I love wisdom - it’s cool. It sounds like such a desirable attribute to have - although in some ways it seems such an airy fairy “out there” concept! But wisdom is simply viewing a given situation through bigger eyes than our own.
As an example of this, imagine that a mother knows that a child […]

For all of us still here on earth, every morning we wake up and find out that it’s never finished, I mean this living thing. I’m thankful for that of course because it gives me another challenge and more opportunity to do something.
But try as I might to conceptualise a finished website (that’s my business), […]

Ever had a love-hate relationship with a business monopoly?
The thing about Microsoft or Telecom and the others is that while we know they are making a killing off us, we still use them because they’re giving us the goods. In the days of Windows 3.11, there were alternatives to Microsoft. Most of the time they […]

There’s a whole bunch of turkeys out there.
“Your call may be recorded for quality control purposes”. Do they really think that we’re that thick? You are really recording the phone call so that you have a record in case of dispute or trouble in the future. We know it and you know that we know […]

Timing is everything.
Hit the ball half a second too late and you’ll foul or you’re out. Turn the corner at just the wrong time and you’re over the cliff - with a bust-up car. Arriving at the terminal 30 seconds after the train, plane or bus has left just isn’t cool. Hesitate for 1/1000 of […]

Attempting to conceptualise reality without using a benchmark is foolishness. We can see this when dreamers, optimists and sometimes real fools sink their time into products and services that the Dragons in the Dragon’s Den reject.
We see it also when the deluded try to convince you that condoms work (OK, sure, they sometimes do), or […]

The value of using a consultant in business is that they can bring fresh perspective to a situation.
Measuring your market, knowing how your staff are feeling, visualising the future, assessing your strengths and weaknesses (both at a personal and business level) is only as good as the quality of information that we have access to. […]

The way to catch a fish depends on the type of fish you want.
There’s no sense trying to catch a trout with a net. Snapper don’t chase live bait, and a flounder doesn’t take to squid bait. Even if we get the fishing method right there are still different flys to try for the trout, […]

There are different ways of getting a feed out of the ocean. Hook, spear or net, to name a few.
When I ran a fishing trip and boat hire business in Coromandel, I would quite often sling a flounder net out from the base of the wharf. Old-man Alger, the father of a mate of mine […]

In my early twenties I set up a fishing trip and boat hire business in Coromandel. I would do up the old clinkers I found in the mangroves, hire them out and take people fishing. I did it for three years and loved it. There’s no real money in boats until you’re into seven figure […]

I learnt a big lesson in my first year as a salesman for a large office equipment company. The environment was a fairly aggressive one (commission only sales seems to do that to a business). It was pretty much a dog-eat-dog atmosphere with everyone egging everyone else to meet sales targets, crunch a deal and […]

Getting a good business partner, colleague, staff member or supplier on board is a good feeling. One plus one can actually equal three, or four, or more as we work together on a project.
But things don’t go to plan all the time. Bugger Bother! Keeping a relationship alive long term is a real challenge and […]

Ask most people what the essence of doing business is and most will settle on the goal of making money. No argument with that. No profit means no business. But digging deeper and we hit the real jackpot when we recognise that business is all about relationships - making them and keeping them.
Building relationships with […]