Protect your brand

 I don't know whether you know about the horsemeat scandal in the UK - where horsemeat has been found in a range of pre-produced 'beef' products but it  does remind us that each of us is responsible for securing our own supply chain - and knowing what goes on within  it.

We can't blame our suppliers, our distributors or the government when something like this happens.  Well, we can try ... but our customers will hold us responsible ... and it is our brand that will suffer.

You've probably taken a long time to build your company and brand. Don't allow someone outside of - but linked to - your company to destroy it.

Make sure you know how secure  your supply chain is?

How's the market?

Is the market for your product or service growing?

Not too many are at the moment.

This means, of course, that you have to increase your share of the market if you are to grow.... and this implies that you need some kind of 'edge' over your competitors.

Do you know what it is - or what it could be?  You should!

Be a tortoise

Most small businesses stay small. Many of them do not survive.  Many fail because they grow too quickly and run out of working capital.  This is often because their owners are over-ambitious - wanting to run before they can walk... and seeing the magic pound/dollar signs of growth. At other times it is because the owners are concentrating on 'getting the job done' rather than planning and controlling.

So, take a step back from your business and think about the future - a realistic future.  the, think carefully about what it will take to get to that future - and the mistakes you might make on the way.  Then move cautiously forward, keeping one eye on the future but the other very firmly on the present.

If the future is approaching too slowly, accept that caution is better than recklessness...be a tortoise rather than a hare.

Good Advice

There are many blogs offering 'personal productivity' advice - often linked to reminder/time management software... but often just offering simple advice.

A common piece of advice is to 'declutter' your life - get rid of distractions and focus on the real issues.I can see the wisdom in this so from now on I will stop reading such blogs and focus on real work.

I feel decluttered already.