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The Hidden Danger of Benchmarking: How Copying Competitors Holds You Back.

The Hidden Danger of Benchmarking: How Copying Competitors Holds You Back.

by John Olivant | Oct 27, 2025 | Business Planning, Business Strategy

Introduction: The Benchmarking Trap. I see it all the time. Business owners are constantly checking what their competitors are doing, how much they charge, how their website looks, and what kind of offers they’re running. It feels sensible, even responsible. After...
Stop Measuring the Wrong Things: How to Turn Ambition into Real Progress.

Stop Measuring the Wrong Things: How to Turn Ambition into Real Progress.

by John Olivant | Oct 13, 2025 | Business Planning

1. Introduction: The Illusion of Progress. Bill Gates once said, “You can achieve incredible progress if you set a clear goal and find a measure that will drive progress toward that goal.” I love that quote because it captures one of the biggest truths in business,...
Business Strategy (Case Study)

Business Strategy (Case Study)

by John Olivant | Oct 1, 2025 | Business Planning, Business Strategy

From Busy to Profitable: How a £2M Construction Company Repositioned for Exit. (Case Study). Introduction. Many small construction companies in the UK face the same challenge: they’re busy, turning over millions each year, but struggling to convert that effort into...
Why Playing It Safe Is the Riskiest Business Strategy of All.

Why Playing It Safe Is the Riskiest Business Strategy of All.

by John Olivant | Sep 29, 2025 | Business Planning, Leadership

1. The Comfort Trap in Strategy. I’ve noticed something time and time again when working with business owners: most of us don’t choose the strategy that will make us the most successful; we choose the one that feels the least likely to fail. On the surface, that...
“Why Most Small Businesses Fail to Change (Until It’s Too Late)”

“Why Most Small Businesses Fail to Change (Until It’s Too Late)”

by John Olivant | Sep 22, 2025 | Business Planning, Decision Making

1. The Real Reason Businesses Don’t Adapt. Let me tell you the truth: most businesses don’t fail because of bad ideas or bad luck. They fail because they don’t adapt. Markets shift. Technology evolves. Customers expect more. And yet… most businesses keep doing what...
Business Assumptions aren’t the problem—being blind to them is.

Business Assumptions aren’t the problem—being blind to them is.

by John Olivant | Sep 13, 2025 | Business Planning, Decision Making

“Why Most Business Plans Fail Before They Even Start” All Predictions Are Assumptions. Let me hit you with something that most business owners don’t want to hear:  Every forecast you make… every plan you build… every goal you set… is based on assumptions. It doesn’t...
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Recent Articles

Business Planning

  • Deliberate Decision Making
  • Project Management Triangle
  • Business Diagnostics & Action Bias.
  • When to walk away in business
  • Festina Lente is really Strategic Business Planning.
  • “Business Deadlines Are Negotiable: If You Know What to Say”
  • The Hidden Danger of Benchmarking: How Copying Competitors Holds You Back.
  • Stop Measuring the Wrong Things: How to Turn Ambition into Real Progress.
  • Business Strategy (Case Study)
  • Why Playing It Safe Is the Riskiest Business Strategy of All.
  • “Why Most Small Businesses Fail to Change (Until It’s Too Late)”
  • Business Assumptions aren’t the problem—being blind to them is.
  • The Quality Illusion: Why Most Small Businesses Can’t Deliver What They Promise.
  • Are You Underperforming? It Might Be a Business Design Problem.
  • ​​“Digital Disruption in Business. Don’t Be the Next Kodak.”
  •  What Business Are You Really In?
  • The Only Business Planning Framework You’ll Ever Need.
  • The Power of Planning
  • “The Simple Innovation Framework Every Small Business Should Use”.
  • Hope Is Not a Strategy: How to Stop Guessing and Start Forecasting Like a Pro.
  • Action Bias: Why Planning Beats Panic Every Time.
  • Entrepreneurial Myths: Five That Are Holding You (and Your Business) Back.
  • “The Hidden Negotiation Strategy Mistakes That Are Costing You Growth”
  • The Five Business Planning Assumptions You’re Probably Overlooking.
  • The 90-Day Business Plan
  • Good Strategy Isn’t Complicated — It’s Essential.
  • “Why You Don’t Need the Perfect 90 Day Business Plan — Just One You’ll Actually Run”
  • “How Better Planning Leads to Smarter Business Decisions”
  • Successful Business Plans: Why Preplanning Changes Everything.
  • Startup Mindset for Mature Businesses.
  • Pivoting in business. How Strategic Shifts Can Save and Grow Your Business.
  • “Business Planning Assumptions”
  • The Art Of War. Sun Tzu’s Secrets for Small Business Success.
  • The Ultimate Goal-Setting Framework and Execution Plan.
  • Are You Caught in the Business Planning Paradox?
  • Why Lean Business Planning Is the Smartest Move for Small Business Owners.
  • “Is Your Business Ready to Scale? Here’s How to Know for Sure!”
  • “From Chaos to Clarity: Steps to Building a Self-Managing, Growth-Ready Business”
  • “Scaling Your Business, Unlocking Growth Strategies for Small Businesses.”
  • “From Mediocre to Monumental: Elevate Your Profit Margins Through Superior Quality and Efficiency.”
  • The Top Business Planning Mistakes to Avoid (Part Two)
  • The Top Business Planning Mistakes to Avoid (Part One)
  • What People Really Think About Business Planning!
  • Lessons in Business Planning from the Sydney Opera House
  • Why you need to build a high-value self-managing business.
  • Is starting a business right for you?
  • Thinking about buying a small business?
  • Six ways to value your business and how to attract buyers
  • The 3 types of entrepreneurs, which one are you?
  • The Business Owner’s Journey (A tale of happiness and woe).
  • The Business Owners Guide To Using Differentiation As A Competitive Strategy
  • Think Business Strategy Is Just for The Big Boys’
  • The Four Cylinder Business Engine.
  • Re-think, Reset, Re-start
  • Are you asking the right questions, of you and your business?
  • The Great British Bake Off. A lesson in decision making.
  • We’d all like 20/20 vision for making business decisions
  • The Four Entrepreneurial Freedoms (only for business owners).
  • What gets measured gets done. How to achieve your goals.
  • What a visit to the podiatrist can teach you about the customer journey.
  • Why You Need A Value Proposition And How To Make One.
  • How to identify your niche market in 6 easy steps!
  • Your Business Numbers – the ones that REALLY Do Matter
  • If you’ve been putting off writing your business plan, you’re not alone
  • Business planning is for all businesses, not just for start-ups.
  • The 5 C’s you need for success in life and business planning.
  • Why it doesn’t take 100% more effort to Double your business
  • The Small Business Planning Fallacy
  • Are you a Reluctant Entrepreneur?

Pricing

  • Directional Pricing
  • The Value Triangle
  • Pricing Signals: The Hidden Reason You Keep Underpricing
  • “Stop Justifying Your Prices: How Value Is Really Created”
  • “The Strategic Pricing Blueprint”
  • Pricing Objections and Signals.
  • Pricing Signals. Are you misreading them?
  • “Master Pricing Strategies. 7 Expert Techniques to Increase Sales and Keep Customers Happy”
  • Are you charging enough? How to establish value. (Part Two)
  • Are you charging enough? How to establish value. (Part One)
  • “Boost Your Sales with Smart Pricing: Lessons from Nobel-Winning Theories.”
  • How Pricing Context Can Boost Your Profits.
  • How to conduct a Pricing Audit.
  • Sticky Pricing “Coke’s 73 years of Nickels”.
  • The Art of Ethical Pricing: Balancing Profit, People, and Perceived Value.
  • Differential Pricing: The Art of Flexible Pricing and Its Prolific Impact.
  • The three golden rules of pricing.
  • Should I put my prices on my website?
  • Are Crazy Low Prices Damaging Your Business?
  • Why Pricing Context Really Matters to You and Your Business?
  • Do you make these common PRICING Mistakes

Marketing

  • Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses: The Only Two Questions You Need to Answer
  • Niche Market Strategy: Why Narrowing Your Focus Actually Expands Your Market.
  • Sales Success Factors: Selling Is Easy When Prospects Are Ready.
  • Try Before You Buy Strategy
  • The Danger of Being a Follower (Why You Need A Market Dominating Position).
  • “Why Understanding Your Business Growth Is Non-Negotiable Before Outsourcing”
  • How to Create Local Market Dominance. Making Your Business “7-Mile Famous”
  • Differential Pricing: The Art of Flexible Pricing and Its Prolific Impact.
  • Why understanding the Psychological Contract is vital!
  • The three golden rules of pricing.
  • Scarcity based marketing explained.
  • Inside Reality Versus Outside Perception.
  • The Secret Marketing Equation Revealed.
  • Are You Missing Out? Poor Prospecting Strategy?
  • Should I put my prices on my website?
  • Are Crazy Low Prices Damaging Your Business?
  • The Myth of ‘Word of Mouth’ Marketing
  • Moments of Truth (and why they matter to every business).
  • Why are you making it so hard! (WAYMISH)
  • A little mistake that makes your marketing worse than useless!
  • The Venn Diagram of Customer Acquisition
  • What you need to know about FOMO based marketing
  • What a walk through a Christmas Market can teach you!
  • What is a Reticular Activator and what’s it got to do with my dog!
  • 5 Strategies to successfully build a new customer base
  • Why Pricing Context Really Matters to You and Your Business?
  • What defines an SME and why does it matter?
  • Ten Questions To Ask When Profiling Your Customers.
  • Do you make these common PRICING Mistakes
  • Why You Need A Value Proposition And How To Make One.
  • Avoiding The Discounting Trap.
  • How to set the optimum price for your product
  • Understanding the Buyer’s Journey
  • Charming your way to price success, why the Number 9 is Magic!
  • The Secrets to raising your prices without losing customers (pt.3)
  • The Secrets to raising your prices without losing customers (pt.2)
  • The Secrets to raising your prices without losing customers (pt.1)
  • What Job Marketing Is Really SUPPOSED To Do In your Business.
  • Business Cards, why nearly everyone is wrong about them. How to fix this!
  • How to Compete With FREE and Be Successful.
  • Marketing Services Vs Products. Is there a difference?
  • The business owners guide to getting your emails opened.
  • What’s in a name? How To Name Your Product.
  • The 5 phases of a successful negotiation to know.
  • Why You Need to Identify Your Ideal Client or Customer
  • The Ten Keys To Delivering A Great Presentation.
  • What you really need to know about pricing your products!!
  • The True Purpose of Your Marketing System.
  • Get your customers to come back more often!
  • Accelerated Discontentment , Why you should care.
  • Creating a market dominating position.
  • Business habits that inhibiting business growth
  • Why nearly all small businesses fail at pricing.
  • Four reasons why people don’t buy your stuff

Productivity

  • The Art of Delegation.
  • “You Can’t Fix a Disorganised Client — But You Can Stop Them Derailing You”
  • Are We There Yet?
  • Are you lazy when it comes to decision making?
  • No Business Systems..Are You Operating By Chance?
  • Why saying NO will help you in building a better business!
  • We make 35,000 decisions a day, how many are good?
  • How business sabotage can ruin your life and what to do about it.
  • The 1440 that we all have…Spend it like a ‘Billionaire’
  • Great entrepreneurs don’t add overhead, they build systems
  • 10 Easy ways to increase your productivity.
  • Eat That Frog. (Book Summary) Brian Tracy. Productivity.
  • 21 Productivity Tips from Robin Sharma. Productivity expert.
  • Procrastination the disease of the poor!

Networking

  • The 7 Deadly Sins of Business Networking: Avoid These Pitfalls
  • Why you still need to be able to deliver a great Elevator Pitch
  • How to make Business Networking work for you.
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