How to overcome the uncertainty to invest in yourself

In person, Frank Furness presents his ideas so that they really inspire. He is a natural story teller and his material joins up in your mind into a long list of actions. In print, the energy levels are lower and it may be that people who have not been to one of Furness's seminars will find it harder to use. However, Walking with Tigers is a book that has lots of great ideas in it.

For example, on the subject of goal setting: "Years ago I was somewhat reluctant to buy a course on the subject. At the time it cost two months' salary and I didn't even know what goal setting was. But the salesman assured me it was all I needed to accomplish my dreams. I was really excited about it when I got the books and the tapes and spent hours absorbing the information - and that's an important part of the process. Goal setting is all about repetitiveness until the message is ingrained."

I think this really captures the uncertainty that people feel about investing in themselves. Furness explains why it works and uses his personal story to encourage you to take action.

The book's premise is that successful business people have common behaviours and strengths that with effort you can adopt to reach your own goals. There are no major new theories. One strength is how Furness brings to life stuff that you know and gets you to think again. Such as on time management: "Identify when you are taking your holidays. Holidays are important to top business people, so don't miss out. Plot the dates of conventions and so forth and put a year planner on your wall to ensure it is always in sight. Now it's easy to see how much time is left available for business."

Another strength is in how Furness frames ideas. For example with 'Me' time, which is about how successful people in business invest in themselves. Tigers "don't mind investing their time and their money, as long as they can take away one or two ideas that will make them productive. They're also willing to share ideas on what makes them successful and would always see the positive aspects rather than the negatives."

Sprinkled with inspiring stories from successful people, this book will definitely give you more than two ideas to take away and it costs much less than two month's salary.

For more, see www.betterretailing.com.

Digital disruption in the UK wholesale space

“Twenty years ago I was driving boxes to the post office in my Chevy Blazer and dreaming of a forklift,” says Jeff Bezos in his most recent letter to shareholders. A blink later and he points out that the company has grown from 30,000 employees in 2010 to 230,000 now. But his ambition is the same. “We want to be a large company that’s also an invention machine. We want to combine the extraordinary customer-serving capabilities that are enabled by size with the speed of movement, nimbleness and risk-acceptance mentality that is normally associated with entrepreneurial start-ups.” Amazon is great at disruption because of its customers focus and the fact that the internet means it needs none (or very few) people between its warehouses and the shopper. The threat of Prime, its membership service, is the biggest challenge facing the UK retail market and the wholesale market by extension. It is both a direct threat and an indirect threat in that is inspiring countless numbers of othe...

New look: big copy small?

The owners of B&Q are talking up how they have cut the price of a store refit from £2.5m to £1m by using wood-effect vinyl instead of wood and painted MDF backboards for displays. Managers are learning to live with grey shelving instead of a warmer-looking cream. Shoppers notice the produce, not the fixtures, suggests one executive. Up to a point! Most local retailers will extract the maximum possible life from their fixtures, sometimes taking too long to change equipment that has become tired. As in all business, it is getting the balance right. Shops need to be refreshed and with a purpose.

What do shoppers see

I read a good post (http://www.newsagencyblog.com.au/2009/08/28/what-do-newsagents-charge-for-faxing.html) asking what price local shops charge for providing a fax service. The blogger had attached a photograph of his sign with his prices on it. What struck me was the message on the sign. "You drop, we fax," it said. "Pressed for time, drop your documents with us and we'll do it for you at no extra charge." That is a message that will persuade most shoppers that you want to give them good value, even if they stay to do the copying or faxing themselves.

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