 | |||||||||||||
  | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | ||||
May 2007 newsletter | ||
| | |
DUCKETT t: 01432 370 572 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sales special. Please do some. Forthcoming events Overcoming Fears and Phobias. Wednesday 23 May 6.30 to 9.30pm Wye Leisure (behind the Green Man), Fownhope. What on earth has the Boyscout lined up this time? Only one way to find out Goto the Business Development page Book of the month "The Jelly Effect" by Andy Bounds This is the guy the Boyscout and I went to see at The Bankhouse, courtesy of HSBC. He was pretty good in person and the book is superb. His basic contention is that selling (in all its forms) is done badly. People throw everything they can think of at the potential customer (jelly) and hope enough of it sticks to get the sale. www.jellyeffect.com/expert-advice/ Incidentally, the article I featured as a web story last month is now a book and web site http://www.unstoppablegrowth.com/core/about_chris_zook.asp?groupCode=4 Much more serious then Andy. Satan's Cesspool Strategy I couldn't resist the title. A variation on the theme that "risk is working for an idiot". http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article1655991.ece Pink marketing Jim Collinsâ Hedgehog Concept:
Do you think the people who came up with this idea have been reading the book and discussing "niche provider" concepts? www.gaywheels.com (selling car insurance) Incidentally, Jim Collins has been updating his website and it's worth a look I particularly like his Good to Great Checklist - from me if it's easier. No reason we shouldn't have Great Little Businesses. "Neuromarketing: What's it all about?" More 1984 stuff really. Scientists have been using the new brain activity imaging technology(?) to run adverts past test subjects and see if they can find the "buy button". I suspect the answers will turn out to be harder than the marketeers want. www.sutherlandsurvey.com/Column_pages/Neuromarketing_whats_it_all_about.htm Read me Online annual accounts are now standard for big companies - it saves whole forests of paper. However, the FT's Annual Reports Service has been monitoring which parts of these reports actually get read. Naturally, the vast majority skip the waffle and go straight to the notes on directorsâ remuneration. Then they log off. Alienating customers Most of us work in mature industries - everybody does business (within the industry) in much the same way. For example, most accountants bill by the hour, despite my belief that this is a form of communism (see valuepricing.html) If this particular way of doing business irritates customers (your benefit not theirs), then doing things differently will dramatically improve your sales pitch/customer retention. This is a clumsy way of introducing this website: Lots of stuff on selling professional services, including this classic: A consultant died at the ripe old age of 85 of natural causes and went to heaven. Despite a long line at the pearly gates, St. Peter came to greet him at the end of the line and took him by hand to the front of the line. The consultant was clearly pleased, but asked, "I like all this attention, but what have I done to deserve the special treatment?" St. Peter said, "To be honest, we have never had anyone come here who was 157 years old." The consultant looked surprised. "There must be some mistake," he said, "I am only 85 years old." St. Peter reassured him, "Oh, there is no mistake at all. We added up all the hours from your timesheets!" England football from K2C You may remember that Matt Barker from K2C gave an excellent talk to the BD Club on health and performance. Their whole business is based on taking training techniques from sport and applying them to business. In a burst of creativity, theyâve reversed the approach with a business critique of the England football team. The article is available from me on request. www.planetk2.com/about_k2.php?about_list_id=46 Cash accounting for VAT Whilst only accountants and VATmen tend to get this, you can account for VAT on a cash (date paid) or an invoice (date of invoice) basis. [I have known some creative clients account for purchases on the invoice basis and sales on the cash basis, but this is frowned upon.] From the 1 April 2007, HMRC have changed the limits as follows: The annual turnover limit below which businesses can start to use the scheme will increase from £660,000 to £1.35 million. The annual turnover limit above which businesses must leave the scheme will increase from £825,000 to £1.6 million. Don't all cheer at once. Whiplash warnings "New penalty legislation makes a penalty due if HMRC think that someone has done something wrong. There has been a definite shift from someone actually omitting to do something. Needless to say, the tax bods are objecting loudly. HMRC have explained that it is phrased that way in their drive for plain English. The profession remains sceptical." And: "Should we be flagging research and development tax relief? This is available to businesses who are seeking to achieve an advance in overall knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology. The relief gives 150% of the relevant costs, so it's worth having." Except the definitions are so tight itâs almost impossible to actually get it. The Orchard Trust The charity rules are written in such a way as to make the job as a trustee extremely risky. I accepted such a post with The Orchard Trust, based at Lydbrook, some years ago because the charity is extremely well run and it looks after people who really need help. They've got a new website Turning Japanese After last month's overview of keiretsu (working with your suppliers), I've got a good example to bring the theory to life. Toyota decided to make cars in Kentucky in 1988 and picked Johnson Controls to be the supplier of car seats. Johnsons wanted to open a new plant to cope with the extra demand, but Toyota wouldnât let them as the extra spend would decrease profitability at Johnsons, thereby making the supply chain vulnerable. So, Toyota provided its own manufacturing specialists to redesign the Johnson operation so it could produce the required number of seats in the existing factory. Johnsons also learned that it wasnât enough just to be able to produce the right seats at the right time: it also had to develop a system that would continually reduce costs and improve quality. Six years later, when Toyota needed to develop another source of seats, it didn't simply turn to a competitor of Johnsons as a US company would have done. Instead, Toyota encouraged Johnsons to enter into a joint venture with Araco, the Japanese company which supplied seats to Toyota in Japan and was about to enter the US market. The US joint venture was called Trim Masters and was owned 40% each by Johnsons and Araco with the balance of 20% taken by Toyota themselves. 10 years later (2003), the 2 suppliers are genuine competitors with Johnsons taking 56% of Toyota's business and trim Masters 32%. And Johnsons has the 40% stake in Trim Masteers. In other words, Toyota turned the need to maintain competition between suppliers into the opportunity to cement an existing supplier relationship. EPA on hold
After the dire warnings about the new Government computer to look after people who become incapable, the whole thing has been postponed till September. So, EPAs are still valid. If you havenât already got one, get one now. I can even send you a blank pdf version if required. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/24/cmattorney24.xml M&S goes home The outstanding article that I've read this month is the story of the turnaround of Marks & Spencer by Stuart Rose, as featured in HBR. I will endeavour to list the key points, but I recommend reading the full article if you get the chance. As I'm sure you will remember, by the late 90s, M&S could do no wrong. Profit had edged past the £1bn mark and the share price was riding high. It all fell apart overnight and nobody (at the time) could really understand what had happened, including the incumbent management team. The business limped along in a state of shock for a couple of years before Stuart Rose was appointed. Unluckily, he had to spend the first 3 months in charge fighting off the hostile bid by Phillip Green before he could get on with his main task. The message he got from the front line was that everybody was confused and disillusioned. Strategy changed weekly as the flock of 300 consultants competed for the lead. So, Rose sacked the consultants, dealt with the overstock problem and went back to basics. He needed to fix 3 things:
Basically, he fixed these problems in an orderly, systematic manner, whilst (crucially) keeping the stock market happy: a master-class in deciding what needs to be done and then doing it. Now the markets are getting jittery about who will take over from him http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article1719271.ece MBA on line If your fed up with reading about management, then why don't you listen to somebody talking about it instead? For the very keen: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/mba The stories are better on the BBC: From our own correspondent http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/default.stm Amnesty in play Further to last month's warning, the banks have now written to people with offshore accounts telling them that the Revenue has got their details. One sinner has come forward so far. Anybody else? All confessions by 22 June. Disclaimer Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble wrap is cheap. You chose? A client went all the way to New Zealand to bring this pearl of wisdom back to The Newsletter. If you don't want it, don't read it. DUCKETT | 01432 370 572 | contact us PS Late news: Random demand generator We had a call from one of our clients panicking about an unexpected demand from the Collector in respect of year end PAYE. If they didn't pay the £25k due by tomorrow, the bailiffs would be sent in. The YE return had been filed online, but the numbers on it bore no relation to the Revenue demand. As far as we could tell, all PAYE due had been paid (and on time). We had several abortive goes at sorting it out by phone, but they won't speak to anybody without specific PAYE authority (despite having filed the form and being agents for all other taxes). Eventually, our client spoke to H&W Processing who advised that the Revenue's system had thrown a wobbly, generated some random figures and sent them to Collection for recovery purposes. Processing didn't bother to tell Collection about it and just let them get on with harassing innocent taxpayers. What a system!? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
