Who can multi-task?

I have been asked - not unreasonably - what happened to me 2 weeks ago; I appeared to burst back from holiday in a blaze of glory only to disappear again.

The truth is that - like many a business owner before me (particularly in a home-based environment) - I believed that I didn't need to be on holiday and that I could carry out all those jobs I had promised to do around the house whilst also being at work.As a result, I now have gloss paint on my phone (and my ear) and lots of illegible messages piled on my desk.

This, of course in modern parlance is known as multi-tasking and I will let you into a secret. It doesn't work.

I have received direct warnings against alienating female readers but I fear it's about to happen again: Extensive studies into multi-tasking have reached 2 clear conclusions:

1. There is absolutely no correlation on ability to multi-task on the basis of gender, age or mental/physical capacity.
2. The only clear conclusion was that, when multi tasking, each task was done less well than if it was done in isolation.

Of course, in certain cases this might not matter for example, you can do the ironing whilst watching Coronation Street as quality of viewing is clearly not an issue. However if either task is important, then you should consider very seriously whether it should be shared. Some customers will be amused that you have dropped your phone in a bucket of paint, others will see it as a tad unprofessional.

Titles - how important are they?

It is an entirely personal perspective, but in my opinion making a big deal out of job titles belongs in the 'big corporate' arena and shouldn't have a place in small business. One of the things I would never miss about corporate life is the stepping stones to success with random words from trainee, deputy, assistant deputy assistant trainee, and so on (as an aside, I also don't miss car-badge promotion where seniority is judged by whether you drive the L or the GL variant). This was brought home to me early on when a friend who worked for a large accountancy firm described their philosophy as 'if you can't give them a raise, give them a title'.

Unfortunately there are many people out there who don't entirely share my view and I have noticed that when 2 or more people are looking to start a business together an argument frequently breaks out over roles and titles; often culminating in the development of ever more spurious titles to satisfy all egos thus you can end up with a 3-man business whose owners bear the title CEO, MD and Chairman.

There are two key issues here, one is resolution of disputes and laying down of responsibilities, which will be the topic of a detailed post in the near future. For the purpose of this post I am really interested in perception - ie - will anyone really take you seriously when you claim to be Chairman of a business which operates from a shed in your garden?

Again, it is not a matter of wrong and right, but I for one am entirely unimpressed by self-granted status -  by all means, make it clear who you are - proprietor, owner, MD and - should the need arise - dish-washer.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, small business is all about flexibility and personalisation - being a small business is something to be proud of, not to hide from; so why deprive yourself of the benefits of being small by saddling yourself with a big title?

At another level, there are recognised traps to avoid; one I walked into was sharing the MD title - people look at the card which says Joint MD and immediately ask 'so are you MD or aren't you?'  I won't do that again!

Words and meanings

It is strange, isn't it, how the meanings - both overt and subtle - of certain words change over time. One of the best examples of this is the word gay - in my parents' generation it was an innocent expression describing bright, cheerful or happy; in my formative years it became used to express homosexuality - still often a term of abuse in those days. More recently, the courts have accepted it to mean useless or non-functioning - as in 'my computer is being gay today' - interestingly my copy of the OED pre-dates this variation, but the online version covers it as 'not impressive, stylish or attractive'.

Similarly, I recently had a discussion with my parents about the use of bad language on TV (you know the discussion...) and found myself trying to explain, as delicately as possible, that certain words that they would freely use are now considered far more offensive than the generally acknowledged obscenities.

What has this got to do with business? Well in marketing terms - everything.  A large facet of the marketing industry revolves around the adaptation of words for a specific purpose.

I'm sure you already know that the official name for evolution of words and meanings is Etymology.

To a marketeer the pinnacle of achievement is to have your brand become common usage such as Hoover, Ansafone etc, or alternatively to have an established every-day word become inextricably linked with your product; to this day the word posh is linked in my mind to Bowyers sausages and that must have been 30 years ago.

On the other hands, marketing jargon and management-speak can grab hold of every-day words and render them meaningless or even negative. For some time Private Eye magazine has had a running feature mocking the use of the word solutions in business names - with the best will in the word, this will reflect on your business name. Similarly, the word opportunity has been abused to the extent that it practically sends shivers down my spine because I know that 9 times out of 10 the next sentence will be asking me to part with money, normally on a premise so whimsical as to be comical.

These  negative connotations were once described to me as dead cow - as in, 'which would you prefer, a well-matured Angus Sirloin, or a piece of dead cow?'

Restaurant owners could try this out on their menus - after all, it's only words, isn't it?

Free advice and resources - from the Government

There is an excellent source of free information for new and small businesses. It is Government sponsored and it is called Business Link. There, I've said it!

So, if this information is available for free, why on earth would you want to pay me (or any other charging resource)? Quite simply, because we offer something quite different and further reaching. Take the analogy of free newspapers - in the short term The Metro (free newspaper) will impact on sales of the The Times - what The Metro provides, however, is a simplistic, bite-sized view of world affairs. Having read 2 paragraphs of events unfolding in the Middle East you might well be thirsty for more knowledge so you will look for a newspaper with deeper coverage, opinions and perhaps feedback - like The Times. In this sense, the free resource is actually a feeder for the paying one. (I'm ignoring the Internet which is a different discussion all together).

Like any free resource - particularly one which is Government sponsored - Business Link has some serious limitations - and indeed it has been an early victim of spending cut-backs.  These limitations are always highlighted very loudly when the topic of Business Link is raised on business forums or media.

So, to elaborate on my initial comment, Business Link is an excellent source of information and, at best, a variable source of advice. (A dictionary is a great source of information, but it won't teach you how to write a book).

When it comes to advice, the very status of Business Link is a vicious circle. Its founding committee is comprised mainly of politicians who have absolutely no hands-on experience of business and are far too busy drowning everything in paperwork and red tape. (Just an aside, but my belief is that Government officers genuinely believe that we business owners actually like filling in forms).

As a nodding recognition of their limited experience they appoint to their committee some business big-hitters - the former chairman of Dixons, for example - not a bad step, but it is still a long time since they were at the coal face, filled in a VAT return, worried about a Companies House filing penalty or had to deal hands-on with an employee issue.

On the front -line, they gave us face-to-face advisors; the majority of these are (or were, I think they are being minimised). This is where it all goes seriously pear-shaped. Don't get me wrong I know that they are by and large diligent, well-meaning and knowledgeable in their own field, but business advisors? Really, they are not.

The reason that Government love bank managers is that essentially they are quite similar - they left school or college and joined a bank. They worked their way up through the system without ever having to leave the confines of their singular environment. Yes, sometimes they would move from one bank to another, but the systems and procedures were so similar as to make no realistic difference. Also, they love forms and paperwork!

OK, so their work environment is tunneled, but they are dealing day-to-day with business and helping them to manage and develop. Well, perhaps they were in the '60s and even the '70s, but since the last recession the average bank manager has been a pure salesman whose role has predominantly been to develop relationships with brokers, intermediaries and business advisors - therefore the banks have effectively delegated the role of understanding customer needs to the professional and broker community. Those who regularly face customers have a simple remit - sell more products (I do know that one bank has a target that every customer should have 4 of their products). When the customer looks shaky the manager has one primary option - get out - quickly!

And that is why I cannot give any credence to bank managers as business advisors - they are the front face of Business Link, so I cannot recommend them as a source of advice.

So, simply, if you want to find out how to register for VAT, or the ins and outs of Ltd company versus sole trader, go to Business Link,. If you want advice on how to develop and run your business, go to someone who knows what they are talking about.

Business funding - The 3 Fs

Here's a subject I have steered clear of in this blog - mainly because it is my own line of business and I could probably ramble on for ever about it.

You can't fail to have noticed that business finance is pretty hard to get hold of at the moment; in fact the press are having a field day writing about it. I don't want to go into that argument except to point out that I have actually written to several Government officers -not to make borrowing easier but to stop them from banging on with their stupid 'force banks to lend' message.

Anyway, with the banks being an unlikely source of funding, new business owners are having to look closer to home for their finance - often this will involve the proverbial 3 Fs - friends, family and fools.

As a matter of course I suggest this to business owners seeking finance - it is very telling to judge their knee-jerk response.

Of course it is sensible to keep business and family separate, but if you would not approach them for money because it is too risky, it does beg some very obvious questions about your expectations.

I would honestly suggest - even if you don't actually want any money - that you prepare your business plan on the pretext that you need funding from family and friends - and present it to them on that basis - it will raise a lot of interesting and relevant questions that the banks might be too discreet to ask! Just try it and see..

If you want to seriously consider 3-F funding, rather than depriving your parents of their hard-earned pension you might want to set up a micro-financing package, where you get a small investment from a number of individuals - well within the bounds of what they can afford to lose; that way you might still be friends if it all goes horribly wrong.

Negotiation - Making it fun.

When the topic of negotiation is raised it seems to bring one of 2 images to people's minds:

1. It's a dark art which requires huge amounts of specialist training or
2. Its a game of poker, just out-bluffing the other party to get the better end of the deal.

On the other hand, when you visit many countries you are invited to haggle in the markets, which is negotiation at its most basic. Some people relish the challenge, whilst others dread it. I was amused some while back by a comment from a Times columnist on this very topic, which went along the lines of 'my approach to haggling is simply to stare at a point on the ground - just in front of the vendor's foot - until he drops to a price which I'm happy to pay'.

The main reason people fear negotiation is that they see it as a kind of face-off, where inevitably one party will win and the other, by definition, will lose. The reality can be very different and, done correctly, that old cliche of a win-win situation is a real possibility.

The first rule of negotiation is not to make it personal or 'separate the people from the problem'. This isn't a battle between you and them it is a business discussion. Keep your terminology business-like, not personal - eg 'I just can't make the project pay on those terms' vs 'you're taking the p!@s, don't try and rip me off'.

The second rule is to understand the relative cost and benefit of what each party holds or consider your currency. In the vast majority of cases there is more to a transaction than price (in these cases the biggest single mistake is to focus on price alone). The other party might have huge benefits they can deliver at little or no cost to themselves whilst you might have skills or contacts which are disproportionately valuable to the other party. This is where the true win/win comes in. These currencies might be esoteric and entirely irrelevant to the core of the trade; an example I once saw was a customer who offered the use of parking spaces as a concession on payment terms.

The large brewers are masters of secondary negotiation and will often strike supply deals where their buying power enables them to supply something of value - at little cost to themselves - against contracts to buy (eg: We will provide you with quality garden furniture if you commit to stocking our beers on 2 of your pumps').

The concept of empathy to revolves around the ability to see a situation though the eyes of the other party; not only will this make you an interesting and engaging business partner, but it will help to move the focus from a single point negotiation to a discussion that takes on all facets of the deal. You will be surprised at how different the final result of a negotiation can be from your expectations.

Perhaps the most dangerous negotiating tactic is to fixate on what the other party gets out of it. In my opinion one of the worst mistakes the FSA made was forcing commission disclosure. This is just a red herring which leads customers to make decisions based on the -often erroneous - assumption that whats worst for the vendor must be best for them. Mature business discussions revolve around maximizing your benefits - if that outcome earns the other party good money, then that is an all-round good decision, surely?

Finally, with a bit of homework and lateral thought, negotiation can become enjoyable. And if you enjoy it, you will probably become good at it.

Holiday contacts

Firstly, let me aplologise for the stress and loneliness my regular readers will undoubtedly have felt during my absence on a weeks holiday.

On a more serious note, most of are now equipped with Blackberries, I-phones, Netbooks etc, which means that there is no excuse for us to be out of contact; which really begs the bigger question 'should we deliberately put ourselves out of contact?'

An old friend of mine was head of IT for the UK subsidiary of a large US corporation and as such, was an early adopter of these technologies. On a typical night out the US parents would start turning up to work at 10.00 our time and his Blackberry would start buzzing with emails. He felt obliged to read and act, even though in reality he was unable to do anything from his position on a barstool. Despite all of his friends explaining that reading emails in the pub was a bad thing, he continued to do so, and worry about the day ahead which made him, frankly, bad company. (and needlessly stressed).

As a small business owner, it is natural to be concerned that you could be missing opportunities or - worse - that things are falling apart in our absence. In reality the second eventuality is highly unlikely and the first can, at least to an extent be managed and mitigated.

Some routine pointers:

• Take your holidays at a time of minimum impact to your business. (If you own a seaside cafe, best not to go away in August!).
•  Pre-empt and handle as much as possible in advance.
• Advise regular customers and contacts that you will be away. Offer them an alternative where possible, but ask them only to call you personally in an emergency.
• Put auto-responders on email, voicemail etc notifying your away dates and if possible, providing alternative contacts.

Business owners should be aware that - unless you are in an emergency business -  very little actually happens in a week or even a fortnight (many of us recall going on holiday leaving a long 'what if' list to find that same list untouched on our return). Also, your customers and suppliers will - almost without fail - recognise your right to holiday in peace.

I have mentioned in a previous blog the value of being friends with the competition. I can name numerous instances where I have been diverted to a supplier's competitor whilst my supplier was on holiday. It takes trust, but then so does much of our business & personal life.

From a personal viewpoint I take a very simplistic view - I turn on the Blackberry once a day just to make sure there is nothing business-threatening and send a personal notification to emails and voicemails promising prompt attention on my return (or giving the number of my stand-in).

Invariably on my return people will apologise for having interrupted my holiday and the business relationship will benefit as a result.