Better business

Reassured in 30 days

Owners and managers need to gain a comprehensive understanding of business disciplines and how to use them

by

Alan Dring,

industry consultant, The MAD Approach

Working as I now do with businesses

both within and outside the financial service sector the one thing that is a permanent part of my every day experience is working with an increasing number of companies who want to get better and learn how to manage better their business development. Never has this been more essential than in financial services. With additional qualifications being

required on a never ending basis it’s time to prioritise. With regulation and customer care being priority matters in this sector, it is evident to many that what is now a must is the management skills that have to be present to ensure all the boxes are constantly ticked. But the trick in ticking the right boxes is to ensure that at the same time your business retains its growth potential. Professional business acumen has never been more important now that the gravy trains are up the sidings. Those who want to be on the fast track to success will be helped by refreshing their management skills.

RefResh skills

I have to say that the last 30 days have been some of the most reassuring of my 39 years in the business world.

Colin Barrow’s book, The 30 Day

MBA which I read in the prescribed time, convinced me that the 10 times a year for the last 30 years that I have

34 moRtgage intRoduceR MAY 2010

chastised myself for not embarking on a business school MBA and achieving the qualification, has not been detrimental to the business acumen I need to drive my own business forward. If you are the owner or manager of a small or medium sized business then there is no doubt you need to understand and to be able to apply the 12 elements that constitute the qualification but for those who do not have the time or the money then for £15.99 you can acquire a one stop reference book that should become a permanent feature of your bookshelf. Written in the easy to follow style that Barrow has (I was fortunate to be at Cranfield School where he is the entrepreneurial head of the Enterprise Group) everybody who adds it to their library will:  Find out what an MBA student studies at a top business school and what knowledge is essential to your career progression;

 Gain a comprehensive understanding of the 12 core business disciplines and how to use them;

 Be equipped to take part in strategic decisions, alongside MBA graduates;

 Be able to create your own Management Information Resource centre giving you access to business information on markets and competitors, research data and case studies;

 Download hundreds of free business tools to help you carry out economic, financial, marketing and quantitive analysis – and much more;

 Learn how to update your skills and knowledge, both for free and by taking short inexpensive courses at top

business schools worldwide; and

 Have a one stop revision guide to help with your exams, if and when you do take an MBA or other general management programme.

And all this while we keep on doing what we have to do to keep the ‘wolf from the door’ and the bank balance secure.

simple test

What was particularly pleasing was how easy he found it to walk me through my two weakest elements: accounts and business law. I suspect one of the reasons for this was that one of the suggested exercises was an analysis of the 2006 Liverpool FC balance sheet, a consequence of which was that I also now understand better why Liverpool can’t buy themselves the Premiership. However, the entrepreneur investing

in Barrow’s book will certainly be stimulated by this element. As a general rule of thumb

entrepreneurs never have time for qualifications. And did you know that over 20% of entrepreneurs are dyslexic against the national average of 4%? Not only that, some 25% of the 4.4 million business owners in the UK do not have a degree.

This is certainly the Barrow’s favourite

area and he has introduced a fascinating business starter test that I suggest readers jump to before starting the book.

I am sure for many readers the outcome of this simple test will influence the way they use the information they gather, adapting it to their own particular needs.

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