Why productivity matters
Productive companies get more out of what they’ve got, enabling them to increase their profits, pay higher wages and invest in their future. More productive businesses mean a more prosperous country. Discover why productivity matters below.
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People & Team
Article
Performance management can actually be fun
By its nature, performance management can be a sensitive subject for employees. But one company has found a way to make it more engaging and goal orientated.
Performance management
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Bosses don’t have to be their staff’s best friends
In trying to be a friend to each of his employees one business leader ultimately found it harder to have the difficult conversations when they did arise.
Leadership Behaviours
Sales & Growth
Article
Exporting into unusual countries can open up unexpected doors
Doing business successfully to one unusual export country can lead to opportunities in others.
Expanding & Exporting
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Restaurant Nathan Outlaw shakes up industry norms
As the only two Michelin-starred fish restaurant in the UK, Ian Dodgson is always having to think about creative improvements at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw.
Support your employees
Leadership & Strategy
Article
How to find work-life balance in family businesses
Family businesses provide a feeling of togetherness but differences in opinion can wreak havoc on relationships. Business owners share their advice.
Leadership Behaviours
Planning
Article
How Chance & Counters used personal experience to carve out a niche
Board game café Chance & Counters was founded on a simple belief that most business owners can relate to – that something could be done better.
Create a distinct offering
People & Team
Article
Tried and tested approaches to deal with staff missing targets
Be the Business spoke to three forward-thinking SMEs about the strategies employed to both identify when staff are missing targets, and get them back on track.
Performance management
Planning
Article
We’re looking at ways to completely restructure the business
The coronavirus lockdown has been eye-opening for Catherine Connor, co-founder of Lovingly Artisan, who is now eyeing a restructure.
Change your mindset around future planning
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Ceviche: A restaurant that goes so much further than food and drink
Ceviche founder Martin Morales has created a brand that brings together all the elements of Peruvian culture he throught the UK was missing out on.
Communicate vision and values
Digital Readiness
Article
How building business partnerships with universities and research bodies can pay off
Universities are edifices of industry expertise. Building business partnerships with these institutions can create commercial opportunities and help small companies kickstart innovation.
Collaborative tools & analytics
Leadership & Strategy
Article
33 deliverables to stand out in the hospitality sector
Strategic planning is crucial to succeed in the competitive hospitality industry. Jon Yantin, a senior hospitality strategist at Stake Concepts, shares with us his framework for launching new businesses and reinvigorating existing ones.
Digital Readiness
Article
Prioritising new business development
Yash Dubal, founder of A Y & J Solicitors, has chosen to seize the moment and come out fighting with exciting new business development and a marketing push.
People & Team
Article
To furlough or not to furlough – how to make tough decisions about staff
Ccoronavirus has meant owners and leaders are facing some of the toughest decisions of their lives. Here's some help when it comes to your people.
Sales & Growth
Article
The Climbing Hangar is getting professional fast to meet a market need
Having initially set up The Climbing Hangar to fund a lifestyle, Ged Macdomhnaill sensed the time was right to grow the business and is assembling a team to take the leisure brand national.
Expanding & Exporting
People & Team
Article
Meet the companies reinventing the lunch hour
It's a part of the day that unites us all, whether you work on a shop floor or on a building site, but shaking up the lunch hour has proved fruitful for some enterprising businesses.
Motivation
Leadership & Strategy
Article
How to manage a six-fold increase in demand – the challenges and opportunities of thriving in a pandemic
Cash flow forecasting firm Float has seen a six-fold increase in demand during coronavirus. CEO Colin Hewitt explains how he's met that increase in demand.
Leadership Behaviours
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Coronavirus: How to collaborate with other businesses
With demand for many products and services falling fast, learning how to collaborate with other businesses is one way to lessen the coronavirus impact.
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Let new employees see how the whole business works
Suresite's Geoff Oldham makes sure that all new employees are introduced to managers to get an understanding of what the different departments do and, in turn, see the bigger picture in which they can play a part.
Vision & Values
Planning
Article
Good cash flow forecasting will show the way
Peter Watson explains how his four-point coronavirus crisis survival strategy is backed up by careful cash flow forecasting that will inform big decisions.
Leadership & Strategy
Article
The different interpretations of vision and values in business
They're discussed a lot in terms of their importance in setting a successful strategy, but interpretations of vision and values are often unique to each company and leader. Be the Business digs a little deeper.
Vision & Values
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Practical operational changes made Start-rite 83 per cent more efficient
It’s a family-owned shoe brand that has been around since the end of the 18th century, but it took an outsider’s perspective to truly prepare Start-rite for the rise of ecommerce.
Leadership Behaviours
Leadership & Strategy
Article
How leadership skills programmes helped founders find focus
Two tech founders pursued executive education to improve their leadership skills. Learning from experts and peers proved to be an invaluable experience.
Leadership Behaviours
Leadership & Strategy
Article
It’s The Small Things: Detox Kitchen founder Lily Simpson
Detox Kitchen founder Lily Simpson shares the challenges of running a food business – from avoiding trends trap to learning to trust your instincts.
Structure your approach
Leadership & Strategy
Article
Learn how leadership can influence business strategy in the right way
Running a hospitality business is pretty demanding. For the three leaders we met, success is rooted in a strong sense of leadership and a clear strategy.