Paul Mackenzie Ross

business

  • And Now the Small Business Signatories

    With less than two weeks to go until the election we now have a letter from 5,000 small businesses pledging their allegiance to one party and it’s the blue party again. Furthermore, that letter is once again published in The Telegraph where, this morning, the newspaper’s website calls it a “boost for David Cameron”… Read more

  • These 100 Big Business Signatories

    Having been out of the professional business and journalism loop for the last year, the item in the news today that caught my ear was that The Conservatives wheeled out their 100 business leaders as signatories backing another parliament of blue bosses. It seems that, in retaliation, The Labour Party said that “zero hours contracts”… Read more

  • Work and the Art of Relaxation

    Are you sitting comfortably? No, really, are you sitting comfortably? Reading this on your desktop PC, laptop, tablet or mobile device you may think that you are sitting comfortably but now that I’ve got your attention, you may probably be more acutely aware of your posture than you were before. Read more

  • Reshoring British Manufacturing

    Watching the 10 o’clock news last night on BBC iPlayer I was encouraged to see the story about British companies bringing work back to these isles after many years of offshoring. The benefits of offshoring from a British business point of view are obvious – If you can cut costs by using foreign workers on… Read more

  • Hive: Books Arrived

    As previously posted, I was recently looking for an alternative to Amazon. The thought process came about after I was accused, quite reasonably,  of putting money into Amazon’s pockets when there were serious questions to be asked about their ethics and morality. The main points of contention are that: 1) Amazon have been accused of… Read more

  • Should SMEs Be Worried About the Demise of HMV?

    “Should SMEs Be Worried About the Demise of HMV?” was written by Paul Mackenzie Ross and first appeared in the is4profit small business blog The news this weekend has been filled with stories about the demise of HMV. That’s not to say that the store, founded in 1921, will totally disappear, but it has been… Read more

  • A SMART Business is a SMARTER Business

    “A SMART Business is a SMARTER Business” was first published in the business advice section of www.is4profit.com When looking for ways to improve your business one method of working is by using SMART objectives. First coined in a 1981 edition of Management Review, S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym/mnemonic for: S – Specific M – Measurable A –… Read more

  • You Can Bank on Dave!

    “You Can Bank on Dave” first appeared on the is4profit small business blog. So what happened in “Bank of Dave”, episode 2 last night? Burnley Savings and Loans has been lending a LOT of money. The problem is that they still don’t have their savings licence and cannot take deposits. But, on the bright side,… Read more

  • Leadership Styles

    “Leadership Styles” was written by Paul Mackenzie Ross and first appeared in the business advice section of is4profit.com Kicking off with an Example of Leadership Styles: The Football Manager Leaders may have any one of a number of so-called “leadership styles”. You can see them quite publicly, on the TV, in football managers, for example: Read more

  • Direct Line Motor Insurance – Computer Says No

    When I clocked off working from home this evening, I decided to call Direct Line and renew the motor insurance on my Mercedes C230 estate. I double-checked to see if they’d spelled my wife’s name correctly on the policy (a common mistake) and they hadn’t spelled it right so that was sorted out. I also… Read more