by John F Kettley | Aug 12, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
Business owners often ask me what they should be doing if they want to sell their business in the next couple of years. It’s a sensible question, but I don’t think it’s the right place to start.The businesses that achieve the strongest outcomes are very rarely...
by John F Kettley | Jul 6, 2026 | Leadership, SMEs
When I look at a business, I usually start with the owner. Not because the numbers don’t matter. They do. But the numbers are often the result of decisions that started much earlier. They show the effect. The owner usually shows the cause. How someone talks about...
by John F Kettley | May 6, 2026 | Exit Strategy, Leadership, SMEs
Most business failures do not begin with a lack of work. They begin with a lack of cash control. That distinction matters because it changes where owners need to look. A business can have a decent pipeline, good people and live sites, and still get into serious...
by John F Kettley | Apr 21, 2026 | Construction Business UK, Leadership, SMEs
A lot of construction owners still talk about turnover as if it proves quality. It doesn’t. Turnover can tell you something about activity, scale or market reach, but on its own it tells you very little about how well the business is actually run. In construction...
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...
