I make no apologies for handing our magazine over to some upbeat, optimistic and downright cheerful stories this month. We have deliberately sought out positive stories, looked for silver linings on the clouds above us and thought we may as well look at how you can be a better business, rather than just feel sorry for ourselves.
It hasn’t been easy because bad things are happening to good people everywhere you look. But we are doing our level best to smile this month. Look out for the smiley faces dotted throughout.
These aren’t evidence that we have started taking drugs, or succumbed to some kind of crazy cult, it is simply an attempt to highlight some happy stories in the magazine this month, so you can cheer yourself up for a minute.
Frankly, you can find plenty of doom and gloom in every other section of the media. What we’ve attempted to do is look at the world from a slightly different point of view.
You can’t help but be impressed and inspired by Imran Hakim. I must admit I wasn’t too sure about him when I first saw him walk the steps up into the Dragons’ Den, but there’s more to him than his chippy patter. Our writer David Casey certainly took to him, and has presented a delightful portrait of a young man one who is clearly enjoying life and making the best of his moment in the limelight.
But most importantly we’ve created a series of hints and tips for every kind of business. The point of these isn’t that this is some kind of cut-out-and-keep guide, but it gets people thinking specifically about the choices and decisions they have to confront in their business.
But don’t think we’ve gone soft. We’ve taken a detailed look at important issues such as retail rents, the current attitudes of our leading banks, and David Conn has investigated the politics of offshore tax havens.
We’re all going to get through this. The world isn’t going to end. It’s horrible, but we’ve come through worse before. In future issues we can start to confront policy makers, banks and other funders with an agenda to rebuild the region’s economy on more solid foundations. But for starters let’s just try and smile a bit.
Michael Taylor, editor
Also in: February 2009
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Dare to bear
Dressing your brother in a bear costume in an attempt to secure private equity investment isn’t your average bid for funding, but Imran Hakim isn’t your average entrepreneur. David Casey met him.
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Get better, stay healthy, keep smiling
There’s no doubt it’s tough out there, but these common sense, and sometimes contradictory, business tips could make all the difference to your business.
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Everyone loves a bargain
While the retail sector faces an uncertain 2009 after one of the toughest Christmas trading periods for years, one North West business continues to buck the trend. Rupert Cornford reports on the unstoppable train that is The Original Factory Shop.