Jeremy Hall – Confessions of a serial entrepreneur

Letting people down

My mind is preoccupied with letting people down.  We all want to pay people on time. The lack of cash flow in a business is a vicious circle – the actions of other companies affect our business which in turn affects other people.

Mind of an entrepreneur

I have been thinking about our two new divisions at Who’s Who, www.meetingbooks.co.uk and www.rewardsuccess.co.uk.  The sites are up and running, we have the stock, we just need more orders.

I enjoy the development of ideas and getting them to a stage where we have a business.  Regardless of whether I like it or not, we will have to employ a team to take these ideas forward and invest further in the marketing. I have a plan I am mulling over….

“It’s good to be around positive people”

I met up with René Carayol this week. The meeting was brief and we only had time to exchange a few words.  We both spoke about the positive things happening in our company’s as opposed to dwelling on the challenges we face. On leaving the meeting he noted how it’s good to be around positive people.

Mix with strong positive successful people and their magic dust will fall on you also.

Nobody is paying us

Most days, the first thing I do is to log onto HSBC internet banking to see what cash has come in. It is an important exercise. You can spot problems quickly and deal with them.

I knew that May and June were to be the two toughest months of this year. We have no books being produced at Who’s Who, our new projects are just going online and leasing income will not kick in until July. Like most companies, we are delaying paying bills until the cash turns up.

On a positive note, our invoicing has been significantly better than forecast. We are now really turning the corner. I am predicting a must better cash flow than what I expected. I even told the Bank Manager, he would see a much improved position in our company.

What I did not expect was that no one would pay us. I am not talking here of the odd company with cash flow issues. I am referring to all our customers delaying payment. We will get the money, it’s just a matter of when.

This puts our cash flow under pressure which in turn makes the telephone ring more with those conversations that start with “can you put me through to your accounts department.”

UK business needs to tread carefully this year. New business is clearly picking up, but many companies are still struggling with cash. Overtrading will be a key issue as order books increase and there is not the money there to recruit and pay suppliers. Banks potentially will still be unhappy to lend to companies where their balance sheet has been eroded with the effects of the last few years.

Cricket at Lords

A day off work at Lords watching the cricket. Eight out of ten people were wearing a shirt and blazer. It’s one of those events where people make the effort to dress up. Lords is one location where people just drink and eat all day. Unlike some other sporting events people were well behaved and just out to have a great time.

London on a shoestring

Upon leaving the office late for a meeting in High Wycombe, before travelling to London, I realize that I have left my wallet at home, i.e. no cash or credit cards!  My colleague quickly runs down to the bank to get £50 out of the cash point. I pay for the Congestion Charge on credit card (using the number I have memorised.) In London, again, I pay for parking on the credit card as nearly all the parking meters do not take cash anymore.

I am meeting four people today, all at hotels. Going to London with only £50 in your pocket can be unsettling. Luckily for the first two meetings, my drinks are bought for me. I then have to enter an NCP car park. I search for the price list, but it is nowhere to be seen.  NCP car parks are very expensive in London so I am left there thinking how long will this money last. The third meeting I feel obliged to pay which reduces my cash to £36. (The last time I stayed in an NCP that was exactly what the charge was.)

I have to walk the mile to and from my last meeting as I do not have enough money for a taxi. During this time I think about what to do if I do run out of money and cannot afford the NCP parking charge. It must happen to other people.

Luckily, the bill was lower than expected and I am on my way.

For many years I always carried a few hundred pounds spare in the car for emergencies. All people who travel a lot should do this.  Tonight, I will get back into this routine

Manchester sales meeting

We have been holding our sales meetings around the country near to the location of one of our team. I travel the 184 miles and others have to endure a 3 ½ hour car journey. The irony is the person from Manchester cannot make the meeting due to health reasons.  The meeting goes ahead anyway.

Sales meetings for many Sales Directors throughout the UK must be difficult in these times. How do you keep people motivated and reward them when sales figures are down. I have this problem. Our team really wants to make a success of what they are doing but the sales just are not there. I sympathise with their position, but ultimately, we need to think out of the square more and increase activity. Companies are still spending, but just less of them.

Lunch networking debrief

We held a debrief for our first Who’s Who lunch. It went well, the location was excellent, food what you would expect from a world class restaurant and the group we invited interesting and fun. At a cost of about £50 per head, it was also value for money.

We run through some ideas on how we can improve it next time, now we have had the trail run. Our key challenge is how to make money out of these events.  We need to think more clearly here. Networking is great, it is time well spent, but we must be able to see tangible financial results.

When does an acquaintance become a friend?

We have been away this weekend with our four year boy’s baby group, a total of fourteen adults and 17 children. I do not know them that well, be it we do meet up a few times every year. Clearly the Mum’s have a much closer relationship.

One of the Dad’s handed in his resignation the other week. This topic came up in conversation with the other Dad’s and I was interested to see the tone of conversation. They made a joke of it – in a very friendly way – with no malice.

It was then I realized this group was friends and not just acquaintances.  If you know someone well enough and like them, you can share a joke at their expense.  This behavior with acquaintances would be deemed to be rude and not acceptable.

In business, I often find it difficult to describe the relationship I have with some people I know. Are they just an acquaintance, or a friend?

Camping on the hottest day of the year

Like business, camping is all about timing. Today, we do have the timing correct, spending the night under the stars on the hottest day of the year.

Conversations over the BBQ turn to business. The six other guys are in varied fields of work. The general consensus it that business is improving, the economy is picking up. One of the Dad’s who runs a sheet metal works, had to go down to a three day week in 2008/09. Now they are flat out with work.

This genre of conversation is being repeated in many other situations I encounter.