Welcome to Amanda’s semi-regular blog, where she writes about how to improve business profitability
Are you pouring money down the drain?
We wouldn’t pour money down the drain, however, when it is disguised as staff time, we often do it without realising it.
We underestimate the Knock-on effect
During the last fuel strike, many fuel stations had to close completely as their pumps were completely dry. When they ran out of fuel, they had no footfall into their stores and so they were unable to sell any of their ancillary products, milk, coffee, confectionery and so on. This is a great example where having one item out of stock can result in zero sales of a range of others.
It’s out of stock
In a recent survey, 48% of retailers cited frequent out-of-stock situations as one of their most significant challenges.
Opportunities for post-pandemic retail
There have been significant changes in consumer expectations, largely as a result of the pandemic.
Write process not a manifesto
I’m reading Neurodiversity at Work[i] at present, a recent publication by Amanda Kirby and Theo Smith. In it they say: We also need to ensure that diversity and inclusion is a part of all our processes and not a policy that is written and then stuck in a drawer.
I would argue that all too often processes are written and then stuck in a folder/drawer and never communicated, followed or implemented…
Why are we so afraid of difference?
I recently engaged in the services of a virtual assistant. I had two really great candidates to choose from in the final lineup, and quite honestly could have engaged either one of them. In order to make a decision, I decided to pick the one that was least like me. Whilst it’s often tempting to recruit people like us, from a business and productivity point of view, recruiting for difference is often the smarter move.
Have you outgrown your current software?
If software had a sell-by date I’m sure that UK productivity would be far higher than it has been since 2008.
We’re rubbish at defining problems
Most of us are pretty rubbish at defining problems. We spend so much time in our heads ruminating the problem we shut down our ability to think expansively about it.
2/3 of your forecast is generally missing
Trying to run a business with just a revenue and expenditure forecast, is like trying to do a jigsaw with only a 1/3 of the pieces.
Spreadsheets are not a panacea
My husband thinks that Excel can be used for anything, from planning a project to producing a technical drawing – yes really!
Is SpreadsheetAccuracyTheory a thing?
My family jokes that my ideal Xmas present is a spreadsheet containing errors that I have to find.
The grass isn’t always greener
When you’re stuck in the 9-5 grind of a day job, particularly one where your time is charged by the hour, it can seem very appealing to jack it in and become self-employed. That feeling that you could be working for yourself is alluring – you could charge less, and still be better off.
I wonder how many people in this situation have read The eMyth Revisited by Michael E Gerber? If they have, they might be more cautious about taking the plunge to self-employment or a freelance lifestyle.
Stuck prices requires a leap
Many years ago, I ran a software development house. I and a team of 4 other developers wrote and supported bespoke software for a range of clients. We were writing what would now be called an ERP system, without the finance bit.
Around the time my second son was born, over 12 years ago, the company finances were in dire straits.
What’s your pricing strategy?
Peter Cook, CEO of Thought Leaders Business School say that “we are all dysfunctional about money.” I think this is worth bearing in mind when it comes to working out pricing.
Managing Cashflow Requires Purposeful Pacesetting
Companies with a traumatic productivity culture must focus on cash flow. Rather like a marathon runner has a pacesetter to do a put in a good time, when trauma strikes, a business needs its own pacesetter to measure the pace of cash flow collection, because without cash, as we all know, a business will fail.