Hack and Slice

We have a conviction that great business happens when the right people get connected in the right way at the right time. Ideas are shared, problems are solved and opportunities discovered.

We've seen this work over and over again. It's why we host regular Clareon lunches and it's why we are developing a series of new opportunities that help forward thinking business people get connected with us and with each other.

And so it is my pleasure to introduce 'Hack and Slice', Clareon's very own new monthly golfing event. Here's our ingredients for a great night out...

First, take 20 local business owners. Ensure that between them, they have extremely varied experience in the game of Golf.

Next, Find a great local driving range (in this case, Witney Lakes Resort) with a highly respected resident PGA Pro tutor (Deana Rushworth).

Now, divide them into small groups based on skill and provide them with clubs, buckets of golf balls and a short lesson in how to use the former to successfully hit the latter.

  

All that's left to do is stand back and enjoy an hour of laughter, great conversation, some impressive hits and lots of hacks and slices...

After an hour or so of practice under Deana's careful supervision, down clubs and head for Witney Lakes' excellent restaurant for a delicious 2 course dinner and some great conversation. Who says you can't mix business with pleasure?!

Our next Hack and Slice evening is booked for 22nd October 2014. If you are local to Witney/West Oxon and would like to come along, please get in touch with Mark Kingston or Mark Spolander. We strictly limit the numbers to 20 people, so book your place early. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Clareon completes first acquistion!

We are proud to announce that Clareon acquired the Oxford Pram Centre on Friday 19th September. The Oxford Pram Company is a leading independent nursery retailer that has being trading for over 40 years.

There were many reasons for making this acquisition, however one of the main reasons was because of the team. They are passionate about the products, service and most importantly the comfort and protection of babies. Mark Spolander purchased a pram and car seat for his first baby over three years ago from the Oxford Pram Centre and was very impressed with the service. When Clareon discovered that the business was for sale in May, they decided that it was certainly worth further investigation.

The business is currently being run by a team of 6 and in the coming months Clareon will be working closely with the team to introduce new systems, technology, marketing and team training to modernize the business. This will enable the team to work more efficiently which will mean more time spent with customers. We'll be sharing and documenting the effect of these changes on this blog so stay tuned...!

A big thank you to Hedges Law for all their hard work and guidance over the last few months, we look forward to the completion party!

For more about the Oxford Pram Centre, please visit www.oxfordpramcetnre.co.uk - new website coming soon!

If you would like to find out how to buy or sell a business and more importantly what to do with it after completion, please get in touch with Clareon email or call 01865 987 138.

New Clareon Partners

We are delighted to announce that Helen Liddar and Sara Holloran have joined the Clareon. Both Helen and Sara bring a vast amounts of experience to the team.

Helen is a trained solicitor spending 16 years as a practising solicitor and in the last 8 years has also trained as business and personal coach.

Sara started in high end corporate event management, from there she moved into mergers and acquisition and more recently, property development and investing in local businesses.

For more information about Sara and Helen please visit the Clareon team page.

If you would like to find out more about joining Clareon please email  Mark Spolander or call 01865 987 138 www.clareon.co.uk

Implementation is the key!

It is has been a privileged to work with so many great business owners across the South of England in recent months. We love helping business owners to clarify the most important actions that must be implemented to ensure that they achieve both their business and personal goals.

One of the main reasons why small businesses fail to move forward is because the owner fails to take the time to implement the great ideas that they all have. So remember to control your diary, schedule "development time" every week, start small 30 minutes and gradually increase it, otherwise your business will control you. You will be amazed at what you can achieve when you take control of your diary!

Thank you for all the great testimonials received over the last few months, here are a few random selections...

"I found the course really insightful and it helped to clarify next steps, my overall business strategy, next steps to grow the business and achieve my goals. Thank you"
Jessica Rouse - Emphasis Management 

"Excellent really good presentation, learnt a lot. Would recommend Mark Spolander to other business owners"
Regan Stewart - Future Employment

"Thank you for an insightful day. You have my business clarity and helped me realise the potential"
Sarah Parham - SVP Jewellery

"Mark Spolander was excellent, the content professional and humourously delivered. Fantastic! Thank you!"
Joanna Hill - Bagnall Centre

To find out more about attending a Growth Workshop please email  Mark Spolander or call 01865 987 138 OR contact your local Growth Manager at Growth Accelerator www.growthaccelerator.com

Understanding what your customer really values

Mike Paton and Mark Spolander had a great morning working with the Oxfordshire Osteopathic Network. They ran a couple of group exercises to help the Osteopaths to discover what their patients really valued.

In many businesses that we work with, the business owners perceived value proposition is often different that of what the customer/client perceived value proposition is.

Our clients find it helpful to complete a customer empathy map to put themselves in their customer's 'shoes'. This together with an active feedback system will paint an accurate picture of exactly what it is your business does really well. Plus with ongoing feedback this will allow you to constantly make small adjustments to ensure that what you are offering is always up to date and reverent, which results in many happy customers for many years.

Mike Paton presenting to the Oxfordshire Osteopathic Network - best caption wins a prize!

To find out more about clarifying your value proposition email  Mark Spolander or call 01865 987 138. www.clareon.co.uk

Good to Great - Do it Big!

There’s something about working at scale that changes the way we see and think (and feel) about things that makes it much easier for us to make connections and derive insights.

We often say “let’s get another perspective” or “what’s another way of looking at this” – working at scale does just that. By interacting with something big that you can see and touch you engage both body and mind and make use of all your resources. The physical interaction changes our perception and we connect in a real, tangible way with the things we’re working on as well as the people we’re working with.

Andy King and Mike Paton are working with a team who have a successful business, with people who are generally happy and bought into the company, their values and the strategy - but still there’s a feeling that communication is a weakness. This is despite briefings, newsletters, emails etc. setting everything out. So what's going on and, given that more of the same will get the same results, how can things be changed? By “doing it big!”

Here is the big picture they created that’s going on the wall and which they’ll use to have conversations and engage everyone. It captures everything in one place - strategic themes on the left; their journey in the middle; goals and milestones at the bottom; and vision on the right.

At Clareon we see this as being Smart and Healthy. Being Smart is having all your plans, goals, metrics and kpis in place; being Healthy is creating your culture and being able to engage, motivate and align your people.

If you'd like to create something similar with the things that matter in your business please give us a call 01865 987 138 or email Mark Spolander - we love helping people and businesses thrive.

Expansion... when is it the right time?

Another actioned packed workshop was run last week in Sevenoaks by Mark Spolander and Mike Paton. As with most of these workshop there is was a common challenged faced by delegates. This week was all about expanding premises to increase sales and filling up spare capacity.

This is common challenged faced by business owners - when is the best time to take the jump and get bigger premises? We started by looking at each business's basic performance information i.e. lead generation, conversations and sales etc. This gave the business owners great insights into what areas of the business needed to be tweaked in order for them to confidently make the decision to upgrade the premises.

Everyone left with a comprehensive visual business plan and list of key priorities to implement in order to move their business to the next level.

We look forward to the opening of all the new premises!

Thanks to all who attended and for the kind words below.

"Fantastic day, really enjoyed it. I have much better direction on where to take my business now and detailed goals. Loads and loads of experience from the presenters. Thank you"
Christian Bates - The Perrymount Clinic



"Considering that this was by definition generic, I found it extremely relevant and helpful, Thank you!"
Richard Olley - Kingswood Training Services

To find out more about attending a Growth Workshop please email  Mark Spolander or call 01865 987 138 OR contact your local Growth Manager at Growth Accelerator www.growthaccelerator.com

Ideas backed with confidence...

Mark Spolander had the privilege of working with a small a group of business owners in Southampton recently. Two of the delegates had spent a great deal of time and money developing the infrastructure in order to launch their new ideas. Both ideas have huge potential.

Having a day out of the business gave these entrepreneurs space and time to clarify and prioritise the next steps. They have both created fantastic businesses and it was now time to back it with the confidence and grow it. Everyone left with a clear list of priorities to implement in order to move their business to the next level!

It was great spending the day with you all and thank you for the kind words below:

"Mark Spolander is excellent he makes you feel that every business can succeed. Thank you!" Teresa Dupay - Menu Analyser

"I had no idea what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the material and presentation" Kevin Barry - Menu Analyser



"My business is 21 years old. I really wish I had done this workshop in year one. Excellent structure and very though provoking" Jeff Downs - Quantum

"Fantastic day were a business plan has been created that is realistic and very useful. the day out of the business has been a day very well spent" Sheilagh Blyth - Enable Me Method

To find out more about attending a Growth Workshop please email  Mark Spolander or call 01865 987 138 OR contact your local Growth Manager at Growth Accelerator www.growthaccelerator.com

WHY do you do it?

Have you spent any time recently considering or remembering WHY you do what you do? WHY do you get up in the morning.  WHY are you willing to spend so many hours doing the work that you do?

It's worth stopping and thinking about this for a moment. I know that there are many sound pieces of advice out there to consider, yet I am more and more convinced that the thoughts put forward by Simon Sinek in his book 'Start with WHY', are a crucial beginning for anyone and everyone in business.

His explanation of the Golden Circle has been instrumental in some of our leadership programs with businesses preparing to grow and move to the next level.  We have had enormous success recently using this theme to run a workshop with one of our Oxford based clients, and have been delighted at both the success and the positive response across the business on a number of different levels.

If you haven't already come across his work, I would highly recommend this book, and perhaps the best introduction to the essence of his ideas are captured in this short 6 minute video clip..... a much longer version is available if you have the time...

If you want to find out how Clareon can help you thrive and move to the next level call us on +44(0)1865987138

The 2 Minute Power Pose

Did you know that your posture can really affect your performance? If that sounds a little far fetched, take 20 minutes to watch this excellent TED video by Harvard Business School Professor Amy Cuddy.

She shares some interesting research that shows how adopting a more confident posture increases your performance and decreases your stress levels. She ends with a 2 minute 'power-pose' challenge that you can use to boost your performance in a challenging work situation...


So why not try that power pose before your next big pitch or meeting?