Avril Millar

And if you want to join the revolution ...

2011-04-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

www.thealtitudeclub.com

You just have to be damn good!

Expendable? Not on your life!

2011-04-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

It was announced recently that forced retirement at 65 is to be abandoned due to a shake up in the pension system. Well, thank God for that. Those of us silver foxes who still have a lot to offer business now can’t be shown the door just because we’re old.

Maybe you’re of a different opinion: you’ve done your time, and now you want to focus on the grandchildren, golf, that book you wanted to write, etc. Excellent. I wish you a long and happy old age of self-indulgence and diminishing brain capacity. Turn the page.

For those of you still with me, this country needs you. The UK, if not on its knees, is definitely genuflecting in the direction of disaster.

There are currently about 7.3 million people over the age of 75 residing here. In 2050 (by which time I shall be dead, smelly or both) there will be over 17 million. That’s a lot of old people. A lot of old people without much money. The average private pension fund in the UK is now just £30,000. That will deliver the princely sum of about £1200 a year as income. Is that retirement sounding quite as cushy?

Who is going to help? Government isn’t. They’ll chuck a bit of money at it and give it to the wrong people who will use it to feather their nest while the chicks starve.

Don’t look to big business either. They’re too busy setting up the Monaco tax shelter (ask Philip Green, he’ll give you some pointers).

So, who will? Business – but not as we know it. One-man bands, small, nimble firms with remote workers – these are the true entrepreneurs and innovators. Small really is the new big.

But, Houston, they have a problem. It’s bone crushingly hard starting a new business and only a tiny few will fly. They might know how to produce something but many don’t know how to run a business.

But the expendables do. We’ve worked for decades, built businesses for others and ourselves, and learned what to do and what not to do the hard way. Still think now is the time to slip into some gardening clothes? I don’t think so.

2011 and beyond is not about survival of the fittest, it’s about survival of the most flexible. And boy, are we flexible. We’ve lived through some of the biggest changes in the history of the world – the internet alone has transformed life as we know it.

We, the expendables, can help the next generation of leaders enable Britain to be great again. We know how to guide, educate, and inspire.

We have got one last assignment, and it’s our biggest and most important yet. It’s to help SME owners over the bridge from entitlement to responsibility, from confusion to hope. Help them run their businesses, get cash rich and profitable – so that we all benefit.

Those of you who still have something to offer and want to help – what are you waiting for? Stop whining about the next generation and help them. Grumpy old men and women might be amusing for five minutes on television. But not in real life.

Volunteer, mentor, advise, engage, do something. Get paid if you can. If not, do it anyway. Don’t tell people you’re not expendable. Show them.

As Jimmy Reid said in 1972 when they tried to shut the Clydebank shipyards
‘I challenge the right of any man, in business or in government, to tell a fellow human being that he or she is expendable.’ Damn right Jimmy. We’re on it.

I love the snow!

2010-12-03T12:48:00.000-08:00

Bearing in mind that I am in a good mood, having my annual Christmas Party tomorrow with friends, family and neighbours and generally feeling very happy with life and very blessed, it seems cruel to find joy in the general carnage caused by the weather.

In the middle of all the snow, ice and general misery, it's been hard to avoid media coverage of how badly it has all been handled. But there is a little light relief.

On Tuesday, my business partner, Richard, had two meetings in Paris. He left his house in Buckinghamshire at 6.30, got held up by delayed tubes and just missed his train from St Pancras. Because a train had already been cancelled, he couldn't get on the next one. So he finally got on one two hours late. He calculated that he could still make his second meeting and re-schedule his first one to do after. He boarded the train, having alerted all parties to the new arrangments and settled back.

FIVE minutes out of St Pancras it was announced that because of adverse weather conditions, the journey would take TWO HOURS longer than usual. In the end, he got to Paris, turned round and got a train back. £400 and 18 hours later he arrived home.

Back in the office on Wednesday he told the story, to general gales of laughter. Sweetly, or perhaps to escape the hilarity at his expense, he offered to go and buy lunch for us all. Off he popped, and when he got back, ALL the lifts had stopped working.

He had to climb all 8 floors (chapeau, Rich, you're fit - in a totally health-related way) and delivered now slightly tepid soup to us all.

Priceless.

And Richard, not known for his general levity, finally saw the funny side. Bless.

Opportunity and knocking

2010-12-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

I had a REALLY exciting call from someone I know today. A possible opportunity has arisen which could massively benefit both of our businesses. It could, of course, cause me to be working all hours God gives for a while but, then again, what's life for if not stretching yourself a bit?

And, interestingly, it came completely from the left field. But, also interestingly - to me at least - I was bumbling home through the snow last night and idly thinking to myself (a) blimey, it's cold (b) why can't Britain cope with a wee bit of snow when Poland can? and (c) I could just do with a tiny bit of divine help to get myself launched off with my book and speaking sideline.

And 5 hours later came a call that might just create something of huge fun, huge value and also happens to involve the PERFECT person to assist and inspire with the speaking bit.

And my little Pollyanna mind loves stuff like this. I really don't buy into the whole 'focus like a nutter, repeat affirmations and force the future to work out how you want' school of thought. But I do 100% believe that quiet, steady attention combined with a fair bit of work and a healthy dose of general friendliness brings surprising benefits. Sometimes they happen a long time after or from another direction but they pretty much always pop up somewhere, sometime.

And that's a very good time to stop, be still and be very glad that life can come good every bit as fast as it can go bad. For anyone.

Unfashionable thinking

2010-11-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

I was over in the US late September, working on my book. There was a group of us authors-to-be and one topic was about choosing the right title. And that's where it all started to horribly wrong. Imagine, if you will, that you have had an idea for a book for several years. You've talked about it, skirted round the edges of it. actually seen people write stuff that's roughly in your area but without your 'edge' (oh, the vanity!). Finally, driven to action by endless queries of 'how's the book going?', I got it down - well, almost down.

The title should encapsulate the content, I thought. Mine had the word 'work' in it, but not in the sense of avoiding it, only doing 4 hours of it a week or even mircaulously finding a way of making all the money you need without doing any of it. Oh no.

Mine is about the joy of and necessity of work, for our growth, well being and souls just as much (if not more) as for paying the mortgage. It's about creating work you love and accepting that you always love all of it. It's about working like a grown up with grown ups and refusing to accept the 'reality' of the economy - by working.

Frankly, you would have thought I'd suggested we all start eating our own children for the reaction my suggestion elicited. Apparently, no-on wants to work any more. We all want freedom from work. And, if I go with my title, people will recoil in horror.

So I thought about it carefully. Very carefully. Then I thought 'sod it'.

So, Built to Work it is. Subtitle to come.

Sometimes you just have to say what needs to be said.

Ships and ports in a storm

2010-08-26T09:00:00.001-07:00

Right, I need to vent. I have just had a frustrating session with someone who wants results but doesn't want to do the necessary work. In fact, his closing statement actually contained the phrase 'It's not fair', and that's from a grown man (well, he looks like a grown man but fair to say that he could go head to head with the average 10 year-old and win the whingeing game).

I could guess at all sorts of things that might cause someone with more than usual intelligence and talent to let themselves become a whining piece of uselessness but I'm guessing that general lack of spine nicely mixed with media encouragement is right up there.

We hear about strikes - BA, BAA (can't help thinking of black sheep, must stop), yesterday in the Metro it was all about tube strikes. And here's what I thought about as I read that.

In 1971, Ted Heath wanted to shut the Clydebank shipyards. Jimmy Reid stopped him, not by a sit-in (the preferred protest du jour) but by a work-in. And they saved the yards, and 2 of the 3 are still working today. He said at the time, 'From the very depth of my being, I challenge the right of any man or any group of men, in business or in government, to tell a fellow human being that he or she is expendable.'

People say there's not enough work. These are scary times, for sure. But if you can work at anything, do it. Because once you start that energy moving, things will move with you. That's where pride comes in - the right kind that sees work as good for the soul. And it is. And you are never expendable.

Alpha to omega

2010-08-26T08:47:00.001-07:00

At the moment I'm working on a variety of projects with clients - literally from start-up to exit. What's interesting is the way things rarely turn out as you expect.

As they say, 'Man plans, God laughs.'

That's part of the problem with planning. It seems not only a good idea but necessary. We plan our careers, our futures, our relationship journeys, our businesses and, more often then not , things come up and we have to adapt. That, of course, is how we got here. Human existence is not the survival of the fittest but the survival of the most flexible.

Business and life are pretty much the same. It's a good idea to know what sort of general outcome you want, what makes you happy, what success feels like but it's a very dangerous move to set that in stone. Because sometimes you end up somewhere other than what you planned and, by default, you think you've gone wrong somewhere. Whereas you might be exactly where you should be at that time.

So, my advice for businesses is the same as for life - wherever you are, see how that feels and if it is taking you in a good direction. It doesn't matter where you thought would be - it matters where you are. Measure it against more than the spreadsheet or last year's daydream.

Goals, gurus and getting over yourself

2010-08-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

Life is an odd thing. We decide that we know what we know and we settle into that. Well, maybe you don't but I did. I'm fighting that a lot now. That's not to say I can't still be obstinate and downright opinionated but there's something about getting older that makes it easier (for me at least) to re-visit some of the stuff I used to believe was fact and find it pretty risible really.

Take goals for instance. I have spent my life setting them - hitting some, missing a lot and wondering what in God's name made me set a few of them. And I have almost every business book and personal development book ever written. One problem this has caused is that because I am ridiculously attached to books, I treat them like family - once they're in the door I have to keep them and look after them. That means I have a new set of shelves behind a door with books that I frankly don't want anyone to see. I go into other people's homes and start to work out who they are by the books on their shelves. In my case, that bookshelf says stuff I don't want said.

So, over the last few months I have taken them out and re -read them just to work out why I bought them and what I was looking for. And the outcome of this frequently cringe-making and ultimately illuminating experience was this.

A lot of the stuff written over the last decade or so is not just derivative, repetitive and banal, it's downright damaging. There are droves of people visualising success and wealth and wondering why it isn't happening. People who think that they can do anything , no matter what their actual talents. People who think success comes from wanting it, not working for it. Youngsters who can't see what the point of work is and middle-agers who are dissatisfied with what their lives have become, and this in a country where we have more than we could ever have dreamed, even in my lifetime.

It crosses my mind that it's about time more of us who can see that the Emperor is butt naked ought to be doing something about it. And as it all starts with the individual, I'm sticking my neck out there. So that is what this is going to become. My little bit of world changing.

Welcome to the grand opening of your mind!

To blog or not to blog myself?

2010-07-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

A moral dilemma! Not a big one on the scale of robbing banks or fiddling expenses but a dilemma nonetheless. I know that blogging is good for getting my message out and also for hopefuly getting people to talk back to me about what they think. I also want to make an impact BUT there are only so many hours in the day to find time to do it. I've been recommended to get someone else to do it for me but someone else isn't me (or at least I hope they're not. That would be a whole different kind of problem)

So here's what I have decided. I think we are all bamboozled by how how much information and 'noise' there is out there. And I think that, even if we don't know for a fact, we sense when someone is not being true. Call me old fashioned but I think words carry power and energy and we should use them carefully. And what we need now is to have less noise and more pure clear tones.

So I'm happy to have someone research and write articles for the company but I am not happy to have someone pretend to be me in something as personal as a blog. So it might not be updated as often as it should but when it is, it will be me that's doing it. Hope that's ok with you.

Life is what happens when you are making other plans

2010-06-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since the last blog and the reason for that is one of those mysterious tricks that life plays on us. Suffice it to say that I had to take my business apart and start again which, whilst stressful and tiring, was nowhere near as bad as continuing with the wrong set up and conflicting value systems. So like a phoenix from the ashes, Leadout is born! Check it out at www.leadoutbusiness.com

I have to say that adversity brings all sorts of advantages, not the least of which is the opportunity to test if you REALLY want to do something. Finding that my desire to build a new model of support for SMEs was as strong as ever despite the trauma was a great gift. No fly-by-night idea this and I have been very lucky to attract wonderful people to work with me.

And the message of this little blog is that everything passes, good and bad, and finding what you want to do with part of your life is the greatest gift of all. It seems you really can't keep a good (wo)man down after all.

The Lazarus Business

2009-12-29T04:43:00.001-08:00

I met a great chap recently. He runs a successful business, has done for 20 years, and works with global businesses. He knows his onions. He knows his onions so well that big corporates use his company to improve their profits. Nice. His material is outstanding and his ethics sound as a pound. And this great, great guy got scammed by one of his sales people over the course of a number of months, 'selling' programmes to new clients. Invoices were raised and the sales guy 'helped' by delivering them himself to the clients. Clients who (and you've guessed it) had never met him and never signed up for any business. It nearly took my friend's company down. Fortunately they rumbled it but it cost time, money, downsizing and a lot of sleepless nights.

And here's the lesson. When your business is small and you are involved all over the place, you can see into the furthest corners of it. You know what is going on where and when and why. As you get bigger, you have to delegate and that's when most businesses run into problems. Trust is essential in business but no good in management. Without tight systems and checks, stuff slips through and that stuff can kill you off. Profits are only on paper until you collect them. So many businesses really don't know what goes on in those dark, dusty corners. If you don't, expect to be surprised. On the other hand, spend some time and a bit of money to make sure you never get caught out by trusting assumptions.

Putting your money where your mouth is

2009-09-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

An interesting series of happenings in the last few days. Much as I hate Americanisms, the phrase 'Walk the walk as well as talk the talk' is pretty self explanatory. Now, in the last few days I've come across some great people, all of whom have held down great and well paid jobs - many still do. They are keen to change their lives, do something with meaning that uses their experience, help others succeed whilst making themselves a better than good income. But do you know what most of them lack? Bottle. Honestly - it's terrifying how many people have been salaried so long that they become bystanders in their own lives. Now, I'm not saying it's not scary when you first decide to back yourself, but WOW it's exhilarating when you work out you can break through your self imposed barriers and limitations and live the life and earn the money you want! So, is it only the young who can be brave or are there enough people out there who really do back themselves enough to take a chance on change and really walk the walk? I think so. I'm just reserving my opinion on accountants just now .....
It does strike me though that entrepreneurs are the real warriors - God bless them all!

The joys of ageing and youth

2009-08-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

I read a wonderful article in The London Paper this week, written by a recent graduate bemoaning the abuse of graduates in the work place now, in times of few jobs and limited opportunities. Part of me wanted to shake the author and part of me wanted to hug her. I have the daily joy of being CEO to a group of fabulous young men and women who are at the coal face of young entrepreneurship. They bring enthusiasm and headstrong attitudes, lack of judgement and lack of prejudice, energy and clarity. They are often wrong and often right and I love them.

On the other hand, I am currently also building a new business to change the face of business in the UK. For that, I am choosing experience over radicalism and grey hairs over youthful enthusiasm. (this from someone who was a fervent SNP supporter in her youth, to the point of miltancy). Why? For many, 20 years of experience is simply one year repeated 20 times BUT we have a huge bank of wonderful people who can bring real change to business and society. This is the time to marry up all of our talents - to let the experienced lead, inspire and learn and to let the young see what the years can deliver to the wise and aware. We are all dependent on each other. It's time to get our balls out and make a difference instead of simply commentating. Be the change you want to see in the world (thanks to Ghandi) and stop bitching about how things are.

BBC 1 last night - bankers working with small business

2009-08-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

OK, it was designed to hit all the hotspots - greedy bankers out of touch with the real world of small business. And it was no doubt edited to keep all the nasties in place and entertain - I'm not sure that cleaning toilets and milking cows is essential to understand how a business works and I suspect ritual humiliation formed part of it. BUT, the story was compelling - two businesses, one hotel and one dairy farm, struggling to survive. And everyone learned from everyone else and, most of all, they DID make a difference.

It's not about genius, it's not about one person being better than another, it's about new thinking and different skills being brought to bear to make hard work deliver rewards.

We have so much talent to take out to the heart of UK businesses. And, talking of heart, there was lot of emotion in being able to make a real difference. So I'm so glad my new business is doing exactly that - targetting people with talent from the City and enabling them to touch and change lives. Now that is a job worth having and a life worth living.

Where has British grit gone?

2009-08-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

Today we read that the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, now thinks that the recession is deeper and will last longer than first thought. The money supply to businesses is all but shut off and there is no sign of when that will ease up. He predicts that many more people will be made redundant and more businesses will go bust. Well, at the risk of getting repetitive, we all knew that and it's no good sitting around whining. It's not rocket science - when things get tough you really do need to tighten your belt and get smarter. I do get heartily sick of all the negative press and media - it is simply providing excuses for people to accept what they are being told is reality rather than doing something different to change what they can. Where on earth has grit gone? And when is it going to sink in that if you're not succeeding on your own in business (or in life) you need to do something differently - invest in yourself, learn from other more experienced people, read books, hire a mentor, change course - whatever it takes. I would put money on it that a very high proportion of the businesses struggling now can be made more profitable in a matter of months with the right input. We used to have a culture of triumph over adversity. We need it back, and pretty damn quick.

Where has all the talent gone?

2009-08-06T11:04:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that losses from the City have not stopped. The big, swathing redundancies seem to have slowed but it's not over by a long chalk and, more importantly, for some ex-City workers, it never will be over. There will be those who will never find work in the City again and those who never want to. It's all too easy to pile opprobrium on all City workers as a blanket finger-point. It's even easier to think that as they had it so good in the past, it's their time for tightening the belt. It all rather misses the point. Rather like the foot soldiers and junior officers in an army, the decision making processes don't filter down to the lower ranks in corporate life. But the war can't be won without them. So, is it right to condemn them all or should we be looking to see how those talents can be used for a wider good? Why leave some of the brightest and most able to wither on the vine? It's surely time we worked out how to re-direct that talent to where it can deliver real results with true accountability and measurable profits. The question is, are enough of them brave enough to embrace an entrepreneurial culture and live with the consequences? Let's see.

No better time than now

2009-07-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've been through a few recessions. It's a sign of ageing that you can remember quite so many of them but one thing is clearer to me now than ever. This is the time to start a new business. I've seen a good number of businesses that started in boom time - when frankly you could have put a few chimps in a room with telephones and they'd have sold stuff. It was fun, I'm sure, to be raking in the cash but it is rather like being the little rich kid - the lack of challenge can make you sloppy and floppy. And that's why so many businesses are falling off the cliff now. Never learning about keeping costs tight and customers happy, not having the discipline of good cash management and credit control, these are killers when things get tough. So, maybe it's because I'm a Scot (although I fear that Gordon Brown and Fred Goodwin have tarnished our reputuation for prudence - actually, scratch that, have tarnished our reputation, period) but I know that having to run a tight ship makes for safer sailing. So, with the banks not wanting to lend and investors like shy virgins, not wanting to take the plunge, thank goodness that it's possible to start a business with very little money at all. And the recognition that there is no security other than the security you make for yourself means that more people than ever are at least considering the possibility that they can take control of their lives and income. That's no bad thing. Because those businesses will be tough little fighters and that's what we need now, businesses based in reality and run with integrity. I rather think this crisis may be the making of us all yet.

2009-07-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Brilliant article in Money Week this week about the damaging effect of MBA- trained consultants on corporate success. Makes me think even more about how to change the face of SMEs in the UK. How do we make business success more reliable and less unexpected and rare - especially at the SME level?