There are plenty of legendary bad business decisions: Blockbuster passing up the chance to buy Netflix; Kodak sitting on the digital camera; New Coke. But there are also legendary smart moves: I’ll have the merchandising rights in exchange for a smaller pay packet, said a certain George Lucas. What separates good companies from great companies, and good managers from great managers is decision-making. Shweta Jhajharia from The London Coaching Group believes there are four key decisions that you need to be able to nail if you want to see your …

Guest post  By Will Adoasi, Vitae London
There’s no other way to say it: Consumers want businesses to have a positive social impact.
Over 75% say they buy more from companies that they feel share their personal values. Around two-thirds will avoid buying from brands they see as having a negative social or environmental impact. But building a business with philanthropic aims isn’t always easy.
Vitae London is a fashion brand that helps the most vulnerable children in South Africa into education. Here are my top tips from what I’ve learned so far …

Guest post by Dr Jane Goldman
Watching the horror of London’s Grenfell Tower fire on television, I was brought back to September 11, 2001. I was living in New York City when 9/11 happened. I had just dropped off my seven-year-old daughter, Molly, at school, and was walking back home, crossing Fifth Avenue. I witnessed a totally bizarre phenomenon. I saw approximately 50 people on the street who were all doing the same thing: they were standing stark-still with their bodies all facing south, and their heads craned upward, looking into …

Britain’s biggest small business competition returns for it’s 10th anniversary
The Pitch, one of the UK’s longest running competitions for small business owners, is now open for applications with Propel by Deloitte confirmed as headline sponsor.
Founded by BusinessZone and UK Business Forums, The Pitch has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs secure invaluable business support and access to investors.
Launched as a small event in Bristol, the initiative has since developed nationwide providing support to business owners across the UK.
This year the applicants will be whittled down to just 50 entrepreneurs who will …

We live in a world of stories. And storytelling can help us explain our business and make it resonate with our audience. So what makes a great story? The typical response is that the content has to be interesting, exciting or amusing. But according to Chris Hirsch of Toastmasters International, this couldn’t be further from the truth. A compelling story has little to do with the content and everything to do with the structure.
All stories, whatever the content, follow the same simple structure:

You start by setting the scene (Once upon …

New research looks across the international evidence base from an initial pool of over 4,000 studies reveals which practical actions in the workplace are effective for improving wellbeing and performance – and which are not.  
Studies have shown that job type or industry sector are not necessarily defining factors of what makes a good job. Instead, things like how secure it is; our social connections; on-the-job learning opportunities; supportive organisations; and clear responsibilities are just some of the elements seen by employees as more important. When we move into a …

Guest post by Steve Bustin
As Oscar Wilde so sagely pointed out, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. If you’re self-employed, running your own micro-business or if you’re working for someone else, you need people to know who you are and what you can do for them. It can help you find customers and make sales, get a new job or establish you as an industry ‘player’ or someone of influence.
While PR (public relations) looks at the management of reputation and perception by the …

We often dismiss ‘culture’ as a load of self-serving consultant speak.  Companies roll out initiatives designed to improve the working culture, there is a big hurrah, then things would settle back to the way they have always been.  But, since culture is all about creating a positive and productive environment, we should really pay it more attention – and ensure we make sustainable changes. Jean Gamester from Semaphora has long been fascinated by work culture, about how to create and sustain environments that people feel great about being part of, …

In life you are either selling, or being sold to. And in the context of job-seeking; if you don’t sell yourself when looking for work, you should expect someone else to land the job you deserve.
Selling yourself in the job market is about finding your voice – says Richard Pimm of Toastmasters International. Anyone looking for candidates wants to know what you are, first. And yet, incredibly, when jobseekers are asked this predictable question, they all too often give a useless fluffy answer, or worse, they give their life story.
Do …

Guest post by Tim Johnson
Life is too short to be grinding it out at work just to pay the bills, yet the bills need to be paid and so the work has to be done.  We live in interesting times of increasing uncertainty and yet with it increasing opportunity.  Never before has it been easier to work from home to run a purpose led business.
Working from home has the benefits of eliminating the daily commute, and being more flexible to meet the needs of the family.  It also has its …