If the same things keep going wrong in your business, you’re missing a How To. Every business has its recurring problems: the ones that get fixed on a Tuesday and are back by Friday; the ones that different members of the team handle in completely different ways, so the outcome depends entirely on who picked […]
Category Archives: Simple Systems
09
Jul
Jul
Football has been proving this for decades. It’s a lesson a lot of small businesses learn the hard way too. Alan Shearer. One of the greatest strikers the Premier League has ever seen. Natural leader on the pitch, wore the armband with pride, scored goals that people still talk about. Newcastle gave him the manager’s […]
23
Jun
Jun
Most business owners say they want freedom – more time – less stress – a business that runs independently of them at every turn. And then they take their laptop on holiday…just in case. The truth is, a lot of them are holding on to the very chaos they say they want to escape, and […]
Big Mac Thinking, OurWay Methodology, Simple Systems
Stop Fighting the Same Fires – How to close the frustration gap
09
May
May
If it feels like you’re dealing with the same problems again and again, it’s probably because you are. They show up in slightly different ways, on different days, with different people involved, but underneath it all, it’s the same issue repeating itself, and over time, that becomes exhausting, not just for you, but for your […]
08
May
May
Managers in small businesses rarely step into the role fully prepared. They’re often the person who was doing a great job, got recognised for it, and suddenly found themselves responsible for others as well. There’s rarely any real development, so they do what most people do: they copy what they’ve seen before, whether that came […]
07
May
May
Ah, I do love that phrase “Good enough is good enough! It sounds so common sensical – practical, even. But it’s one of the most dangerous phrases you’ll hear in a growing business – especially one looking to scale. When ‘good enough’ actually is ‘Good enough” may be good enough when you’re small – when […]
30
Apr
Apr
Growth feels like progress. More customers, more revenue, more opportunity. On the surface, everything looks like it’s moving in the right direction, but what most people miss is what growth exposes. As a business grows, anything that isn’t quite right becomes more visible – small gaps turn into bigger ones, things that were manageable when […]
12
Feb
Feb
The reason you can’t switch off isn’t because you care too much. It’s because the business doesn’t know how to run without you… yet! Most business owners know that feeling. The Trap of Constant Involvement Things tick along nicely while you’re there. Decisions get made, standards are met, customers are looked after properly. But the […]
OurWay Methodology, Simple Systems
Why AI Can’t Capture Our Way (and What It’s Actually Brilliant For)
05
Feb
Feb
I had a LinkedIn exchange recently that really struck a nerve. Someone got in touch to say that they’d followed my work on Simple, Logical, Repeatable systems for a long time, and wanted my input on a new product they’d created. So far, so good. We clearly shared a belief that businesses only work well […]
Big Mac Thinking, Business Scale, OurWay Methodology, Simple Systems
Why doing things OurWay matters
02
Feb
Feb
When I talk about OurWay, people sometimes hear my way. But it isn’t. It’s not my way, or your way, and it’s definitely not everyone doing things their own way. It’s OurWay. It’s the bridge between your people and your processes. A bridge that’s definitely needed in most businesses, to close the gap between what […]