Brand in the Boardroom

Issue 1: Brand is often associated with inspirational leaders - Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, Elon Musk, Phil Knight - people who have built culturally-significant brands that are recognised across the globe. I think this connection, between brand and massive success, is one of the reasons why - to the average leader of an SME - “brand” can seem like a remote concept that isn’t relevant to them. But the reality is that the success of these inspirational, well-recognised leaders, is usually built on some simple concepts that every leader of a successful SME will recognise: • a focus on the quality of your product or service • recruiting the right team • delivering a clear proposition • an effective sales proces • a strong financial model. Steve Jobs said, “Great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people” . Building a brand takes a team. It takes people with different skills, experience and knowledge. But every team needs a leader. Your bran...

Issue 1: 5 recommendations for Finance Directors in 2024 _____   1. Identify your niche and pricing strategy
 Quite often, a business will throw everything they have at anything that looks and feels like a customer they can serve and sell too. Too often, they do this without thinking beyond the sale and considering: Will it scale over time? What is the ability to build out from? Can they afford our service or offering? It's incumbent on business leaders to ask themselves: “Are we trying to serve everyone? Or can we focus on a smaller subset of client opportunities within our industry? Can we look to sell more at higher margin, in effect becoming a niche player?” Many of the best businesses and highest margins are niches. This is where you can often sell at higher prices, whilst maintaining your costs. As a rule, you will generate a significantly higher margin over the long term.   2. Ensure your customers pay on time Currently one of the biggest issues I am seei...