CHAPTER 33:

THE ART OF GOOD MANAGEMENT

I believe that I wrote about something like this some years ago that the art of good management is delegation and then checking that your instruction has been carried out to the letter. This is absolutely crucial to the efficient running of the business. Unfortunately, we (the Alan d Management) i.e. Edward and I, lost sight of the message as above which has resulted in two things… an inexplicable loss of income even though our student numbers were growing and eventually finding the right person to put us back on track.

Let me explain further. As I said, business is ok and the numbers of our Trainees are almost back to pre-pandemic levels. However, one or two anomalies in our system alerted us to the fact that the number of people we had in training did not reflect the income we were receiving. Obviously this raised alarm bells which led to a painstaking audit process. Essentially, we took our eye off the ball and the result was an extremely difficult three months whilst we put everything back on track. It also led us to employ someone very well qualified to carry out the ongoing administration of the business and it taught us a lesson we won’t forget in a hurry.

As to the private side of the business; it could be better as it’s still pretty slow for a variety of reasons. The fact is that all the product houses offer short courses in colour and cut, normally at nominal prices, as well as lots of people offering online training. Please explain to this very old, grumpy bloke how you can train someone from a distance without putting your hands into real, live hair.

On a more personal basis our daughter Katy, who’s married and living in New York, has just become a foster mother for the first time. She has a beautiful little girl, Kayla, who is absolutely adored by her and her husband. We just wish they lived a bit closer to us.

Hopefully someone will read my latest attempt to put the world to rights and don’t forget to contact me even if it’s to tell me I’m talking rubbish.