by John F Kettley | Apr 6, 2026 | Leadership, SMEs
Culture isn’t posters. It’s the founder’s behaviour under pressure. If you really want to see a company’s culture, ‘don’t’ read the values slide, instead, watch what happens when something goes wrong. Culture isn’t posters. It’s behaviour under pressure. It’s how the...
by John F Kettley | Mar 30, 2026 | SMEs
Debt should buy appreciation, never depreciation Debt isn’t good or bad. It’s a tool. Like any tool, it depends who’s holding it and why. My simplest rule is this: debt should buy appreciation, never depreciation. If you borrow to fund something that creates durable...
by John F Kettley | Mar 20, 2026 | Construction Business UK
If you want to understand what the economy is ‘really’ about to do, stop watching the headlines and start watching construction.Construction doesn’t move on sentiment. It moves on permission, design, funding, and schedules. That chain leaves fingerprints early, long...
by John F Kettley | Mar 4, 2026 | Exit Strategy
OWNER DEPENDENCEY IS THE BIGGEST HIDDEN VALUE HAIRCUT If the business can’t run without the founder, it isn’t really a business in the eyes of a buyer. It’s a job, with payroll and liabilities attached. This is one of the biggest gaps between how owners see value and...
by John F Kettley | Mar 2, 2026 | SMEs
TURNOVER IS VANITY. PROFIT IS PROOF. Turnover is a loud number. It’s easy to celebrate, easy to post and easy to hide behind. Profit is quieter. Profit is where the truth lives. I see the same pattern in businesses that come across my desk. Revenue is growing,...
