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Publisher sought

Written by on August 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment

The reason I haven’t posted the last three chapters of my book, “The Unprincipled”, is because I was nervous that any potentially interested publishers might be put off by the fact that it was all available free online. Anyway, 8 chapters out of 11 should be enough to whet anyone’s appetite. If you have ploughed through all 200+ pages and are desperate to know how it all concludes, send me a message to dave@hilltopconsultancy.co.uk, and I will e-mail you the last three chapters personally.

In the meantime, if you happen to know any friendly publishers who might be interested in the story of a business from start-up to sell-out, via all sorts of dramas – part memoir, part business handbook, part comic novel – I’ll happily pay commissions for any successful introduction.

David Croydon

dave@hilltopconsultancy.co.uk

Categories: memoirs

Chapter eight is here

Written by on January 30, 2011 · Leave a Comment

We’ve just undergone a major split in the ranks which threatens our very existence.  Another round of redundancies has done nothing to improve morale, though as ever, those left behind are thankful and motivated in equal proportions, even if the immediate prospects are not terribly bright.

Now we have an opportunity that could make or break us. What do we do? Go for broke, or act conservatively and try to stabilise the sinking ship before taking any high-risk decisions?

You’ll just have to read on to find out.

And while I have your attention, more than one of my regular readership has insisted that I must get all this properly published.  Well, yes, I’d love to, but as you can imagine, the publishing industry is as difficult to break into as any other creative industry, unless you happen to be connected to someone who is already rich and famous, so if anyone out there knows anyone in publishing to punt this at, I’d be eternally grateful.

Categories: memoirs

Merry Christmas, chapter 7 is here

Written by on December 19, 2010 · Leave a Comment

To lose one partner may be deemed unfortunate; to lose two smacks of carelessness.

Losing more than half the business at the same time spells drama. And we all know what drama brings.  Yes, that’s right, a lot of shouting and potential violence.  Luckily we avoid the violence; the same cannot be said of the shouting.

Of all the 12 years of our existence, this is the second unhappiest (you’ll have to wait till the last chapter for the worst), and yet it all starts out so positively.

Just when you think everything is going swimmingly, life has a habit of reminding you of its fickleness with a hearty kick in the balls.  Chapter 7 is our biggest and most painful testicular blow.

The fact that there are four more chapters to this history means you know the blow isn’t fatal, but boy, it comes mighty close.

And if you’ve been with me on this journey from the start, whether actually or metaphorically, keep the faith: things get better.  A lot better.  As I mentioned in a very early post, the journey was a roller-coaster.  Chapter 7 is where we bottom out.

Enjoy, and don’t let it spoil your Christmas. It won’t be spoiling mine.

Categories: memoirs

Chapter 6 hits the presses

Written by on November 2, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Comings and Goings: Recruitment and Redundancy

We’re over the half-way mark now: six chapters down, five to go.

What happens when things go wrong (the first time): grappling with recession and the need to make redundant colleagues who have become friends, and trying desperately to stabilise the ship.

Plus, as we recover (sorry to spoil the story), our dip into the world of business advisors and consultants.

What can go wrong frequently does, and yet we still manage, within two years, to post record results and continue to win new business, even while we’re losing clients too.  It’s all part of the roller-coaster ride I promised you (and we’re far from finished yet.)

Categories: memoirs - Tags:

Chapter 5 is now here

Written by on September 29, 2010 · 1 Comment

The theme of motivation.

A lengthy (too lengthy) description of the many and varied ways we found to motivate our clients, our staff and ourselves, generally involving large amounts of alcohol and frequently ending in bad behaviour and embarrassment all round.

As one of my erstwhile colleagues put it, after he had read it, “Finally you look like you might be having fun.”  If previous chapters have implied that everything was unalloyed tedium and grind, then nothing could be further from the truth.  If anything, we spent too much time (and money) on pissing the proceeds up the wall, and not enough actually running and growing the business.

There is an argument that we could have achieved our objectives a lot more quickly, if we had spent less time on this sort of fun and games, and more actually working.  But stuff that.  If you’re not in business to have at least some personal amusement, what on earth are you doing here at all?

Enjoy the journey…

Categories: Humour, memoirs, Motivation, Training, Uncategorized - Tags:

The story so far

Written by on September 21, 2010 · Leave a Comment

There are 11 chapters in the book in total, and so far, the first four have been published here, though chapter 5 will be here very soon.  Each chapter is 20 or 30 pages long, so I thought it would be worth while summarising the content of each chapter, so you can pick and choose which subject matters you might want to read (for those who don’t want to start at page one and continue to page 277).

Chapter 1:
Palm-Tree Head and the Art of Conspiracy
Conspiring to form a breakaway from our current employer, taking as much business with us as we can, via a plethora of secret-squirrel meetings.  The business of setting up a business.

Chapter 2:
Dodgy Accountants: Pit Pony, Cardy Coxy and the Bookie’s Friend
The early days of the enterprise and our little local difficulties with the world of accountants – internal and external: fraud and incompetence in equal measures. ‘Dodgy’ sums it up really.

Chapter 3:
Sharp Practice: Creative Accounting in the Creative Department
Fun and games with the creative function.  To suffer one fraudulent Board member may be deemed unfortunate; a second looks like carelessness.

Chapter 4:
Cowboys (and Indians): Dodgy Clients
A walk through some of the work we do, featuring some of the less savoury characters we find ourselves dealing with.  Character defects (ours or theirs?) abound.

Chapter 5:
Motivation, Motivation, Motivation
A lengthy description of our efforts at client entertainment, staff motivation and self-motivation, thinly disguised as a continual succession of piss-ups, here and abroad.

Categories: Humour, memoirs, Training, Uncategorized - Tags:

Chapter 4 hits the (Word)press

Written by on August 24, 2010 · 3 Comments

More about the work we did, the problems we encountered, the characters we had to deal with, on all sides of the business equation, and especially some of the dodgier characters that fell across our path.

It isn’t always pretty; there are almost as many black Fridays as happy Mondays, but somehow we keep going.

As always, though, trouble is just round the corner.  Now read on…

Categories: Humour, memoirs, Training, Uncategorized - Tags:

Chapter three is up

Written by on July 22, 2010 · 1 Comment

It would be great if I could add to this site the ability for visitors who are interested to sign up to any future page/chapter posts.  I know this is possible, but it seems that WordPress is just about the most complex blog on the net, and everyone I ask says, yes of course it’s possible, but we don’t touch WordPress with a barge-pole, it’s so complicated.

Is there anyone out there who knows how to do it, and can communicate that in words of one syllable to an ignoramus like what I am?

All the other chapters are written (up to chapter eight is already in digital form, requiring only editing and checking), so further chapters should appear at fairly regular intervals through the rest of the Summer.

And if anyone knows a publishing house who might be interested in taking it on, once complete, I’m open to offers.

Categories: Humour, memoirs, Training, Uncategorized

‘Ere we go

Written by on May 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Chapter one is up and running.  If you want to be notified when two, three and the rest make their appearance, let me know and I’ll add you to the Mailchimp list I’m devising for the purpose.  Or just visit here every two or three weeks.

Categories: Uncategorized

Finally the book begins

Written by on May 5, 2010 · 28 Comments

After promising myself (and anyone else who bothered to read the first post) that I’d have everything finished and published by the end of the decade, sloth intervened, amidst an uncertainty about how to transpose 280 pages of handwritten script into digital content.  I tried voice recognition software, with little success.  I started and stopped several times (just like when writing the damn thing initially), but finally I’ve found a methodology that gets things done.  The first three chapters are already done and need only an editing hand.  The rest will follow in reasonably short order.  So very very imminently, I shall start to publish here, chapter by chapter, probably one every two or three weeks, the book of the film.  Watch this space.

Categories: Humour, memoirs, Training - Tags: ,

Introduction

Written by on June 23, 2008 · 14 Comments

As a small business advisor/coach/mentor/NEC, I spend most of my time helping established small business owner/managers grow and improve their business. Through a network of successful business owners and entrepreneurs, I share knowledge, experience and expertise, to help them make the small but frequent step changes that add real value to the business over time, helping them envision what the business might look like “when it is finished” and planning the actions and timescales that are necessary to achieve that vision.

It occurred to me that a document of my own real-life experiences, starting, running and eventually selling a small business of my own, might be interesting, as well as entertaining. I’ve been meaning to get it all down on paper for years, and now finally I have.
So the plan is to blog a chapter a month, building up over a year into a full and unexpurgated account of start-up, through growing pains and eventual financial stability to its eventual sale.
So watch this space: the Foreword will come soon. Chapter 1 is scheduled for around the middle of October. By next Christmas (2009) it will be complete and (maybe) in book form too. If I can’t find a publisher, I’ll self-publish.

Categories: Humour, memoirs, Training, Uncategorized - Tags: , ,