At the start of a new year we often look back and then plan for what we hope to achieve in the year coming.
One of my targets last year was to read a number of books sitting on my must read shelf. Sadly I managed only a few.
This year I have started a book by Jonathan Dimbleby ‘The Battle of the Atlantic: How the Allies won the war’ It's a fascinating read. Having spent my working life immersed in accountancy, hearing that the cost of toilet rolls went up from 6d to 11d at the end of 1940 catches the eye. Even worse a weeks tea ration was reduced to 2 ounces.
For those not familiar with these numbers, toilet rolls went up in price by 83% and the tea is equivalent to 57 grammes or 20% of a standard Sainsbury's Red label loose leaf tea pouch! A true cost of living crisis.
What was behind all this? As an Island we are hard to invade, but as most of our supplies come by sea, makes us vulnerable to blockade or loss of shipping.
The book sets out the key visions of both the British and German armed forces as to how they could deliver the defeat of the other. You can see that within each country the opinions of the navies, air forces and ground forces seemed to differ considerably. They each tried to protect their interests without perhaps considering what was the better option for the nation.
They had forgotten key lessons from the past and fixated on items such as bigger ships or bigger bombers. Fortunately, the German submarine commander despite asking for 100 submarines, was overlooked and had to make do with a much smaller number. In October 1940, only 8 submarines devastated a number of convoys sinking 63 merchant ships. The reason behind increasing costs in UK shops! It was fortunate for the UK, as a much higher number of submarines would probably have changed the course of history.
If we are running a small business, rarely do we face a catastrophe, but it can be difficult to be sure we are operating in the best way to achieve our goals. There is often lots of help available and bumps in the road to distract us. But how do we choose the best options and minimise disruption from the occasional pot hole?
Everyday Business Support is about helping you improve the effectiveness of your management assisting a review of your goals, processes and actions to make sure you are heading in the right direction. We aim to help you achieve those goals by giving you the confidence to make the right decisions.
We can always look back after the event to see what went well and what didn’t. At the start of this year we are offering a 4 session booster programme to get your business in the best possible position to minimise regret and maximise success.
Available via zoom or face to face, the key aim is to give you the confidence to make the best decisions and it starts by getting in touch.
Contact the director at andrew@everydaybusinesssupport.co.uk to sign up for your one to one sessions.
The fee for four sessions is £400, with only the first session fee of £100 chargeable so if its not for you, the agreement can be cancelled at that point without any further charge.