Travelling to Bath on the train this week I’ve noticed an increase in the number of folding bikes. There’s still not many, but in light of the ever increasing cost of oil, the increasing cost of running a car and the general move of society towards greener modes of transport I can’t help thinking [...]

Would Sainsbury’s and Ford have survived to the present day if they had rested on their early successes? In 1913, at the peak, there were 216 British Motor Manufacturers. The inevitable consolidation means that there are now only a handful of car brands manufactured in the UK with only a very small number British owned. [...]

It doesn’t seem that long ago that the papers were talking about the chaos that would follow if oil hit $30 per barrel. A few years on and it’s past $120 per barrel and showing no signs of stopping.
As a result, prices are rising - particularly prices of oil based fuels. Many would argue that [...]

I popped down my local mini-supermarket a couple of days ago to grab a few essentials for breakfast. One of which was some yogurt for my young son. Looking at the yogurts on offer however I had quite a shock. They are full of all sorted of extra’s that you wouldn’t expect. Sure none [...]

Many businesses fail to treat marketing as an investment, regarding it purely as an overhead rather than something on which a return must be achieved. One of the reasons for this is that their marketing effectiveness is substantially reduced by their inability to create balanced campaigns.
Starting Out
New businesses often fall into the trap of under-investing [...]

I’ve previously commented on the poor standard of the letting agents I’ve dealt with (see my post How To Motivate Employees) so it should come as no surprise that once again they’ve disappointed me. After a long list of disappointments I finally did the maths and concluded that it costs me more to use them [...]

Chris Garrett just twittered about the Placebo Store. It’s apparently run by a mum called Jennifer who has had the idea to start a business selling Jennifer Obecalp Cherry Chewable Tablets, she says this about the business:
I am a mommy. It’s what I love. It’s my job to make owies go away. Whether it’s a [...]

Pick of the week is slightly delayed this week due to a busy schedule - as a result it’s also a bit shorter.
This weeks most popular post on Business Opportunities and Ideas has been How To Start A Blogging Business. This weeks picks from around the web are:

Ben Casnocha on why Thinking in Public [...]