The other day I was listening to Mark Zuckerberg on The Tim Ferris podcast talking about values and he made a really good point that really got me thinking. Values have been important to Pooch & Mutt from day 1, they have always been integral to the business, but like Continue Reading
Guy Blaskey
Employer Brands and The Real Reason Elon Musk talks about Mars.
A few years ago, on a course at The London Stock Exchange, I was introduced to the concept of Employer Brand Strategies. This was something new to me, which I found especially surprising, as I have spent so much of my career developing, implementing, learning about, writing about, and talking Continue Reading
8 steps to set up your first online marketing campaign.
One of Pooch & Mutt‘s first-ever employees, Rob, who started with us over 10 years ago went on to have an amazing career in online marketing and set up his own agency Highrise, who I highly recommend, even if they do work with our competitors!!! A few years ago Rob Continue Reading
The Times: Rising Stars
This article originally appeared in The Times on 10/01/22 Pooch & Mutt, Kettering Pooch & Mutt was a sideline for Guy Blaskey when he first started the healthy dog food brand in 2008. He started selling supplements for dogs after successfully treating his family dog’s hip complaint using horse supplements Continue Reading
Evolve to Succeed podcast interview
“Life-work balance, not work-life balance.” Apple: https://apple.co/3yL5aGkSpotify: https://spoti.fi/32e4TiNGoogle: https://bit.ly/33xWEi7
9 tips to successfully run a company remotely
A few years ago I was recruiting a member of the Pooch & Mutt sales team and had a chat with one of our advisors. I told him that we were being asked by some candidates if they could work remotely and asked if he thought it would be a Continue Reading
How to make better business decisions by playing poker
In the pre-pandemic world, I used to meet up with friends maybe once or twice a year and play a game of poker. For me, this was less about the poker and more about the occasion, seeing people, having a chat… as we all know men find it very difficult Continue Reading
The future of Brand Purpose in a Purpose-washed world
According to Entrepreneur.com “80% of Purpose-led brands outperform the market” According to Deloitte Insights “Purpose-driven companies… grow three times faster on average than their competitors” According to Forbes “Consumers are 4-6x more likely to purchase, protect and champion purpose-driven companies” And therein may lie the problem… the cat is out Continue Reading
Why we need to stop talking about Saving the Planet
One of the many, many problems caused by the Judeo-Christian religions is how we see our place in the universe. We say that we “come into the world”, whereas other religions say that we “come out of the world”. In the words of Alan Watts “We do not “come into” Continue Reading
7 reasons why Dragon’s Den has had its day and needs replacing
There’s a new series of Dragon’s Den on TV, but very little has changed. Very little has changed in the 16 years that it’s been on the TV. Dragon’s Den infuriates me. It is probably the most high-profile business show on TV. It should be about encouraging and championing entrepreneurship. Continue Reading
An introduction to Behavioural Economics
About 10 to 15 years ago “everyone” was talking about Behavioral Economics. (Obviously by “everyone” I mean a select few people in marketing and business circles, but it was a big thing). Dan Ariely published “Predictably Irrational” in 2008, which was the first book I read on the subject, in Continue Reading
Why some businesses fail and others succeed: Knowing the rules of the game
According to Fundera 20% of small businesses fail in their 1st year, 30% in their 2nd, 50% in the 1st 5 years and 70% in the first 10. Those failure rates are probably higher for those trying to build a brand, as ‘small businesses’ often include one-man-bands, consultants etc. There Continue Reading
3 top tips on management in a pandemic
This is a subject I seem to have been speaking to people a lot about recently, so thought it would be worthwhile to write it down, but before we get into the subject I feel like I need to add in two disclaimers. 1) I am definitely not a management Continue Reading
7 Books for all Entrepreneurs
I love reading both read and listen to books a lot. The recomendations below are normally available as paper books, kindle books and audio books. These are my “must-read” books for all entrepreneurs out there. I should empasise that these are my choices based on what works for me. I Continue Reading
A very very simple introduction to brand strategy
For this very very simple intro to brand strategy I’m going to use an example that I have used quite a few times in talks and coaching sessions. Every time I use it I am quite surprised how many people get the answer ‘wrong’. Apologies in advance for the very Continue Reading
How to structure a P&L
This may not be the most exciting topic, but it is something that comes up a lot with the people I work with on a mentoring/ consultancy/ coaching basis. To start with, there are many ways to structure a P&L. I am sure that people will argue for different ones. Continue Reading
Russell Crowe and Oliver Reed teach marketing – Are you not entertained?
What is marketing? There is no defintive answer to this, despite the billions spent on it every year. The American Marketing Association gives the definition, “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society Continue Reading
Why the Queen’s Gambit is mental poison
The Queen’s Gambit is one of Netflix’s biggest successes of 2020. More than 62m households watched it in a month. I was in one of them and I loved it too. I was rooting for Beth all the way and (spoiler alert) wished I could be in the crowd outside Continue Reading
Does innovation win?
Innovation is often praised and discussed as something that we should be aiming for, something that is always valued, but is that really the case? Are real innovations rewarded? Let’s start by looking at some real innovators and what happened to them. Alan Turing Alan Turning basically invented the computer Continue Reading
How do brands really grow?: Seth Godin Vs Byron Sharp
I’m a huge fan of business books and have probably read more than I ever needed to, some I have loved, some… not so much. Some I liked the main idea, some I didn’t, but me liking the arguments and them being right are very very far from the same Continue Reading
Understanding cashflow part 2: How loss-making companies grow.
This is part 2 of an article on cashflow. Click here to read part 1. I had this explained to me using the example of a supermarket. Let’s say you open a supermarket and stock it with £1m worth of goods (I have no idea of the value of goods Continue Reading
Understanding cashflow part 1: How profitable companies run out of money.
Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Richard Feyneman said “if you think you understand quantum mechanics, then you don’t”. The same is probably true for most of us with cashflow. We think we understand it… ‘make sure more money comes in than goes out’… but most people, and most entrepreneurs, don’t. When someone tells Continue Reading
The biggest mistake in writing company slogans
The biggest companies in the world all have slogans, so you should have one for your company too… right? Maybe… maybe not. We all know the slogans or tag lines of the big, successful companies: McDonalds – I’m lovin’ it Nike – Just Do It KFC – Finger Lickin’ Good Continue Reading
(My) Key points of Stoicism
A few years ago I went to see a Derren Brown stage show, in which he quoted Seneca, “You stop caring what people think about you when you realise how seldom they do”. This really struck a nerve with me, as it seemed so simple. A couple of weeks later Continue Reading