May 2011

I sell a service, a printing and installation service. When I pitch my business to a prospective new client I promise that my company will deliver, exactly what I promise exactly when they ask for it.

April 2011

It’s pay rise season: or is it? Around April I like to do the annual review of my staff wages and incentives, though I must confess at this stage that this has lapsed somewhat over the last two years - there was no money for pay rises so the reviews were brief, if at all. I think the staff understood that the management team was working hard to keep everybody in employment and I’m proud to say we have not had to make anyone redundant during the financial crisis and resulting recession.

March 2011

Is a merger an option for me? I started in this business as an ‘entrepreneur’ and, after 15 years in it, I think it’s fair to say I’m defiantly a ‘printer’ now. But, from time to time I think about my exit strategy - do I still want to be doing this in another 15 years? Or do I sell the company to another person or company to retire or try something else?

February 2011

Talk to anyone in the industry and the same comments keep coming back - I’m busy but my cashflow is a nightmare!

Getting paid for our work seems to be harder than actually doing the work at the moment. There is a trend among some of the major retailers to raise money by extending credit terms with suppliers. More and more the terms have slipped from 30 to 60 days and now I’m sure you will have all heard the line ‘60 days end of month’, that’s a polite way of saying “I’m not paying you for three months”.

Upcoming Events

@ImageReports