Don't Give It The Head Space

Adam Payne • 2 November 2020

Don't Let the Problems of the World Take Control

Focus on the things that you need to get done and get sales

Stay Focused While Running A Business

It's hard to stay focused when you're in the middle of a business. We can let things that we have no control over invade our headspace, and when we know that we need to concentrate on our business and really focus down and shut out the noise, it can be hard.


But we need to think about what's important: getting and keeping customers, driving traffic to our websites, driving traffic to our landing pages, webinars and all the good stuff.


It's a tough time to be a business owner. It's easy to get stuck in the day-to-day, and lose sight of what's really important for your company's growth.


But you've got to keep moving forward. It doesn't matter if you're just getting started or you've been in business for ages—you have to keep thinking around how can I drive traffic? How can I get the profitability and the growth? What are the key areas? What's the 80/20 rule of my income generating tasks and how can I get focused and knuckle down, not letting this all stuff around me distract me from what matters most?


There a great little exercise to support you in this called "The Spheres' of Influence" and it can be found here.


If you need support in Getting The Right Things Done don't hesitate to contact us.

One Business, Four Scoreboards: Why Your Directors Disagree About What's Capping Growth

by Adam Payne • 7 October 2026
Why directors of UK mid sized manufacturers often disagree about what's capping growth without realising it, what that hidden misalignment costs in split budgets and stalled initiatives, and how the Four Answers Test reveals it in one 45 minute meeting using a scored alignment total and a confidence gap.

Count the Decisions You Made Last Week That Someone Else Could Have Made

by New Way Growth • 30 September 2026
A quiet diagnostic exercise for MDs of UK medium sized manufacturers: list every decision you made last week, mark those that reached you through habit, history or a missing written rule, then note how long each one waited, to see how much critical knowledge runs through too few heads.

You Won the Order. Did You Win the Money? A Cash Walk for UK Manufacturers

by Adam Payne • 25 September 2026
Follow one £186,000 UK manufacturing contract from quote to bank and see exactly where the margin goes: a discount agreed in the last five minutes, stale material prices, panels scrapped after a drawing revision, ten days of invoice drift, a bounced part number and five months funding someone else's business.

You Committed to the Next Growth Number. Did You Commit to the Structure That Carries It?

by Adam Payne • 17 September 2026
UK manufacturing growth numbers get committed in the boardroom, the bank, to a group MD or across the kitchen table, while the capacity, decision rights and reporting lines needed to deliver them are quietly assumed rather than built. A practical look at where that gap comes from and what closing it actually requires.

The Number Doesn't Fit Through the Structure: What Really Stops UK Manufacturers Growing

by Adam Payne • 9 September 2026
UK manufacturing firms stall at roughly £3m, £10m and £25m for structural reasons, not effort. This guide explains each growth ceiling, the warning signs (decisions queueing on the owner, revenue rising while margin flatlines, knowledge trapped in 3 or 4 heads), and the specific changes that break through each one.

Under NDA: How UK Engineering Firms Build Authority Without Showing the Job

by Adam Payne • 1 September 2026
How UK engineering, defence and confidential contract manufacturers build authority when NDAs, IP restrictions and export controls block the obvious approach.

The UK Manufacturer's Risk Register for Marketing: Ten Roadblocks and What to Do Before They Hit

by New Way Growth • 25 August 2026
A practical risk register for UK micro and medium manufacturers: ten marketing roadblocks, including capacity limits, late payment cash flow squeezes, key person dependency, platform changes and staff turnover, each paired with an early warning sign and a specific contingency to plan around before it derails growth.

The Marketing Routine That Actually Survives a Busy Month at Your Factory

by Adam Payne • 13 August 2026
For UK manufacturers, marketing stops and starts because of capacity, ownership and planning, not willpower. Here is a routine that survives busy months.

A UK Manufacturer's Guide to Build Lasting Accountability

by Adam Payne • 5 August 2026
How UK manufacturers can turn "that's not my job" into lasting accountability using the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) and a daily governance rhythm, explained with real shop floor examples.

OKRs vs KPIs Which Does Your Manufacturing Firm Need

by Adam Payne • 30 July 2026
KPIs are health metrics you track continuously, such as OEE, OTIF and scrap rate. OKRs are quarterly change goals with a start point and a finish point. UK manufacturers turning over £5m to £50m usually need trustworthy KPIs before OKRs will work at all.