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Yep did one on Instagram for you 

www.instagram.com/p/CiPCJVOIjfp/

You can always rely on Twitter trends to provide a bit of humour to any situation

I think I have my own hat stand

For small businesses, multi hats seems to be a daily reality, along with outsourcing. 

I'm a big fan of Daniel Priestley, and it was my business coach who got me into his books (which I would thoroughly recommend). But he has a great graphic which I've nicked below that explains the stages of business, and the two types of business to aim for. Lifestyle (micro) or a performance business (small to medium/large).

I'm definitely a Lifestyle business and very happy to stay there, but took me 10 years to get here, and then only after intervention from a business coach. So I have no intention of letting my team grow past 12, and have no relish to have a team of 50 plus and the associated headaches and stress. 

But before the lifestyle model or after it but before the performance model, you end up with the multi hatted culture with not enough resource, or not enough revenue to manage a growing teams and implement new policies, schemes, meet requirements etc. 

What I found (and it took 7 years longer than it should have) was I didn't have the resource / revenue balance right, and what should be outsourced and what should be done in house. When you get the balance right, it's like a huge weight lifting. But the thought of taking on huge risk and growing to an SME (performance) and getting through that desert patch fills me with dread. So a big thumbs up to those that do it, and succeed. But so many businesses fail in the journey from micro to SME, trying to evolve from a small knit and lean team, to multi teams, growing culture and associated issues.

As a smaller business, we accept multi hatting is a norm, but now have the flexibility to outsource or buy in advice and assistance as required, something I could only dream of not that long ago. 

Hi Steve, thanks for the input.

I agree with what you're saying, the problem is the industry is awash with low-value characters and sharks, whilst new business owners can be guilty of being gullible, having unrealistic expectations, or are just lambs ready for the outsourced Indian SEO slaughter.

I don't understand these days why there is still such an obsession for bolt on quick fix SEO. I think the lack of understanding and unrealistic expectations are partly to blame on the customer side. But I suspect the majority of blame lies with budget web designers.

Anyone engaging a web designer / developer for any site, from a straightforward brochure, to something a little complex should be factoring in and baking in SEO standard practices as part of the project. I'd even expect a basic marketing package for a newbie business like creating and branding a GMB page and a relevant social media presence, based on industry. This is such a low cost activity, offers a nice value add for a web designer, and gives a customer genuine value.

If your client is setting up a new local pie shop, then this is probably enough to get them ranking quite quickly. A pretty site, SEO friendly, a few obvious search terms and a basic marketing presence, backed up by a local flyer campaign. 

If your client is setting up a Taxi company to compete with the other 20 local cabbies, then they need an expectation conversation, a realistic and comprehensive SEO plan, costed with a realistic timeframe to see results. 

Instead, in 2022 you still see loads of low new sites with zero optimisation cast off into the Google backwaters, offering very limited if any value, and has already eaten into a hard pressed budget a new start-up has.

If a newbie business insists on a freebie web platform, or knocks something up with some schoolboy WordPress skills, then they get what they pay for and shouldn't be surprised by a lack of results. 

But if I was paying for a new website, I'd expect that web designer to have a fundamental knowledge of SEO, include this as part of the site design, and be advising me on my new journey. 

People like yourself that offer useful resources and can advise and assist customers as they establish themselves is the way forward, but I suspect this isn't the norm. Or at least from the horror stories and client sites I see on a daily basis.

Just noticed you are also a magician, so maybe SEO really is a black art

Welcome aboard Simon, glad to have you with us  Giving you a shout-out on our social media tomorrow morning as we've had a bit of a back log 

Actually an interesting idea and never thought of before. As a marketing company we're in a sea of thousands, but we actually specialise in directories, so partnering with other marketing companies could actually make sense.

Interesting 

Don't suppose they're interested in empty bottles? 

Welcome aboard 

I'm telling you, in 5 years it will be ready. Project codename is retirement but don't tell anyone 

Have an office now slap bang in the middle of Stratford, so if you're ever passing through, give me a shout.

Welcome aboard Lee, and a fellow Midlander

How long has the business been going, and have you guys managed ok after the recent years of pandemic, supply chain probs and now cost of living crisis?

I do long for some boring stability