Not only does the initial brief inform your activity it also leads to accuracy of the fee quotation and so how profitable the endeavour becomes.

Working for no profit might satisfy the soul but not the mortgage lender.
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Start-up entrepreneurs might ask themselves: ‘how long can my business survive?’

We know cash-flow is key for business survival, how much money do I need? and where it should be spent? are altogether different questions.

Before doing anything, a plan, outlining what you want to achieve, by when and what it will take to achieve the plan. Be aware this plan is likely to change and probably dramatically, over time.

At the outset of your business, beg, borrow, call in favours and even barter or negotiate ‘contras.’ Contra means ‘swap or exchange’ typically it applies to something which comes easily to you and is valued by someone else, whose skill or service you need. A word of caution here though, HM Revenue and Customs might take a dim view of contra transactions; as ever, if in doubt ask.

Spending money wisely is a skill which takes time to perfect; if you discover a way to avoid making costly mistakes please let me know!

One, my bill for fixed line-rental the other, an invitation to leave my present fixed line provider and ‘join BT’ incredible!

Talk about right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing? Incredible maybe, wasteful certainly.

Rough Calculation: Letter, stamp, sales and marketing creative input, equates to a likely £1 per mailing at least. Multiply by the number of existing customers wrongly targeted? This equates to a significant amount, probably tens or likely hundreds of thousands of pounds.

So what’s the solution?
A simple sense check, how about a database driven cross-reference to check the property address/customer name? The end result, less junk mail, more effective direct mail conversion rates, less landfill/recycling, fewer trees felled and happier customers.