Keep you and your business fit!

One World Cup, two Olympics and 9 Triathlons later the BattleAxe (BA) still has a head full of sport and fitness.  A couple of weeks back she even demonstrated the art of sprinting over a tai-line to a certain Brownlee brother!

Hours of selfless training have given the BattleAxe opportunity to think about her clients’ fitness.   Not the two that swam the Channel, the personal trainers nor even the rugby league team but the fitness of businesses she attempts (tactfully!) to keep under control.

Her Training Elves weren’t sure if all the deep breathing was because she’d just cycled up Smithy Place or sighs of despair about how out of condition a lot of businesses are that she encounters every day.  They suspect the latter…something about her muttering “plan, do, measure, repeat!”

Uploading her training session onto Strava (or was it FreeAgent?) she continued to chunter about how too many businesses don’t seem to know from one month to the next what their targets are let alone whether they’ve met them.  Then there are those that collect lots of numbers but don’t understand what they are telling them (is that raised heart rate symptomatic of blocked arteries or have they just posted a personal best?) or think they can win the game just by watching the scoreboard.  Worse still are those going “I got distracted again and forgot to look at my split times - I was supposed to be going for speed and I ended up at comfortable jog pace.  Great if I want to do a marathon but not if I want a PB time on my 5K!”.

The Elves relaxed when, performance logged, the BA was back to working out what needed to be done on the next outing – which part of the course needs more practice (that bend in New Mill is a killer!), how many seconds need to be shaved off each lap to get to her desired overall time.  Then off to run it past her coach to make sure the plan is challenging enough.  Btw, she sometimes wishes he’d trained as an accountant, then she wouldn’t have to draw so many graphs to get him to understand what the numbers mean!

This week her bike is in for service and winter tyre fitting to minimise the risk of falling off in the wet weather then off to a dance class to make sure that not only is she rolling-pin fit (no dropping it at the handover!) but also agile enough to deal with unforeseen difficulties on the course.  The other Brownlee is role model here – imagine: finishing line in sight and you suddenly find you’re carrying your brother over it (even if “he ain’t heavy”)! It must have felt like pulling jobs forward when a customer cancels a major order at the last minute.

Thankfully the muttering about “jerks” turned out to relate to associated “cleans” – core muscles engaged and lift!  After all, it’s vital to have a properly strong foundation to build on! 

This article appeared in Huddersfield Examiner Kirklees Business News on 7th December 2016 on page 14 Titked Fighting Fit

Party Conference season - Time for Plans A B and C!

Party Conference season is here and so far we’ve seen democracy at work with leadership battles, one ex-leader deciding to take his ball back by leaving parliament altogether and one vote result in a job-share option. 

The BattleAxe has been watching with raised eyebrows: the Tories didn’t actually consult their membership; UKIP kept wondering if their former leader would step in to “help” the process (and if they couldn’t just keep him anyway, like last time) and the various flavours of Labour are still slogging away in and out of Court at their battle of wills (our Probate department keep expecting to be helping them shortly).

It’s no better across the pond: will the candidates have to produce their school reports or their dog’s inside leg measurement next to prove that they are capable of being President?

Just imagine if companies were run and business leaders chosen this way!

So, much sighing and gnashing of teeth has come to the Elves’ ears at BattleAxe Towers from the rolling pin display room. They’ve even tried to lock the door to stop her waving her new studded one too vigorously, in case she bursts the infamous Westminster Bubble.

Of course, she’s seen it all before in business.  Managers deciding it’s all “too ‘ard” and spending more time with their families, before getting bored.  Founders announcing retirement but assuming that means that they can just keep running the business from their barstool in the local pub. 

Succession plans falling apart because Number One Son upsets Aunt Flo at her 80^th birthday party and so it’s decided that Batty (no relation) Old Uncle Eggburt should become MD because he had some “really good ideas” in 1964 (unfortunately, about as useful as Seymour’s inventions!).

“If only they had worked out how they want to exit and developed a proper set of succession plans!” the BattleAxe has been heard shouting at breakfast TV.  “Don’t they realise knowing how to get out is as important as going into business in the first place?” 

After all, for most of us Owner Managers the largest part of our pension (and potentially estate) is tied up in our businesses.  It is all very well for the Government to be worried about the disparity between bosses’ and workers’ pay, but if they look at a lot of SMEs they’re going to get a shock, as it is the bosses that get paid least!  That means that understanding how you’re going to get value out when you do eventually need it is vital.

Of course, over time circumstances can frustrate Plan A. So, having a plan B, C, D, E and maybe even F is key to ensure the business is not derailed by the torrential rain of events.  Plans are hard to set down, emotionally as well as in words, but business leadership, like the political variety, will come to an end and unless you want to “let the membership decide” or worse, the Courts, it is definitely worth the time.

This article originally appeared in Huddersfield Examiner Kirklees Business News on 3rd October, Page 14 Titled It's About Knowing How to Get Out

Too quick off the blocks?

The interest rate cut by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England didn’t come as a total surprise, like Usain Bolt’s triple-triple - but some of the BattleAxe’s grumpier interlocutors have been wondering if it may just prove to be a false start.

The MPC’s reasons sound sensible after our Brexit vote.  There are genuine fears, from some, of a downturn and job losses resulting from that vote.  Cutting rates is a classic ploy to encourage businesses to keep investing and spending, by showing they can borrow cheaply.  

However: what message is this sending out so soon after the vote?  Yes, after a lengthy and bitter campaign, the economy might have been expected to take a bit of a wobble.  Some people seemed genuinely amazed on June 24^th that the lights came on, buses ran and overseas companies were still buying from the UK! 

The grumblers’ nagging doubt is that cutting rates right now suggests the UK is panicking or a sign of an economy that is out of control.  Both would be somewhat at odds with the latest figures on employment and consumer spending – like suggesting GB’s women’s 470 sailors or Giles Scott would fail to medal with just the last race to go!

Only time will tell how Brexit will actually impact the economy.  So far, the noises on trade deals from non-EU countries have been very positive.  Lower sterling makes imports more expensive but also makes exports cheaper, fuelling British exporters. They may need to reset sights to trade more actively with the 85% of the global economy that’s outside the EU. However, if we produce goods the world wants at the right price, that gives us profits to pay for those imports.

The other question is, will the base rate cut actually make any difference?  Well, of course, it depends on who you are! The drop may be raising smiles from people with mortgages, but they are LIBOR linked nowadays, so the cut may not lead to a wholesale drop in lending rates.  After all, the banks are already muttering more loudly about low margins than some countries have been about our success in the velodrome. 

Sadly, savings rates are almost bound to drop – thank goodness Mark Carney has come out against negative rates where you end up paying just to leave your cash in the bank!  That’s as attractive a concept as Yorkshire coming outside the top 20 in an Olympic medal table….

This article originally appeared in Huddersfield Examiner Kirklees Business News on 5th September Titled What Message Does This Send?