Time to be creative

As business owners, we have our schedule.

Things to do - client meetings, prospect meetings, team meetings, tasks and projects, business lunches. It’s a merry-go-round with often little time left for reflecting and thinking.

But thinking and being creative can be what makes the difference. Developing that great new marketing idea, looking at a different and better way to complete a business process, exploring options to resolve a tricky employee or customer issue.

Many successful people make time and create an environment so that they can do their best thinking. Entrepreneur and author, Nigel Botterill does this every day. He works and thinks best in the morning so he sets aside 90 minutes or so at the start of each day and shuts himself away to think and create. He focuses on things that move his business forward - marketing ideas, developing a new product or service, a targeted email campaign, a video series or similar. Its worked for him as a serial entrepreneur with a number of multi-million £ businesses in his portfolio.

A few years ago I stumbled upon a great YouTube video from ex Monty Python comic John Cleese about creativity. It’s rather odd, with the great man standing at a lectern giving a presentation to a group of business people. The content is brilliant though. Cleese advocates making a set time for your creative work when you know you will not be disturbed. Also important is finding the right space where you feel comfortable. Before you start he says you should get all the clutter out of your head. Make that phone call, send that email, get that thing off your list. Then relax and be creative. In his case being creative was being funny and writing sketches. A great tip from Cleese is don’t settle for ‘good’. There’s a temptation when you have come up with your creative product to leave it there and move onto the next one. What he does is work a bit harder on it and try to move it from ‘good’ to ‘great’. Sometimes that can be painful and hard work but he believes it can make a real difference. 

Best-selling thriller writer Stephen King use discipline and routine to be creative. He writes every day, without fail, again in the mornings, in his writing den. Like Cleese he believes in revisiting and improving his creations after the first draft. In his case he puts a draft manuscript in a drawer and forgets about it for a while. He then comes back and looks at it with fresh eyes some days or even weeks later. Children’s author Roald Dahl followed a similar, disciplined routine, writing in an armchair in his garden shed, with extra blankets and a hot flask to keep warm in Winter.

My creative time is when I’m running or driving. Away from distractions (apart from watching the road, of course) my mind wanders and occasionally a new idea will pop up which can be developed further on the run or on the road trip.

Creative genius and business guru Andy Warhol put it best when he said, ‘Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art’

As business owners, we need this time to be creative I think. To create the best art in our businesses. They don’t teach it in business school and there is no rule book but creativity can make your business more distinctive, more exciting and of course, more profitable.

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Knowledge is power

I like the TV programme where antique experts go on a road trip in a vintage car. They start off with a wad of cash and along the way they stop at antique shops and hunt out bargains. Their booty is sold at various auctions and the winner is the one with the biggest profit made on the trip. All proceeds to charity of course.

I really enjoy this, partly for adding to my limited knowledge of antiques, partly for the banter and mainly for the haggling. Yes, the haggling.

That, for me, is the essence of the show. Can the expert find a treasure and negotiate a price with the shop owner which leaves them with a healthy profit and the shop owner satisfied?

After watching a ridiculous number of episodes (I’m on repeats of repeats of repeats now) I’ve reached the conclusion that there are two main types of antique expert. 

There are the ones who have an uncanny knack for sniffing out the genuine treasures and noting with glee that they are under-priced. The shop owner has not realised they have a hidden gem in their cabinet and left it jumbled together with sundry bric a brac.

Then there are the less observant, or perhaps less able experts. They mooch around the shop for a good while and eventually settle on something shiny which catches their eye. Inevitably these items are fairly-priced, which makes turning a profit a little more challenging.

Then the negotiation starts.

Our savvy expert knows he has a bargain on his hands. He shares his thoughts with the camera and goes off to find the shop owner. Negotiation is simple and quick. ‘Is this the owner’s best price?’ or, ‘Can they knock a couple of quid off’ The deal is done and both the expert and the owner are happy. Both have achieved good value. The owner has achieved their target price (or thereabouts). The expert has achieved outstanding value - a result of their knowledge, acquired from years of obsession, research and experience.

Our less savvy expert takes his shiny object to discuss with the owner. He looks for flaws, “There’s a bit of a crack here’, ‘Did you pick this up for a song in a house clearance’ or, ‘Is this one you’ve had for a while’. He makes a ridiculously low offer. The owner is clearly not happy and is reluctant to drop. They eventually reach a grudging compromise. The owner’s body language shows disappointment. They accepted a lower price than they wanted to and have barely covered their costs. The expert has the chance of a small margin if all goes well at the auction. If not, they'll make a loss. It’s a functional and unsatisfactory deal with neither party terribly happy with the outcome.

My take-out from this is that the expert with the knowledge is the big winner in the profit stakes. Haggling skills alone are unlikely to result in a great outcome.

I think this has relevance beyond the world of antiques. 

Knowledge has value, particularly in professional service businesses.

If businesses can find ways of applying their knowledge to address customers’ needs and wants, at the right price, there lies the potential for healthy profits and satisfied customers.

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Pricing for profit

It’s nothing new that different industries and sectors can learn from each other.

In my previous life as a management accountant with a major UK food retailer we learned from ‘Just in time’ supply chains in the car manufacturing sector. Modern computing and more famously non-stick pans were by-products of the space race. So how about accountants learning from builders?

Something which builders tend to do better than accountants is pricing their jobs. They put a significant amount of effort into it. They really think hard about what is involved. What time will be spent by people with different skills and knowledge, what materials and resources will need to be deployed, what stage payments are appropriate, what the possible risks are, what the timeline will be and so on. And the price. Yes they think very hard about the price.

The detailed scope of work and price are presented in a professional proposal and guidelines are included for ‘Variations’. These being the steps to be followed if something unexpected crops up, outside of the anticipated scope.

All very sensible stuff and managed well, it works.

The customer gets what they want at the price they were willing to pay. The builder gets a fixed price with stage payments at agreed milestones to assist with cashflow.

In my experience, accountants aren’t terribly good at this. 

The worst of us still charge based on time. Imagine a builder turning up to quote for your extension and saying, ‘We’ll log our time and materials, see how we get on and we’ll give you a bill when we’re done.’ I suspect this builder would not get much work.

Almost as bad is agreeing the scope of work and price and carrying on regardless, despite the nature of the work changing significantly when the project is underway. The inevitable result of this is an unhappy accountant and ultimately an unhappy customer. Instead of a win/win it quickly becomes lose/lose.

Variations or ‘Change orders’ as pricing guru Ron Baker calls them are the answer. If a builder starts work on your extension and finds special engineering expertise is required to hold up a supporting wall, he doesn’t just grit his teeth and ‘crack on’. He discusses what the additional work involves with the customer and they agree a price before he continues. All very sensible, fair and mutually beneficial. 

Sometimes these conversations about variations can be difficult. The customer expects a fixed price and in their mind, a fixed price is a fixed price. In these cases the customer should be referred back to the scope of work and the assumptions made about the work involved. Polite, informed discussion about the scope and the nature of the variation can help to get things back on track.

In the best business relationships, both parties win. The customer gets a great product or service and the supplier makes a fair return. 

That takes careful management, not just of the project delivery but dealing with variations too.

We can learn a lot from the builders.

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What’s the best piece of advice you’ve had in your career?

We are bombarded with advice from every quarter. 

Inspirational quotes on Social Media from business leaders and life coaches, occasionally from our peers and colleagues, from TV and the print media. Some of it’s good and relevant, sometimes its froth and a distraction.

It got me thinking about the best advice I have ever received. What really stuck and made a difference? 

For me there is one nugget that stands out. it relates to my most recent venture as a business owner of an accountancy practice.

When I left my previous role as an accountant (and latterly project manager) at Tesco head office I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to meet with an ‘Outplacement’ consultant to help me decide what to do next. I was pretty clear straight away that I didn’t want to get another job but wanted to set up my own business. Talking this through with someone was a big help. One bit of advice my consultant gave me which stood out and stayed with me was, ‘Use your network’.

What she meant was keep in touch with people you already know, let them know what you are doing and ask them (directly or indirectly) to spread the word about your new direction. 

I did this. 

One or two of my ex colleagues came to our launch event. We had no clients so it was friends, family and people who knew us. 

My first tax client was an ex work colleague. My first business client was a chap starting a building firm that had just won a project refurbishing a building where I was meeting some ex work colleagues. I was introduced and he decided to work with us. This pattern continued in the first few years of my new business. Old work colleagues either became clients when they decided to change career and start their own consulting businesses, or they introduced me to someone they knew in a similar position.

16 years on my business has branched out in different directions and we have business clients covering all sectors spread far and wide. I’ve developed and nurtured new networks with business groups, clients, new work colleagues and so on. I still get referrals from old work colleagues though - more typically now these are second or third contacts rather than someone I knew personally. 

A network is a wonderful thing and the tentacles run deep and can be long-lasting.

So I am incredibly grateful for that piece of advice.

It got me started with my new business and has helped to sustain it and keep it growing.

In my current position I see many people starting on a new business venture. Along with advice on business structure, finance, tax registrations, setting up accounts etc I always throw in, ‘Don’t forget to use your network’.

It worked for me.

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Process improvement and paradigms

Business Process Improvement (BPI) was a big thing in the corporate world in the nineties.

It may well still be a thing. I've been out of the 'big' corporate world for a while now so I wouldn't know. It was definitely a thing though. Large consultancy firms promoted it as a way of transforming business fortunes and profits. Smart, young MBAs toured the Boardrooms of the corporate elite with their BPI toolkit of process maps, change management methodology and new organisation charts.

It delivered results. 

I saw first hand as a management accountant at a large Supermarket retailer how reviewing and improving processes could change things for the better. A good example was getting product on the shelves for customers. Historically these had been delivered from distribution depots  on pallets or on 'cages'. The products were then 'hand-balled' from the pallet or cage in the store's backroom onto a smaller cage for wheeling to the shop floor and stocking the shelf. BPI came up with the idea of 'dollies'. Smaller, maneuverable devices on which the stock was loaded at the depots. On arrival to the store they could be wheeled straight onto the shop floor for shelf filling saving a huge amount of time and labour and providing fresher product for the customer.  

BPI was (and I'm sure still is) important. The example quoted delivered significant savings but they were more incremental than transformational.

Another phrase bandied around in the nineties was 'paradigm shift'. Similar and more commonly used now is 'disruption'. A paradigm shift is defined as 'A fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.' That is much more radical than BPI and changes the rules completely for a business or a business sector. An example in the supermarket world was the introduction of Internet shopping. The new paradigm removed the need for the 'bricks and mortar' store and delivered the product direct to the customer.'Bricks' and 'clicks' now exists side by side but the change has been and continues to be truly fundamental.

Small businesses need to be alert to the benefits of BPI and the threat and opportunity created by shifting paradigms and market disruption. Businesses organised around clear processes and routines aligned with job roles are much more likely to be successful in the longer run. The best managers and entrepreneurs will continually review and update their processes to ensure they are effective and customer-focused.

Having great processes may not be enough though if there is a significant change in a market. High street bookshops may have ultra-efficient processes and routines but when their customers can have the product delivered to their home for a lower price on the same or next day by Amazon, efficient processes count for very little.

Process improvement has its place for both large and small businesses but the biggest threat or opportunity still comes from paradigm shifts and market disruption. 

Even the smallest businesses need to be alert to the next Amazon appearing on their doorstep.

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Adding capacity

For a growing business, deciding when to add capacity can be a tricky.

Too early and profits and cashflow are adversely affected. Too late and service levels to customers will suffer.

I lean towards adding capacity (in the form of people, space, other resources) sooner rather than later. The boldest businesses have followed this path and for the most visionary it has paid off handsomely. Transport and distribution businesses like railways, airlines and international couriers are good examples. They didn't wait until they had enough customers to justify the investment. They built the infrastructure (in the case of the railroads at significant cost) and the customers followed afterwards.

What about in a small business where access to capital can be difficult and margins are tight? 

I still believe that with a robust plan for future growth, investing early in additional resources is the best approach. If the decision is postponed until the extra resource is urgently needed, this places additional strain on the business and there will be a further delay before the resources are in place due to lead times for recruitment, negotiating leases etc.

For professional service businesses like accountants the extra capacity we need to grow is usually people and space. I still regret to this day that when an adjoining office became available I didn't snap it up but decided it was a little bit too much of a stretch at the time. The landlord said to me, 'Fred, it's a little bit like a farmer where the neighbouring field is up for sale. When it's gone it's gone'. He was right of course.  He ended up letting  it to another tenant who resides happily there to this day. We have had to manage with 'just enough' space and our situation has only eased a little recently as more capacity has become available.

Taking on additional employees ahead of an expected increase in workload can be a challenge. It is also an opportunity however to give them a thorough induction and make sure they are trained and prepared when the rush comes.

If capacity is added early it is critical to ensure that the expected growth occurs to cover the additional costs and to make extra profit in the medium term. That's where the robust growth plan comes in and ensuring that it is delivered.

For a growing business adding capacity just a little bit ahead of the curve makes sense to me. It makes growth more manageable and orderly and I believe will have a more beneficial impact on profits in the longer run.

Getting this right is not a precise science. 

I know from experience that I have rarely regretted taking on capacity too early but I have had regrets and felt the pain where I have waited a little bit too long.

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Every business should have a structure

Many small businesses owners muddle through.

Every day is a challenge to get through the things that come at them. Buying the stock, dealing with a difficult customer, speaking to the bank manager, paying the latest tax bill, sorting out an employee problem and so on. A relentless treadmill of stuff to be done. And it feels never-ending.

There is a better way. 

Michael Gerber in his seminal book about small business, 'The E Myth Revisited', advocates drawing up a structure chart for roles and duties in the business from day 1. 'There's only me in the business!' I here you say. That is pretty typical. A start up may initially just be the business owner doing everything. Even so, Gerber argues that listing what needs to be done and then drawing up a structure chart with the different roles, provides some organisation from the outset.

Initially the business owner will fill every position on the structure chart. Importantly though, they need to wear those different hats at different times and ensure that essential work gets done. The marketing, the selling, the invoicing, collecting the money.

As the business grows some of the positions on the chart start to get filled. Maybe a part-time bookkeeper first, then someone to help in the shop whilst the owner places the orders. Gradually the team starts to take shape and the job descriptions ensure they do the right things.

Creating the organisation chart is not a one-off exercise. It needs continuous review as the business grows and develops. Every now and then it might need a significant overhaul as processes and activities are revised to adapt to new challenges or opportunities.

Businesses that don't have a structure chart and clear roles and responsibilities can still get by and many do just that.. 'Muddle through' as I said in the opening paragraph. They do tend to stay small however and business life can be uncertain and a little chaotic.

So if your business doesn't have a clear structure, do give this some thought.

I came across this quote from a chap called Henry Cloud which kind of sums it up, 'Boundaries are basically about providing structure and structure is essential in anything that thrives'

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Failing is overrated

We see articles all the time saying how great failure is. 

It’s an opportunity to learn the lessons, dust yourself off and do it differently next time. 

Great thinkers and great inventors like Einstein, Edison and Archimedes are quoted. Failing hundreds or thousands of times and then...Eureka! 

Success at last. 

Learning from failure and being resilient enough to try again are of course important and can be a path to future success. This is particularly true when blazing a trail in a new field like inventing stuff or astro physics. There is no roadmap to follow so experimentation is the only way.

On a personal level, learning from failure and trying again is a positive thing. We try some public speaking which doesn’t go as well as hoped, or try a particular approach with a customer or employee which falls flat. Stopping, reflecting, learning and trying something different next time makes perfect sense.

Ok, so I agree that learning from failure has its merits. 

That’s all good but a better and smarter way way in most cases is learning from success. What sets humans apart is access to knowledge and best practice. Observing and learning from successful people, successful teams, successful leaders and so on is a quicker and less painful route in most cases than learning from failure.

So in business we can start up a new venture and plough our own furrow, making mistakes as we go, tweaking, adapting and moving on after each setback. Or we can learn from the best - the Jobs', Bransons, Krocs and Disneys of this world. Or maybe that guy you met at a networking group who started his business at a similar time to you and seems to be doing brilliantly well. What did they do that led to their success? Can you take the best of what they did and sprinkle it around your business?

We can also learn from success by surrounding ourselves with experts and mentors who have knowledge and experience they can share to help us get things right, the first time we do it.

So by all means let's learn from our failures but let's also be hungry to learn from success.

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What business are you in?

A deceptively simple question. 

It was first posited by management guru Peter Drucker who argued it is a fundamental thing which all businesses should ask themselves and consider carefully before deciding on the answer.

An accountancy firm ‘does’ accounts and tax, a restaurant serves food and drinks - simple?

Well...maybe not. 

How that question is answered can shape the culture, behaviours, investment strategy and development of a firm. 

If an accounting firm does accounts and tax -  do they also provide advisory services? 

A restaurant provides food and drinks - to what kind of customer? What kind of customer experience do they create?

Let’s look at some examples. Blockbuster probably thought they were in the video rental business, at least that’s where they stayed. If they had been in the ‘home entertainment’ business might they have diversified or been more alert to the advent of streaming and pay per view channels? Maybe if their definition of the business they were in had not been so narrow we’d be selecting our Friday night TV viewing from a Blockbuster channel alongside Netflix and Amazon?

The classic example of a firm who have an innovative and broader view of the business they are in is Disney. They made the leap from Mickey Mouse shorts to big screen movies to TV to theme parks by being in the business of ‘show business'. To quote the great man, “I never called my work an ‘art’. It’s part of show business, the business of building entertainment.”

We may not all be as visionary as Disney but small business owners should think hard about this question. 

An accountancy firm may well ‘do accountancy’ but they may have a market niche (like dentists or consultants etc) or maybe they are in the business of helping their business customers achieve their goals? 

Many businesses bumble along quite happily without having absolute clarity about what business they are in or maybe having too narrow a focus. Blockbuster survived quite nicely for quite a few years. 

I go back to my opening line. It’s a deceptively simple question.

The answer doesn't have to be obvious. It can give your business a unique identity and purpose.

It may end up defining its future direction and longevity.

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The billable hour is dead!

Or it should, be according to business guru Ron Baker and others. 

But it lives on. Buoyed up by years of habit and entrenched thinking.

Ron is a writer and radio host and one of the founders of Verasage, a US think tank committed to researching and promoting best practice in professional firms. I first came across Ron when I went to my Institute’s conference for accountants working in practice just before starting my own practice 16 years ago. The other speakers at the event were pretty forgettable and Ron stood out as the one with the most radical and authoritative message. His delivery was good too. Confident in his subject and put across with a dry humour, laced with anecdotes. His brilliant book, ‘The Firm of the future’, co-written with Paul Dunn, is 16 years old now but still feels fresh and innovative and full of great ideas.

So in my own accountancy practice I have tried to avoid timesheets from day 1 and reject invoicing customers on an hourly basis. I say ‘tried’ as I haven’t always been imaginative enough to avoid returning to the dreaded billable hour. 

Ron and his acolytes advise pricing based on value. Start with the price and the hours expended and other internal costs really shouldn’t matter to the customer.  Although sometimes it does. Occasionally when I quote a price a customer will want to know how long the project is going to take or afterwards (very rarely) they may ask to see a time log. Maybe for some people their perception of value is still based on how long it took to deliver it? As customers we don’t ask that about cars or the latest iPhone but in some cases we do it seems about professional services.

Value Pricing’ as the term goes is, ‘The highest price a customer is willing to pay for a product or service’. 

Wow! What business wouldn’t want their customers to pay the highest price for their product or service? The important phrase here is ‘willing to pay’. In value pricing both the seller and the customer are happy as they have achieved what is valuable to them.

Lets be clear. This is not about over-charging. In accountancy firms some services like monthly payroll and a basic tax return might be 'commoditised' and the price standardised and set by the marketplace. For more complex advisory work or for a bundle of services where a customer's requirements and perception of value are unique, value pricing can be a win/win for the seller and the buyer.

Getting back to why I occasionally fail with this and revert to the billable hour. It tends to be on projects which are ‘open-ended’ and you don’t quite know what is going to be involved or how much effort and time will be expended. An example might be a tax enquiry going back several years. Under value pricing you would quote a fixed price to achieve certain results and offer appropriate guarantees. I usually ‘bottle it’ and quote an hourly rate and the prospect is invariably happy. Value pricers would argue that the prospective customer is looking for a solution and certainty and a fixed price would be more attractive than an open-ended bill based on time spent on the project. Next time this comes up I will try to be braver and see how I get on.

The accountancy sector is slowly changing and more firms seem to be moving away from timesheets and billing based on these. There are even software products which help firms set prices based on their own set of rules. I have tried these and I couldn’t get on with them. Although I set the rules, the price the software churned out didn’t necessarily agree with my judgement of the where the value point was for my prospective customer or for me. It felt like I was passing the pricing decision over to a machine.

That’s not for me although I can see the benefits of standardisation and rules for pricing. 

But going back to the definition of value pricing, “The highest price a customer is willing to pay...’. How can software decide that unless it is very clever software indeed? 

Value pricing seems to be an art rather than a science.

A dance between the seller and the prospective customer. For the seller to establish the needs and wants of that prospective customer and then address them with a compelling proposition with service guarantees, a certain outcome and a price which reflects the value delivered.

I will be sticking with my judgement for pricing for the time being but who knows, with the progression of AI maybe the machines will take over before too long.

That really would be the death of a salesman or maybe, more accurately, the death of a value pricer

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What's on your 'To do' list?

For a typical business owner it will be a wide range of things.

From the strategic to the tactical. From the long term to the shorter term and the downright urgent!

It strikes me that the contents of your 'To do' list can tell you a lot about how you are managing the business.

If the items on your 'To do' list are leaning more towards the tactical/short term/urgent, you are probably still at the 'Technician' phase of managing your business described by business guru Michael Gerber. You are still very hands on 'doing' and delivering the product or service to your customers. Strategy? Whats that? I haven't got time to breathe never mind think about being strategic!

If your 'To do' list content is more long term/strategic - recruiting a new senior employee, negotiating terms with a prospective new customer, looking at a new IT system to improve effectiveness etc you are probably in the Manager/Entrepreneur phase. You are thinking in the longer term and perhaps engineering how your business can continue without your day to day input. That is a much better place to be for a business owner.

Well that's all well and good but an urgent list is an urgent list and this stuff needs to get done! 

That is true. When I get into overwhelm mode - it happens to us all from time to time, I review the list and set priorities. Is there anything on the list that can be delegated or deferred? With some tinkering, planning and thought the list can be made more manageable.

That sorts things out for the immediate future but what about the longer term? 

If 'overwhelm mode' is the normal state of affairs for a business owner, some time needs to spent on thinking how things might be made more manageable over time. That might need some time out from the business to think things through and work out a plan. An external facilitator can help here to help you look at things afresh and bring new ideas.

So do think about this if you feel trapped by your jobs list. We all need plans and 'To do' lists. They are what move us forward. For business owners, your list should be motivational and moving you towards a longer term goal.

If that's not the case with your list, it's time for action.

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Letting go

Every business owner wants to be set free from their business.

At least they should want this. A business which can run effectively without day to day input from the owner is much more valuable than a business which is reliant on him or her.

Value aside it must be much more rewarding in a practical sense having a business which works for you rather than just being being your place of work. 

That’s the theory. The practice is much more difficult.

If being ‘the boss’ has been your raison d’etre for 10 or 15 years, to morph into someone who is not needed and maybe even gets in the way a bit, is a difficult transition.

Part of the DNA and make up of business owners and entrepreneurs is being driven and busy. Long ‘to do’ lists, not enough time. Demanding customers, challenging suppliers,  employee problems. Stress. Adrenaline.

When you stop being essential to the business its hard to let go of old habits of jumping in, fixing problems and doing things the way you’ve always done them.

So what’s the solution?

Well I’m no expert because I am still fairly hands on with my business. My employees would be the judges of how needed I am. Maybe I’ll ask them. 

But getting back to the solution, I think the first thing is to learn to let go of the guilt. It’s ok not to be busy. It’s your business. You’ve put in the hard work. You’ve built the team. Now let them get on with it.

You can of course put your energy into something else - a new hobby, a new business venture or developing a new stream of your existing business.

If you have managed to find your freedom be sure to celebrate it. It’s a nirvana that many business owners never reach.

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Learning from the Babylonians

If someone asks me to recommend a book on personal finance I choose George S. Clason’s, ‘Richest man in Babylon.’ 

I’ve given copies to my kids (I’m not sure if they ever got round to reading it) and to several other friends and acquaintances over the years.

Clason was born in 1874 and started writing this book as a series of pamphlets in the 1920s. The pamphlets were circulated by banks and insurance companies and became very popular. Eventually they were compiled into the famous book.

The book is a series of stories which purport to draw on the wisdom of the Babylonians, some 6,000 years ago. They built a prosperous and successful city and dynasty that survived for centuries, founded on principles of trade and sound financial management.

The principles are timeless and if followed, with application and some luck, over a period of time should make anyone wealthier.

Here is a brief summary of the 7 rules for acquiring and retaining wealth as described in the book:

1. Start thy purse to fattening.

Simply put, save 10% of what you earn. Easy if you have a decent income, less so if you don’t. Very true, but Clason argues that whatever your income, regular saving is key. 

2. Control thy expenditures

Self explanatory this one - having a budget and sticking to it. Save the 10% and make sure you spend no more than the remaining 90% each month

3. Make thy gold multiply

As the 10% builds up into a reasonably-sized pot you need to make this work for you and generate an income. In today’s world Clason would say speak to an Independent Financial Advisor or propose investing wisely based on knowledge of likely risks and returns. He guards against. 'Get rich quick' schemes.

4. Guard thy treasures from loss

Clason’s view was that you should ‘protect your principal, ie if investing £1,000 make sure this is protected and is your minimum return. So under this rule the stock market or property investment would be ruled out. I suspect he might modify this rule in today’s world but the principle of being cautious about losses still holds true.

5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment

Again, self-explanatory but easier said than done for youngsters in the current housing market. House price inflation has outstripped wage growth for many years making it harder to get a foot on the housing ladder. My personal view is that it is still worth making the stretch to buy if at all possible. Government-backed incentive schemes can help and once on the ladder things should improve over time if household wages continue to grow.

6. Insure a future income

In other words, make sure you have some income for when you no longer work. For many of us this is an employment pension, supplemented by State pension. For the self-employed pensions often get neglected, especially in the start up years. Thinking ahead and providing for this well in advance is sound financial planning

7. Increase thy ability to earn

Learn a new skill, get a new qualification, keep learning. We know that pays off and increases earning potential in the longer run

That’s essentially it. The stories bring the rules to life and keep them in the memory.

By a mixture of luck, a fortunate upbringing and some mistakes made along the way I’ve kind of fallen into doing these things consistently over a period of time.

They’ve worked for me and I think can work for others too

Babylon may be no more but the Babylonians certainly knew a thing or two about the acquisition and retention of wealth.

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