Frustrated?

Consider this: have you got the right people in the right seats?

Many business owners hit glass ceilings. They cannot break £100k revenue, or £1m, £3m or £10m. You know the sentiment.

The solution is always E plus M equals S (entrepreneurship plus management equals success).

You know what, I’ve felt really good this week. A weekend of planning and writing gave me a real push.

Clarity plus action puts me in the best setup for success.

The formula for change is very simple. You need a powerful vision and you need first steps that are stronger than resistance.

It’s been a difficult six months, but I can see the light and there’s heaps of it.

I need to generate more cash to keep up with the constant onslaught of overheads.

Here are some facts for you:

My companies are spending £600k a year on insurance, £500k on software, and £2 million on head office staff.

As my FD totted up the numbers and presented them in a freshly bound pack, I realised we’d become something of a giant.

In the first six months of this year, we did £10 million more in sales compared to last year - and yet, we basically stood still on profits.

Rachel’s new taxes have kicked in.

Dig deep and find those minutes, you’ll need just 90 of them a day.

If you’re in business and things aren’t going the way you want, join the club.

That’s the daily reality for entrepreneurs. The constant jostle against whatever storms come our way is part of the job.

The rollercoaster of ups and downs is part of the territory.

Running a broad range of companies has changed my leadership style - it had to.

You can’t have over 2,000 people all around the world, as we do now, and still expect to operate with the same maverick approach you had when it all began.

I’ve often said when teams get beyond 6 people then 12 people changes occur. 

The past six months have been relentless.

I often think long and hard about my effectiveness, and that naturally leads me to think about the effectiveness of my businesses.

I know one of my companies is doing well when it doesn’t need me to stick my oar in.

That’s the hallmark of greatness: when you genuinely have a commercially profitable enterprise that works without you.

We’re tribal… and that’s dangerous.

Tribes are what human beings love; it’s in our DNA.

Comfort, trust and recognition are where we like to be. Yet sometimes, it’s failure or disaster that leads to our greatest discoveries.

A redundancy can finally push you to start that business, or a heartbreaking breakup can pave the way for an even better love.

Sometimes things need to go wrong for things to get better.

We really are different.

This weekend I’ve been in full-on education mode, training business owners to change gear and reach super success! 

Say you want to build one of the biggest companies in the country, heck, even the world?

Then I really want to bring you the answers at my events.

£300k here, £500k there, “£200k for me too, please.”

These are the daily emails, WhatsApps and calls I get from my team for the projects and bills that sit above the norm.

Of course I sort it, but when you’re owed millions and trying to grow a company, getting all the pennies, pounds and millions to line up can be exhausting - especially with ever more turnover taxes.

On Friday I watched £1.2 million leave our accounts in a 12 hour window.

No Days Off for Responsible People.

I’ve often pondered the notion that if you're a “grand fromage,” there are no days off. Death, of course, is your day off.

This week, I have gathered some concrete evidence to support this theory.

Convenience is Death.

The question to ask yourself is this: is it convenience for us, or convenience for them?

When I say “them”, I mean your customers.

We look for logic in most things we do – it has moved us forward. But in reality, it’s the illogical that has created the most magical moments in life.

This letter reflects on a chat I had with Chudds. (He’s basically in charge of everything you see me put out — the big cheese of the James Sinclairbrand.) I love this guy.

We had a little chat about stress and happiness on Friday, in between filming for a video.

That happiness question always seems to crop up, especially when you’re making and sharing as much personal development content as we do

In my quest to never eat alone and to make mealtimes a valuable use of my time, to delve into fascinating conversation, I’d like to share a story from two dinners I had this week.

Both featured my accountant.

It's clear that we are entering a period where people are tightening their purse strings.

Believe you me I have rang around chums of mine that all feel it from my industry. 

At Marsh Farm, our visitor attraction, we have maintained visitor numbers this year compared to last, which is somewhat disappointing given our investments.

I've just taken my familia to Disneyland Paris for the weekend.

It's a love-hate relationship I have with the brand. Some parts I adore. Others I hate.

As someone heavily invested in hospitality and leisure, I can't help but compare it to my own work.

I know more about how it all works than your average Joe! They are, after all, the biggest and, in many ways, the best – or are they?

This week, it happened - I hit Mount Mood.

“Fed Up” came knocking on my door. I let the wretched thing in, and he stayed for three days.

When he very occasionally shows up, I usually think: Why don’t I just sell the lot, buy more warehouses, and rent them out?

I could live the Instagram lifestyle - and then some. I could have the life most people dream of. It’d be like winning the lottery.

The difference between good and great is just 10%.

Any of you who have been reading this for long enough will know I'm obsessed with the word "effective".

I've also noticed that to be effective in most things, you usually need just 10% more effort, skill or time.

The extra 10% is where all the mastery lies.

Have you heard the saying, "If you want something done, ask a busy person"?

A better spin on this is, "If you want something done, ask a busy, effective person."

Adding that little word "effective" makes all the difference. Plenty of people are busy for the sake of being busy.

Here’s a funny thing: a few months ago, I was approached to help in politics.

Something I usually shy away from quite massively.

The funny thing is, when you write newsletters, make podcasts, produce YouTube videos, build businesses, and carry responsibilities - you’ll get asked to do more, and indeed, I was asked.

Responsibility leads to responsibility.

There are a couple of things I make myself do. Religiously.

Continuous learning and dinner dates.

And I usually find myself helping myself to both at the same time.

Learning while tucking into some nibbles is a super-efficient use of one’s time.

You’ve got to eat – so you might as well learn while you’re at it!