However, the personal cloud should provide a much more positive experience than Pootle’s cloud.  The cloud has undoubtedly had a massive impact on the way individuals communicate and interact, with the social networking phenomenon being dependent on hosted applications.  The potential for the cloud to reach further into our lives is massive and, whilst it still feels a bit like science fiction, we can’t be too far away from our weekly shopping being automatically ordered by our fridges….and other amazing time-saving activities that will free people up to write blogs and tweets and to make virtual cyber friends!!.

As we move to a world where data is captured from everything we do and touch, the organisations that can help manage that information and disseminate it into useful, usable information will deservedly become extremely wealthy.  Whilst big companies (such as Google, Apple and Microsoft) will have a huge advantage due to the size of their balance sheets, the beauty of the cloud is that winners can come from all angles creating significant opportunities for small (or currently non-existent) companies to become the next big thing. 

Lets just hope that developments in green technology allow us to store and process this data with decreasing power requirements otherwise we are all in danger of being followed around by big, black “pootle-like” clouds!

Whilst I have some (albeit limited) sympathy with the banks I do believe that they have to step up their game if they are going to play a meaningful part in pulling the economy out of the mire and that they won’t do this quick enough in the absence of suitable carrots and sticks being put in place.

When it comes to small and medium size businesses banks do not understand risk, hence the oscillation between over-lending in good times and under-lending in bad times.  This is not just my cynical view but one shared by a number of senior bankers I know.

Only a few years ago, the banks were hood-winked into ridiculous leverage multiples by the (smarter) private equity community and fell into it hook line and sinker – putting their balance sheets at risks for thin margins, whilst the PE houses took all the upside.  Everything was going so well that it would have taken a brave person in the credit department to reject any applications and slow down the sales efforts that were driving senior bonuses.

Now the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction and it takes a brave individual in credit to approve an application and a brave relationship manager to contest a negative decision. 

Consequently, linking senior bonuses to lending criteria (combined with tight liquidity measures) might just be the answer to the current situation, ensuring a sensible balance between the drivers of overly aggressive and overly cautious lending.  

As I mentioned at the start of this blog, I do have some sympathy with the banks and it is important that businesses forget about the ease in which they could access credit a few years ago.  Times have changed and banks are being more rigorous in their assessment of opportunities.  Robust business plans, sensible financial projections that withstand due diligence, clear management information are all essential to raising new finance (or possibly just extending existing facilities) and it is entirely reasonable for any 3rd party funder to expect this. 

Whilst it might take a little bit of extra effort and it might seem like you are playing a game in producing this information in a bank friendly format it is usually worth the effort and even more so in difficult times.  Businesses don’t usually worry about being over-prepared for proposals with potential new customers and I would strongly recommend applying this mind-set to your dealings with your bank (or any other potential funder). 

The solution to the current crisis won’t come from one miracle cure and will take a number of forces working together so lets hope that the green paper is a step in the right direction.

 I have seen a number of businesses that have become complacent on the back of their technological capabilities (compared to the competition) and just assumed that customers would break their doors down to buy the product…which never happens!  I am not a sales marketing expert and would recommend Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore as a great insight into what you need to be thinking about to have success with bringing technical products to market successfully. 

History is littered with examples of the best product from certain technical aspects being knocked into second place (or even out of the market) by better “all-rounders” that are properly pitched to deliver what a customer wants at a price that they are happy to pay. 

There are undoubtedly a number of reasons that VHS kicked Betamax from its monopoly position (hardware compatability; available films; length of recording capability) and whilst picture quality was an important buying factor it was not the only factor. 

Also, whilst I have never had any issues (and it works great for me as a consumer), the software community keep telling me that microsoft is technically inferior to other competing products.  However, Bill Gates did a great job ensuring that he had the best distribution channel through tie-ins with the hardware manufacturers and, as the product did what the non-technical” customers needed it to do, he won the battle.

I have just replaced my old phone with an iphone4. I know that I am probably going to pay more for peripheral services (due to Apple’s ingenious ability to provide applications and services that customers are prepared to pay for) than I would with another device.  However, I know that all software developers over the next couple of years will be making sure that their functionality is compatible with the iphone due to its market leading position – and this was the main driver of my decision. 

So I guess the important lesson is that it doesn’t matter whether you or your industry peers think that your product is the best thing since sliced bread.  You need to make sure that you have the sales and marketing channel and proposition to deliver a product that customers are prepared to buy.

There is probably an important lesson for the academic world as well, particular in light of recent reports that there is only 1 graduate job for every 69 graduates…..maybe we need to consider ensuring that graduates meet the “whole product” requirement of the market place that will ultimately employ them.  I thoroughly enjoyed my degree (economics and management) but did it actually make me more valuable to an employer?

…and on a final note apologies if the quality of the prose in this blog is not booker prize winning quality!

There is no doubt that costs can be cut within the public sector without reducing the quality of front line services simply by ensuring that cash is allocated sensibly and all expenditure is constantly challenged to ensure it is helping deliver objectives .  It struck me today that this also extends to the public owned banks.  MaxAim banks with one of the banks that we all have a collective interest in and I was horrified today to receive a notification (sent by post) of “zero” charges on our account. 

Given we are a new business in our initial free banking period do we actually need notification of the fact we have not incurred any charges? Absolutely not.

 The cost of providing these notifications across  all of the banks customers must be enormous and for what benefit? Absolutely none.

Massive savings would be made by not issuing these notifications.  It would also improve customer service by reducing unnecessary paperwork for customers such as us.    If the bank does feel the need to issue such notifications (and I can’t think of any reasons to do so) why not send by email at zero cost rather than by post?

Secondly, and the main purpose for this blog, I have just returned from a fantastic holiday in Sardinia (an island I would thoroughly recommend as a holiday destination).  It stuck me whilst I was there that the Sardinians have a peculiar way of managing traffic, with signposts being placed on (if you are lucky) or just after the relevant junction.  This resulted in numerous u-turns, frustration and road rage (particularly as we had no map or sat-nav to guide us!). 

What is wrong with placing signposts before junctions so that you have enough time to take appropriate action?  I clearly hadn’t completely switched off from work-mode as it got me thinking about the importance of strategic planning for businesses, particularly in these challenging economic circumstances.  Even the slightest edge over your competitors (no matter how small) can be the difference between success and failure.

We all know that business plans and forecasts are out of date before the ink is dry but, with the rigour of a proper planning process at least you have the benefit of knowing where you would like to be heading and, if monitored properly, the tools to assess whether you are still on the right road (as circumstances change from those envisaged when you prepared the plan). 

So is blogging the right direction for us to be heading? All our work to date has come from personal relationships and this clearly needs to be our primary focus.  I guess that at the moment we don’t have enough evidence to clarify the importance of blogging to our plans but gut feel is we need to invest some more time and effort over the coming months to reach a conclusion.

The following rant arrived in my inbox yesterday from a very frustrated gentleman………

These bloody Icelanders need to sort out their Geological problems.  Under the Tort of nuisance, people have a duty to keep any nuisance substances on their own property, so I am going to sue the Icelandic Government for polluting the upper atmosphere and the Airways.  They should have taken all reasonable precautions and capped all their Volcanoes or something, instead of just letting them erupt willy nilly.  It’s outrageous.  I am now stuck in a crappy Airport hotel in Philly – when I could be home, or stayed in Arizona where the weather was great. First of all they wreck our High Street and lose our local council’s money by letting their banks behave irresponsibly and then go bust, and now they wreck the entire Trans-Atlantic flight paths to Europe with their irresponsible behaviour. B#$!4**’s (expletive deleted).

Apparently the earliest flight home is Tues / Weds next week. Don’t worry Ian, we will table your apologies at this week’s partners meeting. Enjoy!

It would appear that there was no breach of accounting policies in the Lehman debacle but surely when a firm goes to such lengths to disguise its balance sheet weaknesses there must be an obligation on the auditors to disclose the facts to the outside world.

Shareholders and other stakeholders deserve better than this but they are unlikely to see an improvement without a fundamental overhaul of the system. 

I would start with a move to accounting standards based on principles rather than rules - boards who want to bend the rules will always be able to engage smart people (lawyers and accountants) to find loopholes in the rules.  Rules based accounting assumes that boards are honest and ethical and will abide by the spirit of these rules. Surely we know that such an assumption is flawed. 

We must also move to stop auditors carrying out any non-audit work in quoted companies.  In smaller owner managed businesses there can be value in one firm providing audit as well as advisory servces and the risks in such companies are lower due to the involvement of shareholders on the board.  However, in quoted companies the risk are too high as we have seen on numerous occasions.

How many more failures do we need before we see action?  Whilst the complex financial instruments that underpin banks may be akin to rocket science, the steps needed to fix a rotten system surely aren’t!

BA’s dominance of the UK’s airline industry has long been a target for younger, fitter corporate upstarts. The sustained attack was started 25 years ago by an airline virgin Richard Branson, and has continued relentlessly.  BA’s business model is built for a different time, a time when airline travel was a glamorous pastime reserved for celebrity or the rich and famous. These days’ people just want to get there, cheaply, reliably and with little fuss.

The time when lumbering corporate monoliths could dominate industries using heritage as their USP has long since passed. Heritage is no longer a suitable USP. It’s about value for money. A USP the low-cost short-haul airlines have mastered incredibly well.

When you are surrounded by younger, leaner and fitter players you have two options, shed weight, get fit and work harder, or be substituted. UNITE seem to think there is a third option, carry on playing and use your weight and girth in place of talent to barge the opposition out of the way. Not a sustainable competitive advantage I’m sure.

Clearly, still deep in thought about yesterday’s announcement on the high speed rail network she responded by asking if his business had undertaken any work on the Channel Tunnel!!  As you can imagine he was slightly bemused and she made a hasty exit!

It is unquestionable that the programme and the fund will bring some value to the region and to the UK economy as a whole by giving growth companies access to advice and funding.  The challenge, particularly for Connect Yorkshire, is ensuring that:

1. they act as gatekeepers to ensure that accountants and advisers don’t simply use this to line their own pockets by getting the government to fund work that the client doesn’t really want or need;
2. that the advisors deliver the same level of service they would if the client was paying for the work/ support directly; and
3. businesses engage because of the value that can be added rather than simply being “free”

This will then ensure that the resources available are delivered to the businesses that need them most rather than the accountants and advisors who target the funds for their own benefit most effectively. 

It was positive to hear James Newman, chair of Finance Yorkshire, speak about the objective to make the fund self re-financing, using the profits from earlier investments to fund later ones. Lets hope it can meet this goal.

Whilst I do have some reservations, overall I am feeling optimistic about the impact these will have on the region.   Providing businesses with the support they need to be “investment ready” and by providing funding for businesses that are struggling with the usual channels but which have a sound business proposition can only be a good thing.

On a final note a big thank you to the staff at Aspire in Leeds which hosted both events – a great venue and great staff.