Blog
How Covid Made The Lifestyle Sector Grow Up
You And Your Business Is A Marriage… Will The Pandemic Spell D.I.V.O.R.C.E.? Lifestyle choices are, ideally, uplifting. From jogging to journaling to Jägerbombs, they’re positive commitments you make to yourself and connections you make with your family and friends....
Business Strategy By A Business Consultant
Make Time for the Long Game In my role as a business consultant, I find myself sitting in front of brilliant people who want to progress their business to the next stage but who’ve hit a roadblock. It’s tough and sometimes disheartening but they’ve recognised it and...
Business Success Attracts Haters: Ignore Them
How Hophead’s Good Luck Attracted a Bad Attitude “Do you have Hophead, please, mate?”The small Brighton pub was packed; I was shouting.The barman yelled back, surprised: “Hophead?! No, mate. We haven’t stocked Hophead in ages!”“Oh, shame!” I replied. “They were local,...
Ditch Your Toxic Leadership Style: Get Vulnerable
“How would I describe working for you, Nick? It’s like standing next to the back legs of a horse all day: exciting but mildly terrifying.” A few years back, one of my employees, Rich, said this to me at the office. We were in a meeting at the time and I thought it was...
Business Growth Mindset: Risks and Rewards
Will Your Confidence Expand as Fast as Your Company? I’m always proud that the lifestyle party business that I ran for over a decade made the UK Fast Track 100 for two consecutive years (more on this another time). The growth was stratospheric, but with big growth...
How We Won Lastminute.com
(No thanks to me) Let me tell you about one of my most humiliating business meetings. It was the early Noughties and from where my leisure business was sitting, the biggest affiliate we could align with was Lastminute.com. Lastminute.com was one of the earlier...
Seven Tips When Onboarding Recruits
*Number three is ‘Be Patient’ In Start-Up World, new recruits can create a bad impression or veer off course fast. They’ll be keen to get going and show off: to make a difference ASAP. Your job? Encourage them to chill out. Because no-one can make a first impression...
Added Value and the Gratitude Tree
When a business owner brings everything to the daily table, they’re like a world-class chef Remember I told you my dentist is the best businessman I know? I found a contender. Richardson Road in Hove is a secret shopping oasis in residential Hove. It’s a tiny street,...
Why Do You Need A Business Consultant?
Before we answer ‘What IS a business consultant?’, let’s be clear on why you might need one. After all, if you’re reading this, you’re probably already happily on your business path and doing quite well, thanks very much, Nick. Fair point. Why the heck would you need...
The Magic Formula For Business Success
What’s The Secret That Will Carry You to Victory? Ahhh… business. We love it. A living, abstract machine with endless, moving, interlinked parts which, when primed correctly, will magically sing and whirr like a thing of beauty – and, with a bit of luck, occasionally...
My Dentist Is The Best Businessman I Know
My dentist is called Rishi. He’s the best businessman I know. My dentist, Rishi, being rad. At face value, he's a legit-looking guy at a typical dental practice. When you meet him, though, you realise he's something a bit special. He’s on point. He’s someone I want to...
Your Start-Up Needs You To ‘Wing It’
Working on the fly is a vital part of business; don’t pretend it isn’t Everyone wings it. Individually we call it a million different things, including ‘being flexible’ or ‘improvisation’ or ‘putting a finger in the air’. Let’s call it ‘winging it’ for now. Sounds...
17 Tips To Build A Strong Business
How To Build Your Brand Brick By Brick I’d never really thought about my Dad being a businessman until I started Clear Ideas and began writing about my work philosophy. My old man was a successful builder. It’s only now I can see how much his commitment to his career...
You Overtalk In Meetings And It’s A Problem
Don’t Hold Your Audience Hostage With Your Waffle Gun: LISTEN! Waffle (British): To speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner Waffle (US): To fail to make up one’s mind So many people in business waffle on – in both the British and the American sense (as...
The Importance Of A Business Plan: Part One
The thrill of starting a business is often followed by a tough reality check. Pre-launch, you have a great business idea. You scurry around, busy AF, bringing it to life. It’s all-consuming and never-ending and you burn bright with a million ideas. Anything is...
Why Listening Is The Number One Skill In Business
Yesterday was World Teacher Day, which got me thinking. Teachers after all, famously impart knowledge; for the most part, they speak and we listen. Type ‘famous orators’ into Google and you’ll find a million mentions, from Pericles to Nelson Mandela to Greta Thunberg....
