“Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made, Those are pearls that were his eyes, Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange, Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell, Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.” Thus sings Ariel to Ferdinand (a prince
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When someone has had a really bad experience, personal or business, our natural inclination is to help, usually by offering some worldly wisdom such as: If anyone can get it all back, you can (the advice my father gave to me when I lost a business in 1993) The darkest hour is just before the
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One of my projects over the Christmas and New Year break was to create my MOAS for 2015. MOAS? Mother of all Spreadsheets – a name christened back in the 90s and the heyday of The Dental Business School, when clients asked me how I organised my own personal finances. Every year since 1996, there
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1970: I join Friends Provident & Century Group in Manchester as a 16-year old school leaver. They introduce me to the ladies in the typing pool (why was it called a pool?). On my desk I have a dictation machine the size of a video player. I dictate letters into a huge hand-held microphone and
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We are at war. With what seems like every retail organisation in the world, who want us to buy something off them because CHRISTMAS IS COMING. Everyone I speak with – clients, their team members, taxi drivers, fellow passengers on the rail – seems as sick of it as I am. Since when did Christmas
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You know you have made a difference when your name becomes a brand: Clinical brand names I’ve been on Tipton I’m doing Dawson I want to go to Pankey I’ve studied at The Eastman Training, Consultancy and Coaching brand names I’ve invited Laura to take a look We brought Tracy in Have you had Sheila
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A stretch of the Trans-Pennine Cycle Path, this between Warrington and Altrincham and following the remains of an old railway line closed down by the infamous Dr Richard Beeching in 1963. As a result of his independent report, the UK lost 5,000 miles of railway and 2,363 stations due to the then competitive pressure of
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I’ve been complaining to my clients recently. Why? Because they are not asking me to do enough work for them. Strange isn’t it? They pay me lots of money to be their dental business coach and then don’t show up – rather like that January gym membership that we sometimes buy – and then realise
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Over at Ashley Latter’s training centre the other night (with our Jon) to support Cahill Dental Care and their Study Club evening. It was nice to be in the audience for a change and also to admire Ashley’s professionalism and experience. We reminisced over how many years have passed since I saw his two-day course
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A lot of people will tell you that they are in sales. In reality they are just in account management. The only real sales people are those whose income depends on making sales. Affordable, appropriate and approved, ethical sales. Self-employed, commission-only. They are the real sales people. I’ve seen some people go commission-only and then
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