Something to Think About

Les Brown, a noted inspirational speaker, and author of the DVD Step Into Your Greatness, tells the story of one of his friends, a salesman, who was in financial trouble because sales were down. Les asked him, "How many phone calls are you making a day?" His friend answered, "Twenty five."


Les didn't hesitate with his advice. "Double them," he said. "Make fifty. Or seventy-five. Or one hundred."
The salesman answered, "Aw, man. that's too much."

"Too much!" replied Les. "You tell me that you are behind on your bills and then you say it's too much. You know, one way to get back on your feet real quick is to miss two car payments. How can you say anything is too much when you have everything at stake?"

The advice Les Brown gave his friend needs to be heard by people everywhere. It's amazing what we can do when we're "hungry" for success. Most people who say "I've tried," haven't scratched the surface of their potential.

Saying "I'll try" really means " I'm not really committed "

Today, why not make a commitment to achieve your personal best?

Doncaster Races This Weekend

Well it's all play and no work this weekend as we head to Doncaster Races for a day out at the Derby.

With access all areas though I good eye for a pedigree may help me out - number 4 would be a sure winner hey!

No I'm not a great understander at this betting thing! So the blackberry will be on for hints and tips for you to send over to me!





I'll update on Monday with news and tips from the top about the following:

• Etiquette


• Dress-Sense


• Betting - most likely 'how to win a million'


• The price of a pint

And how many Audi TT enquiries will Anthony K Associates create over the weekend.

Company of The Year 2009

By any measure, a FTSE 250 business that is doubling revenues annually is remarkable; to be doing so in the utility sector, by definition mature, is all the more astonishing.
Clearly, Telecom Plus winner of the Company of the Year award, has found an original and effective business model.

The company, where Charles Wigoder, the chief executive, and his family and friends acquired control in 1998, six months after its foundation, is unique in the UK market in offering mobile and fixed telephony, broadband and gas and electricity services to its customers on a single bill.
It does not advertise. Rather, new households are recruited to its Utility Warehouse Discount Club by a network of more than 4,000 distributors who are existing users. These word-of-mouth customer ambassadors receive a tiny percentage of the bills paid by every new customer they recruit, in perpetuity, so retain a strong interest in ensuring ongoing customer satisfaction.
Their task is facilitated by a string of plaudits from consumer watchdog magazine Which? which says Telecom Plus is the best household provider of broadband, fixed telephony and energy in the UK.

It buys bulk telecoms capacity at wholesale prices in an oversupplied market and gets its energy from producer Npower, under a deal that transfers the risk of price fluctuations to the provider. In addition, the company supplies businesses, mainly small companies, brought in by its distributors.

It benefits from a tougher economic climate in several ways, says Mr Wigoder. “Many casual jobs no longer exist, overtime opportunities are no longer there, work hours are reduced, so we are seeing record numbers of new distributors” looking to top up their income. Meantime, consumers are keener to grasp opportunities to shave household bills, and improve visibility over their outgoings.

In the year to March 2008, Telecom Plus, which is debt-free, achieved revenues of £186m ($ and net profits of £11.9m. By September last year, it had 227,384 household customers, up 19,000 since end-March, and trends have since accelerated.

The latest spur comes from its CashBack MasterCard, a chargeable payment card which helps households economise. Using the card for purchases at retail chains such as J Sainsbury and Boots gives household a 5 per cent discount offset against their Telecom Plus bills.

Mr Wigoder says the biggest challenge is managing the pace of growth and underpinning it with flawless IT systems. But he has experience. He previously founded the Peoples Phone Company, a virtual operator, which he built from 100,000 customers to 400,000 within 18 months before selling it to Vodafone in 1996.

Since Mr Wigoder and associates control a majority of the equity, “we are looking to create long-term shareholder value rather than near-term management bonuses,” he says. “There is a clear alignment between management and shareholder interests.”

Kindly taken from www.ft.com