Opportunity losses increase as we do more

How many times do you here business people say – “I don’t have enough time to do what I should be doing because of all the paper work” or “I’m not going to delegate that task because no one else does it as well as I can” or “I can’t afford to hire additional help”?

These are all common business issues and ones that managers grapple with daily, but in doing so they are all ignoring the economic theory of comparative advantage which talks about focusing on doing what brings the highest returns rather than what you are good at.

You may be extremely good at sales and very good at office admin, but are you maximising your business potential by doing both? In general the answer is no; if you’re not out selling you’re not building revenues and if your out selling the organisation will start to creek. So decide which activity you should be doing to maximise returns and bring in someone to do the other task.

I used to travel to India a lot on business and was always intrigued to see this theory adopted to the nth degree; irrespective of social standing or wealth everyone seemed to have some form of helper. The theory behind this was very simple; by spending time generating income individuals could afford to hire someone to do those tasks that if they did them would stop them maximising their potential to earn money.

This is such a simple theory yet it is so often ignored.

The knock on effect of ignoring this theory is people work long hours trying to do everything, and because time is limited, performance suffers, errors creep in and everything grinds to a halt.

The first reaction to the suggestion that someone should be hired to fill a particular role is “we can’t afford it” rather than what opportunities will an extra hire create. By seeing the possibilities the decision making criteria becomes revenue versus cost rather than just cost. The opportunity loss may be greater not hiring someone than making the hire.

Businesses don’t have to hire additional staff to be in line with this theory; they can outsource tasks to specialists in those areas so they can focus on core competencies and maximising returns. Business consultants such as ourselves can help by working with the business to understand the business drivers that will lead to increased returns and assist in identifying and implementing solutions to meet this objective.

The important piece is to recognise the trade off between managed costs, opportunity losses and growth.

Businesses will not grow without resources growing. We can’t do everything, so focus on the best course of action to increase returns, trust in others and see both sides of the P&L equation.

Are you missing a good old trick? 

We are often asked by employers to explain the benefits of taking on an Apprentice. Within this short blog I'll try and offer a flavour of how they work, who benefits and how, and who is an ideal candidate:

There are currently 958,000 unemployed people aged 16 - 24 years old in the UK - so many in fact that the Government has come up with a tidy little acronym (as they often do when a problem is too big to say in real words) called NEET's. This stands for Young people not in Education, Employment, or Training - there I've said it.

Some of these young people don't want any help. They don't want to engage at all and they are unhappy with the endless burdens of youth, good health and excellent prospects. Poor them. No really. They will wake up one morning aged 35 - still living with mum, and realise that life has passed them by - it's the same within every generation there has ever been and there ever will be.

There are however a huge amount of promising, bright, talented young people out there who are itching for an opportunity to work in a particular sector or industry - these are the diamonds that we try and extract.

These bright young things (and importantly their parents) are faced with a massive dilemma. University fees have sprung up with little warning to the tune of £9,000 per year and have you seen the price of fuel, food, and all of the other things you don't get paid for whilst on a college course???

What does an Apprentice cost?

Our FREE recruitment, training and exit process is described in points below - nothing we do costs you a penny. The Apprentice on the other hand will:

·     Work full time 40 hours per week

·     Take a training allowance of £2.60 per hour

·     stay with you for 6 - 8 months (depending on the length of their programme)

·     Either stay with you at the end or take their new experience and skills into the jobs market 100% better off for having ben given the opportunity to work for you.

If its good enough for Rolls Royce:

We meet business owners every day and it's amazing how often these self motivated, sophisticated and highly skilled inividuals (you know who you are) didn't learn their skills at college or University - myself included.

Many entrepreneurs started out by taking the small jobs, learning fast and embracing all of the skills, experiences and opportunities that came their way. For me it was washing dishes and making novelty desserts in a local restaurant whilst I resat my GCSE's.

In other words it was down to an opportunity that we were given at a young age that had us walk or fall into our future lives be that a strategic decision or a happy accident. We just had an enormous amount of energy and drive to see it through as the years went on.

We are all aware of some HUGE companies who embrace Apprenticeships as a major source of finding young talent. I've mentioned Rolls Royce to grab your attention. I attach the following link so that you can see both the amazing work and the amazing results that they are getting from Apprenticeships: http://www.rolls-royce.com/careers/what_can_do/graduates/apprenticeships/index.jsp

What do you get:

If you have ever worked with a recruitment agency (and had a really positive experience) then you are on the right track regarding the process of taking an Apprentice. The only difference is that we WON'T sting you for payment at the end. The recruitment service is entirely FREE.

FREE SERVICE:

1. A face to face meeting to discuss your needs and requirements

2. A comprehensive job specification and personality match

3. Your post advertised on all of the major Apprenticeship jobs boards + circulation to all career services

4. Full, comprehensive Candidate vetting - including candidate interviews (by us)

5. Top 3 - 5 CV's per post sent to your inbox

6. Interviews to suit you and your diary

7. Enrolment onto an Apprenticeship

8. Full Apprenticeship delivery, certification and FREE workshops for your staff (menu on request)100% on your premises

9. Employer support at the end of the programme to employ or exit the learner from your business

10. Full service review at the end of the programme

The training:

In short you can take an apprentice full time for 6 - 8 months for just £2.60 per hour and they will contribute to your business like any new member of staff.

The Apprenticeship training that is on offer is work based, delivered 100% on your premises - no day release, night school, evenings or weekends.

The training is tailored to suit your businesses needs at that time. They are evidence based - not academic but based on the work you set them.

Your Apprentice will need approximately an hour and a half per week to contribute to their qualification plus two to three hours with their assessor per month (one visit a month) to set work, sit exams and translate their work experiences and skills into nationally recognised qualifications worth between 5 GCSE's and 2 A' levels.

Are they for you?

Perhaps your business is hoping to recruit young talent but the cost is putting you off, or you know someone who you would really like to see in an Apprenticeship role. If so we are working with Candidates and employers all the time and we would be delighted to work with you.

Call direct on 077654 08 523 today or visit: http://www.wmctraining.co.uk/contact-us-2/ and register your details and request a call back for a no obligation chat.

Many thanks for reading this blog - I hope that you have found it useful, informative and a call to action for your business. We are delighted to take all enquiries so please get in touch and we'll hope to introduce you to some pretty smart young cookies FREE of charge.

Kindest regards,

Paul Rees

Managing Director

WMC Training

077654 08 523

Recognise all risks so your focus is on the right ones.

We are all exposed to risk 24/7, asleep or awake. Risk can be internal or external. Some risks can be managed, some can’t. Risk is about danger; the possibility of suffering harm, actual loss or lost opportunities and businesses face all sorts of differing risks, but

1. Do they recognise them?
2. Have they a strategy for reducing exposure and / or
3. Have they a strategy for mitigating losses?

For businesses, risk is about the financial implications of reducing exposure or mitigating losses versus the loss when risk event occur or the opportunities are lost. Businesses need to understand the different risks faced, the probabilities of events occurring and their resulting impacts, and the strategies for reducing or preventing exposure and for mitigating losses.

Fire insurance mitigates the losses of a fire but it does not, in itself, prevent or reduce exposure to fire. Other actions are required to reduce the probability of fire occurring or reducing the damage done. Prevention and mitigation are different aspects of the same discussion but they are not mutually exclusive. You can have more or less of each one depending on the type of risk and the extent to which it can be managed.

Businesses have to consider the knock on effects of an event occurring, not just the immediate loss or opportunity loss. If a business is dependent on a single supplier for a key product or component and that supplier closes there would not just be lost sales but the very real possibility of reputational loss brought about by not being able to fulfil orders, not being able to service new orders and the perception of bad management relying on a single supplier; the heinous crime of dependency on a single point of failure.

All businesses need to have risk management but, as with all things, make the process appropriate to the size of the organisation. The most important thing is to identify each and every risk, asses its significance to the business, the probability of a risk event occurring, the approach to managing the risk and the approach to mitigating losses.

This can be set out in a simple matrix with a traffic light system highlighting significance to the business and probability of occurrence; green for low, red for high. Where significance and probability are both green little effort or attention is required; when they are both red this means the business has to be proactive in managing the exposure and mitigating losses.

Risk is about asset protection, minimising operational failure, reducing the effect of external events and maintaining a financially viable business. It’s not just about having adequate insurance cover; it’s about taking appropriate cost effective action to reduce or prevent exposure and reduce possible losses. Here are just a few areas businesses need to consider that aren’t on the balance sheet.

• People – employees, customers
• Supply chains – production processes, suppliers
• Products, the brand and market position
• Management – key man risk, ethics, culture, corporate governance
• Finance – banks, insurers, shareholders, other lenders, liquidity
• Legal, regulatory, political and economics
• Competitors
• Technology
• Acts of God, social unrest and terrorism
• Utilities and support services

Not all risks need proactive management or mitigation, but unless you have a clear view of the risks that affect your business, you will not know which ones to focus on.

A valuable source of intelligence often ignored

Gathering information about the competition is vital to making the right decisions about business direction and market positioning but are you making the best use of a central source of market intelligence?

 When we plan a holiday, we may turn to the Thomas Cook brochure as a starting point, but it is likely we will look at other options available to us before making the final decision, clear in the understanding that we have made that decision based on all available information. In going through this process we have assessed the market and formed views on the different competitors.

How often are we asked by these companies to share these views? Very rarely.

There are many ways of gathering information about the competition from trawling the web, reviewing published financial information, keeping up with news to paying firms to gather intelligence on competitors. This is an on-going process that allows a business to build a picture of its business environment which, in turn, feeds directly into strategic planning and allows changes to be made to preserve, defend or extend its competitive edge.

How often though do we have an open and frank conversation with our customers to get their views?

This is one source of competitive intelligence which is often ignored. Markets aren’t perfect but customers make purchasing decisions based on information they have gathered; understanding the basis of these decisions can lead to a whole new way of seeing the world. Information gathered from customers allows a business:

·         to challenge and test its own perceptions of its operating environment,

·         to understand the information customers use when making decisions,

·         to understand what is important to customers,

·         to understand where the competitors have an edge, and

·         to make informed decisions about its own strategy.

This information can be gathered from prospective, current and lost customers. But it is the retained customers, where trust and loyalty exist, who should provide current and on-going intelligence.

There is much discussion in business literature around the high costs involved in finding new customers versus retaining current ones. Some quantify this as being between five and eight times more expensive than keeping current customers. That’s a lot off the bottom line.

Business literature also tells us that very few customers tell current suppliers the reasons why they are moving to alternative suppliers; they just vote with their feet. This is often the first the supplier hears that there is a problem and demonstrates a real loyalty deficit or knowledge gap.

The message is clear; if a business understands its customers and invests in understanding their needs so that products and services can be aligned with such needs, customer trust, loyalty and retention should increase.

Building trust and loyalty opens new information channels with customers where they provide their views on the competition. This is a valuable source of competitive intelligence which can only be accessed if the business has aligned its products and / or services with the requirements of its customers and built a relationship which is akin to a partnership where both parties are working towards common objectives.

Taking the time to build customer retention through trust and loyalty will not only improve financial performance it will give you access to an important source of market intelligence.

I don't know if you are aware of us, but KentVenues.co.uk is a relatively new website which lists venues and businesses in Kent. We are one of Kent's fastest growing websites with an ever growing presence on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and already we reach anything up to 10,000 potential customers monthly.

The beauty of listing your venue or business with us is that not only will we put your listing in anything up to 10 places on KentVenues.co.uk, but your listing will also rank high up on Google when somebody searches for you or a venue/business like yours in Kent. Click here to see an example of one of our business listings ranking 1st. This helps if you either don't have a website or if you do have one, but it doesn't rank on the first page of Google.

Your business listing is essentially a full page advert and unlinke offline advertising, is totally measurable. We can provide stats on how many views your listing has had and how many clicks to your website (if applicable) we have generated for you. It will contain everything a potential customer would need to know about you and even includes an enquiry form which gets sent straight to your email address!! Don't worry, we won't charge any commission on bookings unless you are a venue looking to feature in our wedding section.

The cost for a business listing is only £49.99 or £59.99 with a link to your website, NOT for a month's advertising but for a listing for 12 months!!

For a short presentation on our business listings follow this link - kv_businesslistingsexplained.pdf

Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to get involved!!

Thanks for looking, Paul - KV

Work experience opportunities to enhance your future

Responding to the growing number of talented young graduates looking to secure employment; we are offering unpaid internship placements of between 3-6 months with local businesses and employers.

Successful applicants will be trained and supported in their placement, offered on-the-job training and mentoring opportunities with senior managers. Experience can be gained working within the voluntary and community sector, a private company or with a public sector agency.

ARE YOU ?

• A graduate living in the Sevenoaks district? If you live outside Sevenoaks, you can still apply as long as you are prepared to work for an organisation in the Sevenoaks district.
• Wanting to improve your employability and career prospects?
• Wanting to gain new skills and access training?

Getting an internship is one way of building on the skills you gained at university. It can also give you real life work experience, let you try your hand at a possible career, and prove yourself to a potential employer.

We are working with local businesses and employers to identify and develop internships that represent genuine work experience opportunities to enhance your future prospects.

For full details contact Liz James, Development Officer on: 01732 454785 / 01892 530330 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Original Article

Catering4kent will be doing a interview from 1 - 2 pm on Kent business radio Tuesday 15 November 2011.

You can listen live and on-line.

http://www.kentbusinessradio.co.uk/

Vanquish  Developments offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to be part of our unique overseas developments through investment, joint venturing  on the construction and development of key facilities or business set-up and expansion to serve the local economy.

In Egypt, our  key project is the build of a marina and motor sport development at Palo Verde, about two hours’ west of Cairo on the Sinai coast of the Red Sea.  The development is more than a resort in that it will house educational facilities  associated with the motor sport activities. We have been working in Egypt for many years now and our team and partners based in Egypt work with British companies looking to expand into this exciting, growth market.

In Britain we are the major supporter of Motorsport Endeavour, the charity which creates driving experiences for wounded services personnel and veterans as well as disabled youngsters.  V1 Motorsport Endeavour,  created at the request of the British armed forces is the touring go-karting championship for active service personnel and will create employment for veterans as well as raising money through corporate sponsorship for Motorsport Endeavour, Combat Stress and other motor sport related charities.

Sarah’s background is based in the pharmaceutical and medical industry where she progressed to  management level working with Abbott Laboratories’ and the UK’s National Health Service. Over the past 10 years, Sarah has been actively involved in property management and development. Taking on overseas projects, Sarah has overseen a development in Hurghada on the Red Sea Riviera in Egypt and has managed and worked locally there for a number of years.

Destination Egypt: Discover a new marketplace for your business, free lunchtime presentation hosted by Vanquish Developments in partnership with the UKTI. You may be surprised to learn that Egypt is one of the world's fastest growing markets. Kent based Vanquish Developments has worked on construction projects and created a successful export business in Egypt for more than six years and is about to commence construction of the Palo Verde Raceway and Marina in Sinai. We are now in a position to help other UK companies to break into this exciting marketplace - without the upheaval of relocating. Vanquish has a working partnership with the UKTI and would like to invite you to attend a presentation including lunch at Buckmore Park Race Circuit in Chatham on Tuesday 15 November at 11.00 am. 

At our complimentary presentation you will:

*Find out more about the exciting Palo Verde Raceway development which is a British owned and managed project in Egypt

*Gain an insight into our working partnership with the UKTI and how this could help with your overseas expansion

*Why the Egyptian economy is booming

*Why the revolution in early 2011 is having a positive affect on overseas businesses

*How Vanquish kept working throughout the European and American recession by moving its core activities to Egypt

*Other projects currently being undertaken by Vanquish

*How your business could succeed in Egypt

*How to get your business in Egypt up and running in a matter of weeks by using our tried and tested programme

There is no charge for attending but places are limited.  To book your place or to find out more please contact Katherine Hersey-Meade. Telephone  07974 112203 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Visit our website www.vanquishdevelopments.com.

As one of the longest established professional Coaching companies in the country, we are keen to offer businesses in Kent the best support we can.
So ... what would you find of interest and help in this Made In Kent community?

The Business Bunker is a show for the business people of Kent by the business people of Kent. The format of the show is a 15 minute round up of business news and issues affecting the county. A 30 minute 'Ask the Expert' slot where experts in various fields of interest are invited into the studio to discuss topics put forward by the listeners. This is followed by a 15 minute session on up and coming events, forums and activities.

If you have a story, some news or something you wish to celebrate about a Kent business or if you have an event, networking session or meeting scheduled then please email us the details .