If you were trying to figure out whether you could afford an extension on your house, what kind of information would be more useful to you… A summary of how much money you made and spent around 12 months ago? Or a carefully calculated forecast of how much money you’re going to have over the […]
Tag archives: planning
I’m a grandad!
It gives me huge pleasure to interrupt my regular blogs on financial management for an important announcement… I’ve become a grandad for the first time! Baby Eve Rosemary Mumford arrived a few days ago, and mum, dad and baby are all doing well. Nana Thelma is in her element cooking, helping and knitting blankets and […]
7 clues your in-house accounting is broken
Years ago, we were invited to help rescue a distressed business, whose finances were extremely messy. Amongst other problems, we discovered that every time they wanted to raise a sales invoice, they had to go through 21 separate steps. They’d been working this way for years, and it didn’t seem at all strange to them… […]
The devil’s in the details. So are the opportunities
One year, we had a new client who wanted us to work out in a lot more detail which parts of his business were profitable over the past 12 months, and which weren’t. It was a wonderful idea, because you need to understand where the profit lies in your business in order to grow faster. […]
What if…?
If you have an IT guy, he’s probably suggested at some point that you do a vulnerability assessment. This is a test the tech guys run on your computers, to figure out where all the holes are… …For example, where a hacker might be able to access data, whether you have passwords that are guessable, […]
2 cost-control systems every company needs in place
How do you create habits that stick? James Clear, author of the classic Atomic Habits, says that most people make a critical mistake. Whether their aim is to eat more healthy food, exercise regularly or save more towards their pension, they spend too much time focusing on their end goal. They believe that reminding themselves of […]
Meet future you
In an experiment at UCLA, researchers put pictures of their subjects through age-progression software, making them appear elderly. They showed half the subjects pictures of their older, more wrinkly, saggy selves. Then they gave everyone in the experiment a chance to put aside some money for their pension. Without exception, those who had seen the […]
Your business plan for 2030
In 2018, BP decided it no longer wanted to be an “oil giant” – associated with greed and pollution. Instead, according to its new mission statement, it was dedicated to “reimagining energy for people and our planet. We want to help the world reach net zero and improve people’s lives.” These weren’t just words. BP […]
Christmas in July (and yes I know it’s August)
I know it’s August already, but today I want to talk about Christmas – in July! (How confusing is that?) Back in December, my family was very upset that we weren’t going to have a “normal” Christmas. It had been months since we were in the same room. So we decided that as soon as […]
The Olympics’ lesson for business leaders
It’s the most amusing moment of the Olympics (so far)… Have you seen how swimming coach Dean Boxall reacted when Ariarne Titmus won the women’s 400m freestyle competition? His enthusiastic (to put it mildly) celebration has made him an Internet sensation. You can watch the video here. Here’s what he had to say afterwards: “I can’t […]
