Feel the Force - Become a Business Jedi

 Running your own business is about making the money you need to have the life you want...    But running your own business and making money IS NOT easy….   No one should tell you otherwise.    And then when you make money you have to learn what to do next….   I have included the picture as I thought it was quite thought provoking….. 🤷 ‍ ♂ ️ 🤔   Personally, I don’t like the reference to “Rich” and “Poor” but I like the concept they are trying to show. I have been involved in the Forces Group for 9 years. (I know, for me it feels like only yesterday when we first got involved.)   And over the years I have always aimed to pay myself a salary so I can pay the bills and live my life without too many frills and spills, but after that I am constantly looking at investing back into the business, which makes the business stronger which in turn protects the life I have.   So are you thinking the right way…. what could you be d...

 Have you ever heard the expression  “working ON your business or IN your business”.     In simple terms….   Working IN your business is about doing the physical day to day operation of your business. (money today)   Working ON your business is doing the thinking, analysis and actions that will move you (and / or your business) forward beyond what it is doing today (money future)   As a solopreneur this can be hard to find the time to work ON your business, particularly when it is the actual doing when you see the £’s coming into your bank account.   However, it is the working ON your business where the biggest change can happen!!! Amongst many, many other things it is about understanding the numbers in your business, reviewing the numbers in your business making changes (take action) to impact the numbers in your business etc…. having a marketing strategy, working on your marketing strategy etc… ...

I was with a franchise recently and he received an inbound call from a 0161 (Manchester) number. He immediately rejected the call and mumbled about it being “another bloody sales call”. The number was actually 0161 820 6080 …. and is our outsourced team that deal with some of our phone calls. They are called MIPA and are based in Manchester. They receive calls from the website, put the customers details on the Ops system and will look to patch the customer through to you directly. So I would recommend that you save the NUMBER to your phone and label it accordingly so you know what to expect if they call you. Yes, you will pay commission on the job if it is successful but better to get the job than not. As an aside I know that many franchisees ignore calls from dial codes outside of their area assuming that they are sales calls. Personally I would not ignore any call as it could be a genuine prospect. And if you are getting sales calls then look to block the number. You can...

  When it comes to understanding why certain businesses are thriving and their counterparts are not, there is a very common theme. There’s ONE thing that’s common to them all... This one thing makes selling their product or service easier, makes charging a higher price easier, makes getting their brand out there more accessible, makes finding better staff easier, and keeps customers buying easier. That one thing is... To differentiate what they do from their competition. Sounds obvious, right? But can you honestly answer this: “Why should someone buy my product or service from me, rather than from my competitor?" If you look at any business and compare them to their competitors, 95% of them are the same — just a different logo. They’re selling the same stuff at the same price to the same audience while claiming they care more and that their service is better, or that they are more trustworthy. This mindset means these businesses will struggle. So how do you d...

IT security is a HAZARD for all online users with many risk present every day. The THREAT is real with people and organisations all over the world trying to steal your money, your data or just cause disruption. On Group IT consultant Ken Hill gave a webinar to highlight some of the practical steps you can take to protect yourself. One of the biggest take ways was Ken highlighting that convenience will always increase your risk .  Eg. using the same password for all log ins, using easy passwords (criminals are not stupid and are good at working out passwords), using the "keep me logged in" function on some apps, programs etc.... And, never be tempted to react to an unexpected email asking you to enter your log in details - no matter how official it looks. (the scammers can make things look very real and authentic and pretend to be other people / companies.) Please check out the video If you are UNSURE ask Ken Hill (ken@hilldatasystems.co.uk or call  01722 448880 or the office ...

 I was listening to a podcast while relaxing in the bath (probably a sight you don’t want to imagine) the other day. Phil M Jones was the speaker - he has a great book called Exactly What To Say. I recommend it for your reading list.  The podcast covered lots of thing but 1 thing resonated with me HUGELY.  I n our training we talk about the only way to succeed is to fail. (Fall down might be a better thing to say). Failing is a key attribute to success. The problem is that many people don’t want to go through the pain of failure to discover success. Or they try something once and give up too early. This was emphasised on the podcast but he added another element… mistakes!!   Phil Jones made the point that there is a difference between failure and mistakes.   His interpretation was that..   a mistake is knowing how to do something and simply not doing it properly or consistently. while,   a failure is trying something new and not getti...

 I attended an online conference today to extend and enhance my skills and knowledge. It was all about Sales and one of the first things that was mentioned was First Impressions. Here at the Forces Group we talk about the fact that 1st Impressions Count and last....  ---> and never forget you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression!! But there was one statistic mentioned today that really stood out to me.... First Impressions are made in the first 4 seconds.... just 4 seconds.... really? I was so intrigued that I looked into this further and there is another statistic that says it is 7 seconds and another study that says it is actually fractions of a second. There is a lot of psychology involved here and I don't intend to spend hours researching BUT I am taking the premise very seriously and I would suggest that you do too.... Why...? Because if it is true then it could change your business, and there is no way it will hurt your business. So here is someth...