| More on business kissing | |
| By Howard Graham on29/02/2008 08:13 | |
| | In an earlier posting I wrote about the subject of business kissing and I have received some guidance from friends and contacts on this irksome and sensitive subject. Thanks to you all although I am no clearer than I was before. |  | |
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| Working from Home | |
| By Howard Graham on27/02/2008 08:31 | |
| | A recent article in The Times focused on the growing band of nomadic workers who are setting up offices in coffee shops in Britain. They have been labelled the “new Bedouin” by the media in America where the trend started in the coffee houses of San Francisco. | | |
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| Money Laundering Regulations - yuk! | |
| By Howard Graham on25/02/2008 15:26 | |
| | Many of you will know that my “day job” is as a partner in a firm of Chartered Accountants. That means that I have an obligation to keep up with my professional education and development. Quite recently, I noted that the money laundering regulations have been changed again. | | |
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| Business Kissing | |
| By Howard Graham on14/02/2008 16:01 | |
| | For a long time, it’s been an issue for me as to the procedures and protocols relating to the subject of business kissing. It’s come to my attention over the last few years that people tend to kiss each other a lot more in business. Predominantly, this is men and woman but not as infrequently as you might think, also men to men! | | |
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| Image Libraries | |
| By Howard Graham on10/02/2008 12:04 | |
| | I recently had lunch with my old and good friend Lawrence Gould. Lawrence and I go back to university days, (I won’t say how many years ago that is), and whilst our paths have been slightly different in terms of careers, we have always stayed in touch.
Lawrence also qualified as a chartered accountant, but was more interested in corporate finance and eventually became the CFO of Getty Images before leaving them and running a number of smaller businesses.
His latest venture, just launched at www.imagepick.com is a digital picture library particularly aimed at the US market. | | |
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| Spanish business failures | |
| By Howard Graham on08/02/2008 08:34 | |
| | Still in Spain, I read an article in the local newspaper, amusingly from a study by the University Of Portsmouth Business School, relating to the large number of British entrepreneurs in Spain ending up losing everything because of their lack of research. The report said that because of inadequate preparation, many expatriates who start a business in Spain lose not only their money but also their homes. | | |
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| Spanish Goodwill | |
| By Howard Graham on06/02/2008 11:23 | |
| | I have been in Spain this week, working of course, and on one of my rare relaxations, my wife and I went up the mountains to one of our favourite restaurants. Its one we go to whenever we are here and over the years, the owners and waiters have got to know us even though we only go maybe 4 times a year. They greet us with the most wonderful welcome, almost as if we own the place, seem really pleased to see us and normally everything is as it was when we were last there. Looking around the venue, they seem to give a similar welcome to most of the people who arrive other than those who are finding it for the first time. | | |
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| Could you be a heart surgeon? | |
| By Howard Graham on04/02/2008 11:39 | |
| | In many ways, running a business is more complicated than open-heart surgery. Now I know that is a sweeping statement, but think about it. When a surgeon carries out open-heart surgery, he does so with the benefit of years of training and education; with the support of a highly qualified team and with millions of pounds of highly sophisticated equipment and technology. Moreover, he has the ability to suspend other external factors by the use of anaesthetics and other techniques so that the team can focus solely on the matter at hand. | | |
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| Would you recruit one of these? | |
| By Howard Graham on03/02/2008 10:46 | |
| | A routine task of a growing a business is the selection and recruitment of good people. Part of this process, partly to appease our insurers, is the taking of references and the making of other appropriate checks to ensure there will be no nasty surprises down the line.This process continues once someone is employed so as to ensure that no one in the business committing any offence will continue in employment. In fact, many terms and conditions of employment specifically cover certain offences as dismissable offences. | | |
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| Another fine mess! | |
| By Howard Graham on02/02/2008 22:36 | |
| | I know you all hate me turning to a serious matter, but from time to time, I do feel it necessary to comment on something that has business implications. As a major player in the new company market, we are also often asked to assist with VAT registrations. Many people shudder when they think of VAT and I was always told when I was younger that this was a club that you didn’t want to join if you could avoid it. Unfortunately, with the registration limit at a relatively low level, this is impractical. | | |
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