Crazy Paris Traffic

Well we’re now in Paris, an amazing city full of hustle and bustle!!

We’re staying a French hotel, with an Irish pub next door and a Chinese takeaway next to that!! The barman knew more about Rugby than Terry and he gave us directions to the “workingman’s club”!! Cities are the same the world over!!

We had a long wander to the Notre Dame and Champs-Elysees, then sailed down the river Seine. All amazing stuff!

The traffic is crazy here. It made me think of the way life pulls us in different directions all the time!!  Sometimes we just can’t get into the lane we want to, no matter how hard we try!

Have a watch below.....

Paris Traffic 

Lessons from the past

The UK is phenomenal – in the couple of days we’ve been here, we’ve visited the Roman Baths in Bath, plus been to Stonehenge albeit very briefly – everything shuts at 4pm because it’s winter and it gets dark very quickly!

I remember reading as a kid about the Bath House and Pump Room – baths frequented because of their healing capability. To see the extent of the baths and the drainage systems introduced by the Romans was mind-boggling.

The contrasts are striking. We’re staying in a country cottage in a lane that has no footpaths. A few minutes away there’s a major city bustling with millions of people and high-rise buildings. One day is dinner in a pub built in 1760 and the next minute is 20^th century French dining and city living.

Our Trip started

terry and me just started our 51 day challenge which will lead us to thailand, dubai, uk, france, the netherlands, italy, greece, egypt, singapore and australia stay tuned as a update my facebook and blogger with interesting stories around this amazing trip

To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick

Yes! First Impressions Do Count …

A key factor impacting on a business’s ability to attract and retain talented staff as well as get clients to buy products and services is its image and the person’s initial impression. Have you considered what sort of impression you or your shop/office area give?

I well remember Allan Pease (from Body Language fame) inviting 7 blokes at a seminar to take centre-stage. He then asked the audience of 150 people to think about a cowboy movie: there’s always a good guy, the bad guy, sheriff, town drunk etc etc. Standing behind the first guy on the stage, Allan asked the audience “Is this the good guy?” & the audience replied as a group “No!” the second guy fared no better – but the third met with a very firm “Yes!” Each person was assigned a role by the audience.

 What was interesting, was that there was no hesitation – the audience very clearly identified just who was who. Amazingly the MC who was dressed very professionally, quickly became (unanimously) the town drunk, when his hair was ruffled, glasses removed, top button undone and tie flicked over his shoulder.

Could it be said (of you) that the “people working there are tired and don’t seem very excited about working there” or that your firm “seemed like a family in that the employees help each other instead of competing against each other. I’d like to work there.”

would you buy from this man?

Within 4 seconds of a potential customer entering your premises and meeting you or a member of your team, you can lose the sale. Worth giving some thought to!

Talk to you soon ….Gaylene

To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick

What’s Keeping Businesses Owners Awake at Night?”

A great read in NZBusiness (October edition) was the article on “What’s Keeping Businesses Owners Awake at Night?”

The answer … dollars, people and marketing!

I highly recommend you read the entire article, but if you’re after a couple of condensed suggestions:

1)      Prepare well if you want access to funding. The more information you provide, the easier and quicker it will be to make a decision;

2)      Reducing debtors – use a strict follow-up regime or get money upfront. Ensure you get paid before you pay others to retain a health cashflow.

3)      The right staff – find ‘em, keep ‘em: establish they have the right attitude & values at the interview stage and have a comprehensive induction process. Have legal, up-to-date contracts in place + review performance regularly. Keep people informed.

4)      Being Able To Afford New Staff – analyse what you spend your time on then determine if you could generate more income if you weren’t spending time on some of the cheaper, low-end work;

5)      Discounters eventually go out of business – so don’t focus solely on price. Work out what adds value for your clients and demonstrate how you’re meeting their needs;

Trust all the above make sense. Now it’s about taking action on the above :)

Talk to you soon ….

 To succeed... You have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes reality - Anita Roddick