Simple - A collection of business basics
Simple is a collection of business basics that I wish I had been given when I was starting out. If I had access to them when I began in business it would have saved me a lot of pain.
The concept of business has become so seemingly complicated, and surrounded by myth and mystique (often disguised as something else), that we have lost sight of those simple building blocks which should combine to create successful businesses. We have tangled ourselves up in mission statements, and visions, and being so politically correct, that the basics are forgotten.
This collection of articles is about those basics. Basics gathered from experience, learned from trial, and from error. And honed by repetition.
The ideas you will find here are not mine. I have merely collated them. They have been influenced and shaped by the ideas and actions of many others. Some have been guiding lights I have read, or known, and admired. Others are bastards I have met - and very often wished I had not. They all taught me something along the way, whether or not they intended to, and now I share them with you.
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Leadership
If you want to lead effectively, then it can only be done from the front. Not necessarily out in front charging with bayonet drawn in an old fashioned military way, but in a way that demonstrates you are involved, interested, concerned, and that you do take things personally. Leadership needs to be visible to those being lead.
You have to be aware that as a leader you will be imitated. Whether deliberately or not, your actions and your lead will be mimicked. If you demonstrate energy – then you will see more energy from your team. However, if you skive off early on a Friday, then expect that as well.
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| Jan 06, 2012
In order to know why a business is successful – or why it fails – we need to know what exactly a business is. We all know what a job is.
The common notion, especially in those economies where small businesses rule, is that ownership of a small business is like having a job and being the boss at the same time.
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| Aug 17, 2011
In order to know why a business is successful – or why it fails – we need to know what exactly a business is. We all know what a job is.
The common notion, especially in those economies where small businesses rule, is that ownership of a small business is like having a job and being the boss at the same time.
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| Jul 31, 2011
The opposite of this is that the worst companies have the worst people.
Failing businesses I have gone into invariably have people who don’t want to be there, with bad attitudes, few skills, and are badly lead and managed. They may not be bad people, but the circumstances they find themselves in combine to ensure they invest their skills and energy elsewhere. They will be on the phone to their mates, texting under the desk, and sneaking longer breaks whenever they can. And that’s just when they are taking time out from trying to find a better job – where they get more money for doing less.
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| Jul 17, 2011
What is it that motivates people?
What is it that makes us want to get out of bed in the morning and want to invest our energy in doing something?
Other than the fact that for most of us we have to, in order to put food on the table and a roof over our heads, invariably winners do it for reasons other than money. For some it is the challenge of being first, or best, or making their dream a reality, or perhaps even about building an empire. For many it is about proving their capabilities to themselves – proving they have what it takes.
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| Jul 16, 2011
