, I offer this as a tale of encouragement.
The cost base at Real Man can be split roughly speaking property 4, staff 6 all other costs 5. We will address the property issue in time – I believe our rates are too high and an appeal should be made in due course. Staff – there is nothing that can be done and so that leaves suppliers, all of whom have been in place for an absolute eternity. In such a scenario there is a danger of complacency with suppliers sticking in annual increases on the assumption that nothing will every change.
Suppliers all claim to be your friends. Long standing relationship, blah, blh, blah. The reality is they are out to maximise margins just like you are.
4120 days ago
My weekly (SME) small business tips column from 24n.biz focusses on a matter close to my heart… As you may know I am primarily a writer but my real love is my restaurant, the excellent Real Man Pizza Company in London’s Clerkenwell. And so while some of my colleagues are writers others are cooks and waiters. I have always taken the view that one can only lead in one way, by example. This if a writer is rather slow in his or her output you show how much can be produced and whether by inspiring or by shaming you write away and hope that your lead is followed. Since I have been writing for 25 years that is not hard for me to do. But a waiter or a cook?
4135 days ago
How many of my 2012 Resolutions did I keep? Not as many as I would have wished. Naturally I shall try to resolve to quit smoking, shed the Christmas pounds, be a better father & son, etc. All the sort of stuff that a Miss World contestant would understand. That is the personal stuff. The business stuff? Well naturally I shall try to ensure that invoices are issued on time and chased correctly, that we look at getting our suppliers to requote, etc,etc. All the sort of things any SME should be doing anyway but which we sort of never quite keep up on top of.
There are a few specific business plans I have: At Real Man Pizza there is a children’s menu to introduce, an expanded special student scheme, the website revamp etc. I am hopeful all will be in place by January 8th. But these are not really resolutions. And so I offer up three:
4160 days ago
As it happens Christmas is a good cashflow month for my business in that away from the media side we own a restaurant – the awesome Clerkenwell eaterie that is the Real Man Pizza Company. Driven by our cracking Christmas menu (which you can read HERE ) bookings are strong. We still have some vacancies so if you need a meal or a party venue you can still contact us HERE but we know that there is enough cash coming in to pay the bills. But for many other businesses that is just not the case. Christmas can be a nightmare. Not only do you have ten days when more or less everything is shut so revenue is nil but in the ten days leading up to Christmas everyone else seems to drunk ( or out of cash) to pay their bills. Yet your staff and other supplies insist on getting paid for a full month. Sods. This can cause a cashflow issue. So how to cope?
4162 days ago
No-one likes cutting costs. It is always something that a normal human being defers because however you do it, the process will involve causing pain to someone. It will involve someone receiving less money. But then again it is your money that you are handing out and you are running a business, not a charity.
Perhaps you still baulk at the idea. After all it is Christmas. In which case, try to think about how to boost profits in other ways:
