The business world has changed. The only thing keeping Thanet's present Jurassic form going is that it is yet to notice. "Marketing and Sales" are, like the beheaded chicken, dead yet still moving.

"We are immune to advertising. Just forget it."
Article 74, 95 Theses, Clue Train Manifesto

What I hope to outline in today's post very few of Thanet's businesses are ready to grasp. Some are already aware of this but for the large part these are businesses that are small enough to still be nimble. There is no reason why the small and alert business can not take over quite completely from the large entities that need such artificial things as WestWood Cross, full page adverts and sales scripts.

Are you ready to learn the secret of Thanet's new market place?

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» Continue Reading: Thanet's Business World has Changed

A Case Study

What is the single biggest failure of the entire market place today? The thing that is so pandemic in places like Thanet that wealth has no chance of being developed. The thing that keeps Thanet poor?

Undervaluing the intellectual and human resources of the company - the workers themselves. This is so common today that entire market sectors and niches are filled with businesses that could be doing ten or twenty times better then they already are but have opted instead to grind what they have to nothing. As a result customers are being forced to pay extra to maintain growth while employees are paid a fraction of their true value.

The result is poverty. Poverty for the company and poverty for the people too. Lets take a look at a couple of examples: Tony Flaig and a friend of mine that we will call Tim Smith. I believe that at an average both are worth a minimum of £30 to £40 an hour to their industry plus a range of fairly hefty bonuses; if only their employers would realise.

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» Continue Reading: Do you know what keeps Thanet poor?

I want to outline here an introduction to an idea that I hope to expand much more extensively over the coming weeks. I am going to be addressing the business attitude and market environment of Thanet in general terms. I am aware there may be exceptions.

We are no living in the 21st Century and the technology readily at our disposal allows instantaneous communication with the entire market sector. It allows our records and our data to be analysed in minuets to a level that might take a team of experts a year or more. We can have meetings where attendees are in Rome, New York, London, Paris and Berlin (for example). Why, then, in Thanet are we finding it so difficult to engage in even the simplest ecommerce?

In theory we have the manufacturing power already operational in the area to be a world player. We have plastics, aerospace, electronics and dozens of other key industries right here in Thanet, more in Kent and the surrounding area. We have access via road and air to the rest of the world. What, then, is it that keeps us poor?

What keeps Thanet unproductive and weak is fear. In this article I will be looking at what this fear is and how we can overcome it. This answer is not for everyone.

Many business leaders are comfortable with the lack of forward motion. They would rather engage in practices of unproductive "manager masturbation" where lots of paperwork is completed and talking done but no actual profit is made. It's like a Jurassic Paralysis that is trying to suck us back through time.

Only those business men willing to evolve their business thinking are going to see their businesses flourish where others fail.

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» Continue Reading: The Business Stone Age - An Introduction

Ask.

No, really, asking for things is the single best way to reduce bills. Ask for a discount and the worst they can say is "no". The best is "yes".

I put this to work today when I phoned my bank.

"Is there anything else I can do for you sir?" asked the person on the other end of the line (they ask this until you say "no").

"Yes, please." said I. "I'd like to pay less interest."

After explaining using alternative words what I meant (this was after all a call centre in India) I was put on hold.

Two minutes of waiting and I had reduced my APR by 4.2 - not bad for a moments asking. My credit card is now cheaper than my overdraft so I think I will have another word with my bank shortly.