Welcome to the second ‘Bev’s Blog’. Thank you to all of you who have been in touch for your feedback. It gives me great pleasure to be able to communicate my thoughts and advice in this medium. Bev’s Blog appears monthly in our EBA Online newsletter. Please comment against my blogs: I can’t answer your questions personally yet we select questions on a regular basis to answer in the form of other blogs, (keeping your name anonymous if you prefer). Blogs are a fabulous way to promote yourself and your business as a social media tool for broadcasting and networking.

We recently hosted the fourth of our fast-growing EBA seminars. Our ‘Millionaire Mentor team of experts’ are really getting into their stride now and we are seeing the birth of a dynamic business network that will have a life well beyond the scope of our seminar weekends. Our Business Growth Days are helping to generate many new businesses and taking others to new heights. The Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy (the EBA) is growing fast and it is heartening to see so much business growth and enthusiasm in the midst of ongoing gloomy economic reports. As many hundreds of people are discovering, a downturn in the economy is also a potential upturn in opportunity. It all depends on how you choose to view the world. And that is what I want to talk about this month.

No modern business is an island

To mis-quote John Donne: ‘No business owner is an island.’ Or as the Monty Python crew famously sang: ‘Always look on the bright side of life.’ Don’t shut yourself away in a home silo, feeling as if you are the only one who is facing a challenge in the current climate. Get talking to other business owners. Giving vent to your feelings and sharing problems will spark new ideas and solutions; may provide a fresh perspective; and could open the door to new contacts and business opportunities.

When the going gets tough the tough get going

During testing times, members of my team often say to me ‘How can you stay so calm? What if everything goes wrong?’ My answer is almost always that ‘Everything will be fine; and even if it isn’t, we will deal with it – so it will still be fine.’ Worry is just a way of programming your brain to be negative. When I am feeling anxious, I find it useful to take myself outside my head and imagine looking down at what is really going on. From that ‘big picture’ viewpoint I ask myself: ‘If x happened; what would I do next? Or if y happened; what would I do? Is somebody going to die if it all goes wrong?’

That last question never fails to help keep things in perspective. It helps to think of business as a game of chess. You need to anticipate a few a few moves ahead and have a plan for each eventuality.

Facing challenges keeps us strong. As the philosopher Nietzsche once put it: ‘That which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.’ Mental resilience or toughness is what separates the great from the ‘could be’ great. As a leader you need to remain calm and clear under pressure. In times of turbulence a composed and focused leader is the lighthouse in a storm, who brings out the best in people; enabling them to navigate their way, take a team approach, and make sure a practical solution can be found.

Enter the ‘stretch zone’

If running your own business was easy everyone would do it. The reason most entrepreneurs get excited about business is because results aren’t guaranteed. We can win or lose. Sports people would soon lose interest in competing if they were guaranteed to win every event and so would most entrepreneurs. Most would agree that the harder the game, the greater the victory. I’m not suggesting we all want business to be a tough slog everyday but many entrepreneurs are at their best when they have to fight their way out of a corner. I sometimes phrase it as being comfortable feeling uncomfortable. It may sound strange but the more challenges you face in business, and the further you venture into your ‘stretch’ zone the more likely you are to stay the distance.

There is always a way – over, under, around or through

When things don’t go to plan I get as disappointed as anyone but I also feel a flutter of excitement knowing that there is another way to reach the outcome. I just need to find a way over, under, around or though whatever stands in the way of success. This is another reason why having a business Mentor can be invaluable as you can benefit from their years of experience – and find the route through more quickly and efficiently.

Good luck. Believe in yourself and you can make anything happen. Our next TOTAL Business Seminar Day will take place on Saturday 25^th September in London. Tickets are already selling fast. See our website for details and booking info www.the-eba.com

Until next time, take care of yourself this month, find your passion and make it happen.

Bev James

The jury is still out for many people about the benefits of using social media and whilst others’ recognise the value of it, they still struggle to integrate it within the business and use it for marketing and connectivity to customers.

The fact is that social media is here to stay and as your competitors get more connected every day you can’t afford to miss out on the phenomena that is social media. Penny Power, one of our EBA Millionaire Mentors (see Penny presents for us again on 25th September) is an evangelist on this topic and founded her business in this medium. She is founder of Ecademy as many of you will know.

If you are using social media, are you using it for networking or broadcasting? Did you realise there is a difference? It’s vital that you get clear on what your social media strategy is, for best effects. We suggest your strategy should be blend of networking and broadcasting. Yet as with everything you do within your business, don’t approach this half-hearted. There are now many businesses that advise solely on social media strategies so if you are in doubt about what this can do for your business, come and hear Penny speak for us in a few weeks time.

People love to twitter these days. Twitter is a high speed micro blogging social media tool and is therefore perfect for sharing your successes, advice, forthcoming events at high speed. For sure, if you have zero presence in social media right now you will be missing out on the untold opportunities and connections there are for you and it starts with getting connected. Yes, you may have to invest in some setting up ‘housekeeping’ time but once it’s done it’s done. It seems the mindset of social media users is to voluntarily share, share, share. You’ll be surprised how willing people are to recommend you and what you offer to their followers.

On Twitter you can connect to us via @entrepreneursba, @Bev_James, @PennyPower and @jamescaan.

Taking health and safety in hand should not be seen as an inconvenience or a burden to a director.

It offers MAJOR opportunities and benefits as follows:

• Reduced costs and reduced risks – employee absence and turnover rates are decreased, accidents are fewer and therefore the threat of legal action is lessened.
• Enhanced status amongst suppliers.
• An improved reputation among investors, customers and in the community.
• Increased productivity due to healthier, happier, more motivated employees who feel invested in.

If you have a Health & Safety question for Rebecca then please email it to experts@the-eba.com.

Bev James for the EBA interviews entrepreneur, Alistair McCance from Ortho Pro-Teknia Clearstep for the 2nd Business in the Spotlight. Alistair has been part of the EBA Business Growth Days since April.

• Tell me about your business

OPT is an Orthodontic manufacturing company. We produce Clearstep the Clear Brace. We also provide training to dentists that may have never have done Orthodontics before.

We also run the Clearstep Diagnostic Faculty through which we diagnose and create treatment plans dentists. These treatment plans are made by specialist orthodontists to ensure the best course of treatment for the patient. We provide ongoing support from start to finish on every case, providing technical advice from specialist orthodontists and highly trained registered orthodontic technicians.

Clearstep the Clear Brace is an aesthetically pleasing method of straightening teeth “invisibly”. The product is sold directly to Dentists and Orthodontists alike.

The Company has grown dramatically over the last 3 years. Staff numbers have risen from 12 – 70 and counting! These are very exciting times, as over the last 18 months we have been planning & implementing a new digital manufacturing process. This went live yesterday, 1st September. This revolutionary manufacturing process gives us a scalable model of expanding the business in the future and also it is easily replicated, this is important as it is likely we may need to set up production facilities in other key countries in the future.

Our approach to Orthodontics is both comprehensive and simple. We set our simple to follow plans or courses of treatment. We know that no one appliance can do everything. We cherry pick, both new innovative ideas, coupled with traditional successful methods to achieve the optimum result on every case, whilst keeping time scales and costs to a minimum.

• When did you set it up?

The Company was set up in 2004 and has been under constant development. Over the last few years every aspect of the business has been improved and with regular feedback from our clients, the Company has improved and increased in size. Due to our rapid expansion we have had to take on new premises nearby and are currently undergoing extensive work on client management systems, internal Databases and also very importantly, our website.

We have always searched for the best way of meeting our clients’ needs. Therefore we have exciting plans for our website to be E-commerce, interactive & informative. Dentists are busy people, with busy clinics, we understand this and have some excellent webinar training packages coming out where dentists can learn about our products and services at their convenience, as well as benefiting from our extensive knowledge and support via forums and case study sections. We also provide them with face to face interaction if remote is not for them and we hold regular seminars and training events for the dentists where they can further their orthodontic skill set and knowledge. To date these have been very successful.

• How did you come up with your BIG business idea?

Our Chairman, Dr Andrew McCance, is a practising Orthodontic Specialist with many years experience and vast qualifications in the field, therefore we benefit from first hand feedback on each individual product, new or otherwise. Prior to inventing Clearstep, he was continually asked in his practice, for a method of straightening teeth that could not been seen and a treatment that would not impact on their daily life.

Other Companies on the market at the time were claiming to offer solutions with Clear braces, but with low success rates and an inability to tackle severe problems or treat children.

Taking this into account, the Clearstep system was born. Dr McCance wanted to treat all severities of cases, not just simple cases like competitors and also provide such a solution for as broad an age range as possible.

To achieve such a claim, he understood that we would have to use a combination of appliances and methods to achieve this. The system is backed by extensive research and knowledge by the Chairman who is the main driver of our Research & Development department. We work in a tough market but it is this innovation that will enable the company to stay ahead of the game.

Being lead by a Clinical Specialist has enabled us to look at our products and services from our customers perspectives. Andrew is revered in the Orthodontic world and our customers enjoy the benefits on many years of experience and feel they are in safe hands.

• What is your unique selling point (USP)?

We have clients all over the world and an ever growing number across Europe. Being UK based enables us to provide the products in relatively short time scales. Through our combination approach we are able to treat all severities of cases no matter how difficult and also we treat child cases.

It is a myth that orthodontics is only available to children and many adults are pleasantly surprised that they can have that smile they have always wanted.
The training and diagnostic faculties allow us to capture many years of hard work and experience in the orthodontic world and extend this to our clients through simple to follow treatment plans and educational courses. No matter the level of experience in orthodontics a dentist may have, we are able to meet their needs and that of the patient. To make sure that the dentists have support and guidance throughout each case, we provide assistance through our highly trained customer service teams who have constant access to highly trained orthodontic technicians. These technicians have trained with us for many years and have developed a great deal of knowledge and experience working closely with our chairman and other specialists in the company. We are quickly becoming known as a knowledge provider for the advise and help we offer. There are many plans for the future and increasing our support service and help through a specialist panel is one of the favoured ideas that we have already started the ball rolling on.

• What has been your biggest business challenge to date?

I would say that the biggest challenge to date has been to find a digital solution to manufacturing.

We have been successful with a manual process and do fantastic work with highly skilled laboratory staff. This is a fine model if our aspirations were to service a small number of UK dentists. But our plans are far greater than that. We have had interest from many other countries and large numbers of practitioners who want the benefit of our expertise and the access to our product. For us to try and stand up on a world scene with the manual production method would be suicide. It is timely, expensive and very highly skilled with long training periods. We needed a scalable model that fit with our expansion plans.

However although we are enthused about the new digital method that we have worked so hard to have, this has been a trying time for all the staff. They have been uncertain about their future and also apprehensive about the new process because it is such a change to how they have been working. I feel we have dealt with this very well and allayed any fears that have arisen. I am very proud of each person in the company as they have always shown a dedication and vested interest in the success of Clearstep. Without this support from the ground up, it would have been a much harder road to where we have come. I am very happy to say that the managers have been so dedicated to helping people through this difficult period that we have not lost a single person due to the current changes.

• What element of the business do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy working with people; I have never enjoyed being tied to a desk. Talking, motivating and problem solving are the most exciting parts of my day. There are no problems only solutions! I am very interested in investing in people and we are currently sponsoring several individuals through college for various courses. Some of the staff have just completed their NVQs in management and other courses. I think giving back is very important.

• What is your favourite motivational quote?

When questioned in an interview, Mohammed Ali was asked “What would you be doing if you were not the best boxer in the world?” his response was “I’d be the best bin man in the world”. No matter what task lies ahead of you or what challenge faces you at any particular moment, you must always give 100%.

• What personal attributes do you think contributes to success in business?

Passion and belief, knowing that you can never stop learning.
Being a good listener, keeping calm, never loosing control.
I love working under pressure as I believe that it brings the best out of me.
I really enjoy being taken out of my comfort zone. I enjoy role plays and being challenged.
Being goal oriented, always working towards a vision.
Having the ability within your infrastructure and the staff around you to systematically step back and check your position and see if you are on the right track.
Remaining unphased by difficult situations.
Believing there are no problems, only solutions.
Engaging and motivating people around you to feel the same.

• How important is social media to your business?

It has become apparent after being with the EBA and speaking with Steve Clarke (an EBA Millionaire Mentor), that social media will become very important and we are currently exploring all avenues to see where they can fit in.

• What one piece of advice would you give someone thinking of starting a business for the first time?

You can plan and plan and plan, but you must get on and implement! Forecasting and business planning is crucial but this is not what it’s all about.
The doing is the hardest part and it’s all too easy to keep waiting for the right time. Don’t miss your opportunity because you were scared to take the first step.
If you are truly passionate about what you are doing, you will make it work! Set a goal and go for it! Good luck! I think that it is extremely important to find others to bounce ideas off of, just because you are the director or owner or whatever you title, everyone needs support and guidance. Here’s the plug for the EBA, no seriously, we have had a great time meeting other people who are passionate about their business and Steve Clarke has been fantastic and very exciting to talk to and learn from.

• Why did you join the EBA?

There were two reasons.  Personal development is very important to me and I am always keen to surround myself with people who have a lot of knowledge or advice to give.  I can then soak up as much as I can from them, gaining inspiration from their advice and success.

• Where did you hear about the EBA?

I saw an advert for the one day seminar with James Caan and I attended it.  I was impressed with the layout of the business growth days and decided to sign up.

• What have been the core benefits so far?

Breaking down the business into different niches and therefore understanding our USP’s to a fuller extend and how we could/should best exploit them.  I have also enjoyed learning more about aspects of business that I was unsure on and I am learning more about my personal strengths and our company strengths as a direct result.

• What would be the main reason you could recommend the EBA to date?

There are two reasons, to date:

1. I am very impressed with Steve Clarke and with the pace he works at.  It matches the pace in which our company moves!
2. There are major benefits for businesses and individuals as there is a wide variety of businesses attending the business growth days from one man bands to large corporates.  There is much to be learnt from anyone working with the EBA, especially being exposed to the Millionaire Mentors who have different stories and expertise.

Alistair McCance
Managing Director OPT Ltd
Email: Alistair.McCance@clearstep.co.uk
Website: www.clearstep.co.uk

IN SUMMARY
Bev James says: “I love the fact that Alistair lists one of the top personal attributes of a business owner as having passion and belief and knowing that you can never stop learning along with the fact that Alister enjoys being taken out of his comfort zone and being challenged. This is the attitude of a successful entrepreneur and I am delighted that EBA will be able to support Ortho Pro-Teknia Clearstep with what we feel is an outstanding product.”

Steve Clarke says: “What an honour and pleasure it is to work with Alistair and his team as their business mentor. I was invited to their facility for our first mentoring session and I’m so pleased I went along: what an eye opener!  I have five children and they’ve all been through the traditional “Train Track” orthodontic treatment at one point or another so I could immediately see the benefits of the Clear Step method.

OPT have been trading very successfully to date, but with one foot firmly on the brake …  intentionally. They have a unique niche in the market. They showed me just how complex and skilled the manual craftsmanship is that enables them to deliver a first class quality product. This was recognised as not only a barrier to entry, but also a limiting factor for their own growth, hence the ‘foot on the brake.’ Alistair and the team have come up with an incredible solution which has revolutionised their production and delivers total scalability. They are now poised for great things!

This is a company to watch. They have all the right ingredients for incredible success; Visionary leadership, unique quality product, receptive market and a highly motivated team. I feel very excited and privileged to be involved at this pivotal time of their growth.”

James Caan says: “Reviewing the business from a new perspective because of the mentoring has clearly enabled Alistair to fully understand how important it was to identify the niche(s) in his business. His customers of today, tomorrow and the future need to know what the USP for the business is. Customers will always have a subliminal thought process which runs something like “why should I buy from you?” It’s very clear that this company enjoys a fabulous international reputation and I think Clearstep the Clear Brace – the invisible brace for adults and children, is a terrific innovative product! By finding a digital solution for the manufacturing now puts the business in a totally different league. I am always pleased to read about a business owner who is passionate about taking care of themselves AND their business and wanting to achieve their very best!”

We are thrilled to announce our exciting collaboration with StartupTv Digital Magazine to offer £10,000 worth of business mentoring via the EBA in an exclusive competition! Now is your chance to meet James Caan from BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den and WIN £10,000 worth of mentoring PLUS (yes, the package just got even better!), you get to STAR in a documentary series featuring your start-up mentoring journey – covering 10 weeks – which will be featured at regular intervals in StartupTv Digital Magazine from November!

ARE YOU GETTING READY TO LAUNCH A NEW BUSINESS IN THE NEW YEAR?

Then enter this exclusive competition and you could win £10,000 of the best business mentoring in the UK today!

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get your new venture off the ground with TOP ADVICE and get some free exposure for the business too in the lead up to you ‘being open for business next year!’

All you have to do to enter is:

• send us a 3 minute video application (think ‘reality TV audition’) introducing yourself and your business
• tell us why you think you should win this prize
• confirm in a covering email or letter that you can be available from November 2010
• February 2011 inclusive (allowing for Christmas and New Year holidays) to fully participate in this prize for both mentoring and filming!
• provide us with your full name, contact details and address

A panel of judges, HEADED BY JAMES CAAN, BEV JAMES & LAITH AL-KAISY, Editor, Startup TV will then decide who the lucky winner is and the winner will be announced in the first magazine in October!

THE RULES

http://www.startuptv.co.uk/competition/rules.html

Send entries to: mailto: startupcompetition@startuptv.co.uk (cc yourself into the email – no email receipts can be given) OR upload online via http://www.startuptv.co.uk/competition.

Register now to receive the free StartupTv fortnightly magazine via http://www.startuptv.co.uk/magazine.asp

Follow us on Twitter via @entrepreneursba or @startuptvmag

You can check out all the press coverage that James Caan and the Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy have been receiving of late directly from our Press page.

James Caan, Bev James, Gill Fielding and the Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy have recently been featured in the Start Your Business and Careers magazine. Check them out here.

Pakistan is suffering cataclysmic devastation since the unprecedented floods early August which is now affecting an area the size of the UK in Pakistan. If we take a moment to really think about the scale of this natural disaster and the millions of people affected, it is deeply distressing.  Our lives in the UK and in other countries around the world continue as ‘business as usual’ with our trips to the supermarket, visits to the hospital, having the dignity of lavatory facilities, a roof over our head, access to more food than we can possibly need and clean running water.  We all have much to be grateful for, don’t we?

After becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of aid getting to Pakistan,  I recently went on my own personal relief mission to Lahore  along with the news team from ITN.  I needed to do something much more ‘than writing a cheque.’  My commitments were cancelled and my diary emptied.  I witnessed for myself the CHRONIC issues with food, aid and medicine distribution problems.  We bought and distributed food for more than 1,000 people. It was haphazard and also distressing. It was simply heartbreaking.  

The scale of the infrastructure required for distributing aid is vast  - but the size of the reconstruction programme is just beyond anything I can imagine: Where does one begin rebuilding a country when things are this bad ?   

My trip to Pakistan opened my eyes to see the country where I was born in a completely new light. It’s so fragile yet it’s people are hopeful, and it has spurred me to do even more yet.

My thanks to everyone in the UK who has donated to the relief fund.  Let us not forget the basic humanitarian issues here and I am really hoping the TV footage will help inspire people to support the aid effort for this devastating disaster.

To donate, please go to http://www.thejcf.co.uk/ or http://www.unicef.org.uk/

In the News:

• ITV News – James Caan in Pakistan – View the Video
• Express.co.uk – James Caan on Pakistan: “I just couldn’t write a cheque while people died in squalor” – Read the article
• Express.co.uk – Pakistan floods: Dragons’ Den entrepreneur James Caan flies out to Nowshera to help with emergency flood relief – View the Gallery

Business life rarely runs 100% smoothly and we all need to be on our guard to spot the weak and under performing areas in our business and find the courage to take action.  Fresh from holiday season, many people regard September as a ‘let’s start afresh month’ – do you?  If so, we have just what you need to match this intention!  Come to our next seminar later this month and you will be on the right road to putting real impact into your business – FAST!

There are four months left until the end of this year.  Let’s all make some resolutions right now and not wait until January!

Bev James

Have you ever noticed how good we are at letting ourselves off the hook, how quickly we give up on our dream and how well we explain, or justify, why we ‘should be OK with that’?

Examples:

• The economy crashed!
• I lost my best client/member of staff!
• I lost my best supplier!
• I used to be brilliant at explaining how it would have taken a miracle to deliver MY dream instead of looking for the miracle, or, even better, MY being the miracle so I know what this mindset feels like.

But first you have to work out what you really really want (no Spice Girls reference intended!) – yet seriously – WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT? And then: WHY do you want this?

People are more able to identify what they don’t want easier than what they do! What happens next when you have your wants identified? Well, in my experience of working on my own dreams and helping people achieve theirs is that there are a number of specific things YOU need to DO to achieve success.

Do you get it? Get it? Are you with me on this? Here’s a simple equation:

YOU + DO = ACHIEVE

Did you know that basically there are just three powerful things that influence our lives that you can control? These are:

• your beliefs
• the language you use
• the environment you put yourself in

We all have many beliefs, some with foundation and some with none!
“Money doesn’t grow on trees you know!” (my fathers’ favourite)
“No pain no gain!” (goodness me, that’s one I have listened to so many times to explain why I was going to be late home or why we couldn’t take a holiday – I am SO glad I let that one go!)

As a mentor I listen carefully to the language people use when talking to me about their business or opportunity. Are they telling me how they are going to make their dream a reality and are they giving me silent clues that they don’t really believe it will all work out?

Have you every asked anyone how they are and got this reply?

Q: “How are you doing?”
A: “Not too bad thanks!”

Which means what? That a little bad is OK!? How bad does it have to be before we DO something about IT?!

Fact: Making stuff happen takes time! We once had a sign in our Reception which said “We’re realists around here and we expect a miracle every day!” I loved looking at this every day! It reminds me of a favourite Henry Ford quote: “I’m looking for an infinite number of people who don’t know what can’t be done!”

Your homework:

• Pay attention to the language you use
• What are you telling yourself right now, this week, this month that ‘can’t be done?’
• Record the current language in a journal with the aim – Now work on rephrasing your language (internal thoughts are language too of course) to make it possible
• What would you need to believe to enable what you want to happen?

Write these thoughts in your journal. Surround yourself with people who believe in you, who challenge you to be your best and who also use positive language in their lives. Locate your role models, supporters and mentors.

Nic Rixon is a new EBA Millionaire Mentor who will present for the first time at our next Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy One Day Total Business Mastery Seminar which will take place on Saturday 25th September. Book your tickets now to see Nic and our other EBA Millionaire Mentors.

If you have a question for Nic Rixon, send it to experts@the-eba.com.

In 1991 former Falklands War Para Tony Banks identified an opportunity in the care sector to provide a new standard of privately owned and operated care homes. He bought Lisden House in the countryside setting of Kirriemuir and spent more than a year and £750,000 to convert the private house into an industry-leading care home that residents and their families would enjoy and be proud of.

Since then, Balhousie Care Group has grown into one of Scotland’s leading providers of residential care facilities. Tony runs his business with a focus on balancing the commercial aspects and responsibilities of a care home owner with the ambitions to set a new standard in the sector.

The Balhousie Care Group includes 22 homes with capacity for up to 850 residents. Tony plans to create 11 more sites by 2011, double the number of beds to 1,500 within three years Tony is estimated to be worth over £60m as the sole shareholder of Balhousie, which grew 80% in 2009 and is on track to almost double its £8m turnover to £18m in 2010.

The Scottish Falkland’s veteran is also a member of the appeal board for the Combat Stress Enemy Within appeal, which is aiming to raise £30m to help veterans traumatised by wartime experiences and he has personally donated a six figure sum to the charity.

He began supporting the charity after appearing in Channel 4′s The Secret Millionaire last year, living undercover in Liverpool. There, he met Iraq war veteran Lee Sanger, who suffered from PTSD. This experience prompted him to become involved with Combat Stress and provided the impetus for his return to the Falklands this year where he carried out a four day, 50-plus mile trek to Port Stanley for a Channel 4 documentary to raise awareness of, and much needed funds for, Combat Stress.

Tony is a board member of the Scottish Entrepreneurial Exchange and is absolutely passionate about promoting, encouraging and nurturing entrepreneurial talent.

Tony will be featuring at our next Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy One Day Total Business Mastery Seminar which will take place on Saturday 25th September. Book your tickets now to see Tony and our other EBA Millionaire Mentors.

If you have a question for Tony Banks, send it to experts@the-eba.com.