Posts

Well Sue I promised to get a couple of members on-board for you, but failed with Guernsey but got two members from Jersey, so I was close, is that good enough? 

Hi Sue, I moved you into our time out section, if that's all right, rather than our introductions area.

I guess (and haven't any experience so is just supposition) that people that are more receptive to counselling are going to people more in touch with their emotions and more likely and willing to open up and discuss issues.

Where as the people that maybe could really do with some counselling are going to be more naturally reluctant?

Is that fair, or does your experience speak otherwise?

Do you tend to see a particular demographic pattern? (spoken like a marketeer )  ie Younger, older, male, female, more affluent or more traditional working class?

Be interested to know if counselling is seen as more mainstream now than say 20 years+ ago? Maybe stigma's or stereotype images are fading?

I know there seems to have been an explosion in business type coaches/mentors/counselling over the last 10 years which makes me wonder if peoples attitudes to talking or receiving advice are changing?

On the beeb there is a story about Degree apprenticeships:

Young people will be able to gain a full honours degree while earning a wage and paying no fees, under a scheme backed by government and industry.

The new Degree Apprenticeship qualifications will be taught in England from next September, starting in the digital and software field.

The government will pay two-thirds of the costs and fees while employers pay trainees' wages and other costs.

Full Story: BBC Website

IMHO I think it's a superb idea, you take on a youngster who has a basic grounding, you can give some instruction, and in return they increase their skills and you get a valuable asset. I assume there would be some kind of contractual agreement that they stay with you for a few years before legging it off to Microsoft.

It seems a better way than the current way of doing 3 years on a computer science degree, prob outdated, and then trying to find work. 

Or am I missing something?

You may have heard some of the controversy about the xmas attraction created by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, over priced, unfinished and untrained staff which was forced to close a day later.

Well it's back, in full damage limitation mode after being under the media spotlight and is now trying hard to restore it's damaged reputation. But it is hitting out at the media saying a lot of the stories were exaggerated and mutated, and so the press won't be invited to the re-launch.

It's fascinating to watch online reputation management and business disaster recovery in action:

Today based on your feedback we have so far:
- Added even more Christmas trees 
- Further staff training 
- Added more snow 
- Decorated the tippees
And much more, plus we've not stopped yet!

May be there are things we can all learn from it, but you can't help feeling sorry for the owners.

Here is the latest post from their facebook page: (Facebook Page now closed down)

Mythbusting

The presents are unwrapped: There’s a reason for this – the idea is that the children can look inside the sack and choose their present. It seems that in a couple of cases Santa hadn’t been briefed properly and handed out the first thing he got his hands on. Additional training has been given. 

The train broke down: It did. For a minute, and some elves came to the rescue and pushed it while singing songs. It had run out of fuel thanks to a broken fuel gauge, this has now been fixed and we have a back-up train on site.

Elves were seen smoking: It’s possible that from the road someone may have seen through the trees to the staff rest area, which is hidden well away from The Magical Journey experience. We have erected extra screening by the road and given additional instructions to staff.

Father Christmas was boozing, smoking and swearing & An Elf told me to have a sh*t Christmas: Honestly? We can’t believe the papers picked this up. It came from a joke Facebook post.

A Reindeer bit my child: Our reindeer enclosure is safe with our elves supervising it. Reindeer are herbivore and lack bottom teeth - they won’t try to bite you because they can’t.

The downside with good old social media as our politicians are well aware, you are opening yourself up for all sorts of comments 

So is all publicity good publicity? I'd imagine their marketing plan has been re-written a couple of times over the last few days!

I'll bet there will be a sombre lessons learnt and interesting analysis in January. Be interesting to see if they do pull it off and turn it into a success. Brit's just love an underdog so takings will probably go through the roof 

Another cracking post that has inspired me to create a new sub forum in the business startup forum, so we don't lose good stuff like this.

But need to balance the Family point, as I'm from the opposite view 

Family relationships can be complex and business adds an unusual and potentially stressful dimension, depending on the personalities involved. Business is hierarchical, you will be the boss. But so is family and your parents are the boss.

This can lead to potential strain when it comes to receiving and reacting to advice or criticism, or having to negotiate the minefield of an employer/employee relationship especially when you want things done a certain way. Your best interests will be at heart, but processes/procedure being used may be from a different generation.

Also there is a difference to employing and having family members assist you. Help and assistance should be taken gratefully and graciously. Employees are different, they conform to your rules, process and procedures, and fit in to your environment. But in return you must adequately financially compensate them, regardless of being family members or unrelated recruited employees.

Full blown family businesses are unusual creations, some work very well but a lot fall apart at the seams. Family loyalty can often blind commercial reality. Was making 22 year old inexperienced Johnny the marketing manager a really good idea? Do you want cousin Jim doing your accounts and knowing all your financial affairs?

But from an initial startup perspective, family help can be critical and crucial and I'm very grateful for help and support I received. But don't rely on having free resource as this will heavily skew your profit and loss account, and think long and hard before formally recruiting and putting family members on salary.  

Getting close Sue  -  Hello from Jersey

Originally Posted by Barney

“Might be being a little bit picky here, but when I was at school they called the above shape a heptagon

My cats prefer rectangular shapes, either my bed or my chair.......”

Hmmm, good point, not the most convincing circle!

I don't know what spooky do powers are at work here, but ever since I read this thread, our cat has suddenly taken to parking herself on my daughters school book bag, which is rectangular!

Good post Barney and certainly resonates.

I remember last year I came out of a Pets at Home store and they had some retired grey hound dogs outside as a draw for the kids, and were a charity that looked after former and abused racing dogs. Not a grey hound fan, but sucker for a good cause so thought I'd give them a few quid, only to be told I needed to sign up to a direct debit?

Explained I only wanted to give a few quid there and then and just got bombarded with sales pitch, which went on as far as trying to convince me to sign up, let them take £10 which I was willing to give them, and then phone up and cancel the DD, as they couldn't take money there and then. Their sole purpose was to generate DD sign ups.

I just looked at the girl and wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, me or herself. I do give to a charity by direct debit, but one that I've chosen to, and not as a result of a full on sales pitch.

So I patted the dogs and left them to it.

This seems a clever strategic decision for both Royal Mail and Amazon.

News reports are saying Amazon and Royal Mail have have agreed on a partnership to allow Amazon customers to have their parcels delivered to 10,500 Post Office Branches, as well as the current 5,500 Amazon pick up locations, such as certain newsagents etc.

This addresses earlier worries for Royal Mail that it is struggling to compete with the likes of Amazon, by now delivering their parcels.

But there are questions over opening hours, which anyone who has visited their local Post Office Branch or sorting office can sympathise with.

Got to be good news for Amazon as well, giving them a UK wide reach for customers wanting to collect parcels from their local post office. 

Must admit, I simply get Amazon deliveries dropped off at the office, but imagine the added flexibility will suit a lot of people.

What do you think?

Couldn't resist this one, perfectly poised for some obvious Euro bashing

Apparently our Marigolds just don't pass muster according to Brussels, and need to be certified to handle detergents which would mean an increase in prices.

Although it's a great headline grabber for the newspapers, in reality it means a pair of Marigolds would increase by 20 or 30p?

So unlikely to directly impact most household budgets, but behind the headlines is this a sign of ever more "over regulation" that is being generated in the EU zone, or just a storm in a dirty tea cup?

Are we just sensitive to some of the EU regulation in the UK, or is it actually pretty fair. Recent legislation that caused an outcry was reducing the power of hoovers, with more to come including hair dryers, kettles and lawnmowers.

But if a result of this means reducing power consumption across the EU and lowering energy requirements, isn't that a good thing?

If someone received a burn from a less than adequate marigold, would they be right to sue, or would be chastising them for buying cheap marigolds?