This is not just another one of those “how to succeed in business” blogs. No. There are far smarter people than me giving away free business advice already. You already choose to ignore this advice already, so why would you pay any attention to mine? No, this blog is a celebration of  all things wrong in business. I guess if this were a “how to” blog, it would be called “how to really screw up your business”.

So if you are going to entrust in me the job of helping you screw up your business, you may want to know who I am.  My name is Tom, and I have a number of small business interests and jobs based in the UK. I started my work life in John Lewis PLC as a member of the shop floor staff working out of the toy department. Maybe not a role that will have the biggest impact on the future of mankind, but John Lewis probably taught me more relevant lessons about respect, customer service, team work, appearance, presentation, pride etc than any job I have had since.

From here I went to work in IT support whilst developing my online skills in the background. This role taught me all about communications. Not as an IT concept, but communicating with real people.  You soon learn the importance of communication when faced with 60 year old ladies with “blue-screening” laptops. No smart remote access software here, just you, a telephone, a broken laptop and an imploding granny.

My online skill development got me involved in a family business. Duport is an online company formation agent which effectively sets companies up for people in the UK. I have kept a role within Duport for around 7 years and have literally seen the birth (and funerals) of tens of thousands of new UK businesses. This role more than any has exposed me to the mistakes and successes of entrepreneurs throughout the UK.

In the background I run an online strategies company called 2Market Ltd, have a partnership in a new web design business called “Edge of the Web Ltd” and remotely run an immigration business called Global Permits Ltd.

I think it’s important to set the right tone by admitting I have made many of the mistakes (or “business wedgies”) contained within this blog many times over, and not just observed them in a superior manner from aloft my ivory tower.

Whether you are owning, running, or just generally ruining a business, good luck.

p.s. if you take any of the advice in this blog seriously or literally, I will trust that you are also too stupid to work out how to initiate litigation proceedings too!