Chris's sban Blog

12 APRIL 2010 - SPRING HAS SPRUNG

2010-04-12T03:35:00.000-07:00

Well Easter has come and gone. The daffodils are finally coming up and the buds are starting to burst. A time when we all tend to feel upbeat.

That's all the homespun wisdom I can muster this week. I'm feeling very low because I have a potential client out there who really needs my help but his head is so far up his bum he can't see it.

He started in business a while ago with no real feeling for it. He put in a lot of cash - even some of his own - and the money started to come in. Not as quickly as it should but it did flow in. A couple of problems came along and he threw more money at them.

There is no structure to his enterprise; he has no skills in what he does and he has never taken an active interest. The recession has struck and he is in increasing trouble. He is in danger of making very bad decisions - selling off assets at rock bottom prices in order to help his cashflow. He is trying to mortgage future rents. Each of these solutions will solve his short term problems - both will ensure his ultimate and rapid demise.

Why am I fed up? It's not my problem.. That's not the point. The guy is a decent chap and he is about to drag not just himself but some members of his family down with him. His position needs time and careful negotiation - instead of engaging me he is talking to the same people who got him into to trouble. The same people who will not support him when he goes belly up.

I have spent many hours with this guy - I have amended my offering to make it as easy as possible to engage me - I have tried my best to give him the comfort he needs to employ me - I know I can help. I'm very sad that he can't see it

Chris

22 MARCH - WHERE'S THE TIME GONE?

2010-03-23T05:31:00.000-07:00

I've just realised that it's been a day or so since I made up my blog - a day or seems to actually to have been two weeks. What has happened with the time?

I have a heap on the left hand side of my desk. I call it my S**t Heap" because it contains all the stuff which I really don't want to deal with. I've had that heap on all of my desks for as long as I can remember.I know what's in it and a lot of it is just too horrible to contemplate. Every now and then, when I feel really brave, I take a hold of the heap. I did that today and a miracle has occurred. The stuff which I thought was really threatening has turned into mildly irritating and the rest has all been dealt with. I am not sure how this miraculous transformation occurs but it always seems to work for me. It's like when you put garden and household waste onto a compost heap and it turns into good rich soil - bad becomes good.

I do not suggest this as a panacea for all ills. Indeed quite the opposite. If you have a major problem then face it .... now. For the lesser problems though, it can and does help to focus the mind and a little prevarication can sometimes be a good thing.

Well, the last time I wrote I had just scored a major victory over an old adversary thanks to the help of some good old friends. Since that time I have suffered a relapse with my anxiety problems which has been annoying and the loss of my one employee -also irritating. The interesting bit is that the loss of Mathew forced me to face one of my perennial demons, networking. I hate it. I can't stand mixing with people at the best of times but to have to mix and blow my own trumpet.......!

I got up last Thursday at 5.45 am washed and presented myself at a local hotel. My friend Tracie was there to soften the blow a little and I walked into the room with trepidation. The worst thing in the World then happened - some guy I had never met before thrust his hand into mine and introduced himself. "Hell" I though "I'll have to respond". It felt like the time I attended a "born again" wedding when they asked everyone to turn to each other and hug them. "Not bloody likely" was my response and I ran. The same emotion came over me this time but the door was too far a way and I couldn't escape. The guy turned out to be quite normal. He did not need a hug - I assume - and talked sense. I then got pulled into another conversation and the same happened - I found myself relating to people. All these years I have hated being a "new boy" so I have avoided it - well this time round it was not that bad - indeed I hope to have made some valuable contacts - we'll have to see. I may even get up early again.

One job came to an end this week and it has been an interesting journey. I can't reveal details but I can say that it is always fascinating to watch another trade at work. In this case the guy is a true professional. He is thorough and very proud of his work. He takes time to make sure that he gives as good a service as possible and yet he is short of business. The conundrum is that his competitors are far more expensive, offer a worse service and get more business.

I was f going to get him to change the way he worked and to reduce his service levels. Having studied him I know that that would be unfair and that he couldn't do it. Instead, I have worked out a plan which will get him significant levels of new business and allow him to raise his rates a little. That way he keeps his pride and gains revenue. In the end, I feel that if we play it right, he will beat the opposition but it will be a long haul.

So that's it for this time. The nights are getting lighter and it's getting warmer. Thank goodness I have been getting more and more depressed with the cold dark winter.

Live long and prosper.
xx

5 MARCH 2010 - FRIENDSHIP

2010-03-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me will know that I have experienced a major problem in my life.

Many people talk about nightmares but in truth that has become a misnomer for everyday crises.I have for the last 5 years been subject to a problem which has caused my wife and I to go to the edge financially, emotionally, physically - you name it. We have lost most of our material possessions - my Company was my personal response to that. It was my cocking a snoop at life and saying, whatever you have I can take it and I'll come back for more. The Company is doing OK - it was always going to be a slow starter and it is now starting to show some "green shoots". Time will tell if those shoots blossom into fully grown plants.

Back to the topic. Trauma shows your true friends and I have been shocked to discover that I have friends when I have always considered myself to be something of a loner. Better, that those friends have been four square behind me offering everything from money to murder.

My family have amazed me at the nature of their support. My wider family has been by my side all the time.

My closer family, from my son who offered me everything he had worked for to help, to my wife who has never offered me any recriminations - even when I felt they were due - to the grandchildren who just offer you love. I can mention them all but they know what they gave and I am sure that they know that I appreciate every single one of them.

Two friends stand out - both will remain nameless that would be their wish not mine. The first in giving me help and support in the blackest of times and the other who has completely humbled me with his generosity of mind and spirit and otherwise.

Thank you each and every one of you.

The major part of my trauma is over. Five years of hell have ended with a much better than expected outcome. Now it's time for tomorrow - watch this space!

Now to business. I am not sure that I have any gripes this week, my mind has been elsewhere. So let me do some preaching.

Sole traders - why? The dangers in being a sole trader are enormous, unlimited and completely avoidable.

A sole trader is someone who goes and starts in business on their own and doesn't bother to register as a limited company. The majority of sole traders carry on their business without problem. They never experience the worst problems that can arise but they are always at risk.

The simple answer to this is to register your business as a limited company. It costs next to nothing. There is no real increase in your administration or paperwork and you get protection. Protection from making an error, protection from overtrading, protection from recession. Without limited status all of your possessions are at risk, with it they are not. It's that simple.

"Ah - but I'm insured" - they all cry. "I've got it covered". Well, the trauma I mentioned above was due in no small part to an insurance company rejecting a perfectly valid claim. How many times does that happen? Once is more than enough and we have all heard about people getting screwed by their insurers.

This is not a tirade borne out of bitterness - as it happens I am not bitter just disappointed - rather it is a simple statement of common sense.

Have a good week

Chris

24 February 2010 - ANOTHER WEEK OLDER

2010-02-24T02:43:00.000-08:00

What dreadful weather we have had this winter. It's cold and wet and every time I go out with the dogs I get covered with mud.At this time of year I think of my friend Michael, living in the equable calm of San Diego. Constant nice temperatures, no snow or ice and when it rains it's that warm Summer rain which always makes me feel good.

But .......... San Diego is a place I've been to a few times and I like it but the fact that the weather never changes means that it can be dry and dusty.There are no real seasonal changes and you never get to see the annual renewal that comes with them.I love the days late in the year when the wind is strong and lashes the leaves left after late Autumn. I love that feeling I get, about this time of year when it is crisp and cold outside, freezing maybe but somehow cleaned and new. I love the autumn colours and the fresh green that will start to appear all over the place very soon.

So San Diego can wait until I am very old and need the heat all the time. Give me the seasons.

Salutary lessons this week. I've seen a few business owners and their businesses and one in particular stands out. What should be a very successful business is failing. The guy running it has done everything he can to make it a success. Looking at all he has done - it all makes sense. He has trimmed back his overheads and lost staff. He is more hands on and working both himself and his staff harder. He has tried to widen his appeal by taking on a new outlets at minimal cost.

The whole thing should be working well and it is not. I racked my brains as to why not and could not come up with a reason. Then we visited a competitor and the whole thing started to fit in place. Bright and airy. Clean and accessible.His shop is everything my prospective client's is not. My guess is that the competitor is doing very well and making money. He is always busy and employs a lot of people.

The change is not obvious from the shop - on the surface it looks the same as any other but I was looking at it with eyes that are 58 years old and what is familiar to me can be and on this occasion is, really out-dated. My prospective client is about the same age as me and time will tell if he can hear that his problem is that time has passed him by.

I don't agree with "modernisation" as a solution to all of businesses problems but sometimes the wheel does need to be reinvented - or at least motorised!

We are looking for businesses in trouble. If you know of anyone that is struggling, the chances are that we can help them and may stop them from going under. I am very good at what I do - but I want to do it more often.

See you soon

Chris

15th February - Time for this blog to work for me

2010-02-15T03:45:00.000-08:00

I have just experienced a very quiet weekend which started me thinking about stress and how I relax.The simple answer is that I don't. I spent Saturday morning tidying the garage and the rest of the day mucking about doing other odds and sods. Sunday, we went with the dogs for a walk and then after I had sat down and snoozed for a while I went to the kitchen to bake.

So when I relax, I seem to work - or else I sleep. I need a hobby but I have always regarded them as, more or less, a waste of time. I have this feeling that a hobby is just a way of occupying the space between work and death. That may sound a bit depressing but I have never felt the need for a hobby.

Now, I am on happy pills, as those of you that know me know. That is my way of getting rid of the stress and anxiety of everyday living. I tried to come off them but that didn't work and I have the impression that, long term, I need to organise an alternative to the pills. So back to square one - hobbies. What do I do to occupy those spaces where I am neither working nor sleeping. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Now, it is time for this page to start earning its keep. It is time for me to start promoting my wares. If you know anyone who is thinking about starting up in business then they do need to know about my "business in a bag". Currently £345.00 it includes all that you want to set up in business. It's not like all the other businesses in a bag - they are either sales vehicles or they are limited to one aspect of your business - no mine is just about as comprehensive as they come. "How to" books, a limited company, a set of trading terms and conditions and an hour of my time - to use exactly as you wish. The whole thing was designed to be of sound practical use.

Please pass the message on.

Chris

February 12th 2010

2010-02-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that a week has gone by since I last posted.

I don't know about you but there are various things that irritate me and one of them is the way in which people say the name of this month, February. So many people miss out the first "r" and there is no need - even on the BBC the so called "received English" speakers do it and it annoys me. Stop it.

Well what a roller coaster of a life we lead. Up one day and down the next. It's a good job I'm on pills.We saw our two leads and have spent a lot of time preparing the proposals. They are both for fundamentally sound businesses run by fundamentally nice people that have been pushed off the rails by the recession.

When the Government says it supports small business it should show that in some material way not just through fine words.

My "bitch of the week" this week comes from the cold calling we have been doing. So many people don't answer their phones and about the same number use answer phones. Why do it? If you are in business and advertise your number then answer your phone. It really is that simple!

If you can't answer your phone then find someone who can. If I get greeted by an answer phone, I move on to the next firm. It doesn't take much and if all else fails you can get a firm to do it for you for less than a £1 a pop. That has to be money well spent.

I've been doing some writing again this week. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. A series of articles for local paper business pages. If anyone know any editors out there who need some free copy, please let me know!

Well short and simple today, like me.

Keep your fingers crossed for the success of my proposals and Happy Valentines Day to all my female admirers - I have made a donation to Charity rather than send cards this year.

Chrissy

HEARTFELT APPEAL

2010-02-05T07:39:00.000-08:00

IF YOU ARE ONE OF MY 3 FOLLOWERS THANK YOU.

CHRISSY NEEDS MORE FOLLOWERS AND SO IF YOU COULD TELL YOUR PARTNERS, FRIENDS, LOVERS, FAMILY THAT I NEED SOME HELP THAT WOULD BE ENCHANTING.

THANK YOU

XXX

Friday 5 February 2010 - my the week goes quickly

2010-02-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

Well another week has passed and we e have secured some appointments, not out of the cold calling but through the survey we are conducting.

People are perverse, they are not prepared to respond to direct questions but prefer the oblique approach. Oh well, I need to learn and we will start to employ that technique with the next set of leads we'll continue with the survey not the cold calling!

This is an enormous learning curve for me and I am, for the most part, enjoying the journey. I have been learning electronic marketing this week. What a strange beast.

I do not understand how people who are trying to sell marketing on the internet can make their own sites so unwieldy. Navigating a lot of them is a complete nightmare; they are just not clear. I have learned, for example, that there are basically two types of company out there, those that use pre-made lists and those that don't. Trying to tell them apart from their sites has become an art which has taken all day to acquire. Why not say, up front, we do/do not sell lists? It would make it so much easier.

I eventually had a very nice conversation with a young lady from oop North and I think that we may be doing some business together. She spoke English that I could understand and answered my questions without any BS. Watch this space!

Maggie and I have had long discussions this week about the basics. I consider myself to be erudite and experienced and get really cross when someone involved on the fringes comes along and points out the bloody obvious when you've been trying to find it for ages. Several times in the course of talking she has come up with suggestions that have simply evaded me - and I hate her for it. She doesn't read this blog and may take what I have just said the wrong way - as though I am praising her - and I wouldn't want her to grow a hat size, so please don't let on.

The tide is definitely turning now and we are seeing the progress we needed to see. My business plan said 4 months and it looks as though it will be about right.

So on we go older, wiser and even closer to meeting the grim reasper - with that happy thought I'll leave you in peace

Chris

Monday 1st February

2010-02-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

I wonder why some days we are incredibly productive and then others, like today for me, we can produce nothing.

I have decided to release the rest of my day for thought in the hope that something good can come of it.

My major problem, presently, is getting the message across. I know that my services are needed, I just don't seem to be able to get in touch with the people that want it. If any of you have any ideas I would be very pleased to receive them.

I saw a guy today who, I think, put his finger of the solution to the problems the Nation has experienced over the last few years. His answer is an ideal and impossible to put into existence but it set me thinking. I don't know the exact statistics but I think they go along the lines that suggest that the Government has spent £30,000 for every man woman and child in the Country to save the banks.

Now he has lost £80,000 in bad debts and ventured to suggest that if the Government had compensated him and all of those who have suffered likewise those of us who run small businesses would have been able to keep the Country afloat.

Now, as I said above the system is an ideal and could never work but if the Government had gone along those lines, small businesses (always described at election times as the "backbone" of society) may well have caused the economy to recover more quickly. Certainly left in the hands of the Banks, it will be years before enough cash starts to wash about again.

Wishful thinking.

If you have been..... thanks for listening.

Chris

29 January 2010 - SECOND TRY

2010-01-29T08:22:00.001-08:00

Well, the first blog went down like a lead balloon so here is the second attempt.

I was criticised in the first blog for producing misspelt text and was told that no-one could post comments. I hope I have corrected those problems in this reincarnation.

What happened to attempt number one? Well that is a mystery known only to Google who run the thing.I have no idea - it could still be there, silently waiting for me to add words of wisdom and probably feeling lonely and unloved.

I want to try and give you some idea of my life at sban and what we are trying to achieve. If you click on the very fetching photo of me, you'll get taken to our website which will tell you a bit more. So, I'll leave it there for the moment.

I am sitting listening to some Beatles on my i-player at the moment - you forget just how good they were, especially when their music is now 50 years old - that all makes no sense to me - it seems like it was the day before yesterday.

It's been a strange day. I carted Mrs H off to the Airport with daughter Emma. They have embarked on phase 2 of Em's campaign against child cruelty and Mrs H has gone along as a bodyguard for her daughter. Mmmm - not sure about that, just turned 60 and not that physically fit but she does have one hell of a glare so that may have to do!

The rest of the day has been spent trying to think of ways to raise the profile of my Company. It's really been quite difficult getting the word out there. The business community does not seem to want to admit that it might have financial problems and it is so hard getting to the people who want to start up in business.

If anyone is reading this - if!!! - and they have any ideas, I would be very happy to receive them. So far Mathew and I are splitting our efforts. He will concentrate on the networking side and is doing a survey of local businesses to ascertain their present confidence levels. He is also looking at relaunching our seminars locally, to try and get some new businesses interested in what we have to sell and will continue with his cold calling - more about that in a minute.

Chrissy has the cushy option. Search Engine Optimisation - I'll be an expert on it soon even if it kills me. I am also looking at other ways of getting the message across in the electronic medium. Being a switched on kind of person, I can't see that that will be difficult (that was sarcasm by the way!)

Cold calling - now there's a thing. I have always been told how difficult it is to do. That it is frightening and that you just keep being given abuse. Well me and my boy are here to testify that, although there are one or two strange people out there, the majority of West Sussex people are jolly pleasant. When we managed to talk to them they were generally polite and friendly. I say when because about 1/4 don't answer their phones and another 1/4 have answering machines. How very daft that is. They get themselves in a directory and don't have their phones answered. I know that some firms

I have no idea how long this thing should be so, for this blog that's it. If it's too long/short, please tell me.

Have a good weekend

Chris