What's it All About?

It's the obvious question after all. When I advertise, I say 'Book your Company's Health Check with the South West Business Doctor. It could make a difference to your bottom line in 2008.'

People ring me up and so very often they are pretty cagey. 'How much is this going to cost me?' is often foremost on their minds. There is a limit to what can be achieved on the telephone; I do believe that it is very important to see who you are dealing with whether or not you pursue the matter. So I will arrange a brief introductory meeting (for which there is no charge) the purpose of which is to give Business Principals the opportunity to assess me and decide whether I am a person with whom they wish to do business and for me to get an initial feel for the business in question and assess firstly whether or not it is a business that I feel I can work successfully with and then, to assess how much work will be needed to complete a proper assessment.

I can then outline a proposal which will include my fee.

If a company decides to proceed, we set a schedule and agree a time for me to return to present my findings. A full written report is provided.

Where we go from there depends entirely on the business concerned.

Naturally in some cases it is a case of thank you very much and goodbye. Some, all or none of my recommendations might be implemented. However, there are often areas that businesses feel are worthwhile being followed up on and where I am qualified to help them implement them we work out a plan and my fees are calculated accordingly.

I'll enlarge on some examples in future blogs but to give you an idea, I have considerable experience of handling advertising and marketing campaigns and I also devised and implemented staff appraisal systems for a national fashion retailer with over 200 branches nationwide. This was supplemented by the introduction staff training programmes which resulted in the company winning training awards.

My main concerns are for small to medium sized companies in the South West. Whilst I have worked for major corporations, I can tell you that living and working in this area for over twenty years, I am acutely aware of the particular challenges facing businesses here. It makes economic sense to handle some issues on a project by project basis. You don't want a Sales and Marketing Manager or a Training Manager or an Advertising Manager - but a piece of one might be of benefit!

As to how I define 'the South West' - to me this is primarily Devon, Cornwall and Somerset but I do also have a working knowledge of Avon, Dorset and Wales where I worked for a time.
However, if you fall outside of this area, don't feel that you can't contact me or participate in feedback (once I have set up this facility aside from my private email address!). Many business issues are universal and all contributions will be welcomed.