Bev James interviews inventor, Claire Mitchell for this months EBA Business in The Spotlight.

Successful people rely on all sorts of things to keep their mindset and thoughtset as sharp as ever in order to continue to stay at the top of their game. One of the easiest ways to get a motivational lift is from inspirational quotes.

We’re now right in the middle of two long holiday weekends and as lovely and welcome as they are for mind, body and spirit, celebrating Easter and our next Royal Wedding, they do alter the flow of a typical working week, don’t they!

Managing our appearance is an important part of who we are. It tells people about our personality and our lifestyle. Why do companies spend millions of pounds/dollars/yen etc. on their corporate identity – because image/brand matters.

If we take a constructive look at why businesses fail we find one of the biggest reasons is overtrading. What does this mean? Well, when you think things are going great, you’ve getting lots of orders and contracts, you’re growing and growing and then suddenly it seems the business runs out of cash and you didn’t see that coming. Most businesses have a negative cash flow and if you have this you have very little room to manoeuvre and actually grow your business. Cash is king. I say it all the time.