Business Leadership | Leaders, The 7% conundrum - Private Education, Top Universities and all that

Business Leadership | Leaders, The 7% conundrum - Private Education, Top Universities and all that

I am all for achieving equality in education provision and ensuring equal opportunities for those with talent and acumen and entrepreneurial initiative.

I have seen a lot of coverage critical of the system where the majority of our leaders, our politicians and our senior commercial folk seem to come from the 7% who attend the best universities and private education.

I think this is skewed the wrong way round. The question should not be ‘how is it that best universities and the private education schools seem to generate the leaders and initiative takers ?’ but rather, "how is it that an education system with the other 93% of our young people does not?". To read the full LinkedIn article by Bob Shepherd Associates, click here.  Simple really.

Business Planning | Networking South Wales

Business Planning | Networking South Wales

There are dozens of business networks in South Wales . I help businesses with business strategy and planning (“Business Building”) and I deal with business finance and organisation. Not a shameless plug altogether because my point is that the business planning for growth requires experience and knowledge in networking as a major sub heading under the all embracing term “Marketing”. You need all this in place to get your finance sorted to show you are a functional business, by which time you have a plan to put into action, if you have done it properly.


My view is that there is not just one answer to networking. Some networks work best with a business that can be easily pigeon holed by everyone. (Accurately or not – doesn’t matter, you can sort that out later on). Other businesses do not. Click here to read the full LinkedIn article by Bob Shepherd

Organic Marketing | Networking South Wales

There are dozens of business networks in South Wales . I help businesses with business strategy and planning (“Business Building”) and I deal with business finance and organisation. Not a shameless plug altogether because my point is that the business planning for growth requires experience and knowledge in networking as a major sub heading under the all embracing term “Marketing”. You need all this in place to get your finance sorted to show you are a functional business ,  by which time you have a plan to put into action, if you have done it properly.

My view is that there is not just one answer to networking. Some networks work best with a business that can be easily pigeon holed by everyone. (Accurately or not – doesn’t matter, you can sort that out later on). Other businesses do not.

So which group is best for you?

To read the full LinkedIn article by Bob Shepherd Associates, please click the link.  Simple really.

Business Advice | They say..... A Cobbler never mends his own shoes

Business Advice | A Cobbler never mends his own shoes

As a general thing I am quite struck by business folk who propound some expertise in something when they are guilty of it themselves!!  The communications experts who can't communicate. The life coaches who are fragile themselves. The business experts who can't market themselves. The PAs who are always late. And so on.

You could say 'Cobbler and shoes' or you could point out that their own experience is an education they can use for the benefit of others. It's a consultant's privilege - 'do what I say not what I do'.  I am probably guilty of some of it myself.  We can't be good at everything. The best card I have to play is the external view. I turn up and there it is, wrapped up in some experience, some training and some developed practices and a different perspective....

Luckily my clients value it.....

To view articles and observations by Bob Shepherd Associates, just click here.

Marketing | The Power Of Business Communication

Marketing | The Power Of Business Communication

Communication takes many forms and is not just about speaking at events or writing. In business many things are important but communication is right up there at the top of the list.

What many do not realise is that you are communicating your business worth, credibility, trustworthiness, efficiency..... To read the full LinkedIn article by Bob Shepherd Associates, just click here.

Leaders and Managers

Leaders and Managers

The old ideas of leadership are changing in business. In truth they have been changing for years and 'evolving' may be a better word to use. The old autocratic ideas of a pyramid hierarchy with someone at the top are rarely found these days.

Quite apart from the gender roles disappearing and the values that went with them watering down, the structure of business has changed. Some of that is good and some not, as with all change. What was there before was a mixture of good and bad as well and it is a mistake to ever think everything is or was fine.

Some have started to realise that leadership is present at all levels and is an integral part of the mixture of all things. 'If you want to know how to build a pyramid ask the man with the trowel', is a phrase I heard many years ago and it touches on the same thing. Leadership is managing people upwards, downwards and sideways. It's managing your people, your boss, and your colleagues: Click this link to read the full post on LinkedIn

Who needs a cash forecast?

The Answer should be:  We all do!

Do you use a diary for your appointments and important things to do? Without a diary how would you know where you are meant to be and where you are going? Do you have a Cash Flow Forecast? No?

Well, it’s the same with a Cash Flow Forecast. Done properly and set up as the important planning tool it should be and you will wonder how on earth you managed beforehand. The truth…you didn't!

You will be amazed how useful it will be and how you will feel ahead of your own destiny. The term ‘Cash Flow Forecast’ is one that is trotted out and has lost some meaning. Each word is important.

‘Cash’ – This is not an Accounting exercise. Things like VAT belong in the CFF and the ‘bottom line’ (which is probably where it came from) represents the balance of your bank account.

‘Flow’ – This is not a Budget. that is a sum of money allocated to some purpose and divided by (say) 12 to show what is needed to save up perhaps or allocate in some way. The CFF gives you a flow of funds that reflects all the vagaries of business with seasonal variations and other cash ups and downs that you need to watch, including the quarterly VAT payment for example.

‘Forecast’ – it’s looking ahead. You can enter a planned sum of expenditure on equipment for example at a certain point and see if it works. Get it wrong on paper, it is much less damaging than getting it wrong in reality. The CFF will show you what expenditure is needed to support what level of sales and vice versa.

One last foundation stone: It is not to be left, once done. Re-do, review within 3 or 4 months and you will always have a plan for a year or two ahead. So valuable, you will wonder how you ever thought it was acceptable to do without.

If you think I'm talking sense but need some guidance?  Give me a call or drop me an e-mail, I'll be happy to help.

Bob Shepherd Associates - #BusinessBuilder - #BusinessIdeas

07747758596

mail@bobshepherdassociates.co.uk
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Missed The Point Again

Those who follow these writings will have gathered I think that the banks have a fundamental misapprehension about small business but here’s a particular example showing how the National Assembly in Wales have fundamentally misunderstood small business as well.

From the start I have been critical of the Wales Economic Growth grant which are funds left over before the grants were largely whisked away in 2010. I said it was too proscriptive, was open for applications for too short a time and sadly had missed an opportunity (otherwise known as ‘the point’) once again.

This business grant has only been open since the beginning of December and I have had enquiries where ineligibilty has been the downfall for potential applicants, but I have a better example which illustrates the inept thinking that has gone into it.

A business trying its best

A Torfaen based company has been paddling hard to keep afloat. This has been partly because it has been shouldered out of contracts with another local council in favour of a company from the Midlands in very questionable circumstances, but that’s another story. To counter this and diversify they have identified a product and a market that sits nicely alongside their own and is largely unserviced.

I was asked about the grant and a finance application. All the grant criteria seemed to be answered. The Directors had the information, were in a good area for the grant, had a nod from both the bank and from Finance Wales that lending facilities to make up the matched funding could be available subject to successful application, and the company was keen to get on with it. Although the grant advice documents do not spell this out the Directors were even aware that guidelines for new employment could be met. So the lenders had been spoken to, the Accountant had the latest recent company figures ready for sign off and it all looked constructive and positive.

What is the grant for then?

Most of the ticks in place so far, so what actually are we spending this money on? The grant minimum is £100k and the best case is a 50% match in some areas so we need to propose spending £200k.  

We need a couple of web sites, marketing and PR, a van, some employees, some equipment and some examples to install in show areas. Totting it up quickly, I stretch the list to about £90k and to be honest we could do it for much less.

It is immediately obvious that the Directors, over keen  at the prospect of much needed assistance from the Welsh Government have fitted the finance around the possible funding. We could probably get away with a loan of £10k, have one web site and use the workforce and vans we already have, start things slowly and take less of a commercial risk.

In summary the grant is completely useless for what they want. In fact it is difficult to see how it can be of any use to anyone unless by chance they happen to be in the middle of a project that could use a substantial injection to make it bigger and better than first thought.  The project has to be under way (but not ‘committed’ or it is ineligible anyway) because there is insufficient time to organise a new project for which this grant might have a part to play.

I am left feeling cynical, exasperated, and still somehow, after long experience, disappointed that Business Support in Wales can be so inept in its operation. 

Business Planning – What’s That Then?

Everybody’s different! So too, with businesses. So too, with business owners.  As a consultant I need to relate quickly to the position of my client. What seems important to me may not to them and vice versa.

The principal of what I’m doing is the underlying process of business planning.  The components of a business plan when it is done properly are of course the very things that a business needs to have right to enable it to run smoothly, profitably and realistically. 

When a new business starts the owners very often do not have a complete insight into all the ramifications of what they’re doing.  There’s no insult or disgrace in that.  Why should anyone know everything?

What usually happens is that I get called into a business at the point when the owners have decided it should be running better and is in need of development.  To do so we need all the resources in place and in proportion.  We need a complete set of skills and realistic overview of what has happened, what is intended and it is then up to me to help decide how we are going to get there.  While this may involve some coaching or training on my part as a business consultant it does not carry any patronising feeling from me and cannot be allowed to do so.  The business is my client’s and will always remain so.  What they get from their consultant is an outside view and an external perspective.

This reflects the position that any business owner is in whereby they are looking at their business from the inside.  It is very hard to step outside and look back in. 

I recently helped a high street gallery which of course is all about the display arrangement and how welcoming the shop front appears and what happens to the customer once they cross the threshold.  I actually took the owner across the street to stand there with me for 10 minutes while we discussed the appearance of the front of the shop and what passersby seemed to make of it.  Very illuminating!

As a consultant I am very careful to maintain the ownership of the business with the business owner.  So by doing a business plan it has to be done with the owner and not for the owner.  Equally it is important that a business plan is done with the business in mind.  This seems obvious until you realise that most small businesses have a business plan originally done using a template from a poor photocopy several generations old.  In effect they are answering someone else’s questions!

This exercise does not have to be expensive.  At an entry level I have helped businesses for £200 per month for three months which has been enough to give them sufficient guidance and perspective to lift the business to a new level of profitability and turnover (not the same thing but that’s another article)

See www.bobshepherdassociates.co.uk and make contact on 07747 758596 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            07747 758596      end_of_the_skype_highlighting  or by email mail@bobshepherdassociates.co.uk .. Expect a practical and meaningful business planning exercise from Bob Shepherd Associates that will retune your business approach. 

South Wales Networking Groups

There are 85+ networks in South Wales I picked up somewhere in my business travels. I deal with business finance development and business strategy development. Not a shameless plug altogether, my point is that the business planning for growth and development requires experience and a knowledge of networking as one of the sub headings under that all embracing term "Marketing". You need all that in place to get the finance sorted by which time you have a plan to put into action. 

My view is that there is not one answer. Some networks work best when you have a business that is easily pigeon holed by everyone else (accurately or not - doesn't matter, you can sort that out later). Others don't. 

Then again if you like a strong systematic approach you will feel more comfortable in some groups more than others. 

My own loyalty goes first to ABC - Action Business Club. (www.actionbusinessclub.co.uk) You have some businesses there who are very experienced and can operate on different levels as required to service the needs of the business customer. To say it was best suited to 'small businesses' might give a false impression but small business SMEs – definition:  under 250 employees? - oh yes. Small businesses just starting out? Yes, if you are serious about what you do. 

The light hearted way it is conducted encourages friendship and respect for bright people who are happy in their work and confident in the trust of their colleagues. I would (and do) happily work with any one of them and I can't say that about every group I go to. 

So which one is best? The answer depends. When I am helping a business who is new to networking the first questions are about what they expect to get out of it. Their answer tells me if they understand it. If they do the one(s) to attend depend on the nature of their business but also the attitude and character of the attendee. It is more complicated than it appears but it does not need to be difficult.

It is vital to understand the essence of networking and incidentally this applies to ‘online Social Networks’, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and the like. If you feel you want to ask what was my return on that meeting then you haven’t understood the nature of what you are supposed to be doing. If you feel you have a room full of punters when you go to a meeting then you have misunderstood it and you will do little more than mark yourself down as someone to avoid. Measure you r ‘Return on Investment’over 20 meetings or so but be careful to estimate the worth of someone acknowledging your introduction with ‘I have heard about you.’

The whole business of getting your business known is not straight forward. It needs a mixture of resources and approaches. 

For those just starting out it is worth a hundred cul de sacs to get help from the beginning to plan your marketing and this part of it in particular. At Bob Shepherd Associates we have a particular interest in start up businesses (no bad habits!). It need not cost a lot to get appropriate guidance and the saving in time effort and practical application (therefore that 'return on investment' we were so worried about in the paragraph above) should show dividends in due course.              

You Get What You Pay For

The problem is they don’t know there is a problem. South Wales Business Support directly and indirectly through the Welsh Assembly is beaurocratic and time consuming. In some cases it is worth working around and waiting around. In many cases it is not.

The stories are legion of businesses going some way down the road of business support only to see it fizzle out after months of misplaced effort. In some cases the only gainer is an ‘adviser’ or ‘relationship manager’ who has drawn a salary from an agency.

The idea seems fine. A bunch of Not for Profit agencies combine with a government backed support system to deliver much needed advice and guidance to new and existing businesses. There are grants as well, bigger ones through the Welsh Assembly directly and smaller ones delivered in various forms through local authority Economic Development Departments. (Already it is sounding complicated.)

At the time of the launch of the revised support system the Chartered Institute of Business Consulting gave a platform to the main architect of the revised support plans. He started by saying that he had come to the job from the outside world. A collective sigh of approbation was heard around the room. The fact that he made that point is indicative of the general opinion of the support system previously. Next he said he approached the reorganisation with the intention of making it simpler. Again a collective murmur of approval went round the room. Two ticks on the list so far and we are doing well.

He said the Assembly’s grants would all be placed in one pot (The Single Investment Fund) and the applications for whatever flavour assistance would all be directed through it. This received neutral reaction. Interested to see whether they could really pull that off the audience of professional consultants and independent business advisers were prepared to give it a chance. From there on the layers of beaurocracy were disappointingly replaced. It is public/euoropean money after all and some accountability has to be accepted.

Any thoughts that the newly established Relationship Managers were there to actively help anyone were quickly dispersed. They have unwieldy paperwork to justify their existence, they are poorly trained and in some cases with little experience of business. In effect they are there to police the applications as a filtering layer.

The FS4B set up is the revised and streamlined Business Eye. If you haven’t been paying attention that was set up out of the old Business Connect, itself spawned from Business Gateway) It is intended to be a posting network of useful operators who can resolve the biggest gripe of the ordinary business – we don’t know where to go. A good idea in theory and hardly worth the money in practice. The Assembly say "Since the 1st of April over 6000 businesses have accessed support from the Flexible Support for Business Regional Centres and 7,000 individuals have accessed support from the Start Up programme.”

Sounds wonderful. They will say also that 71 % were satisfied with the ease of the process and 88% were satisfied with the quality of advice given to them. I don’t know what questions were asked, but something is wrong here. Even experienced FS4b local Managers will scoff at that. Informed advisers will roll their eyes to the ceiling.

An article published by the BBC under their Politics Show is to be found at http://tiny.cc/ebPnf which adds weight to my views. The defensive statement by the Assembly displays a self satisfied complacency at worst and a woeful ignorance at best. Brian Morgan, Professor of Entrepreneurship at UWIC, said the business support offered by the assembly government was "overly bureaucratic, top-down and lacking in real focus". He was being very polite.

The front end publicity is excellent for Welsh Assembly Business support. The delivery does not match the expectation set. Having sat at meetings and heard the senior Enterprise managers talk about business support they are either following the company line with a large spoonful of cynicism or they are blind to the level of incompetence that seems to be rife. The old special consultancy grant is now referred to as the ‘small SIF’ and a manager was pleased to inform us at one meeting that 70% of the applications were rejected, making no mention of the dozens that never got that far.

The training courses have some generic value. But they are inadequate for anything but the basics for a brand new would be entrepreneur. FS4B will not understand your queries or your situation if it is at all complicated and the most of best advisers have left the agencies. The Relationship Managers are a joke to most people and the time scales for any assistance are enough to put you off. Any serious business intent is going to be misdirected, poorly advised and sent up some cul de sacs.

In short, there are two rules

- most businesses are not eligible for most of it most of the time

- and much of the time you are wasting your time.

The attraction of free support is misplaced economy. You are far better off going to a knowledgeable consultant who will require payment but will help you with practical support and realistic advice. Bob Shepherd Associates can help the small business with practical understanding and business advice to get the best out of a badly weighted system if it is available to you and link it to the rest of the finance world.