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 be generated 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? ‘

Raise the overall standard of the rest to compete in education, confidence, social know how (it’s all about people in the end), and initiative and watch the UK storm ahead.  

Extract from an email sent to an entrepreneur who was looking to raise finance and sought advice.

“I meet many entrepreneurs who try to do their considered best with areas of interest (eg finance very often) that are not their own. This means that they spend a lot of time talking to everybody who will listen and have no perspective on what they are being told.

It takes a long time and they find they are no further on very often. The message is ‘each to their own’. The sort of interpretation and help that I can give should save loads of time and money, not to say frustration. To use another analogy – don’t tidy the kitchen before the cleaner arrives!”

I think the lessons in this apply more generally.

 

Good article in the Daily Mail – not that I make a habit of supporting them or any other paper’s views for that matter, taking a view on Wales and the record of support with the money from Europe we have had in the last few years.   

While the stats prepared for the Welsh Government departments and the WDA before that all support the idea that fantastic support for business has been given it is hardly borne out by the reality. My experience of the quality of business support and the unbusiness like way it has usually been delivered does not sit well with the glowing reports of thousands of businesses having been given advice support and mentoring and grants for expansion.

You can find examples where useful grants have been granted and realistic support has been given. You can also find many examples where businesses have gained little of real use, have been exasperated by the service they have had and others where grants have been made that were questionable. You can also find evidence of massive paper trails, writing for the file and so called mentoring that either was of poor value or didn’t really happen. One recipient of a business diagnostic review I came across said ‘they told me back exactly what I had told them’.  

In short, despite the figures showing successful ‘interventions’ (corporate gibberish for some sort of engagement with a client) the evidence ‘on the street’ as it were, suggests a massive waste of time, money and paper with a few exceptions where something useful has been done.

The fun continues with the announcement of £40m for small business in the last day or so. How it is going to be delivered and monitored and governed and supervised and accounted for generally by a team of account managers, business advisers and others remains unclear. Finance Wales is being involved in some of it which is one of the better outlets for support so there is hope maybe. 

The Daily Mail history of European Money in Wales is here: http://ow.ly/9YSaB   It’s called “How to waste £6 billion: a story of ‘Wales in Europe’”

The jury is out. 

It’s a strange term in business that has achieved the status of a phrase everybody knows and few people have examined for meaning.

Elevating is lifting up in some way and that is quite graphic. The word pitch is more interesting though. There are dozens of meanings for the word, actually 50 listed in my dictionary.  In the business networking context I like the idea that it means the tone of your presentation as it does in music.

More aggressively when you pitch something you throw it and the idea of hurling your service or product at someone you have just met is an anathema to business networking folk.

Pitch is also a black sticky substance that you don’t want to get on your shoes. Make sure your business pitch does not have that quality.You could say it’s a pitch as it might be when you have a market stall – your area, set out with your stuff for people to see and buy. But in networking you don’t want to be bawling out your wares as a market trader might do as it has a dodgy feel about it.

Pitching at a certain level is how I prefer to see it. Every service or product has a visible ranking for price, quality, taste, usefulness and longevity. So pitch it right, get the right flavour for the market you hope to have appeal and elevate it for all to see!

Bob Shepherd Associates  are business strategists – the components of a business all have to be right and fit with the rest of it. Networking has a place for most small businesses but it is vital to understand it and get it right.

 

What does the phrase ‘It’s a bit academic’ say to you? In my mind it carries notions of being a bit interesting but of limited practical value in the immediate everyday world.  I have been talking to Universities for some while about delivering short business courses with a practical slant. To be fair two local Unis have both expressed keen interest, admitting that they are unable to do that themselves but seeing the value in doing so.

That tells me only that I am talking to the right people in that environment. I need that combined with decision making capability and command of a budget.

Two instances come to mind to illustrate what I mean. One well meaning person prepared a list of possible course titles they would be interested in getting behind. Of the 34 titles about 10 had any direct application for a business looking for training and to improve its lot. The rest were interesting topics one might gain an opinion on and muse over in a quiet moment. The direct practical value was not there.

I am not suggesting Universities should not be a home for theoretical study. From such things inspiration and development come. I am suggesting that they either put on another hat when teaching people about business and vocations or they leave it to someone else.

The other instance is from observation of someone doing a teaching degree. What is that about? Surely the intention is to groom people for the teaching profession and get them to develop skills for a rewarding but moreover useful career. This does not seem to be the case.

In any project, business plan, essay or exercise there is some setting the scene, gathering the focus and setting the perspective. Then you tackle the ‘How to’.  There are always a whole pile of associated topics one should take note of and be interested in just to get a rounded approach.

To spend time doing assignments on minor topics of esoteric whimsy or let’s call it ‘academic interest’ seems folly to me.  I can’t help feeling that many degree courses could and should be cut down to one year of intensive work, thereby saving time, effort, money and a lot of pointless metaphorical chewing of pencils wondering what to write.

But then, we are told it’s all about the experience.

Always speak to your audience!
When you present a talk always gear it up to the level you want for the audience you are going to have. It will be appreciated more. That seems obvious doesn’t it?
So too with writing. These articles usually have some business point to make and illustrate and my natural style is not always appropriate. It needs varying to make the point hit home.
So too with networking. Varying the pitch and the style applies to speech just as much as writing and presenting. What is confusingly called your ‘elevator pitch’ might be different in different places. It needs preparation and some careful thought, particularly as you have only a few seconds to get your point across.
Many business breakfasts give you the opportunity to stand up and say what you do in 40 seconds or a minute. I am always amazed that people stand up and say they have not prepared anything. I am not surprised they have not prepared anything but I am surprised they want everyone to know that.
I witnessed a 10 minute business presentation recently that failed on several key points that are worth sharing.
The presenter literally did not talk to his audience. He talked to the screen where his carefully prepared slides were displayed. Always take your cue from your lap top screen which is in front of you, so you can address your audience, not the projection behind you.
Keep your slides short but illustrative. You want your audience to listen to you, not study the slides. The slides should back up what you are saying, not the other way round.
The presenter forgot that he knew what he does but no one else did. He spoke about his subject but failed to make the link with what he does with it.
In the end the talk was a pleasant wander through his subject but left the audience wondering what it had to do with anything.
The moral of this tale is – never forget you are on the inside of your business. You know what you mean but make sure you convey what you mean in a simple effective way that will appeal to your audience.
Bob Shepherd Associates can help train presenters and help prepare presentations that will do the job. It comes under ‘Marketing’ in the business plan and is about presenting your product to the outside world. Get it right and you can be streets ahead of most of your competition.

Government statistics
What can you trust these days? For years Government statistics for unemployment have been challenged as there are so many categories of people not in work that there is no strong case for accuracy in any of the figures. Similarly with inflation, there are several measures that are used with differing degrees of relevance. For many years the figures relating to the supply of money (ie the amount of ‘money’ in circulation) have had several measures available.
We see it worldwide. The world population figures of 7billion turned out on closer questioning to be accurate give or take 56 million either way. Good newspaper stunt though – nominate the 7 billionth baby. Actually there were several around the world.

Welsh Business Support
So can we help the feeling that governmental stats are manipulated to the best advantage? The limited use of creating an index within the understanding of that particular measure has little meaning when examined closely but it does look good.
The Welsh government statistics for business support record for 2010/11 over 12,000 individuals accessed the Welsh Government Start Up service, more than 3,700 individuals benefited from 14 hours of business support which helped created 2,622 enterprises. Wonderful stuff and quite possibly an accurate rendition of the bits of paper signed and passed around.
Were they an effective representation the area would be humming with entrepreneurial activity and held up as a beacon of excellence? How is it that millions of pounds have gone into Welsh business support without a lot to show for it apparently? Could it just be that the figures are from visit records signed by unsuspecting would be business folk thereby enabling the agency to draw down payments? Could it be that work has been conjured out of exaggerated predictions of a business’ potential? Would an ‘adviser’ embroider the records to show activity that happened more in mind than in fact so he could maintain his figures and his payments? Surely not?
Anecdotal evidence, but how is it that few businesses when questioned seem to be enthusiastic about the support they have received? Some have had grants. Some of them have had several grants. Some years ago when grants were more readily available, one county economic development department did a count and found that less than one third of the known businesses in their area had any contact with them.

The Banks
The banks are saying that 75% of loan applications are granted. That is 75% of the ones that make it that far through the hoops. The amount of business lending has increased and Lloyds have said today that small businesses helped have increased in number over last year. Today the UK Minister for Business was asked if Project Merlin (the banks have undertaken to lend huge amounts to small business) was crumbling. He defended it, but then he would. I doubt whether he has any real access to businesses on the front line with small borrowings.
Any small business wanting £25k to start up has little chance of getting it unless they have a wonderful robust business plan, a spotless record for the owners and ample security plus a business idea that is not only proven elsewhere but with a nice gap in the market locally. Less than £25k and the bank will probably not want security, and probably not your business either.
Figures are open to interpretation. That is just as well because they probably don’t mean a lot in the first place.

Should you raise the money needed initially plus a cushion, or ask for enough to get started  and  come back for more with six  month’s trading record?

The answer is raise all the money you will need plus say 10% in total at the outset. If you come back to your bank or investors later, it smacks of poor management and poor planning. Your bank is likely to assume that you have used your funding more rapidly than  projected, and have not generated income to sustain the business. None of this would encourage them to make more cash available. Even if the business is much more successful than expected a return for more funding is in danger of giving the wrong impression.

It would be okay to come up with a new development project based on the success. That implies active management rather than mismanagement.

What is all this about then? One word gets it all and threads through all financial markets of whatever size and all business financial decisions  - plain and simple Confidence!

Business language

I am always interested in language usage and  there is a case for  jargon and short hand speech within an industry and its peers. When that spills out to a wider audience it can be frustrating or amusing depending on your view point. I am not saying language should  be always plain although that can be admirable on occasions. There are many cases for using the rich heritage of the English language to create effect, or give slant or emphasis to make a point. An articulate facility with English is useful and valuable as well as enjoyable. However those who trot out the business clichés raise questions about their own understanding of their subject and their own security within their business world. Are they trying to be impressive? Are they sheltering behind familiar club or tribal terms to show they belong?I count myself fortunate to have come across two people in business who unconsciously originated these clichés.

It must begin somewhere and I was amused to see people in their audience making a discreet note with the obvious intention of using those phrases later. Original metaphors to illustrate a point had been conjured and the audience was both amused and instructed.A certain degree of useful word pattern is acceptable but it is when they become overused, they become hackneyed and less useful.

Some of the best/worst examples I have come across lately are:

‘Within the SME landscape…’
‘Build new solutions in the alternative space…’
‘Create an atmosphere for solutionising the problems…’
‘…that is less, on a relative basis.’
‘What are the key takeaways?’
You get the idea. Some of them are comprehensively nonsense. Some other examples probably were quite clever when they first drew breath but have been done to death.

We all use idiomatic phrases and useful little phrases as part of our speech and it brightens the day. Some of these terms just should never achieve currency and say more about the user than they would be pleased about.

Has anyone witnessed, experienced or suffered any others lately?

These days I see business networking as an exercise in ‘building a profile’ more than I ever used to do. It is difficult to measure and however you direct your efforts the element of chance comes into to it often. One such instance illustrated this well.

I was at a presentation on the availability of finance to business, as this knowledge is a significant part of my tool kit as a consultant to developing businesses. By chance I happened to be sitting next to an Accountant I knew well and we sat through the seminar and chatted together. He had to leave early having not appreciated how long the seminar would last and left the room and the building.  In the car park he bumped into a prospective client of his who happened to be arriving late, and in their conversation about where the seminar was, he mentioned to the Accountant he was in the process of taking on a new project and needed help with the business planning.

‘You should have a word with Bob Shepherd’ offered my Accountant friend, ‘I’ve just been sitting by him in there’. The prospective client knew me slightly from networking and came to sit next to me ready for a conversation in the break. From the Accountant he had a recommendation and a signposting to Bob Shepherd Associates and our three paths converged nicely. Chance conversations  are wonderful.

Business networking gives me all my business referrals plus a business social side as well. I work independently most of the time and the corporate environment coffee time chat is not available to me in the same way as it used to be. Business networking also gives me a pool of knowledge to check with and call upon when necessary. The value of networking is so difficult to establish. In Developing small business it is very much part of the consideration.