Between a ROC and a Hard Place
Great businesses can sustain great Returns On Capital. I have just searched my blog database (which you can find online here…) for “Tesco” and found 12 articles in the past…
Business Review Business
Investing time in team identity and alignment has a very high return in any business. I’m in the business review business: I can variously be said to lead, run, facilitate,…
Saving the Church of England
All organisations need to adapt to changing times, but you can’t do it without strong and committed leadership. A big thank you to all of you who contacted me to…
Let’s Get Naked
Three things separate the great new businesses from the rest: strongly differentiated positioning; first mover advantage; and positive cash flow. My wish list for an ideal new business would be…
Profit Before Ubiquity
Don’t copy the high profile speculators when building your business. The problem with speculation is that you never know what the endgame will be. Will you make money if you…
The Guessing Game
A business’ strategy should last longer than the tenure of the person in charge. It never ceases to surprise me just how many businesses don’t really have a very well…
Are You Hard To Classify?
Comparables are more useful for selling your business than your products. When Sidney De Haan fulfilled his post WWII ambition and opened a hotel in Folkestone in 1950 he soon…
The First Black Singing Prime Minister
No matter how good your product is, don’t forget the branding. I am a fan of the UK version of The Voice which has just come to an end for…
Take Small Steps
Don’t let your enthusiasm get the better of you in achieving your business dreams. The last time I wrote an article about Mulberry, the UK fashion brand famous for its…
Sell Solutions Not Products
It’s amazing what great management can do with some deceptively simple-sounding strategic ideas. In the 1990’s, when digital printing came of age, traditional printers had a pretty bad time of…