Author Archives: Jon Stow

Business concessions and contracts

I expect you have seen so-called concession businesses within big stores. They are businesses within other businesses and they sell specialist items such as costume jewellery, scarfs, ties or food. Those sorts of concessions are usually themselves owned by large … Continue reading

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We are on Alltop

For those who don’t know, Alltop is an article and blog aggregator, bringing in content from news stations, newspapers, magazines, on-line articles and blogs. Alltop was founded by the great Guy Kawasaki. And now it includes On Our Bikes. To … Continue reading

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Being cheapskate can cost you dear

It is a great temptation in business, especially for start-ups, to take the cheapest option when spending money on buying in services. It is very often dangerous to do this because some people just play at business.  Often the really … Continue reading

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Delivering the goods

A lot of people who don’t have a business think that there isn’t a difference between a large one and a small one except in scale. But managing and running a small business is nothing like big business. I have … Continue reading

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Don’t turn your back on me

Have you ever been networking and come across one of those little groups who are closed off? Maybe three or four people who are having their own meeting within a meeting and will be darned if they talk to anyone … Continue reading

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Why it is good to have a quiet time in business

We all like to be busy. I like to be busy. What is important for us is to be busy doing useful things, and not to be too busy that we are not thinking and planning. Being busy is good … Continue reading

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Paying the price for our services

We all know how important it is to have a contract with our customers and clients so that they and we understand what service we are going to provide. Having established what we are doing, part of that contract is … Continue reading

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Contracts and common sense

We all love to have new customers, clients or whatever we like to call them. It is good to sign up someone new and begin what we hope will be a great relationship. Of course we do have to “sign … Continue reading

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Social skills and small business marketing

I think we all know that social skills are important in our lives but not everyone has them. That is a problem for small business owners lacking in this area unless they are geeks with a must-have app. Most of us … Continue reading

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Getting out of our depth in business

I am not a great swimmer. I can manage quite well in reasonably calm water, but I don’t like to get out of my depth unless in a swimming pool with a lifeguard watching on. In business I try to … Continue reading

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