Rosia Bay Ltd

No matter what business you’re in, your primary focus will be to make that business a success. That means making sales. But if this is the only thing you’re focusing on, you could be looking in the wrong place. There’s a famous saying that goes ‘build it and they will come’. You might change that to say, ‘promote it and they will come’. But no one likes a hard sell, and it is very easy to try too hard to sell whatever you are offering. This applies to service businesses as well as those that sell goods. It also applies to every industry and every size of business. No one likes being sold to. Take a step back If your sales are not progressing as well as you would like, it’s time to figure out why. And it begins with relationships. You might say it ends with relationships as well. Imagine you want to buy a new car. You visit two car dealers. The first is big on the sales talk, constantly trying to convince you of the great deal they can offer. It’s all about the sa

Have you ever attended a business meeting, only to leave it wondering what on earth it was all about? Meetings can be anything from hugely productive to a complete waste of time. Arguably, many tend to fall closer to the latter end of that scale. But there are ways to make sure your own business meetings are worth every moment, and achieve the objectives you are aiming for. While anyone can facilitate a meeting, in theory, things are very different in practice. The role of a meeting facilitator is to be neutral to the proceedings – and that can be very difficult to achieve if the person chosen for this role is already part of the company. What can a professional meeting facilitator bring into the meeting? If you own or manage a business, you cannot be impartial at any business meeting. At least, it is possible, but very unlikely. Since the most important role of the facilitator is neutrality, it would make more sense for you to take an active part in the meeting and to

How often do you talk to others for advice on different areas of your life? A chat with a friend can help you see a problem or challenge in a new light, enabling you to think more clearly and find a way of coping with it. How many times have you found yourself saying “why didn’t I think of that?” when having such a chat? And yet when it comes to business, many people never even consider engaging the services of a business coach. They may have built their business from the bottom up, and could be so used to looking inward for answers they’ve never done it any other way. Getting bogged down in the day-to-day running of the business When you are running your business, it can be difficult finding the time – let alone the viewpoint – to assess your progress. A business coach can help you stay in touch with the bigger picture, and to find out what you want to achieve next. Be careful to choose someone with the skills you’re looking for. They should have experience

Growing your business – it may only be three words, but those words are packed with drama and meaning, aren’t they? They point the way to a bigger future, and hopefully a brighter one, too. But they also have the power to make people nervous. Growing your business is a great idea if you want to win more customers and make more money. But where do you begin? How can you tell whether your business is ready to expand and grow? How can you tell if you are ready? If you own a business, it can be difficult to know where to turn for support and advice you can trust. Those involved in the business could be too close to it to give accurate and reliable advice. But if you speak to someone outside the business, they won’t know anything about it. Will they? Hiring a coach to support you through the growing pains A coach can be enormously supportive in many areas of our lives. Coaches specialise in different areas, and a business coach is just the person to talk to if you ar

When is the last time you consulted your business plan? If it's been filed away since you opened for business, you may be missing out on a powerful tool - one that is useful at all stages in the life-cycle of your business. Regularly reviewing and updating your business plan is a valuable exercise. An up-to-date business plan provides you with a snapshot of your current position and can help you develop a road map for future growth. It can also help you stay focused on your goals and objectives, adapt to changing market conditions, and inspire your employees. If you're starting a business, a business plan can help you: Test the viability of your idea Sell your idea to lenders and investors Clarify your objectives and set goals for the future If you're growing your business, a business plan can help you: Discover opportunities for change and growth Secure the financing you need to expand Assess your performance against the targets you have set If you a

Social media campaigns are a crucial part of raising awareness – for new products, new services, and new businesses, too. But knowing you should develop a campaign is worlds apart from knowing how to make it happen. One of the most important elements is to have a plan – and to make sure part of that plan is to create shareable content. If you can create a message that goes viral, your customers (and anyone else who is interested) will help you get some of the hard work done. Spreading the word is always a challenge, but if done correctly, social media campaigns can help make this happen. Encourage people to share when they visit your website Some social media sharing starts outside a social media site. For example, if you write about a new product release on your website, make sure you include sharing buttons people can click on to share on the most popular social media sites. People won’t automatically think about sharing your content, but if you nudge them in the rig

You never know what to expect when you land in a foreign country for the first time, particularly when you are about to live there for a period of time. I always find the immigration hall a good measure and Australia did not disappoint. After passing my passport to the immigration officer, he checked the screen and said "welcome to Australia mate" You wouldn't get that at Heathrow or New York. With the Commonwealth games, and Brexit soon to follow, the UK is looking towards trading partners it can grow with. As a Commonwealth Country, Australia has always been on the map so to speak, its distance is certainly one big disadvantage, but there are many more reasons that outweigh that small factual technicality. One of my roles now looks at how the UK can create trading relationships with Queensland and in particular the Gold Coast, but on a bigger scale, how can the UK and Australia bridge the travel distance and become a closer trading partner. Certainly the direct flight

Being the owner of a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) has some very clear benefits. You will have far more flexibility compared to larger companies, meaning you’re able to adapt more quickly to any changes in the market. Your team will be more tightly knit – having quite possibly worked in the same small office space for several years. And, perhaps most important of all, you'll be relying on returning customers, which generally means you prioritise service, and are likely to have a great relationship with the people who use your business. On the other hand, none of that matters if you're unable to make the figures work. Sure, you might have an extremely loyal pool of returning customers, a friendly and productive office atmosphere, and an enormous amount of potential – but if you find you’re struggling to break even, then your business is not going to last long. So the question is this: how do you make the difficult transition from a struggling SME to a s

Depending on your experience, the thought of listening to a speaker could recall memories of nodding off as someone launched into the second hour of their speech. Conversely, it may recall an altogether better and more inspiring experience of someone who knew how to engage their audience and capture their attention. Everyone would prefer the second scenario, but what makes a good speaker? What makes people focus on a person’s every word? Many good speakers share commonalities, regardless of the topic they are speaking on. Here are some of the main elements. They are aware of their audience Have you ever listened to a speaker who clearly loved the sound of their own voice? They’re not inspiring, are they? The best speakers look outward and engage their audience by being aware of their interests, hopes, and fears. Whatever topic they are speaking on, it is targeted at the audience. The idea is for the audience to leave feeling better than they did when they arrived.

Most financial institutions, be they Banks, Private Equity of High Net Worth individuals like a business plan that presents a lot of information in as few words as possible. The following business plan format, within 15–20 pages, is all that’s needed. Many business plans also fail to visually present well, people get lost in the importance of the substance of the plan, they forget about the visual impact ... don't. The visual plan is the first contact and whilst the content must be credible and written well, don't forego a great plan for poor presentation. Company purpose  - Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence. Don't mistake this for your mission statement, your elevator pitch or your exec summary, simple one sentence based on fact. Executive summary  -  This is your elevator pitch, a couple of paragraphs giving a broad outline of your business idea and why its going to work and more importantly why its worth investing in. Problem  - D

Whilst Chair at Vistage, I facilitated meetings for my CEO members as an added value service. The success and positive feedback from this activity led me to investigate and understand the use of this professional service. It is, I guess not surprising that few businesses use the services of a professional meeting facilitator, yet the benefits and value has proven to be significant for so many reasons. Leaders who are charged with creating and executing a strategic vision have found the presence of a well-qualified facilitator essential to keeping participants objective, open, creative and, above all, on track. By using an experienced facilitator you will almost certainly accomplish more in your meetings, delve deeper into critical issues and resolve them much more robustly. People who have attended meetings hosted by a facilitator also talk about leaving with a stronger sense of cohesiveness, stronger sense of participation and a greater belief that they accomplished something

These days I hear a lot of talk about the role of culture in change management—whether it’s possible to “lead” organisational change using culture as a vehicle. In my experience culture influences change, but culture change is not the same as change management.  Most managers and executives are well aware of how important culture is to their companies’ success. But it’s not always factored into change management processes. The least successful change initiatives tend not to consider culture. And more successful initiatives leveraged cultural strengths to support them.  It makes sense.  If the culture of an organisation is not closely aligned with the company’s strategic goals, a major change is going to be harder to pull off.      I don’t believe culture change will ever replace formal change management processes.  But culture can enable and support change, if it’s leveraged right. Maybe your company has strong informal employee networks or a learning environment that could e