A short story about Customer Service – the way it should be done
I thought you might enjoy this little tale of loveliness and personal consideration that we don’t hear about as often as we should (too many cat videos?) Anyway, here’s the story and a moral. Two weeks ago, my son, Will, turned 18. As boys do, he’s been stealing my shaving gear for some time (interestingly, […]
Anatomy of a Free Coaching Session (or: Avoid the Hard Sell)
You’ve found our homepage, managed to get past the jigsaw picture (we’re working on it) but you haven’t asked for a free coaching session so you can check us out. Why not? Too risky perhaps? You might find yourself stuck with a boring arse for two hours (yes, you might :)) OK, I can’t promise […]
For you neglected non-trade business (and the tradies, too) – Get in that Cloud!
As you know, part of my job is to learn new stuff to share with my clients and with our community of business owners (that’s you, if you read these emails, at least) Yesterday, I went to the Xero roadshow and learned some more about the amazing world of the cloud. I spent the day […]
Trades Business? Are you still doing business the old way?
Free Seminar for Tradies living near Murwillumbah only! Learn cool stuffs, save more money, and reduce stress levels! See you there, Jon
For You Non-Tradies
Some of you may have noticed I’ve been sending emails addressed to Tradies. Don’t worry! We all still like you 🙂 We’re building a coaching program aimed specifically at Trades business owners and we’re marketing it to them. It’s the result of Jon joining a coaching program (yes, Jon the business coach has his own […]
Tradies and a Toyota Hilux
With all the excitement of planning a coaching program just for trades business owners and marketing it I’ve been noticing Trades marketing more than usual. These ads for Toyota Hilux are hilarious and, at the same time, so stupid. I keep seeing tradesmen portrayed as some kind of pie-eating, fishing, surfing uber Australian. But I’ve […]
The New Year Plan
Happy Bloody New Year….. I feel a bit like Scrooge this January. Holidays were fun, now they’re over. It’s too hot and it keeps raining. Work beckons invitingly. Not. And every Facebook post and blog from people like me is crapping on about New Year’s Resolutions. I didn’t make any because I knew I’d have […]
Schoolies – Is there a lesson for us here?
Last week, I flew to Sydney for a training course (yes, learning to be a better business coach) and shared my flight home (to the Gold Coast – flights are cheaper and at better times) with about 200 18 year-olds on their way to the Gold Coast for Schoolies. My God, they’re a noisy lot […]
9 Traps For Business Owners
I read an interesting article on Gallup News the other day entitled How Entrepreneurs Sabotage Their Businesses. The author highlights 9 traps that startups typically fall into: Relentless focus on profitability Overconfidence Unfocused creativity Need for control Ineffective delegation Misplaced commitment to a selected course of action Entrepreneurial myopia Ineffective networks Confirmation bias This contains […]
Procrastinators Do It Tomorrow
Are you a procrastinator? I am (so I’m told – I didn’t admit to it until my girlfriend pointed it out to me). I tend to put big, difficult (or unappealing) jobs off until closer to the time they need to be done. I allow myself to be distracted by Facebook more than I should. […]
The Corporation as a Psychopath – Not So Present In Small Business?
This article was prompted, as I arrived at Gold Coast airport this morning, skipping to Sydney to try to learn something, by the (new?) sign at the airport car park “Premium Parking”. Premium Parking? $30 a day! First Class begins even before you board. Or some such crap. I chose business coaching because I was […]
Engaging Social Networks
Last week I had a chance to check out a new “B2B Social Network” which has popped on the scene. It’s an interesting concept because it’s all about promoting local connections and building on the “buy local” philosophy. You can check it out at www.alignable.com and my company page is at https://www.alignable.com/Fort-Collins-CO/Small-Fish-Business-Coaching. This brought up […]