Communication skills are obviously vitally important for all of us in any context, but they’re especially important for those wanting to be great managers and/or leaders, and they’re especially important during these current, difficult times Just as obviously, communication is a two-way process and involves listening just as much (if not more) as it involves talking

The recession has thrown the sales and marketing strategies of business owners and leaders into disarray Customers have become more hesitant to buy, sales teams are struggling to get deals over the line, and the marketing budget isn’t looking as healthy as it used to

If you want to test out your growth potential, then simply ask yourself whether you have the ability to significantly scale your operations Scalability is not simply selling more into a large marketplace - it requires you to scale up every part of your business, from procurement through conversion to final product sales and support

Businesses all over the world are trying to do more with less as marketing budgets are slashed in these tougher economic times But with a nose for a bargain and a little know-how from the experts, it is possible to extract good value from a shrinking budget

When economic hard-times hit, one measure more than any other separates the business survivors from those that fall by the way – cash-flow In boom times, many business owners naturally turn their focus to measurements like sales and profit, but when things slow down it is cash-flow that is the key test of business health

Too often we are pumping our brains with unhelpful procrastination and punishment scripts that paralyse us into inaction It's easy to get into a habit of programming ourselves with reluctance, paralysis and self-defeating thoughts

How do you become the employer that everyone wants to work for Employees now expect a lot more from employers - it's no longer 'just a job'

In my experience of working with over 110 businesses around the world over many years, I have been amazed at how often we are called in because the business owner has problems with staff or customers or suppliers or the market Invariably our first meeting with an owner is dominated by the owner telling us all the problems he is facing and how everyone is against him

Are you an effective leader What is your management style

ONE OF OUR clients in the retail industry admitted to us one of the worst sins –they stopped marketing the business The business had some staff issues and the owner ended up spending most of his time in the operations part of his business