We’ve all seen shows where the hero is granted three wishes and they don’t quite get what they had in mind. And the same goes for setting targets.
I used to work in supermarkets to fund my way through uni. One of these was in central London and with so many customers living close to the store they often took trolleys all the way home and didn’t bother to return them.
About once a month the trolley boys would be asked to come in on a Sunday and go further afield to collect them in return for £5 per trolley. Not surprisingly, on the Saturday afternoon they would pay local kids to ‘hide’ some trolleys in a pre-agreed location for £1 each. So the store ended up paying for trolleys that were never ‘lost’ and the trolley boys made £4-5 per trolley that they ‘found’.
We must always be careful when setting targets that they prompt the desired behaviour.
What do you want to look like?
I have a deadline! I have until 21 June to get back in shape and get my life together. Yes, I’ve coped pretty well for the last year (and I’m aware that many have struggled) but I want to get back to thriving and actively enjoying life rather than making the best of things.
I know what I want to look like (20 years younger and a stone slimmer 😉) but I also need to think about what I want my business to look like. I don’t know about you but my 2020 plans were put on hold and 2021 was also curtailed. Although I managed to double the size of my business it was much more Plan Z than Plan A.
How did you do through the various lockdowns and restrictions? Was it business as usual or did you have to pivot? Will you continue with your new style business or will you go back to Plan A or do you have a new plan?
Will you work from home or office or a local hub or home office like me? I know a few people who have moved to bigger houses because they will be working from home more in future and want a proper office rather than a corner of the kitchen table. What will happen to your office premises? With the technology to work from anywhere in the WORLD where will you work from?
Did you introduce new tech for remote working and other efficiencies or have you spent the last year being cautious and cutting all costs possible? Do you need to invest in your business again?
Did you enjoy spending more time with your family and will you keep up baking banana bread or the foreign language you’ve been learning? Or were you too busy to do any baking? Are there any good things that you want to retain in your life and your business?
With a provisional date on the horizon we need to start preparing for the post-Covid, post-Brexit world.
What will you do from pre-Covid, what will you do from Covid and what are you looking forward to starting post-Covid?
What is a coach?
I’m both a business coach and an athletics coach. In the past I’ve also held coaching qualifications for swimming and football (technically I still do as they are old enough to predate the requirement for expiry dates). That means that I work with fabulous people to improve what they are already doing. There are a number of coaching techniques that I use for both.
Observational analysis – I watch the athlete or business and report back on what I have seen and how this affects their performance. This might be a strange running technique or it may be that they are working too many hours. Some of this may be known to the athlete/businessperson but some of it may be new.
Notational analysis – this brings out the numbers geek in me. I like to compare progress over time and, whilst no two businesses are the same, it is sometimes helpful to benchmark against industry norms. As a runner myself I know that you can’t beat the feeling of a PB (Personal Best).
Performance profiling – I check the various parts of their performance to see what they are doing well and what needs work. When coaching runners this may be breaking down their arm action and, when coaching business owners, this might be
Technique – sometimes it’s enough to know what to do but sometimes you need somebody to explain how to do it step by step. This information can come from a mixture of qualification and experience. In athletics we have certain drills to improve different aspects of technique and the same in business.
Demonstration – In athletics this can be delivered by the coach, another athlete or a video. For some reason the business world classes this as mentoring rather than coaching but I am fortunate to be able to cover this too thanks to my experience founding and growing two businesses of my own as well as managing a number of other SMEs up to board level.
Goal setting – Agreeing on the overall objectives and for the current season. These should be enough to stretch you but not so much that they overwhelm you.
Accountability – There are always exercises to be done between coaching sessions. As a coach I make sure that everything is completed as agreed unless there is a good reason not to have done it.
Motivation – Whether preparing for a race or growing your business it is important to have somebody in your corner who believes in you and who will be cheering you on. Throughout the pandemic I have had to do far more of this than usual to help business owners produce their best performance.
If you’d like to find out more about our individual or group coaching then book a call. (Sadly, non-elite athletics clubs are closed for a little longer)
How to work within your limits
I’m a terrible gardener. Gardening is too active for my lazy days and too sedentary for my active days. Whilst I love eating fruit and veg that I’ve grown myself that goal alone isn’t enough to inspire me to put in the regular labour required even for the few things that I do try to grow.
As you might expect, for me this demonstrates a few things in the business world.
1. You need a Big Hairy Audacious Goal that will really inspire you on your lazy days. Just something ‘nice’ isn’t enough. Have a picture by your work station of your kids, your next holiday, your new car or whatever your reason for your business. In my case I have a seashell on my desk because I want to run my business remotely from somewhere near the sea.
2. You need tasks to do on your lazy days that will still move you closer to your goal. I’m quite happy to fiddle around with an online garden planner and order some seeds and compost. In the office it’s a good time to file or tidy up or clear some old emails. At the moment I’m writing this to avoid some other work but it will save me time later in the week.
3. You can find ways of making laborious tasks more enjoyable. If we’re all in the garden it’s much more fun and the work is shared. Even Grumpy Cat loves to join us outside. Pre-Covid our village ‘Working from Home’ group would spend Friday mornings working in one of the two local pubs.
4. Work at your best times. Whilst it might not suit most people I sometimes enjoy digging in the rain when the soil is softer. It’s another reason I believe in flexible working.
5. Know your limits and outsource where possible. About the only thing that I manage to grow in the garden is courgettes. (And none of the family really like courgettes!) So I order a weekly box of veg from the local farm shop effectively sourcing my fresh food production to somebody who is far better than me. I outsource work to those who are better than me, faster than me or just enjoy it more than me.
Anyway, I’m off to water my new apple tree and blueberry bushes in the hope of keeping them alive just a little longer.
How can I save the world?
Nobody can deny that times are tough at the moment with the double whammy of Covid and Brexit to cope with but we should still spare a thought for our environment and the world that we will leave for our kids.
The good news is that Covid has already prompted some good moves. Here are some ways that we can try to minimise our environmental impact.
- Working from home or even at a serviced office close to home will eliminate the need to commute. If you need a commute as a mental break then try a walk around the block at the start and end of the day instead
- Running a paperless office will reduce the amount of paper, ink and printers that are used as well as the file and furniture that we store them in. If you need some ideas then this is one of the free webinars that we run at least once a year
- Online meetings where possible. Bingo! One of the benefits of Covid is that more people are doing this already. Once they’re interspersed with some real world meetings (business or personal) they should create a better balance
- Walking, cycling and using public transport where possible will make a difference. Use a carbon offset scheme when car or even plane is the only option.
Dealing with criticism
It’s happened to all of us at some time. In spite of our best efforts we have been on the receiving end of some sort of criticism. Here are some ideas on how to handle it:
- Stop. You don’t have to respond fully right now.
- If you must respond now then make it something neutral and agree that you will take their comments on board and give a fuller answer later (if required).
- Allow the emotion to die down. Nobody likes to be criticised. If it helps then get it out of your system by writing a response that will never be spent.
- Bear in mind that they may have had a difficult day/week/year and just lashed out at the first available person. This may not be about you at all.
- Having taken the emotion out can you see if there was a genuine problem or if there is something that might have been misinterpreted as a problem from their point of view?
- Can you do anything to rectify this now or put ego aside to apologise appropriately and compensate if necessary?
- Is there anything that you can put in place to stop the problem recurring on to prevent similar misunderstandings?
- Having learned the lessons go and read some of the positive things from your book of testimonials, awards etc*
- Set the matter aside and get on with your business
I appreciate that this is all a lot easier to type than to do but the important thing is not to inflame the situation further.
*If you don’t already have a Positive Book then start collecting nice comments now ready for when you’re having a down day.
Budget Announcements 3 March 2021
The budget was primarily about
- Support for Covid
- Fixing the deficit
- Rebuilding after Covid
1.Furlough
The furlough scheme will be extended to the end of September.
May/June – 80% with no employer contributions or NI
July – Employers to contribute 10%
Aug/Sept – Employers to contribute 20%
2.SEISS (self-employment income support scheme)
4th grant will cover Feb-April
5th grant will cover May-July for those most affected by Covid. Claims open July
80% of earnings. Calculations can now be based on 2019/20 tax returns for both grants provided that they were submitted by 2/3/21. This may bring support for an additional 600,000 people.
Turnover test: if turnover fell by <30% then only 30% grant (rather than 80%) is available
3.Universal credit
The £20/week uplift will continue for a further 6 months
4.Apprentices
The apprentice incentive payment will double to £3,000 for new hires of any age
5. Restart grants
Non-essential retail businesses will receive up to £6,000
Hospitality and leisure businesses will receive up to £18,000
Local authorities will have an additional £425M for discretionary business grants bringing this to £2.025B
6.National Living Wage (formerly minimum wage)
Increases to £8.91
7.Cultural Recovery Fund
£30M additional funding bringing this to £1.87M
£2.8M to support the UK and Ireland’s bid to host the 2030 World Cup
£25M to help grassroots football
8.Domestic violence support
Extra £19M. This problem has been highlighted during lockdown
9.Recovery Loans Scheme
These will replace the BBIL and CBILs which will end soon
Loans from £25,000 – £10M through to the end of this year.
Government will guarantee 80%
10.Business rates
100% business rates holiday will continue to the end of June
2/3 reduction for the following 9 months up to a value of £2M per business.
Eligible businesses will receive a 75% reduction next year
11. Reduced rate of VAT for hospitality and tourism
The VAT reduction to 5% will continue until September. From 1 October it will increase to 12.5% until March and will return to the full 20% from April 2022
12.Stamp Duty
There will be a tapered extension of the Stamp Duty holiday until 30 September. Remember that you must complete by this date to take advantage.
Those buying homes under £500,000 will have 3 months to complete
Those buying homes under £250,000 will have until September
The cut in stamp duty has had an inflationary impact on house prices
13.Mortgage guarantee
Government will offer lenders a guarantee to encourage them to provide 95% mortgages.
14.Tax thresholds
The personal allowance has been increased to £12,570 and the higher rate kicks in at £50,270. These are frozen until April 2026 so more people will gradually pay tax at higher levels
IHT, CGT and pensions lifetime allowance are also frozen until 2026
VAT threshold stays at £85k for two years
15.Taxpayer Protection Force
A new £100M team of 1,250 staff will crack down on Covid fraudsters
16.Corporation tax
From April 2023 corporation tax will increase from 19% to 25%!
There will be a Small Profits Rate of 19% for a business with profits of £50,000 or less so that 70% of businesses (1.4M) are unaffected.
There will be a taper from £50,000 t0 £250,000 profit so only 10% of companies will pay the full rate.
Loss allowances will be more generous so companies can carry back losses of £2M for 3 years and claim tax refunds of up to £760k on losses
17.Super Deduction
For the next two years companies investing in new equipment can reduce their tax bill with a super deduction of 130% of the cost. This will encourage companies to invest sooner. (130% x 19% current CT rate =24.7% so approximately the same as 100% x 25% when CT rates increase in two years time)
Worth £25B over two years
18. Alcohol and fuel duty
Increases are cancelled so these will remain the same
19.Help to grow
Executive development programme delivered through business schools over 12 weeks from June. Practical curriculum, 1:1 business mentor, peer-learning sessions and alumni network. 30,000 places over 3 years. 90% subsidised so cost to participants is £750
Free online advice and 50% off software worth up to £5,000 that will help businesses:
- Build customer relationships and increase sales
- Make the most of selling online
- Manage their accounts and finances digitally
Must be purchasing the software for the first time.
Available to UK businesses that have been operating >1 year and have 5-249 employees.
Full details to follow in the Summer gov.uk/helptogrow
20.Visa changes
Fast track for high-skilled workers including researchers, engineers, scientists, and tech sector.
New unsponsored points-based visa for science, research and tech
Expanding UK’s Global Entrepreneur Programme for scale-ups and entrepreneurs
21.EMI and R&D relief
Consultations our today
22.Future Fund
Scale-up funding for innovative technology businesses
Companies with high R&D intensity that are aiming to raise at least £20M funding
23.Capital Gains tax
Annual exempt amount is frozen.
24.Eight freeport locations
- Thames
- Liverpool City Region
- Solent
- East Midlands
- Freeport East (Felixstowe and Harwich)
- Plymouth and South Devon
- Humber
- Teeside
This is all the information that we have for now
- We will update this blog as we receive and digest further general information
- We will contact clients directly where we believe that they need to take action.
Seeing the other side
I like information in order to make decisions.
In order to understand both sides of an argument I need to ask questions. And I make my kids do the same. Those of you who follow me on social media may have noticed that I have strong views on Brexit but I still want my kids to think for themselves so, even back in 2016, I challenged them to give me 3 arguments for and against leaving.
As business owners we often have to make fast decisions based on incomplete information but it is still important to look at the information that we have and to weigh up the alternatives. Throughout the pandemic and lockdowns businesses have been forced to pivot faster than the 32 fouettés in Swan Lake but pivots and fouettés are both about turning on the spot.
We run monthly Flyby sessions where business owners (accountants and others) can pop in to update their action plans monthly, quarterly or whenever, to that they are moving forwards rather than turning on the spot. It’s much more short term than our full Strategic Planning Day but it will keep you on track for the next month or quarter to ensure that you make real progress.
How to manage a 25 hour working week
Initially I chose a 25 hour working week in order to fit around my small kids. These days they’re teenagers and (in normal times) busy with their own lives but I still continue to work shorter hours because, as the advert says, I’m worth it. But it’s not just me who is worth it, we all deserve a decent work-life balance.
It’s up to you whether you structure your time into fewer days a week, or 5 shorter days, or any other work pattern you fancy. Personally I prefer shorter days because I notice myself getting less effective as the day goes on.
Writing my first book made it quite clear to me that I have peak creativity and mental energy for about two hours per day. This is the time for tricky jobs or the really good quality stuff that moves my business forwards.
After that I switch on to less demanding jobs, the bread and butter of what I do.
Finally I move to admin and emails.
I flex the time to suit myself and I particularly like to take time to have lunch with friends or for language or singing lessons. This leaves the evenings free to focus on family. At the moment I’m using the time to get out of the house in daylight hours to get some exercise and increase my mental wellbeing.
Next week I’ll write about how you prioritise the work you do. (Or, if you’d like a hand to build a business you love, just book a chat about how coaching can help https://calendly.com/hudsonbusiness/consultation )
Charlie’s MOT reminders
Are they helpful or salesy?
Charlie runs my local garage. As it’s just 15 minutes walk away it’s a convenient place to get my MOT done each year. And every year Charlie, or one of his team, sends me a reminder a month before my MOT is due.
I know that it’s now possible to get an email reminder via the .gov.uk website but Charlie has been doing this for years.
That reminder is true customer service because it helps me to ensure that my car is safe and compliant.
That reminder is good marketing because Charlie knows that I will pick up the phone and book my MOT with him. And, whilst doing the MOT, he may pick up additional work. And, as I see him as my regular garage he’s the first person I think about when the Service light goes on in my car.
What can you do to genuinely help your clients that will also lead to a sale?