How to: Have an Effective Strategic Planning Process – Webinar
I was delighted to be invited to speak to partners and guests of The Northern Affinity this week about the strategic planning process. The video of the webinar is available to watch via this link. https://youtu.be/dX_tVxjNJQQ During the session I talk about: What is strategic planning The four elements of the iterative process The pitfalls […]
Untangling the Spaghetti in your head
I was delighted to join Ian and Tracey Earl this week on their ‘In Businss Talks 2’ podcast. During the podcast I talk about how I help my clients to BE CLEAR and BE FOCUSED – which was described by one client as helping her to “untangle the spaghetti in my head”. You can listen […]
Who is next to close their shops?
Today in the news the latest retailer to sadly close their doors is Thorntons. They are changing their business model to online only. I am not sure how sustainable this is for them or who their audience is? The gift market is a possibility but they will lose a lot of turnover in terms of […]
The Strategy Pyramid
I have been running workshops recently with the amazing Danielle Heward, where we take our delegates through each part of the strategy pyramid. It all starts with your WHY, and this should be a constant in your strategy – it is the reason your business exists. Your purpose may be general in nature or may […]
Bank Balance – A Strategic Game
Did anyone watch Bank Balance – a game show hosted by Gordon Ramsey? I was glued to it every night as it represented the importance of having a clear game plan – A STRATEGY! Contestants who had a strategy from the start fared much better than those that were making decisions as they went along. […]
It’s all about the WHY
As entrepreneurs we all set off with a clear idea of the product or service we are offering, in effect the WHAT. What is harder to define is the WHY. There are two parts to this question: WHY do you exist? WHY should your customers’ buy from you? Let us explore part one first: WHY […]
What hat am I wearing today? by Stewart Harper, Cardno Management Services
For many solo-preneurs, or small business owners, your business and yourself are difficult to distinguish. People come to your business because of what you (personally) offer to them – and of course, that’s probably why you started the business in the first place – to work closely with individuals, and not worry about corporate structures […]
Community First
One of the key consumer trends arising from the pandemic is the move towards supporting our local community. As we leave our homes and neighbourhoods less, our community becomes more important to us. There is real sense of camaraderie and collectivism. We now are more likely to go out our way and check-in on our […]
Strategy & Culture
Thank you to members Anish and Mike for starting a discussion on the peer forum on the relationship between Strategy and Culture. One of the key components of successful strategy execution is the right culture. In the current climate of high unpredictability then your strategic approach needs to be either Adaptive or Shaping. Adaptive = being […]
Keeping up with trends
I know they have been around a while but Air Fryers appear to be the latest must have kitchen gadget. Whilst cooking tea the other night I noticed that the cooking instructions now included timings for air-fryers. It got me thinking about the impact of the trend on food manufacturers and the thought process they […]