“We are not an information centre, why don’t they just Google it up” said an Australia Post employee as soon as the customer was out of the hearing zone. I was at a post office and while I was being served, a customer at the next counter had bought what she needed and just asked…
Business Mindset
“WE” vs “THEM”
English wasn’t my 1st language and thinking about it wasn’t probably my 2nd or even 3rd language I spoke but the words we use in a business environment are so critical. Yesterday I had to call icare NSW because I had emailed them the change to my business name and email address over a month ago…
People not robots
Treat your team members as people not robots and see if it makes a difference in their attitude to work. People you know the ones who: Can have bad days here and there Have kids and may need time off here and there to look after them Get sick every now and then At times…
Giving more than 100%, giving your 120% or even 150% .
There is a lot of rubbish written and talked about giving more than 100%, giving your 120% or even 150% in a business, team and even sports environment. It might sound good to hear and even motivational to some, but the simple fact is if people are performing way higher than you expected or you…
You can’t plan for opportunities
Got a call from client. They had an opportunity come their way. It wasn’t part of the plan or what they do normally and weren’t sure if they should take it. Had the client send all the information they had and did some numbers. Looked at cashflow, capacity, resources, profitability, etc and it looked all…
How driving a car to work is similar to running a business?
My drive to and from office I realise has a lot in common to people running businesses. As you drive minding your own car and course, you see all these other drivers swirling from lane to lane, trying to beat the red light, doing illegal U turns, overspeeding, driving where they are not meant to,…
Do you have the right attitude to keep your debtor days in check?
I have seen lots of businesses who make the mistake of focusing on increasing their sales but showing no urgency in collecting their money from customers (debtors). Remember you are in the business of supplying whatever it is you supply and not in the business of lending your money to finance your debtors’ businesses. The…
Is it worth paying Goodwill?
There are two ways of owning a business. You either start it from scratch or buy an existing business and continue running it or even better, improving it. When you buy an existing business; over and above the value of the assets, the seller is likely to ask for a Goodwill amount for the non…
What got you to good won’t get you to great…
It’s not that hard for business owners to make a decent living out of their business or for employees to reach a salary level that they are comfortable with. For business owners – we have an idea, we do a bit of research, start a business, start getting clients, service them reasonably well and the…
Don’t try to be the best…
There are people and businesses out there who are claiming to be the best at doing one thing or another and there are also those that are trying to get there but my advice to both the groups is to stop trying to be the best in the world and just try to be the…