I have often thought that independent retail is one of the hardest businesses to make a go of. Not only do you have substantial overheads; rent, rates etc, but considerable start-up costs; stock, shop fittings advertising & promotion, and all of this before you hear the first ring of your till! (more…)
And so to the final part of my trilogy “Peter” a tale of chilling deception and disappointment in China.
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And now for today’s blog…
A good story never goes away… and just to prove it here is the 2nd part of my trilogy about China. If you remember the first part of my tale was about Tony and his attempts to have cushions manufactured in China. Book two concerns a character called Vance who has already built up a successful UK based retail business importing kitchen units, appliances, worktops and tiles from China.
Yesterday I found myself in front of a very enterprising business man who mentioned that he was dealing increasingly with China, he was both exporting his goods to China, and using cheap Chinese manufacturing to get low cost components for his British based factory.
I’ve avoided watching The Apprentice for years now, simply because I really don’t approve of Sir Alan Sugar’s management and communication style as portrayed on TV.
It seems to me that whenever things go wrong it’s always because I’m trying to do something I’m simply not equipped or trained to do.
There’s so much good stuff on the TV at the moment about building a better business.
Back to work after a short Christmas break, which gave me time to catch up on all my tape recordings of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Once you can get over the liberal use of the ‘F’ word, this is essential viewing for anyone wanting to improve their business - the simple principles Gordon literally rants on about translate well into almost any type of business.
