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What Is The Third Sector?

What is the third sector? It is more than charities and includes social enterprises and co-operatives. In a report for Work Foundation [nurl=http://www.theworkfoundation.com/Assets/Docs/Mapping%20the%20Third%20Sector.pdf] Mapping the Third Sector: A context for social leadership[/nurl], Laurence Hopkins suggests that "its organisations are the primary voices of social, economic and environmental justice, delivers and sources of innovation in services to vulnerable people and vital contributors to the modernisation of public services in the UK. The sector is characterised not only by distinct legal formations, but by an ethos that puts social and environmental interests above economic imperatives. read more

 

Managing Time Out Of Your Business

In a business world blistering with activity, two things return over and again as highly sought after: time and quiet. So rare are these, that they are often seen as within reach by only the most rich and powerful. Everyone else is out breaking their necks in pursuit of enough to keep the wolf from the door. Yet, on the face of it time and quiet cost no more than valuing them for the riches they offer. It is not world breaking news to discover that highly motivated achievers are very good at managing their time, including time out to ponder the most important questions on which all the others revolve. read more

 

Success In Business: Reasons For Creating To-Do & Not-To-Do Lists

My “extra mile” article last month captured some attention and comment, including in the national press. Some readers had the valid concern that going the extra mile for customers on a regular basis could result in you or your team having a lot more to do - which got me thinking about how one deals with competing priorities. “Just Do It” may have worked as a slogan for Nike, but it could be that the opposite is an important mantra for the busy owner manager. Success in business is the sum of the choices we make in that role — and this is as much what we choose NOT to do, as what we choose TO do. Most owner managers have a seemingly never-ending list of things that they COULD do — the “To Do” list never seems to be empty! read more

 

Creating A Future For Your Business Means Doing Things Differently

Our business purpose is to help owner managers actually create the future they want for their businesses and for themselves. Of course, creating a different future means DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY. To this end, we started a discussion on the Ambitious Owner Managers group on LinkedIn asking members to commit to plans and actions of what they’ll DO DIFFERENTLY now and in the future. And what a great discussion it’s turned out to be. read more

 

How Building A Clear Vision For Your Business & Planning Ahead Helps Its Future

In answer to Alice’s question, “Would you tell me, please, which way I should go from here”, the Cheshire Cat replied “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” The fourth of our Seven Pillars of a Better Business is ‘Know where you’re going’. A business which knows where it’s going, and has a plan to get there, is more likely to succeed and grow than one that muddles through from day to day. It might sound obvious, but few business owners actually take the time to formulate a clear and inspiring vision for the future and a plan of how they’ll get there. read more

 

The Downfall Of HMV And The Importance Of A Robust Business Model

According to the Financial Times over the Easter weekend, “Russian tycoon Alexander Mamut is close to making a bid to buy Waterstone’s, the book chain that is being sold off by the ailing entertainment retailer HMV.” read more

 

Leadership Structures In Big Society Organisations

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to define a Big Society Organisation as any body that isn’t a business (and thus geared to make a profit) and isn’t run by a public body. So that would include charities, voluntary agencies, social enterprises and community groups. Most businesses and public sector bodies are still organised around a sort of command and control structure. It may be more ‘request and review’ in some cases, but the leadership structure is most often easy to determine. At least, the official leadership structure though the unofficial structure may be very different. read more

 

The Big Society: What This Means For CEOs With Private Businesses?

The Coalition Government under David Cameron has been in power for just about a year now. One of the key ideas in the Conservative manifesto which also made it into the Coalition Agreement is the ‘Big Society’. Given the first year’s emphasis on deficit reduction and the political fallout from severe constrictions in public spending followed by plans for enabling private sector led recovery and growth, apart from some sniping from opposition parties, Big Society is still largely neglected and misunderstood. read more

 

Customer Service: Make It Really Stand Out

One of our Seven Pillars of a Better Business is “Stick to the Knitting and Stand Out From the Crowd”. In essence, the idea is to focus on a core market, get to be very good at what you do and stand out from your competitors on anything but price or margin. In that way, profitable businesses can be grown. A key way of standing out from the crowd is to be supremely focused on true quality of customer interaction — surpassing expectations wherever possible. read more

 

Celebrity Entrepreneurs And Business TV shows: Help Or Hindrance?

Recent research published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), shows that rising coverage of entrepreneurs in the media is persuading more people to consider becoming their own boss. Surely, this can only be a good thing, you might think. Our country needs fresh business ideas and a thriving small business sector to help drive the recovery. So, anything that fosters entrepreneurial spirit is a positive influence. What’s more, these shows have popularised business and got people interested in the economy. Business stories now regularly appear in the main parts of the national media as well as in the business sections. read more