The time-honoured tradition of relying on good relationships to make sales is a losing strategy according to a study from CEB, the member-based advisory company.
Category: Opinion
Some of the UKs leading business leaders and opinion formers share their insight and ideas for growth
How the Olympic legacy can bring businesses world class success
Simon Hartley is a sports psychologist, author and performance coach. After working with athletes such as double Olympian and Commonwealth champion swimmer, Chris Cook for 7 years between 2001 and 2008, he also helps businesses to implement the techniques of world class sportspeople.
Forget ‘Inspire a Generation’, it should be ‘Invest in a Generation’ to beat youth unemployment
If the Olympic motto was ‘inspire a generation’, the motto of the unemployment figures published today should be ‘invest in a generation.’
Running rings around us – lessons from the Olympics
Business is not like sport. The 100m race is over in just a few seconds and even a marathon only lasts a few hours, whereas business has to succeed year in year out. Because most athletes have never tried to run a business the links they make in their “motivational presentations” to business are tenuous and somewhat naïve. Quite frankly, they’re not much good.
Two financial wrongs don’t make a right when our economy is on the line
The Bank of England reckons the economy will be flat lining again with its growth forecast being cut to close to zero. It has fuelled debate for new measures to stimulate the economy, but what happened to all the cash that has already been thrown at the banks to get the country moving again?
Shell Live Wire has taught us that start-ups’ most valuable resource is other SMEs.
On Monday the office got a call to tell us that we’d won one of the four June Shell Live Wire Awards; a £1000 grant and business mentoring. In the excitement, we got thinking about how we had got so far in sixteen months.
Feeling overwhelmed? Five tips to get you past it.
Many small business owners feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do. Here are my five tips to get motivated, energised & back on track
London 2012 demonstrates home/flexible working should have lasting legacy
David Sturges, CEO of WorkPlaceLive, believes that the flexible working hours introduced during the Olympics 2012 could have changed the attitudes of employers for good allowing employees more flexible working patterns.
Leading From The Bottom – An Approach for SMEs
Small business structures are almost always drawn with leaders at the top, and leaders are expected to inspire followership among ‘the people ‘below’. Too often, I come across that dreadful word ‘subordinates’ in smes, which further perpetuates the unchallenged notion of leaders being on top directing their minions who cater to their every whim. And when leaders talk about ‘cascading’ their vision within the sme, there is only one direction anything will ever cascade!
‘Short term pain will create long term gain for British Business calling the Olympics a disaster is wrong’
That is the rallying cry from British Entrepreneur Will Davies who believes that fellow business owners who are branding the Olympic Games as a disaster for business thinking far too short-term.
How to Overcome the ‘Silly Season’
Everyone in business knows that it’s much harder to win sales during the months of July, August and September.
Hold up a mirror to improve your behaviour
Watching TV can help you improve your leadership, says Robbie Swales of drama-based training provider Steps.
GDP & UK trade: Working our way out of deficit
The GDP figures are lower than we expected and the circus starts. When will they – the politicians and economists whose voices are heard loudest when such figures are revealed – learn? Why can’t they see the bigger picture? When will they accept the cause of the current financial crisis? John Elliott, Chairman, Ebac Group, and founder of the Stop Gap campaign gives us his thoughts on a way out
Politicians, social media & a gaffe of Olympic proportions
Is social media making politics more transparent and accessible? Or should politicians be more careful about expressing radical opinions online?
Burning the midnight oil?
How to beat exhaustion by taking your business online. Successful mumpreneur Nicola Bird, founder of JigsawBox.com explains how she has found a way to not only spend quality time with her children, but also make a healthy six- figure income.
