Well, maybe a little tipsy.

It was great to see Pat yesterday. Pat came over for some serious London shopping and hooked up with Jamie and I for a few beers and some Peri-Peri chicken.

Poor Pat. She comes over from Portugal and gets taken to a Portuguese restaurant.

Jamie, Pat and Rob

London was bustling with tinsel decked drinkers. For a Tuesday night, it didn’t feel like recession was nigh. Maybe they were drinking up their redundancy packages?

Our world is shaped by the brands we see, buy and use. Brands are our lives. We might be made up of our own unique DNA but so too we are made up of our own unique ‘brand DNA’, a list of brands we will choose ahead of rivals but, more than that, make our lives what it is.

It’s what I spend my working life championing. The power of the brand. The pulling power of the brand. Ensuring that brand X is top of mind, is picked ahead of brand Y.

Brand is not just about the brand in question looking good and alluring. In fact, I’d argue that’s way down the list. Brand’s are about making the person feel good, elevating them from place A to B by the very existence of the brand in that person’s life.

Working with a premium ice cream brand, it was fascinating to learn that sales have tripled over recent weeks, despite the economic down turn. People are buying to elevate them from the gloom of recession. People are buying to make them feel they are better and above the whirlpool that is the credit crunch.

One of the finest examples of brand manipulation of Stella Artois from 10 or 15 years back and their tagline “Reassuringly expensive.”

Everything is wrong in that tag (overpriced, out of reach) and yet everything is right with it as well (quality, class, prestige, exclusivity). At the time, I couldn’t grasp the brilliance of it but later on I realised its daring and ‘ballsiness’ is breath-taking.

How did we become a society so shaped and influenced by brands and what is the cost and what is the future? And as the consumer and business becomes more ‘brand-aware’ are there any limits for what is considered a brand? Are hospitals, schools, universities, dentists, doctors, barristers brands, or capable of becoming brands? These questions fascinate in equal measure.

I was recently directed to a film on YouTube that mocked the culture of the brand. It’s pretty powerful stuff, but rather than make me forsake brands, it’s made me wonder where brands go next to further satisfy our needs and cement their control over us. Watch the film here. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oK_7ju0W8HA

I hope to write much more on the subject of brands. It’s fascinating. In many ways it’s what holds the very fabric of our society together.

Like, I’m sure, most people, I usually take the easily digestible snapshot of the budget and how it will affect me. Petrol. Booze. Tax.

But this time around, the budget has taken on new significance as the government do what they can to head off recession and economic disaster.

Have they done enough? Well, I’m not an economist so I can’t say if they’ve done enough just by looking at the figures. But, what I do believe is that this budget is a case of shutting the door when that horse is in the field and chewing clover. This budget, and the actions taken within it, should have really been delivered at the last budget. Talking to other business people, the signs of recession have been there for a long time. Less fingers should have been crossed and more boxes permitting business flexibility should have been ticked.

Reducing VAT will help non-VAT small businesses buying from VAT-registered businesses - but I suspect the benefit will be minimal and the unscrupulous are certain to add a little more to their prices to make up the different.

National Insurance increases will hurt all employers.

The Small Business Finance Scheme will certainly help give a sense of a safety net if difficulties arise payment a tax bill but I am always suspicious when the government uses words like ‘temporary’ (which tends to suggest gruesome penalties to those who fail to repay in a certain period) and nothing is ever easy when money, tax and the government collide so I wonder how much ‘proof’ and how many ‘loops’ businesses will have to jump through to be rewarded with support from the Finance Scheme.

So, all in all, at the moment, I’m not suitably impressed. I think the government really and truly are concerned and want to help. But it’s a case of too little too late and 2009 will be a horror story for many businesses.

In these tough times, money is getting harder to collect. Hey, recession aside, at any time of year and in any financial climate, money is hard to extract out of people. If I had a pound for every excuse I’ve been given as to why the bill hasn’t been paid or the invoice hasn’t been received, well I wouldn’t have to chase money any more because I’d be loaded!

Over recent months there’s been a stark change in many (not all) companies’ commitment to pay or drive to reach a place in a project where payment can be requested. The market has noticeably slowed down. Decisions are taking longer. Sign off taking longer. And payment too is taking longer to be processed. We have even heard of some companies paying only when legal action is taken, not just threatened.

This makes everyone’s life hell because businesses rely on cash flow and when cash flow is choked then businesses are choked. When businesses are choked, they die and take other businesses (whom are owed money by the dead business) with them. It’s the domino effect. One topples and several fall shortly after. Bang. Bang. Bang.

So, what can businesses do to improve the speed at which customers pays and cash flow stays healthy?

If truth be told, you’re at the mercy of your customers. As I’ve said, some will only pay when legal action is taken and that’s just plain ugly. But there are some things that can improve your odds getting payment on time or even ahead of terms.

Credit check your customers. Don’t take on clients with bad debt records, even if their name shimmers in the market and they make all promises under the sun.

Spread your invoices. Invoice 50% of the estimate up front or at key milestones in the project so that cash is continuously flowing into the business.

Spread your debt across your clients. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Keep a broad client base (easier said than done!) so if one client dies and takes your money with it, all your money isn’t solely with them.

Make your terms clear. Get agreement on what your terms are and make sure the client agrees to them in writing to them.

Employ a credit controller. Not only will this save you a lot of time, credit controllers have the manner and means to get under the skin of your debtors and get the money out of them.

Now, you’ll have noticed I’ve listed proactive advice rather than aggressive solutions to credit problems. You can always stop work, remove your services, remove the work you have done for someone if you choose. I’m sure this works, but will sour a relationship and might end it. And I have never met any customer who purposefully sets out to get work done for free with no intention of paying. Most bad payers have legitimate reasons why they have not, or can not, pay an invoice.

Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but we’ve just hit the £million turnover mark for the business so I like to think that our manner by which we handle debtors is working.