I have just been lucky enough to have a week’s holiday in Spain with all my family. My oldest daughter now has a job and is living away from home, my son is at university so we don’t see much of him, and my youngest daughter is the only one who still lives at home on a permanent basis. In other words last week was a very valuable time for me, to be able to spend quality time with my wife and my children.

I work with many different businesses, and it is alarming how many of them are not able to go away on holiday with their family when I first start with them. Sometimes only one or other of the parents can take the children, and quite often they simply don’t take the time off at all. In the end it is so important to remember what matters most in life. If you are completely tied to the business, and can’t get away, is this really worth it?

Of course when you first start a business it requires a huge amount of work and dedication, but in the end you must have a clear goal in mind, and with a clear timescale.

If not you may find yourself constantly striving for an outcome which is simply unattainable if you keep on doing the same things time and time again.

Remember when you started your business you had a clear vision of what you were going to achieve, what your life-style would be like, and how it was going to make you happy. But also remember that most of the happiness was going to be derived from the things you like doing in your leisure time, and the people you like to spend time with. In other words keep focussing on the things that really matter, and drive the business to provide the money you need, to make them happen. If you are not sure how to do that yourself, then you probably need a coach to help you. Some take longer than others, but I make sure all my clients take a holiday, because otherwise what is the point?

When did you last raise your prices? Most of the businesses I start coaching haven’t done so for some time, generally because they are scared of losing the loyal customers they already have, or because they feel it will prevent them from bringing new customers on board.

I recently met with one business where they are agents for various different companies, so buy their products at normal commercial rates, and are advised of the RRP, “Recommended Retail Price”. However, instead of putting those prices on their showroom stock they then reduce the price by a certain percentage, allowing them still a reasonable, but considerably reduced margin, and, so they say, ensuring that they are competitive. The trouble is that many people still ask for a discount off the new prices, at which point they have to explain that the shown price is already significantly reduced, and there is no more reduction to be made. I pointed out that actually a good number of people who come into their store do not know the standard price of their product, and therefore they would be better off leaving the RRP as originally suggested, and then should they be asked for a discount, they can oblige, and probably still sell it for more than they would have with their original strategy. In addition they would almost certainly have a more satisfied customer because they would feel they had achieved something by getting the vendor to drop their price.

The point is, it is so easy to give money away, when in many cases you simply don’t need to. But if you are still struggling to raise your prices, Brexit has given you an ideal excuse to do so. Inflation in the next few months is almost inevitable, so why not take this opportunity to raise your prices, and see what it does to your bottom line.

What a good week to be away. The aftermath of Brexit apparently causing discontent and ill-feeling almost everywhere, and to top it all England get beaten by Iceland. Being away I didn’t write my blog last week, and although it may be a little late now, I still thought I might add my thoughts.

First of all, although I was pleased with the results of the referendum, there should be no need for smugness or insensitivity. This clearly meant a lot to a lot of people, and just because some of us may feel optimistic about the future, of course there are many who are worried, scared and in some cases panicky about what the future may hold for them. Everybody has different circumstances, and consequently will have had good reasons for voting whichever way they did, and naturally we should all respect that. People, I hope, will have voted for what they felt was best for themselves and their families. Depending on what their businesses are, and how they see their finances and security in the future, will have helped them decide on which way to vote, and rightly so.

The thing is whether the vote went the way you wanted it to or not, we are (or will be) out of the EU. So it is now up to all of us collectively to make the best of the situation we are in. There is no point in moaning about it, and more importantly, we should certainly not be talking ourselves and our economy down. It could be all too easy to talk ourselves into the next recession, and then say “well we told you so”, or “that will teach you for voting out!”

Too much negativity will inevitably bring us all down, and why would any of us truly want that. So now is the time to unite, to work together, to help one another, and maybe, just maybe, things will turn out better than any of us could ever have hoped for.