» Business growth and change

All growth is change, and even businesses determined not to grow will change over time. How change is implemented in a business is as much a people issue as an operational one.

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> The business life cycle

Business growth and change

OK. I’m doing what you told me. How come it isn’t working?

In business, we all need to learn how to do things―whether it’s preparing a financial plan, writing a proposal, or participating in a networking event. Some people make it a

«Network better»: the programme

The programme will enable attenders to hugely raise their game in business networking and referral marketing.

«Network better»: the book

Network better is my new book on business networking—currently looking for a publisher.

A short piece about the strength of business relationships

In his book, Business by referral, Ivan Misner identifies three levels of networking relationship, defined by their strength: visibility, credibility, profitability.

“I’m not making progress with networking”

Most businesspeople are not as successful at networking as they would like to be.

What’s the best way to follow up a proposal…

In answering the question, I am following my own maxim ('Whenever anybody tells me they have a problem, all I know at that moment is that that is not the problem') by assuming

«Network better»: the pitch

Network better is my new book on business networking—currently looking for a publisher. Networking is the only activity that business people do that only requires good

A short piece about telling stories

Stories are memorable in ways that dry factual statements aren’t, particularly when you need to remembered in a crowd and other people are listening to other people telling

A short piece about being «good enough»

When I encounter resistance to this phrase (which is surprisingly often) it is usually, I feel, because people misunderstand it. It’s almost as if they think it means “not

Seven startup misconceptions

Seven misconceptions about startup businesses often perpetuated by people unaware of the need to do a bit of research or to listen to those who have experience; or, I regret

A short piece about perfectionism

Perfection is actually a way the mind has of stopping us moving forward. “I can’t take the next step because I haven’t done this one perfectly yet”.

What to do to stop projects failing

To be honest, this might be better titled, What to do to reduce the risk of projects failing. It's a very brief summary in response to the interesting work done by the

How to choose a regular business networking event

A useful, regular networking event is likely to cost you both an admission fee to each event and a membership fee to belong to the organisation. Here are some questions to

Ways of getting clients

Traditionally, small businesses have adopted many ways of getting clients: advertising (whether print, posters, radio), cold calling, direct mail, and networking among

A short piece about finding out what the prospect actually needs

1 You need to adopt a coaching approach to finding out what the prospect really needs. You don’t have to be a coach, but you need to ask the sort of questions a coach would.

The «psychopathic corporation»

Although I embrace the concepts of a "psychopathic corporation" wholeheartedly, I suggest that there is more than one way to “put the shareholders’ interests above a

A short piece about selling

Don't! Many people confuse “sell” with “get client” (or “convert prospect to client”).

Stress and work

A major issue with businesses is the extent to which stress felt by people in the business is created by the circumstances of the business and in the business. This is a

An approach to hiring and inducting graduates that works

During the course of our conversation, it became apparent that Waterstons not only has a well-developed process for bringing new graduate recruits into the business, but also

A short piece about the principles of networking

These ten principles of networking (particularly aimed at startup businesses) have been developed from thirteen years of networking, coaching and teaching about networking and

A short piece about elevator pitches

The idea of an ‘elevator pitch’ is that you get into a lift (elevator) only to find that inside is the very person whom you need to persuade to help your business. What do you

Briefing an advocate

What does your advocate need from you? The purpose of having an advocate is to have them refer their contact/friend/business colleague to you. It is not for them to "sell"

Commit to growth

For a business to grow, its leaders have to be willing to grow themselves, to change and develop. This is hardly surprising. At the end of the day, businesses are the people

How to improve your business website—3

Blogs are very important. They demonstrate that you are a human being. Blogs about "sign up now, only two places left" tell the reader that you're more interested in selling

How to improve your business website—2

Here is a suggested structure for a business website which assumes that its purpose is to convince visitors that you know what you are talking about. The intended outcome is

How to improve your business website—1

Stay with this. Although what I will propose may sound radical, it doesn’t need much work now; you can add to it later (and for search engine purposes, should be built up

A short piece about your purpose

Whether it is a meeting, a conversation, a business, a job, a holiday—absolutely any human activity—it is worth asking: “What is the purpose of this meeting, conversation,

Being good enough

When I encounter resistance to this phrase (which is surprisingly often) it is usually, I feel, because people misunderstand it. Note that the phrase “good enough” contains

The coaching conversation

Well formed outcomes are essential in defining or gathering requirements with a client. In fact, they are (or should be) the requirements. An outcome is the answer to the

Recruiting for attitude

I trotted along to the IT department, having prepared myself for the interview. I was, however, surprised as the interview progressed that the personnel manager seemed not to

How the scarcity model affects sales

The sales process and, to a lesser extent, marketing are the forums in which scarcity models show up most clearly in business. This is hardly surprising given that sales is

How the scarcity model affects business

A scarcity model, as opposed to an abundance model, is a belief that there is not enough to go around and that we will lose if we don’t fight for everything. That “not enough”

On change—1

As they say, change is the only certainty (well, apart from death and taxes, of course).

“We are struggling to grow the business…”

Building a successful business is no mean feat. Of course, along the way, there are always hurdles to overcome. Sometimes the barriers are obvious, more sales are needed or

More time to think

In a recent poll, when asked, “What one improvement could make your business more profitable?”, I voted “Having more time to think”, confident I would be in the minority, only

Why IT projects overrun…

As a consultant, I worked on many assignments for corporates, such as the BBC, EWS Railways and many others, where my job was to be the interface between the clients and

Business functional structure

It is a truism that there is a lot to do in business. Businesses of more than one person need to be confident that each person knows their responsibilities

Time and motion

It was a care home. He couldn’t be entirely clear what their problem was, but they had said they needed a time and motion study and, did I do those?

Getting clients 2

Bids and tenders are often essential to get a client, particularly in large projects Yet many are quite simply not up to the job, let alone being actually compelling.

Changing the business

In this video, Jeremy Marchant discusses how to approach change in a way that ensures its success within a business.

Five emotionally intelligent marketing tips

The meaning of a message is what the recipient makes of it

Falling off the business life cycle?

Businesses are generally recognised as moving through different stages. This is usually referred to as the “business life cycle” though it isn’t actually a cycle

Why some businesses stall

In this video, Jeremy Marchant talks briefly about why some businesses inexplicably get stuck

Stuck in the growth stage

It is possible for a business to be “stuck in growth”: to be outwardly successful, but not actually achieving the full potential of the people in it.

Moving into maturity

Many businesses are somewhere in the growth stage. We argue that a business should aim to get out of this stage—into maturity—as soon as it can

What is the purpose of your business?

If you don’t know what the purpose of your business is you will find it hard to be compelling, or even comprehensible when you talk about it.

Setting up successful advocacy relationships

Dealing with reservations is an essential part of setting up successful advocacy relationships.

Building advocacy relationships in business

Advocacy marketing is a powerful and, arguably, essential component of any business's marketing strategy.

How one client got out of his own way

In this video, Jeremy Marchant tells a powerful story about a client who had to accept that holding on to an issue was holding him back in his business.

The case for intervention

Why businesses often need some fresh input from outside...

Going for growth

What do you measure when you measure business growth?...

On being stuck

There is an interesting category of business which I describe as being ‘stuck in growth’. Usually these businesses are outwardly successful, but they are not meeting

Every business needs an entrepreneur

When George W Bush was reported to have said “the French don’t have a word for entrepreneur”, my how we laughed.

What goes around comes around

It’s said that men tend to have a linear view of progress whereas women’s view is cyclical.

Why it can be so difficult to take action

I have a client – or, rather, I don’t have a client – who, despite being granted funding for coaching, has still not booked the first session after four months.

Train

Back when I was a business consultant, one of my clients was a train operating company. So I asked them what a train was.

Too busy

Daisy impressed me by the diligence she put into ensuring that her staff got the training they needed. Eventually, I turned to her and said, “So who trains you, Daisy?”

We make all our decisions based on feelings

How did you make your last decision at work?...

Business growth and change

Further reading