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 the Russian chess hall to […]
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 and helped the allies win […]
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 thing. Seth Godin is one […]
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 there are in a supermarket!). […]
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 you about profitable businesses that […]
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 Skittles - Taste the Rainbow […]
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 I went to see Derren […]
Pet food brand Pooch & Mutt puts sales centre stage to accelerate growth. Founder Guy Blaskey says: “Instead of spending hours debating between two products or marketing approaches, you can stick both on Facebook or Google and with a £50 ad budget find out what customers think.” Mr Blaskey believes it’s the only way to […]
Guy Blaskey is the founder and managing director of Pooch and Mutt, a dog food brand that he set up in 2008 and is now registering an annual turnover of £4.5m. He admits that he made many mistakes before unlocking the keys to growth. "When I started, I thought that all a business needed was […]
There is no right or wrong way to name a company or a brand. There are plenty of successful brands with terrible names (Google!!!) and plenty of brands with great names and no success. The 5 points below describe 5 different approaches. In very basic terms, the higher up the list the more 'ownable', but […]
There are no people out there desperate for your product or service, despite what you may think. However groundbreaking/ incredible/ amazing your product or service may be, people who don’t know about it are probably getting on OK without it, in blissful ignorance. Before the car people were happy to walk or ride a horse. […]
An edited version of the comment below featured in The Grocer and is available to subscribers here. In terms of jobs, if you believe Yuval Noah Harari, then all jobs are at risk in the future. AI would be a far better doctor or lawyer, and definitely a better buyer or marketer. Humans have two powers; muscle power and […]
Guy Blaskey, CEO of luxury dog food brand Pooch and Mutt, has found the process “amazingly useful” with “the ability to concentrate on one thing, and not get distracted. There’s no point in getting stressed about things you can’t control, they key is learning to understand that.” In terms of his business, he attributes his […]
Worries about poor quality pet food led Pooch and Mutt founder Guy Blaskey to create recipes that “take the junk out, and put beneficial ingredients in.” Describing his products as “health food for dogs” Blaskey acknowledges that some may see that spending £14 on his pet food rather than £3 on a cheaper product as a luxury […]
Borrow ideas from other sectors Pooch and Mutt, a healthy dog food company that wants to challenge the leading pet brands, has used a range of online advertising campaigns to grow brand awareness. "We run ads on Facebook and Google AdWords, with our current campaign returning £25 for every £5 invested," says founder, Guy Blaskey. […]
Guy Blaskey, founder of independent pet food business, Pooch & Mutt, is challenging the goliaths of the market, Mars and Nestle. He launched the business in 2008 with two health supplements for dogs – the brand’s only products for the first few years. “This gave us a good understanding of the market and its dynamics, and […]
Guy Blaskey featured in The Times, Your Ready Business and in a promotional video as part of Ready Business Britain. Article Video Online article Your Ready Business caught up with Guy Blaskey, one of the five winners of the Ready Business Mentor Scheme who won a mentorship with www.notonthehighstreet.com’sfounder Sophie Cornish. As an entrepreneur and founder […]
Pet owners are said to resemble their animals and now they are eating the similar foods too. Health-conscious Brits are now putting their pets on all-natural, nutrient-rich diets to mirror the healthy foods they feed their families. High end dog food and treats retailer Pooch & Mutt has doubled sales to £1m off the back […]
This article by Guy Blaskey was originally published on smarta.com Stoicism is a school of philosophy that is looked over by many philosophy professors and students. Unlike other schools of philosophy the stoics were less bothered with searching for the meaning of life, and more bothered with how they should live their lives. The three most […]
This article was written by Guy Blaskey for the e-book "Going for Growth" published by Sage. Before we start to look at marketing for growth it makes sense to look at marketing in general, what is, why it exists and where it has come from. In ‘the good old days’ marketing was effectively taking things […]
This article by Guy Blaskey was originally published by the London Evening Standard If we knew what products were going to be huge successes and which were going to be total flops before we spent money on them it would make business life a whole easier. It’s difficult to predict the future, but there are some […]
