bizRichard

The answer - when everyone else is hiding!

Like now!

When everyone else is pulling their heads back down, stick your head up and out. Get yourself noticed - big time.  Rise above that cringing pack of frightened business owners and tell the world, and especially your customers, that YOU, at least, are still there for them!

It’s obvious really – as businesses start to hide, so the marketing clatter fades, leaving more space for your messages to be heard more easily. And, in all probability, regardless of trading conditions, your clients, customers and patients will still continue wanting, and needing, the goods and services you have on offer. 

Okay, so doing business is always a risk - even in good times. But, unless you are in ‘Securities’ or ‘Financial Services’ of some description, this is no time to suddenly become irrationally conservative.  Simply apply standard business criteria as always.

On the ‘plus’ side, see this current ‘crisis’ as a huge opportunity for you to reach out to your ‘audience’ and offer even greater value than ever before, thereby immediately exceeding their expectations and cementing loyal relationships.

But it’s not just about offering greater rewards, better guarantees, discounted prices (heaven forbid), freebies, or whatever – it’s much deeper than that. Your clientele don’t want to talk to your products and services.  They’re not only buying your products and services - they are buying YOU.

So, in times good or bad, show your human side. And, especially in difficult economic times like this, make sure you really do understand their economic and personal concerns - relate to them at a personal level. Demonstrate that not only can you provide the solutions they need, but that you can also provide better value because you are still there and able to empathise with their respective predicament.

Remember, it is always, always about THEM, not you. And there are many ways to show them you care – more of which in a future blog.

When everyone else is being ultra-cautious and doing nothing, isn’t this the time to move your business from good to great?

So, get out there, on the ‘front line’, and give it a positive and jolly good go – that way not only will you succeed in the short term, but also you will be well placed to literally ‘take off’ when the economy revives.

Richard C

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Following the previous article on ‘Debt Freedom’ day, it’s timely now to mention ‘Tax Freedom day’ (possibly 2nd June) - as today is 12th March and it’s budget day here in the UK.

Again a hypothetical date in the calendar year, ‘Tax Freedom Day’ in the UK, as calculated by the Adam Smith Institute, it shows just how long we spend working for the Government Treasury, rather than working for ourselves.

Tax Freedom Day is calculated on the income tax, national insurance, council tax and indirect taxes (such as fuel duty or VAT) paid by someone on average income, as a proportion of that income. The boffins work it out by comparing government tax take with national income. They then convert that proportion into days of the year.

The preferences for stealth taxes in the past few years has meant that it’s becoming harder for people to understand how much they really are paying.

Currently in the UK, 41% of average income goes to feed the government tax monster, which translates to 153 days spent working for the Government and 212 days for ourselves, putting ‘Tax Freedom’ day as either 1st or 2nd June.

5 months of ‘slavery’ every year
(200 years after Wilberforce)

This means that if you are the average UK resident you will have to work a full five months of the year solely to pay your various tax bills. Last year, that meant working from 1st January to 1st June – just to pay your taxes! The March 2007 budget did nothing to improve that, and I suspect that today’s 2008 budget won’t either.

that leaves only 4.5 months to fend for ourselves

So, add that on to the 70 days ‘Mr Average’ works to pay just the interest on his borrowings (excluding mortgages), mentioned in ‘part 1′ two days ago, and the average working Briton still doesn’t earn a penny for themselves until 12th August, leaving just four and a half months to earn all the money needed for our food, clothing, etc, etc!! Any wonder then that personal debt continues to escalate annually?

Question for Gordon - maybe if he reduced the tax burden (the excessivenss of which he’s been warned about by his international peers on many occasions) perhaps Mr Average wouldn’t have to borrow so much, thereby making for a healthier and stronger UK economy?

Are we in a perilous state? I’ll leave you to work that one out!

Now get out there, beat the average, and earn money the smart way.

Richard C

PS.  Register on BurnsWaring.com now to receive a copy of the budget facts later today

I’m reliably informed that today(March 10th), in Britain, is ‘Debt Freedom day’.

But don’t get too excited – ‘debt freedom day’ is just the hypothetical point in the calendar year when the average worker has earned enough to merely service their debts - and it has fallen more than a month later than last year.

70 days

The average Briton now spends 70 days of the year working just to clear their interest on credit card and loan debt (excluding mortgages), according to Unbiased.co.uk’s annual survey.

That is 39 days later than last year, when ‘debt freedom day’ fell on 1st February.

Personal debt levels have increased by over 10 percent in the past year, and average levels of interest payable on this debt have increased by over 6 percent.

In the current economic climate, it has never been more important for people to realise just how much it costs to service their debts and to ensure they have adequate funds available to do so.

Interestingly, the number of rejected mortgage applications surged by almost 60% in the six months to 31st October, according to MoneyExpert.com, as five increases in the base rate since August 2006 started to bite and borrowers came up against tougher lending rules.

Sometimes in business we need to borrow - it helps grease the wheels of industry - and borrowing to produce a greater return makes financial sense. Beware, however, borrowing for consumption - buying things that do not generate a return - that becomes expensive and has to be paid for out of earned income.

I hate posting blogs that hit you with the facts - they never make comfortable reading during poor economic times. But my advice - times is getting tougher - THINK BEFORE YOU BORROW.

Now go make some money the smart way

Richard C

PS. I’ll tell you about ‘Tax Freedom day’ in two days time - on Wednesday 12th March as it is budget day in the UK - and what indeed further damage will that do to us poor citizens?