January 19th, 2012

The New Successful You !

The New Successful You!

Goals or life style changes worth striving for are those that have a real chance of making a positive difference in your life and the lives of others you care about.

Do you need help with getting things done?  For example organising your life, career or your enterprise to achieve the results you want.

Neil Falconer, Principal Coach with Brighter Options will help you to succeed in planning and implementing projects in your life, at home and in your work.

Neil provides you with a structured route to success, through identifying your strengths and developing your abilities. He assists you with prioritising your time, setting goals and providing you with a course of action.

The key to getting things done is setting a direction and attaining achievable goals.

Professional Coaching helps you create time and space for motivating yourself to achieve desired results.

Top Tips: Know where you are going, get yourself organised and working well whilst learning to cope with distractions and obstacles.

Achieving goals step by step is one way forward for achieving the successful you.

December 2nd, 2011

The Tourism Business: How to survive in a recession?

The Tourism Business: How to survive in a recession?

 Look at CBI November 2011 Report – overall discretionary spending is down.

Key learning that consumer spending will be different not utterly frugal.

NB The rise of Group on and My City Deal

Key messages for business:

• Priority is visibility and your own unique offers see it and use it somehow.
• Think and use Face book some 500million users
• Look at the outperformers ask how do they do it.

• UK outward bound still high –cheap flights plenty of choice in destinations.
• Need different thinking as economy on the floor thus small steps
• Look at “Scotland the Best Peter Irvine 11^th edition” TRENDS.

• Look at who is still doing well in the industry?
• Ryan air – low cost model, high profile CEO followed by Branson and Easy Jet

1. Have clear vision
2. Focus
3. Unbeatable offers
4. No marketing yet lots and lots of PR good or bad.

• Not a product or a service selling an Experience.
• The customer journey –electronic –you tube, face book and twitter using peer to peer review.
• Blogs’ people act on what other people say about you.

• Looking for customer loyalty repeat business plus positive on line presence.
• Look at protecting your margin, providing choice, quality and good use of technology.
• Have a transparent price in Euro, Stirling and Dollars –what you are including       and what added value is in there.

Case Study:
Look at success of Geronimo Inns –tailored each pub  to locality

Summary:

Visibility listen to the customer, review what people say about you, enhance the value offering, and keep in touch with customers.

Neil Falconer

2/12/2011

December 2nd, 2011

Succession Planning for Business Owners some essential tips .

Planning to succeed a brief guide for owner manager companies

An evening seminar from law and accountancy speakers .

Key theme is to plan where you can as often as not there may be no fixed end point. The end may only be perhaps emerging.

Consider ending via a gift, a sale, a buy out or merger.

Consider also death, taxes and divorce.

Go for a planned exit –have you a will in place, do you have power of attorney, life assurances in place?

Whatever you do you have to hand over your business to competent people who at least have to demonstrate competency.

Ask questions such as what are the management skills of those stepping into the role, are they fit for purpose, if there is a skill gap are people prepared to admit, acknowledge and actually do something to address such a gap? An appraisal required perhaps.
See Trusts as a positive wrapper to take forward ones wishes, projects, preferences into a business or set down fees for school all to help the next generation.

Ask : What will the business look like in the future?

How will those handing over cope with letting go or will this be an area of difficulty or tension?

Top tips:

• Carry out a due diligence exercise on yourself and your business are you fit for sale!
• Establish a time frame for action alongside a tax planner –have visual plan.
• Do your homework
• Seek professional advice
• Consider seeking power of attorney
• Make a will
• Form a Trust and be  mindful of who are your trustee’s
• Look at the overall pot from all directions
• If building a company to sell you need to know your market
• People want you so may not want to buy your business
• Be prepared to let go
  Try and enjoy the process you have worked hard and deserve reward.
• Look at new pension provision NEST.

Neil Falconer

29/11/2011

December 2nd, 2011

Social Media :who is talking ,watching and listening ?

Social media who is talking, watching and listening?

Think About:What do you have to say, how do you say it, find your voice .Be positive for conversations, sharing ideas, obtaining feedback. Consider carefully security settings for privacy, confidentiality and preventing identity fraud.

To tips for a non Facebook or non Twitter person to use:

Blogs

• If attending a workshop, seminar or conference
• Write up notes
• Place on Blog
• Edit and copy
• Re send to contributors before publishing it
• Pre pare your link and send to set audience
• Have a live blog

Podcasting & Video

• Consider –Audacity
• You Tube
• Short 3 minute podcasts via Audio boo
• Ask web people to put on sharing buttons

Linkedin

• Keep updating profile avoid selling use groups to connect.

General Points

• Use slide share be generous
• Consider Eventbrite and factor in additional booking fee into your costs to cover this administration process.
• BE REFLECIVE, BE INFORMAL, BE EVERYWHERE
  A question of being seen without having to contribute
• Listen first
• Build trust and don’t sell (whuffie)
• Create a message
• Relationships not pitches

July 18th, 2011

Getting Ready for Summer Break

coming soon… well it is here .

A week in Galloway beckons and I almost cannot wait to swap my coaching hat for my sun hat . I do not  remember sun hats being part of De Bono’s Thinking Hats  although the yellow hat is all about positive thinking?

My theme for this my first blog is simple summer pursuits such as a picnic ,taking in a beach in the morning , noon or midnight ,collecting some driftwood for the fire ,looking at the stars and acknowledging the power of nature .The summer storm ,thunder ,torrents of rain and the smell of the grass after the rain. Wait up am I  dreaming  ?

Eating summer fruits sharing conversations with family and friends, enjoying reading a book sitting in an old summer house ,enjoying some solitude and stillness as part of  the day. Giving this old ego a rest . I hope your short break is refeshing and renewing ,enjoywherever you are.

Neil