If you live in a big city then you will be all too aware of the hectic pace of life and the serious stress this is increasingly causing.  I live right in the centre of London and although I adore the culture and variety of this fantastic capital I sometimes find myself racing like a rat too.  Here is a something you might like to try.  Next time you are rushing along in the middle of the surging throng change your pace and slow down to half of your original speed – just for a minute.  Now look around you.  Look at the faces, the furrowed brows, determined to get where they are going at any cost, totally oblivious of those around them.  That is what you looked like just before you decided to slow down for a moment.  Bit frightening eh?  Just take it all in and give a little smile that you have dropped out of the fast lane even for a moment. Does this mean I am not goal focused – not a bit of it!  I just like to enjoy the journey as much as arriving at the destination.  I have got lots more practical ideas for reducing that stress if you would like to hear them.

Popularity: 10%

In the last series of ‘The Apprentice’ the confrontational interviewers asked the hopefuls what they knew about ‘Siralan’ and his businesses.  None of them had a clue as they had just not bothered to do any research.  As Managing Director of Commodore Computers at the time his Amstrad games consul was on the market I probably knew more about him than they did.  So one would have thought that this new bunch of aspiring A’s for Sir A would not have repeated the same mistake.  Not a bit of it.  Amazingly only MENSA mind Simon had done his prep and very unfairly I thought, got chastised by the great man for doing such a thorough job.  The egotistical short list were largely too caught up in themselves to show any interest in others even their possible future boss.  What it is about pride going before a fall?

Popularity: 8%

I was mentoring a client last week who was pursuing two businesses at the same time.  Neither was making enough income to support him and both were draining energy from each other.  It was clear he had to make a decision to abandon one and follow the other 100%.  The point here is the 100%.  We say we will make something a total priority but we still hang on to other options – just a little.  Having made the decision to dump one of the businesses, I invited him to burn all the paperwork associated with that business right down to the very last business card, in a closing ceremony and delete all files relating to it on his C drive.  The look on his face was one of pure horror.  He realised at that moment that this was focused effort Kaday style, which involves 100% dedication of purpose with no side shows to divert the attention.  The energy released when you really let go of the distractions is just fantastic.  In my experience it is better to do one thing well rather than a lot of things badly.  Are there some unnecessarily distractions in your business life which you really need to dump once and for all?

Popularity: 9%

I was going up a packed escalator on the tube last week surrounded by my fellow Londoners – wonderful!  As the ads for musicals, make up and Majorca flashed past I was wondering what impact they were having on my fellow travellers.  Did they get the message in that fleeting moment?  Would it generate any action?  Adverts for shows like Chicago with strong imagery and few words were pretty clear and might well have reminded those who had heard of but not seen the show to book.  Others were far more cluttered with small print and even smaller telephone numbers and web addresses.  The worst offenders were the many technical colleges who typically for academics had to get everything onto the page.  Why not promote a university degree course like a show – radical but perfectly possible.  How clear are your messages?  Would they pass the tube test?

Popularity: 7%

It is sad but true that every business screws up at one time or another and has to give credit.  The work is done, the costs have been incurred and no revenue has resulted.   I was discussing just such a situation with a client the other day.  The project was £5k which had simply been credited.  ‘Don’t just credit the project’ I said.  ‘Only do that if they agree to give you more business.  Why not offer them a discount worth £5k on their next project, assuming there is one?’ ‘How does that work?’ she asked’.  I explained that if you offered a discount worth £5k on the next project of let’s say £20k then you would have done a total of £25k of work for £20k – a discount of 20%.’  In other words they have to give you more business to get the discount of £5k and the more business they give you, the less impact the credit will have.  OK this does assume there is a repeat business opportunity but if there is don’t be in too much of a rush just to credit invoices next time this situation happens to you.

Popularity: 8%

Popularity: 15%

What have the British School of Motoring, the London Film School and an exclusive travel agency have in common?  They all feature ‘contact us’ tabs on their web sites but don’t reply when you do.  Helping my Belgium wife to acclimatise to our driving on the wrong side of the road (her words not mine) would certainly have cost several hundred pounds.  The London Film School would charge me £6000 a term for my son to attend (what a good daddy) and I will not even tell you how much the yachting holiday I was interested and eventually booked with someone else cost.  I am sure you have had similar experiences.  So what is going on here?  Why are these high profile companies so disinterested in our quality enquiries and our business?  I think I know some of the reasons.  When the site was set up the enquiries were routed to someone who has now left and this has never been changed.  They get so much spam that they can’t be bothered to filter out the genuine enquiries.  Or maybe they just can’t be bothered – full stop.   Having spent a large part of my life proactively knocking on doors in all weathers, it is beyond my comprehension why these ‘business sinners’ behave in this way. Their reputation is immediately damaged (I am now telling you!) and they are loosing business for which the cost of sale is virtually zero.  An increasing number of my clients are relying on web based contact to grow their business and even using text messaging to talk directly to enquirers.  What happens when visitors to your site contact you?

Popularity: 12%

I was at Tate Britain bright and early last Friday for the fantastic Holbein exhibition. There was Henry VIII and some of his wives and pals staring out from the walls just like they were around today. But it was not the great artist which fascinated me most but one of the staff walking around with a binder full of photos. He was checking every masterpiece with its photographic equivalent to ensure that they were all there. He said he did it every morning and every evening.

As employers I was wondering how regularly we check out our investment in human resources – the people who work for us every day. Are they well prepared to start their day? Are there any problems or uncertainties which need to be resolved? What were their successes at the end of the day? If you have set targets how well have they achieved them? In the engagement process remember to regularly recognize their contributions too. Most people quit their jobs because they feel unacknowledged and undervalued. Your staff are just as valuable as any painting on a wall. Do you check they are all present and correct as regularly as you should?

Popularity: 5%