Tips, Tricks & News
Stay up-to-date with the latest industry news and learn new tips and tricks to RESET your business thinking, helping you to become a data GENIUS.
You Approved the Supplier. But Are They Still the Right Supplier?
In our last article, I wrote about the importance of understanding what you are actually buying before asking a supplier for a better price. There is another question that matters just as much. Are you still buying it from the right supplier? Most businesses have some...
Before You Renegotiate With a Supplier, Do You Really Know What You’re Buying?
One of the projects I am currently working on involves reviewing a full year's worth of invoices from one of a customer's key operational suppliers. There are hundreds of PDF invoices, covering multiple operational sites and a large number of individual products. On...
Do UK SMEs Have a Data Problem, or a Visibility Problem?
There has been a huge amount written about data, digital transformation and, more recently, AI. UK businesses are continually being encouraged to adopt more technology, automate more processes and make greater use of the information they already collect. But I think...
The Day The Budget Stopped Belonging To Finance
Every business wants its managers to take ownership. We talk about accountability, responsibility and empowering people to make decisions, but over the years I've realised there is one question we don't ask often enough. How can someone truly take ownership of...
What If Everything You Believed About Your Most Profitable Business Was Wrong
One of the biggest risks in business isn't making poor decisions. It's making good decisions based on assumptions that have never been challenged. Every Managing Director develops those assumptions over time. You spend years building a business, working with...
Why Good Decisions Can Still Create Bad Outcomes
One of the biggest misconceptions in business is that poor performance is always the result of poor decision making. In reality, I often see the opposite. Businesses make sensible decisions every day. Decisions based on experience, data and good intentions. The...
The Missing Piece Between Finance, Operations and Supply Chain
One of the most common conversations I encounter when working with manufacturing and distribution businesses centres around inventory. Finance wants stock reduced because cash is under pressure. Operations wants stock increased because customer demand is unpredictable...
You Have an ERP System. So Why Can’t You See the Whole Picture?
"We've got an ERP system." It's a phrase I hear regularly when speaking to SME leaders. SAP. MRP systems. Xero. Odoo. Business Central. The list goes on. Most businesses have invested significant time and money implementing systems designed to improve control,...
The Business Jigsaw: Why SME Leaders Can’t See the Whole Picture
Most SME leaders don't suffer from a lack of data. In fact, the opposite is usually true. They have financial reports, sales information, operational data, supplier information, inventory records, spreadsheets and dashboards. New information is generated every day....
Why More SMEs Are Seeking Supply Chain Support in 2026
More SMEs are seeking supply chain support because operational pressure is increasing. Costs remain high. Supplier performance remains inconsistent. Margins are under pressure. And many businesses are spending more time reacting than staying in control. What’s...
Why SME Manufacturers Still Can’t See Their True Margin
Most SME manufacturers don’t have a margin problem They have a visibility problem. And that’s where control starts to break down. What’s Actually Happening In most manufacturing businesses, margin is not a single number. It sits across: products jobs customers...
How SMEs Identify Spending Inefficiencies Using Data
Most SMEs already have spending inefficiencies. They just can’t see them. And that’s the problem. What’s Actually Happening In most SMEs, spend is spread across: multiple suppliers different systems spreadsheets and reports disconnected teams Finance...