2 visitors and 21 members greeted a bright sunny day which was a retreat from the record temperatures of the day before. A refreshing breeze refreshed us all.
The Performance League
End of month calculation showed the top five all in excess of 200 points with Terry Maylin out front at 304. Toby Acton and Scott Griffiths followed.
Education Presentation
Stuart Smallcombe recommended a book…. The E Myth. It’s not good enough to be good at the tech. Being good at the tech might make you an ideal employee but as a business owner you have to combine being a technician, a manager, and an entrepreneur. Treat your business as if it were a franchise. Make sure it can operate without you and look for things that can be put into a system that will assist with the day-to-day work obligations. Clearly if you are a member of EBF you are better able to as we give you access to human resources there at your fingertips. Excellent message Stuart.
New Member Induction & Existing Member Renewal
In the absence of announcing renewals or new member inductions, Terry reminded us all of the mark of excellence that you can apply for once you have been a member for one year.
The 60 Second Round
It was a serious multitasking day for Terry Maylin. He was way out front in the performance league for last month, was reminding us about the mark of excellence and finally, as last week’s Oscar winner made it clear this week he was looking for presentations that were focused on what you do and the referrals that you are looking for….. No AI assisted rubbish! His presentation was also focused, he was looking for referrals for personal injury work. And his selling point was that insurance company’s offers to settle were always low and getting a claimant to see a solicitor was vital to avoid mistakenly compromising at a low price a valuable claim. It followed that James Humphreys should express a cynical view about solicitors bringing claims that matched Terry’s views on the offers that insurance companies made to unsuspecting claimants.
Also expressing two sides of one coin was Paul Corrigan. Heating and air conditioning can go hand in hand depending upon whether it’s summer or winter. After the recent heat wave air conditioning seemed like a good idea and the system might cost you as little as £1000 to £1500 as well as being cost effective in its running.
Toby Acton erred slightly on the side of being triumphalist following his being entertained by Aston Martin; watching the Austrian Grand Prix from their premises and receiving a goody bag from which he produced a cap that was briefly worn but not permanently affixed like the one that Blake Hammond brings with him every week. Blake is new on TikTok. He has a page, he has a shop….. All he wants us to do is share, share and then share again.
John Hammond as always was emphasising the importance of getting someone to do a job properly. It’s all very well testing fire alarms and the working of gates from an operational point of view but they also need to be tested for compliance. He was slightly echoed by Jane Malyon who was very into the etiquette of things. How you wear your napkin, where are you place your knife and fork, how you hold your pinkie when you drink a cup of tea, when you put your jam and your cream on your scone. We will have to carry those thoughts in our minds for an extra week as she is about to depart for Canada where they are slightly more exercised by existentialist issues, that is are they to become the next State of the United States of America; which kind of Trump’s matters of etiquette if you will pardon the pun.
And so the round progressed with everyone heeding Terry’s dire warnings on being focused in their presentations. His award of the Oscar was unusual to reward consistency of the usual. It was a shared award in favour of the Naughty Corner. Howard, Stuart and Paul excelled themselves! And during the week will be passing the Oscar from one to the other. Well done chaps!
This weeks statistics and points of note
Just short of £13,000 worth of business recorded and 18 referrals, a good start to the month. In addition, Scott reminded everybody, with the holiday season almost upon us, to make sure you complete your absence reports on the website.
£
0
+
Business Passed Between All Members This Week
0
Referral Opportunies Passed Between Members This Week
10-minute presentation by Darren Lamb
This week it was Darren Lamb’s debut presentation. He used the television screen to illustrate his back story and left us with a job description described him as a ‘sustainability tour guide’. He appears to be advocating that the green route can also be the cost effective route and this 10 minute presentation was useful as we look to find referrals for what is not the most obvious area of expertise to look for. He definitely qualified as a brave soldier having sustained injury from a brush with killer bees.
Congratulations Darren on coherently getting the subject matter of your business in front of us.
A really interesting meeting, particularly Darren’s presentation. I look forward to talking to him about how I can be more sustainable.
Such a great meeting this morning, thank you all.
Great 10 mins Darren… Hope foot gets better soon!
A really excellent meeting today, and a really interesting and insightful 10mins from Darren
A Productive Day at the Essex Business Forum!What another incredibly productive meeting we had today at the Essex Business Forum! These gatherings consistently prove to be invaluable for networking, learning, and sparking new ideas amongst our members.
During the discussions, a lighthearted thought popped up: wouldn’t it be great if our very own Nick Cooke could narrate a bedtime audiobook of “The E Myth”? While that’s certainly an amusing image, and Nick is a valued member and expert in engineering, the acclaimed audiobook, of course, is by Michael E. Gerber. Still, it highlights the kind of out-of-the-box thinking our forum inspires!
On a more impactful note, it’s truly inspiring to see the direct influence our members have on each other. Since Darren joined the group and shared his expertise (remember his fantastic debut presentation as a “sustainability tour guide”?), it’s made a tangible difference! We’ve heard firsthand how his insights have encouraged a move to an electric car and even helped sort out complex battery recycling for Lipo, NiMH, and NiCd. This is a brilliant example of how genuine connections and shared knowledge within the forum lead to positive, real-world changes.
It’s moments like these that truly underscore the power of our community at the Essex Business Forum. Here’s to continued growth, learning, and making a difference together!
A great ed-slot from Stuart. I’m a big fan of outsourcing & delegating! Congrats to Darren for a thought provoking presentation.
Thank you to terry for the Oscar which I am honored to share with my 2 esteemed colleagues!
Fab ed slot and great presentation from Darren. Really enlightening.
Excellent meeting this morning, well done Darren, great presentation.
Great meeting yesterday, I‘ll definitely be reading The E Myth, and would be delighted to chat with members about how I can help put the delegating principles into practice. Thanks Stuart!
Darren’s 10 minute slot was really informative, and I look forward to exploring how I can improve sustainability and environmental impact.
Also great to meet two new visitors, and well done to the Naughty Corner!
A really interesting meeting. Well done to the naughty corner for jointly winning the Oscar this week.
A really interesting ed slot Stuart – I’ll put my name down to read The E Myth or I might listen to the audio version.
An excellent and thought provoking 10 minutes from our ‘sustainability tour guide’ Darren. I am looking forward to having a 1-2-1 with you and finding out more about how I can be sustainable.
See you all next week!
interesting presentation Darren and good to see the flow of visitors continuing