Buying stationery for the office is one of my pet peeves. Whenever it’s time to make the order, I spend ages questioning the costs and personally checking the prices of alternative suppliers. I know it drives my staff quite mad, but this is a very competitive area – and I’m convinced that there are savings […]
Tag archives: outsourced financial management
Don’t believe these 3 myths
Last week I mentioned I’ve always had an interest in the Tudors. I’ve learned an enormous amount about them… …And I’ve also discovered that some of the things I believed for many years are absolutely untrue! For example, Walter Raleigh didn’t introduce tobacco to the UK in 1586 – a fun fact I had learned […]
What you can learn about finance from the Tudors
I’ve always been interested in the Tudors – and over the past few months, I’ve been learning a lot more about them. It’s because I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts in the car – I still do most of my reading when I’m driving! And I was looking for a subject that […]
These are your REAL competitors. (Not who you expect)
More than a decade ago, we were working with a consultant on our growth plans. He asked me who our competition was. “Oh, we don’t really have any,” I answered confidently. He told me I was completely wrong… True, at the time – and to an extent, even today – there were very few companies […]
Swiss army knife vs kitchen knife
Recently, one of my readers forwarded me an email they had received from someone called David Perell. I’d never heard of him before, but he turned out to be a pretty insightful guy who writes about the craft of writing. Every Monday, he also sends out an email full of the most interesting ideas he’s come […]
Pricing is not a maths problem. It’s a judgement problem
Clients regularly ask me, “Garry, what should I charge for X?”… …X being their flagship product or brand-new service. I think they expect me to peer into their accounts – almost like looking into a crystal ball – and come up with the “correct” answer. I hate to disappoint them… There is no formula that […]
Why you shouldn’t rush to replace your accountant
A few years ago, an organisation I know lost its financial director. When they went through his files, the other directors were shocked to discover that none of it made any sense… At least, none of it made any sense to them. The company’s financial information was recorded and organised in a completely idiosyncratic way. No […]
Can’t pay massive salaries? Do this instead
In my last blog, I mentioned that one of the railway companies I’m involved in lost their chef… He was poached (no pun intended) by another company, which doubled his salary. It not an unusual story right now. The labour market is quite unstable and lots of companies are experiencing staff shortages at all levels, […]
This trend will hurt you if you don’t watch out for it
I was speaking to the owner of a beauty salon, who was trying to hire an aesthetician. “Even if I set up interviews with them, they don’t turn up,” she told me miserably. “I can’t get staff for love nor money right now.” I’m hearing the same for many business owners across a range of […]
A cautionary tale from LinkedIn
Over the past few weeks I’ve become a lot more active on LinkedIn. I’ve noticed an enormous improvement in the quality of the posts since I was last heavily involved on the platform, a few years ago. There’s still a bit of boring, salesy material. But there are also a lot of people sharing knowledge, […]
