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I was kind of thinking the conversation would be around the disruption to the small business owner, so other than Iron Lady, we all seem to be happy about the lack of traffic!

A great article from the beeb. Some well known stories, and some lesser known ones.

At least it shows the most successful entrepreneur can get things wrong, and if you have the right mindset, you can bounce back from most mistakes.

My favourite (and most honest) quote:

Jo Malone, founder, Jo Malone and Jo Loves - "When we launched our brand Jo Loves...We then found out there was someone else top of the Google list with a similar name as ours, selling vibrators. I hadn't checked"

I think I've made about every mistake known to man. So does anyone else have any anecdotal business mistakes they want to confess to the congregation? 

I see on the news we have potential teacher strikes to look forward to courtesy of the National Union of Teachers.

I sympathise that teachers have a hard job role, and if it's true primary teachers are working 60 hour weeks, then that needs addressing. But I didn't warm to the NUT Chairwoman on Breakfast news this morning who came across as very militant, and the message appeared to be if the Govt doesn't agree to our demands, then it's strike.

Seemed like a flashback to disputes of old, and hopefully won't lead to other Unions starting to flex their collective muscles.

I can see sympathy evaporating quickly when parents start getting penalised, imho...

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As before, any questions or problems, just shout

...and the politics intensifies...

"Scottish government agencies Scottish Enterprise and Visit Scotland have quit business lobby organisation CBI after it formally backed the campaign against independence."

Scottish Enterprise and Visit Scotland leave CBI - BBC

Hello sysfix, that's nearly a 4 year thread bump!

I think we can say the original question and any posted comments are now digital history 

Why not do an intro and tell us about you and your business? (And I think I'll close this thread!)

Hello Gemma

I've removed the duplicate posts, I'm assuming this was a genuine mistake, and as a new poster I've toned down the end of your comments, as they were borderline 

So why don't you elaborate more and explain what happened, and what contact you have had with the company, that is causing concern?

I'm assuming you had researched this business and didn't just agree to a deal after a cold call?

Have the company been in touch to allay your worries, if not how long since you contacted them? This would be useful for any other members who may be considering using this or a similar service.

credit to Gaspirtz Cartoons

Happy Easter 

It really has been a terrible 12 months for the Co-op as they lurch from one crisis to the next.

I love looking at business models, and the Co-op one intrigues me. It's a mutual, so owned by it's members, as opposed to John Lewis which is owned by it's workers.

But until it hit the news I didn't realise how big the Co-op is. It has a staggering 90,000 employees and fingers in just about every pie going.

But is the mutual model flawed? It seems to be a really complex structure of boards and committees, and reminds me more of a Local Authority than a company.

There's a great article on the Beeb that explains in detail how the Co-op is run, but the graphic sums up the level of comlexity.

We are always hearing about the success of John Lewis, is it just a simple fact that the workforce are the owners, so everyone has a vested interest. Plus when things are going good, everyone from boardroom to till operators gets a bonus.

Lord Myners has been appointed to review the company structure and advise on reforms, so it will be interesting how a group of this size is going to be turned round!

I don't know how sustainable a £2.5bn loss is, so what's the verdict? If you were the top boss what would you do?

Break the business up into manageable independent chunks? Try and move to a John Lewis model? Or just clean out the loss making side of the business (the bank) and concentrate on the areas that are working?