Ken Liu Business Portal

kenliu.co.uk

KL Business Blog

I am a bit of a fitness obsessive, combined with a rampant desire to never wear a suit, even though I look quite good in one, has led me to setting up several fitness related companies. This website is a portal to the businesses I'm involved in. It will also act as a blog whenever I get the chance to write.

From Kettlebells to heavy weights to yoga to martial arts, I'm keen on them all. I'm not keen on spending five, six days a week wearing a shirt and tie, commuting and sitting through endless meetings; which is probably why in my early thirties I find myself running several fitness related businesses with countless other projects on the horizon. It's tough most of the time, I'm not a natural entrepreneur, but I'll tell you one thing. It beats working for a living :)

eBooks - I've succumbed

Although I have an unhealthy obsession with technology, gadgetry and anything that has a spark of electricity running though it, my aversion to eBooks has been strong.

I just love the feel of a book in my hand, something very comforting about it.

I've been bombarded by a host of research papers, eBooks and PDF's which meant that I had to sit at my computer all day or find an alternative. Unlike the iPhone onanists who still tell me that they can read documents fine on their mobiles (no, you can't - stop being so childish) the eBook reader works really, really well. I'm sort of converted.

I doubt I'll be reading non technical stuff on it, but as a reference library and freedom providing gadget it gets the thumbs up from me!

Posted Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:45 by Kenwen

VAT cut and fuel duty increase - the reason why you should ignore headlines and look further down the page

Quick rant today.

VAT cut by 2.5% - whoo hoo!

Fuel Duty goes up (or as the government would put it - the postponement has been postponed) so courier costs will go up again.

Net effect?

Customers will feel aggrieved that e-tailers haven't been able to cut prices, e-tailers get frustrated as they lose customers and Gordon Brown puts his pants over his trousers and claims to be the messiah of the global economy.

Whilst we are on the subject of government sleight of hand...where's the £22 billion raised by the 3G radio spectrum license gone? Granted, when a government is £1 trillion in debt, £22 billion is change down the back of a sofa but surely it can't all have gone to pay for Alastair Darling's eyebrow tinting?

Posted Wed, 26/11/2008 - 14:08 by Kenwen

Official: UK is in recession and now is the time to grow your business

I'm not quite old enough to remember the last recession. Well, that's not quite true, I'm old enough but as they were my student years, I can only remember blurred drinking sessions and a few too many hours spent playing Doom over the LAN rigged up with my flat mates.

So I can only read about the waves of businesses collapsing, houses being repossessed and general downfall of society.

Fast forward sixteen years and I get to experience a recession, albeit one with a nice soundbite; the "credit crunch" - putting aside the economics of that term; how anyone thought that driving the global economy by reckless borrowing was a good idea, I find myself in a lot of conversations with business people and members of the public about how worried they are about the whole situation.

And it is worrying; if all you are planning to do is cut back, reducing spending, stopping training, slashing prices. Its a bit like your local chippie, worried that fewer customers are coming in, cutting back on potatoes to save costs. Selling fish an ch isn't going to entice them in.

In my businesses we've actually increased advertising and marketing budgets. Its costing more but the return still generates a profit. When the economy is under pressure, as it is now, concentrate on making just one more pound (or dollar)

In my businesses we're looking at changes in the way we deliver our products. One of our major projects turns our standard PT operations on its head. We've planned it all out, its still shit scary, but taking a risk, taking a step forward has got to be better than hiding and hoping the problem goes away.

Start negotiating. Your suppliers will be feeling the pressure and may be happy to discuss prices. If you're a long term customer they'll be happy to look at prolonging the relationship. Look at ways of cutting costs without affecting service.

Now is not the time to be paralysed by fear. Standing still and hoping that the recession will ignore you isn't going to work. Your competitors, the braver ones, will be pushing forwards and trying to take a piece of your action. The question is are you going to let them?

Posted Fri, 21/11/2008 - 15:56 by Kenwen
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