Blog  Posts

05-10-2024

 

The future European competitiveness

 

The report of Mario Draghi on the future of European competitiveness highlights the seriousness of the situation and the real risk for the European way of life if these issues are not addressed urgently. 
 

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20-09-2024

 

Companies need simple systems to grow

 

Small and medium size businesses often operate without formal internal systems as they are run by a small number of people.

 

As the company grows and employs more people, chaos can quickly result from the lack of internal systems. 

 

If not addressed this can have serious repercussions and, in the end, affect the viability of the company.

 

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06-09-2024

 

International experience

 

Previous international experience can be a unique asset to manage multinational teams and develop business overseas successfully.

 

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with people from most European countries as well as from China, India, Korea and the US. 

 

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24-08-2024

 

Building your team

 

Growing a business to the next level requires the CEO to build a team to run the company day-to-day so he/she can focus on growing the business. 

 

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26-07-2024

 

Retaining graduate engineers 

 

Engineering SMEs often struggle to recruit and retain bright engineers.  

My own experience when I was a young engineer helped me to understand the motivation of young graduates. 

 

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12-06-2024

 

Monitoring project progress

 

Robust monitoring of project progress is essential in fast growing project-based engineering consultancy businesses. 

 

The project-based business reported monthly revenue based on the estimated percentage completion of each engineering project. 

 

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23-05-2024

 

SMEs face challenges as they grow

 

SMEs face challenges as they grow and scale their operations. Overcoming these challenges is critical, both for your company and for yourself personally. 

 

There are certain breakpoints, where businesses need to make significant changes to sustain growth and avoid stagnation or decline.

 

These breakpoints are typically marked by shifts in revenue, employee count, operational complexity, or market conditions.

 

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05-05-2024

 

Carefully consider requirements when recruiting

 

Requirements must be carefully considered when recruiting as illustrated by this true story.

 

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31-10-2023

 

SME in cash flow crisis

 

The world’s biggest kitplane manufacturer Van’s Aircraft recently announced that it was facing serious cash flow issues. 

 

Over 50 years ago the company named after its founder Richard VanGrunsven started selling plans and parts to people wishing to build the high performance RV3 aircraft. 

 

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25-10-2023

 

Lacking time to work on your business

 

Do you sometimes get frustrated about working all hours and not having the time or mindset to work “on” your business to introduce the changes that will enable your business to grow to another level?


Your company is running at capacity.  You keep winning more work and your business is very stretched.  

 

You can also see plenty of opportunities to develop new offerings and enter new markets. 

 

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24-10-2023

 

Learning trust from our pets

 

This is Teddy, our lovely dachshund, ready for his first flight in a light aircraft.  

 

To our surprise Teddy was very quiet and remained calm throughout the flight despite being in a totally new, confined and rather noisy environment. 

 

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17-10-2023

 

SMEs embracing change to grow

 

I visited the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and I admired Clément Ader’s beautiful Avion III hanging from the museum's majestic ceiling.

 

Clément Ader filed 48 patents.  His prolific inventions contributed to the development of emerging products such as bicycles, telephones, engines, aircraft and cars.

 

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12-10-2023

 

Introducing changes to enable growth

 

Growing a business to the next level usually requires the introduction of significant changes.

 

When businesses are running at full capacity and the CEO struggles to find the time and thinking space to identify and implement the changes required, he/she might be tempted to hire a "Director of Change".

 

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09-10-2023

 

Growing out of the fish bowl

 

The Chinese author Xu Zhiyuan writes, 

 

“An insider is like a fish in a fishbowl, unable to see the exact shape of its surroundings even though those surroundings are perfectly clear to everyone else,” (Paper Tiger, p. xi). 

 

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18-08-2023

 

Companies need simple systems to grow

 

Small and medium size businesses often operate without formal internal systems as they are run by a few people who do everything themselves.   

 

As the company grows and more people are required, chaos can quickly result from the lack of internal systems to control the business.  If not addressed this can have serious repercussions and, in the end, can affect the viability of the company.   

 

Here is a typical example of this situation. 

 

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29-07-2023

 

Identifying the "real" business issues

 

Far too often, people jump to conclusions about the issues facing their business.  

 

This can lead to wasted time and money if the root causes have not been identified. 

 

Here is a real-life example that illustrates the point.

 

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04-07-2023

 

Building a Team to Grow the Business

 

Growing a successful business beyond the first few years brings new challenges.  

 

As it enters new markets and grows further, the business changes and becomes increasingly complex.  

 

There comes a point where the CEO needs more time to work “on” the business and can no longer manage the company singlehandedly. 

 

 

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24-06-2023

 

Growing a Successful Business

 

It is often said that only about 50% of newly created businesses survive beyond the first 5 years. 

 

In fact, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that 55% of new businesses survive beyond 5 years. 

 

What is less well known is that more than 50% of those successful businesses still fail to reach 15 years. 

 

These statistics are based on 2021 data but they have been fairly consistent since the 1990s. 

 

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