The Elastic Brand
Will Dr Dre ever run a railway? I advise all of my clients to stay focussed. That’s just common sense, right? Well, you might be surprised just how hard businesses…
These articles illustrate how and when to apply leverage. If you want to make more money you will need to leverage others’ time, expertise, and cash; probably all of these things. Both the process and the timing can be critical to how well it works out.
In Praise of Red Tape
Scale is not always a good thing, it has unattractive qualities too. I once ran a payphone business. I know, it does seem rather quaint, in today’s 4G world, to…
Ardagh
Leadership is always the catalyst of great success. Over the past fifteen years Ardagh, the Irish glass bottle maker, has gone from relative obscurity, with operations in just Ireland and…
Time is Money
Any commitment of time, by a potential client, is a buying signal. Last week I went to see the new James Bond film, Skyfall. To be honest, I was a…
Google’s Squillion Dollar Problem
Just how much shareholder’ cash should a business hang onto? I’m not afraid to say I am a fan of Google: I love it to bits and want to publically…
Chasing Clouds
Virtual clouds have announced the start of Phase II of the Networked Era: good news for Lenovo, but what about HP, IBM and Dell? If you haven’t heard of Lenovo,…
Double Glazing
How are the Glazer family’s clever financial games working out for them? The purchase of Manchester United football club, by the Glazer family in 2005, was in the form of…
How Not To Do It
“I have five fundamental principles that I believe underpin most successful businesses, rarely do I come across a company that flaunted them all.” Someone told me once that businesses tend…
Last Jack-In-The-Box Standing
“There is much to be learned, about the future of retail, from the high street toy shop The Entertainer.” Over the last few months I have written a lot about…
Seeing the Asset Light
"Being in more than one business at a time can be a distraction.” Conrad Hilton once said “you can make a lot of money from a hotel as long…