How is your business perceived? You'll soon find out when you break big news...
Sunday, December 30, 2007 2:13:37 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
What I have found the most incredible about Stacey leaving her job to come work with me is the fact that you soon start to find out how people perceive your business. I try not to talk to people in too much depth about what's going on with The Site Doctor as generally when people ask "How's the business going?" I've realised they don't want you to reel off how much debt you're in (they're not sure whether to pity you or whether you're asking for money) -or how much money you're making (which is just seen as gloating) but with something as momentums as this people start sticking their oar in...
Although after talking it through with them people can see that it's going to make life better all round (and hopefully richer in the longer term -not just financially) the initial reaction is generally one of amazement that we'd even be considering it what with the company being so "small". People find it very hard to comprehend that although we work from an office at the back of the house, the business earns enough to support the two of us.
I realise they don't mean to be insulting in anyway and they only have our best interests at heart but sometimes the cliches rule through -I think my favourite comment was from my mother who after listening to the reasoning behind the move (which included making a saving as we won't initially need to get a larger office to accommodate the new staff) said that we would need to get an office straight away, "a flag ship office" as she put it.
A little bewildered as to why she would say such a thing her response made me smile even more "it will appear more professional to the outside world". I admit, getting an office is on the cards for next year however the fact that in the 5 years we've now been operating I know of only one occasion when we've had a client ask to come to our offices so why incur such an expense merely for show? Of course what she meant to say however was "it would appear more professional to the family" ;)
I should add at this point that I love my mother to bits but I am still astonished at the assumptions people make about a business based on what they see (rather than hear).
Britain's gone nuts
Friday, December 21, 2007 11:33:37 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I don't know when Britain decided this but it seems that every time I read the papers at the moment I read yet another absurd idea from up high but this one had me laughing so I thought I'd share:
The Justice Ministry is calling for the removal of the word "prostitute" - which has been around for almost 200 years - from criminal statutes. Ministry officials argue the word carries too much social stigma and are pushing to replace it with the phrase "persons who sell sex persistently." Try saying that with a mouthful.
Ethical Christmas Presents/Cards
Thursday, December 20, 2007 10:37:17 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Last year was the first year we sent out presents to clients and it went down a storm though choosing the presents is somewhat awkward -especially when it comes to wine, what if they're a red wine drinker or a white wine drinker etc?
Anyway I digress, as usual we've started receiving gifts from companies and as usual we've had one or two "we're not sending out cards this year, instead we're donating the money to xyz" or "we've spent the money we were going to spend on you, on a goat". A little un-PC I know but -gee thanks.
What a ridiculous thing to do, it really gets my goat (pun intended) when people do this, it's so pretentious -and doesn't impress me in the slightest, they'd be better not to bother -or- donate and not tell me. Why, instead of not spending that £1.00 on a card "saving the environment" don't you pay your bills by BACS instead? That way you would avoid sending a small cheque in a huge envelope with your complement slip etc? Surely THAT would be making more of a contribution?
All these donations to me just say "We've not got the time or inclination to get you something personal so we won't bother". Further more, Stacey and I donate to charities on a monthly basis anyway -to charities that we care about. Some of you may remember the Cheshire Ring Race we did for charity for example.
As I mentioned earlier, this year we were donated a goat -ok it's supposedly gone off to a family in Africa somewhere but quite frankly they should have saved all the donations up and gone over there and helped out, now THAT would have got my attention. Having been on a charity aid project in The Gambia myself I know that would mean a lot more to the locals than (apparently) being sent a goat.
Anyway, enough ranting, if you want a nice Christmas hamper or bottle (or two) of wine for your friends, family or client this year check out the Wine and Hamper Gift website for some ideas.
Gerald Ratner: The Rise... And Fall... And Rise Again -yet another autobiography
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 11:18:00 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
I don't know whether it's just I've had my head in the sand for the past few years or whether there really is an influx of autobiographies hitting the book stores, either way after finding time to read Duncan Bannatyne's book I thought I'd try another -"Gerald Ratner: The Rise... And Fall... And Rise Again" which I only bought out of curiosity but have found to be most interesting.
I don't know why many people read these sorts of books, I guess there are some looking for that "golden ticket to the riches" but I like to find out where someone's come from and what sort of attitudes businessmen have to life. One thing is for sure is that most of them want to write books1 ;)
I realise the book is his take on the events that passed (my mother is still insistent that he MUST have said the jewellery was crap as otherwise the press wouldn't have pursued him as ferociously) but either way what I found most interesting are the values that he learnt along the way.
One can only feel sorry for what he has been through -regardless of whether he was seen to be "flash with his cash" when he had it or not (to be fair who wouldn't be if they could be), to see that he's managed to recover from it is a real achievement.
Until recently, when asked the "If you could meet one person who's alive" type question I would probably have said Peter Jones as he always came across as an entrepreneur with a little gusto and flare about him but recently -perhaps just due to the producer's discretion I've gone off that idea and would much rather share a beer with Gerald Ratner. I wish him and geraldonline.com all the success in the future.
The book is an easy read and can easily be picked up and put down as needed so if you've not had a chance to read it, pick up a copy of "Gerald Ratner: The Rise... And Fall... And Rise Again" your local book store (or Amazon if you live in the sticks!).
1 For those of you interested, I have already got my book underway, it's going to be an epic -and exciting- tale of woe about my raise to fame (and hopefully without fall...). I think I'm going to name it "Coming from nowhere to go somewhere". I wish I could say you can pre-order it somewhere but you can't -if you want a copy email me and I'll add you to the list (you'll probably be the first...)
February 8th - a date for your diary!
Monday, December 03, 2007 5:13:35 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)
Well it's been a hectic few days what with breaking the news to everyone and getting things in place but we've finally got Stacey's management to give her a leaving date -February 8th. It's still a fair way off but a lot better than we were expecting (sometime in March) so we can't complain.
I just hope the new office is in place in time -let alone the new website (still very much in development)!