Remember the Skoda Cake Car? Well, this week’s guest blog is from the woman whose company  baked the cake that built the car: Sharon Goodyer. Her insightful blog follows a discussion we were having about how to make training in the work place

I'm often asked what is the difference between a business coach and mentor? In many respects they are very similar, they both focus on improvement in the business or the person. But they are different in the way that they are delivered, how the solution is delivered and by whom.

Do you have down days? No energy, zero personal productivity, low drive or enthusiasm?

Well, you're not alone; everyone I know has just such periods. But somehow we all manage to eventually shake them off but it’s so frustrating to look back on that wasted time?

Social media, Twitter, Google +, Facebook, trip advisor etc. may be the marketing tools in vogue just now but how much time are you spending listening to what your customers are saying about you?

I never find it much fun playing with PowerPoint but this time it’s been really easy - I've cut out 75% of my slides! Why, because I'll be telling lots of stories instead. We all remember the stories we learnt as children so why not for businesses?

What games should we be playing to help us keep our brains business fit?  Here is a fun list for you…

Consistency was definitely a theme and this got me thinking about how inconsistent we are in our businesses, especially how inconsistent our delivery of customer experience is to our clients. Not always, but our delivery, our product quality, availability, our service and of course our moods, can be so inconsistent.

I'll bet a penny to a pound that you don't have a job description – you’ll have a job title – and your team will call you the boss. As a small business owner I know that you'll end up doing everything in the business.

It happens every day doesn't it: a problem that has to be solved. There are those everyday life problems that we solve every day; we just do most of them subconsciously. As a business leader the working day throws up even more problems sometimes they are sudden and unexpected, but sometimes they are complex or deep rooted problems.