Marketing AND Strategy Stink – What To Do?
For many of us the problem with marketing and with strategy is that they just don’t seem to be working as well as they could.
What Is Business Roadkill?
Marketing expert Robert Craven discusses the notion of business roadkill, and how to avoid becoming it.
The New Normal in Business
New normal is not just a TV programme it is a way of understanding what is confronting your business. As I have said before, most businesses are confronted with a severe case of five-year-old-itis. They are running (and planning and taking decisions) based on...
10 Things Big Businesses Envy In Smaller Businesses
Big businesses often bemoan their own lack of essential vitality and wonder what they could take away from the smaller and more entrepreneurial business and incorporate into their own culture. At first thought, the shopping list is negligible. After all, who would...
To Succeed We Must Stop Being So Goddamn Normal
Normal is everywhere. Wherever we look we see a thousand shades of grey and another thousand shades of beige. Just lots of dull, “me-too”, boring, look-alike, tired, safe businesses all too frightened to do anything other than look like the rest. And my word is it...
Change Your Entire Business – it takes just a day
The 25-person accounting firm, we’ll call it ABC, had an unremarkable track record. Predictable. Grey. Uninspiring. The offices were spookily quiet: no laughter, none! One meeting lasting one hour in the boardroom changed the business forever. It was agreed that...
Five-Year-Old-Itis
95 per cent of businesses I see at the moment have what we call five-year-old-itis. Their problems are five years old; in the last five years, everything and nothing has changed. How Old is Your Business Model? 95 per cent of businesses that I see and work with are...
How Would You Pitch Your Business To Alan Sugar?
How to pitch your business. The elevator pitch deconstructed and a formula for success by Robert Craven.
Would You Like To Increase Your Sales And Profit?
In this article, Robert Craven asks possibly the most important business question you’ll ever hear. The answer will increase your sales.
How Can a Mastermind Group Accelerate Your Business Growth?
Mastermind Groups can be a source of great success for businesses. In this article, Robert Craven looks at the options for your business.
You Think The Recession Is Holding Back Your Growth?
There are several key factors that inhibit business growth. This article looks at them and suggests another option.
The Service Firm Myopia You Are Not Aware Of
There is the absurd statistic that most men believe that they are ‘above-average drivers’. They really believe that they are ‘above average’. Well, most of them do!!! Honestly…! Well, the “we are ‘above-average'”...
When Gold Silver Bronze Packages Become A Bad Idea
The drawbacks in using a gold/silver/bronze package system. By marketing expert Robert Craven.
Dieting, Business Success Recipes and Teams
I have spent the last twenty years of my life as a consultant and businessman working in and around organisations both large and small. The businesses’ search for the Holy Grail often seems to be about looking at the latest management fad and seeing whether it...
How to Grow Your Service Firm
Most Professional Service Firms think that the key to business success is their technical skill-set. They are wrong. Read this article to find out why.
No More ‘To Do’ Lists
Discover why our marketing expert Robert Craven has decided to adopt a ‘not to do’ list. Perfect for executives and small business owners.
The Number One Reason For Business Failure Is…
Business failures and new business start-ups are a favourite subject of Government statistics. Here, Robert Craven examines the main reasons for UK business failure. Looking at the research, one of the key findings is that only one in five (19%) of those businesses...
How to Transform Your Business and Your Marketing
Effective marketing can see your business get ahead of its competition and reach its full potential, but many businesses still struggle to stand out. Firstly, let’s be specific about the main reasons why marketing fails in your business. The list is simple:...
And Now I am Getting Hate Mail
Nice is not enough to succeed, especially in these recessionary times. Robert Craven tells it like it is for businesses who seem to think that it should be enough.
Turning the Corner Out of the Recession – a case study
Three months ago I sat in on a so-called management meeting for a rather lovely business (10 staff in the creative industries) who were heading towards bankruptcy with remarkable speed. Bring a Magic Wand They asked if I could bring a magic wand with me. (The bank...
How To Keep Your Customers Happy
In a world where everyone tries to delight us, why are we not so very delighted? Ten Ways to Keep Your Customer Happy Companies lose customers because they go elsewhere. And the reason why customers go elsewhere is that the people who serve them are indifferent to...
Survive and Thrive, My Foot
In our attempts to be polite, everything recession-oriented has the strapline “survive and thrive”. My book… workshops run by accountants… and seminars run by banks, business support organisations and consultants now give everything the S&T...
Why You Can’t Sell And What To Do About It
This article is for those of you find selling difficult. Robert Craven outlines how to turn that around.
Blameless “Poor Me” SMEs or Innovative Entrepreneurs?
With the election behind us the debate heats up about how independent businesses have fared under a recession-hit Labour Government. Contradictory opinions abound: The recession hit the backbone of British economy AND we needed a shake-out to get rid of the...
How to Find Niches and Opportunities
How to find niches and opportunities to fight the recession blues. A useful tool for any business is a checklist to find niches and opportunities in a recession: You can look at new customers and markets You can look at developing or changing your product or service...
Beating the Recession – Two Stories
Marketing expert Robert Craven looks at strategies to survive the recession by looking at two real-life businesses.
Why Small Businesses Both Hate and Love What I Am Saying
It seems that my ‘Beating The Credit Crunch’ book and ‘ology’ is like marmite. People love it or hate it. The messages are pretty straightforward. You shouldn’t even think about increasing sales until you have done the following: Put up...
What’s The Problem with Marketing?
For many of us the problem with marketing is that it just doesn’t seem to be working as well as it could. Typically our clients say things like: ‘We don’t have a clear view of the future…’ ‘Our pricing is easily matched/bettered by...
10 Things To Do In The Next 10 Days To Survive The Recession
This is a ‘size 12 wellies’ article. Lots of sweeping generalisations and treading on some people’s sensitive toes. Here goes.
Pygmalion And Management
In management, we often attempt to play at Pygmalion. We select individuals, whom we believe to have the talent and potential, and we try to make them into something which they are not.