154. Failing to plan, or planning to fail in FX?

Plan for the worst? There’s no shortage of advice or opinion on currency markets but, the truth is, most of it is unhelpful, unactionable, and usually wrong. Financial executives needn’t be plugged into second-by-second exchange rate movements, rather they should be on top of their company’s ongoing level of risk. Businesses that don’t have a […]

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152. The 5 Gotchas of Discounting

Discounts can be a powerful tool for businesses, but there are also some perils for the unwary. Here are 5 of them: Discounting … Can erode brand value: If you offer discounts too often, customers may start to see your brand as being less valuable. This can make it more difficult to charge full price […]

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148. Your CFO – are they good enough for you to call them the “Chief Fixing Officer”?

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is often seen by the uninitiated as the company’s number-cruncher. True, they are responsible for overseeing the company’s finances, including accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. However, the CFO is much more than just a numbers person. They are also a strategic thinker, a problem-solver, and a leader and a general […]

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145. HMRC enquires – Why do they happen and what are they?

Research & Development (R&D) tax-credit claims are being subjected to increased scrutiny (and in our view, with good reason). As a self-assessed benefit, HMRC have a duty to occasionally conduct compliance checks into R&D claims to ensure they are legitimate. These are known as ‘enquires’. As part of an effort to reduce fraud and error […]

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137. In 3 – No. 10 What does Frugal Innovation actually mean and what are the principles you need to apply if you want to be a practitioner?

This week we tried a new platform – not Zoom this time but something called Wonder – go on, try it! The aim was to have a highly interactive session with the author of the book, FRUGAL INNOVATION, Jaideep Prabhu. Jaideep is Professor of Marketing at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. […]

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132. My takeaways from our exclusive interview with Gary Bloom, an Elite Sports Psychotherapist and author of “Keeping Your Head in the Game” on 9th March 2021

Every month we meet a top-drawer author and put them through their paces. This month it was the turn of Gary Bloom, an elite sports psychotherapist who works extensively with the business community (as well as high profile sportsmen). These are my takeaways from our one hour session with Gary. But the real value add […]

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119. Where next for Business?

Now, four months into lockdown and sales for a number of businesses are still weak. What’s on the proactive owner/manager’s to do list? There are a number of big decisions to make. Here is a bit of a hit list with the objectives: Promoting your business – getting it rapidly back on the rails Preserving […]

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