Browsing all posts in Business Startup.
Are you an Ostrich or do you eat Frogs!
I was reminded last night of how so many people stick their heads in the sand when things aren’t quite going to plan. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of this and sometimes from close friends and business associates. Here’s what happens: You need someone to make an important decision on something and you [...]
7 Super Useful Resources for Busy Business Owners
We’re all busy right? In the fast-paced life we lead, it’s great when a tool comes along that helps us run our business more efficiently – the trouble is there are a lot of them out there which have little or no benefit to users and in fact end up wasting us a lot of [...]
The No 1. Trait I want from my staff
Someone asked me today, “Alastair, what’s the number one trait you expect or want from your staff”. Hmm interesting – this made me think very hard. Some of the obvious ones sprang to mind immediately: Honesty Integrity Skilled Motivated Hard Working They all came close. Do you know what I ended up answering and on [...]
It’s Snow Joke – Tips for Keeping your Business Running in Adverse Conditions
Wow. A week of snow and the whole country grinds to a halt! So what does that mean for your business? What precautions have you put in place to deal with these extreme conditions or are you now wishing you had? Here’s a few things you should look into if you haven’t done so already. [...]
Calling All Exeter Based Recruitment Agents
I’ve got an exciting new project to tell you about today. We’ve just launched a new project that’s been under wraps for the last 6-12 months – YourJobsBoard.co.uk Over the last ten years we’ve worked closely with many recruitment companies in the South West and especially in Exeter where we are based. We’ve built lots [...]
From a stable job to a start-up business
This week I spent some time interviewing friend and now supplier of my firms book-keeping services, Ben Didier about starting his own business earlier this year. Why did you choose to go it alone? I have always wanted my own business, ever since I was young. For me it was the plan from the start [...]
Guide to Setting Up a Meeting & The Upfront Contract
Do you find yourself spending too much time in meetings? Do they often over-run? Do you leave them feeling like you don’t really know what the outcome was or what you actually achieved? I did…for years I had meeting after meeting without clearly defining my outcomes and objectives and I dread to think how much [...]
Who are your influencers?
In my last blog post I talked about the influence project. This week I want to focus on finding your influencers. How do you spread the message about your business? Do you try and do it yourself? Do you employ sales people to go out and do it on your behalf? These are valid tactics [...]
To Blog or Not to Blog – That is the Question
At Optix we regularly consult on Blogging and help people get setup on the right platforms. We give them tips and advice and away they go. So the question is, should you blog and what benefits will it give you? If you’re a business owner/startup, a great blog can do a number of key things [...]
Go and Fail….Now
We all make mistakes – it’s how we learn. It regularly surprises me that so many people seem afraid to fail. When I talk to people about blogging (and often, this is in order to convince them to try it), one of the things I hear a lot is that they are worried about writing [...]