I have had a very enjoyable year writing this blog and my other ones. If the truth be known, I mainly write these days because I enjoy it and because I hope the odd nugget might be useful. I suppose I started blogging partly to raise my profile, and for the Google effect; as a…
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Someone told me
Image via Wikipedia I heard those magic words while doing a little shopping the other day after running my breakfast networking meeting. “Some told me…”. Of course that is all I heard as I walked by, but I do worry how damaging gossip can be in a business sense. I always think we need to…
Why starting a business is hard work for the brain
Holiday times are when we have space to think about the future, and for some it will be to seek new opportunities in starting a business. When we go back to first principles to start a new business we need a business plan, and not just one for the bank. We need to think whether:…
Desperate networking
I wonder whether some of them are driven by desperation that their networking has never worked even when they started and took it more slowly.
We know that if our marketing isn’t working we have to change it. Networking is a sort of marketing in which we give without expectation of getting business from anyone in particular but in the knowledge that those we know may think of us when it counts and they think they know someone who needs us.
Choices
Our first businesses are generally based on our familiar environments. We tend to work in familiar areas. That is understandable, but we can corral ourselves into a particular mindset in which we can believe that we are only good at one discipline. That can be a mistake and potentially very limiting. What else would we…
Mutual envy
Image via Wikipedia Many of us in business for ourselves feel we would be unemployable if we were asked to go to work for someone else. We enjoy the freedom of making our own decisions and being in charge. We make our own hours of work of course, rather than abide by someone else’s rule,…
Shopping habits and the High Street
Instant gratification is the name of the game, and no, I am not talking about anything sleazy. Just as I was saying recently that the advertising tradition of two hundred years is outdated, so is the traditional High Street specialist shop. When I was a child we had in our village a draper, two ladies’…
Do not speak ill of the dead or the living
Image via Wikipedia My Old Boys’ Magazine for my school, which is now also an Old Girls’ magazine, recently asked for memories of a former teacher who spent his entire working life there. Apparently his daughter had asked for some reminiscences as she did not know much about what her father had done at work….
The tools of our business – choice, discretion and honour
Back in January when visiting the local branch of my bank, I was whisked in by the customer relations manager and offered their premium service at a discounted rate. I weighed up the benefits and agreed to sign up. It looked like a good deal. A couple of weeks ago I had a standard impersonal…
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Thank you for the music!
I have had a very enjoyable year writing this blog and my other ones. If the truth be known, I mainly write these days because I enjoy it and because I hope the odd nugget might be useful. I suppose I started blogging partly to raise my profile, and for the Google effect; as a…
Someone told me
Image via Wikipedia I heard those magic words while doing a little shopping the other day after running my breakfast networking meeting. “Some told me…”. Of course that is all I heard as I walked by, but I do worry how damaging gossip can be in a business sense. I always think we need to…
Why starting a business is hard work for the brain
Holiday times are when we have space to think about the future, and for some it will be to seek new opportunities in starting a business. When we go back to first principles to start a new business we need a business plan, and not just one for the bank. We need to think whether:…
Desperate networking
I wonder whether some of them are driven by desperation that their networking has never worked even when they started and took it more slowly.
We know that if our marketing isn’t working we have to change it. Networking is a sort of marketing in which we give without expectation of getting business from anyone in particular but in the knowledge that those we know may think of us when it counts and they think they know someone who needs us.
Choices
Our first businesses are generally based on our familiar environments. We tend to work in familiar areas. That is understandable, but we can corral ourselves into a particular mindset in which we can believe that we are only good at one discipline. That can be a mistake and potentially very limiting. What else would we…
Mutual envy
Image via Wikipedia Many of us in business for ourselves feel we would be unemployable if we were asked to go to work for someone else. We enjoy the freedom of making our own decisions and being in charge. We make our own hours of work of course, rather than abide by someone else’s rule,…
Shopping habits and the High Street
Instant gratification is the name of the game, and no, I am not talking about anything sleazy. Just as I was saying recently that the advertising tradition of two hundred years is outdated, so is the traditional High Street specialist shop. When I was a child we had in our village a draper, two ladies’…
Do not speak ill of the dead or the living
Image via Wikipedia My Old Boys’ Magazine for my school, which is now also an Old Girls’ magazine, recently asked for memories of a former teacher who spent his entire working life there. Apparently his daughter had asked for some reminiscences as she did not know much about what her father had done at work….
The tools of our business – choice, discretion and honour
Back in January when visiting the local branch of my bank, I was whisked in by the customer relations manager and offered their premium service at a discounted rate. I weighed up the benefits and agreed to sign up. It looked like a good deal. A couple of weeks ago I had a standard impersonal…
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Jon Stow Consulting Tax Blog
- HMRC targets property rentals
- Business tax and snake oil schemes
- Income tax issues with ownership of rental properties
- Capital tax issues with ownership of rental properties
- Urgent – Important changes to tax treatment of Furnished Holiday Lettings losses
- A brief tax guide to buying and selling family and owner-managed companies
- Furnished Holiday Lettings – the latest news
- Jon Stow’s Ezine Articles
- Why Customer Service is Important Even to Those Who Are Not Customers Yet
- Why Quality is Important - Lessons From BMW
- Why We Need to Take an Outside View in Business
- Avoid False Economies in Business - Seeing Value Over Cost
- Why a Business Plan is Not Just For the Bank
- Why We Need Need to Respect the Feelings of Our Prospects and Clients
- Responsibility and Leading From the Front
- Networking - The Folly of Hunting Rather Than Farming
- Networking is a Long Game
- How to Avoid Giving Free Advice
- Twitter is currently flying the fail whale
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- Jon Stow Consulting Tax Blog
- HMRC targets property rentals
- Business tax and snake oil schemes
- Income tax issues with ownership of rental properties
- Capital tax issues with ownership of rental properties
- Urgent – Important changes to tax treatment of Furnished Holiday Lettings losses
- A brief tax guide to buying and selling family and owner-managed companies
- Furnished Holiday Lettings – the latest news
- Jon Stow’s Ezine Articles
- Why Customer Service is Important Even to Those Who Are Not Customers Yet
- Why Quality is Important - Lessons From BMW
- Why We Need to Take an Outside View in Business
- Avoid False Economies in Business - Seeing Value Over Cost
- Why a Business Plan is Not Just For the Bank
- Why We Need Need to Respect the Feelings of Our Prospects and Clients
- Responsibility and Leading From the Front
- Networking - The Folly of Hunting Rather Than Farming
- Networking is a Long Game
- How to Avoid Giving Free Advice
-
- Twitter is currently flying the fail whale