by Ken Heathcote | Aug 25, 2014 | Blog |
It is easier to race the pace then pace the race. This is why the pacer goes out in front and the real athlete sits in until the pacer crashes out three quarters way around the course. It’s pretty much like that in business.  There are always people – often called pioneers - who set the pace and develop great products, only to be surpassed by the opportunists who go on to make a huge success of what other people started. However, there is a moral to this: Make up your mind whether you are good at building a product or good as prolonging...
by Ken Heathcote | Aug 23, 2014 | Blog |
Could the modern day health club be an endangered species? Have you noticed recently how fitness has really taken off with a huge  increase in cycling, hiking, climbing, water sports and even bird watching. The open water swims have also seen an increase in the manufacturing of wet suits. All these outdoor activities are a challenge to the indoor trainer. 49.4% of Americans participated in some form of outdoor activity in 2011 and it still keeps growing. All the research is currently in the United States, but we all know what happens after that - yes, it travels the Atlantic! When we in the UK get our act together and do the surveys you will see there is a phenomenal growth in all outdoor activities. The growth in Triathlons is staggering and disturbing for health clubs and gym memberships. The people now joining Tri-clubs have over 500 to choose from. This and the demand for outdoor training leaves indoor training going less and less. In 2013 – 174 thousand people male and female competed in a triathlon – WOW! All this means heath club memberships will diminish, when really they should be increasing. Who is to say where this trend will end – for sure it is far from peaking out over the next few...
by Ken Heathcote | Aug 22, 2014 | Blog |
Marketing comes in 2 parts – Internal and External. External marketing is about spreading the word and telling them what you are about. Internal marketing is about backing up what you have said. The external sells the dream – the internal fulfils the dream. One provides the dream and the other makes the dream come...
by Ken Heathcote | Aug 21, 2014 | Blog |
This is a long one……………………………. A good friend of mine is a second generation shoe maker. His Dad, Joe Foster made shoes for local footballers, boxers, runners and rugby players. When it was time for the old fella t retire his son Joe took over and over time built up the business and expanded all over the country. Even abroad sales of Fosters shoes were growing – then came the shock! You will have to change your name said the man from the Registration Board – someone with the same name has filed against you. Joe then asked his staff to go home and come up with an acceptable name. That weekend Joe scoured the Webster’s Dictionary – the American version of our Collins. After hours and hours he came up with the definition of an African Gazelle that was fleet of foot, beautiful and graceful in flight and bounding in energy. He thought, that’s fits exactly the description of my running shoes and with that he renamed his company Reebok. Choosing this name was no accident. He knew by instinct he could brand his company around the name of the gazelle. Many years later Joe would sell the company to an American. The running craze had not yet taken off, but a year along the line it did and overnight the word Reebok became synonymous with global success with Joe having sold for a relatively low figure. When I first asked him for the story he said it was all down to luck – not location – but luck, luck, luck and luck. One year later his company would have been worth many, many...
by Ken Heathcote | Aug 18, 2014 | Blog |
Recently I had a talk with a top soccer coach – someone who has played at the very top and who now coaches at the very top. What do you look for I asked when scouting for a player. His advice was never to get distracted by his credentials or what other people said about him. You have to depend on your instincts. Keep watching and something will tell you what it is you need to know. You don’t have to think too much, the player will come to you. This is exactly the same for new employees - be it a personal trainer, chef, supervisor or executive manager. Concentrate and look for the tell tale signs that this is the one and they will come to...
by Ken Heathcote | Aug 17, 2014 | Blog |
There are always the ones who are abrasive or want things other people don’t – awkward for the sake of it – often, or even always at the expense of others. Forty years in business taught me there is about 1% of the population who want you on the back foot. Because of this I dev eloped a philosophy that said, ‘let them have it’ God will get them. You can’t always do that in global terms – Hitler, Saddam, Ben Laden and the guys out in the middle east – God won’t get them, so it’s up to the Government. But, for us in our day to day lives, it’s probably better to let God get...
