If you read my blog regularly, you may recall that travel is something that I am not only passionate about, but I take fairly seriously.

I have travelled the world-over with friends, on conferences and for business, visiting the most amazing places including Turkey, Dubai, Barcelona and more recently Amsterdam.

Are you an adventurous person? Do you love extreme sports, especially mountain bike riding? Do you feel like you could handle a wild mountain track? Do you want to ride like a Rockstar? Prepare yourself because the day has come!

If you are anything like me, I get embarrassed when people give me gifts. I much prefer to buy others gifts instead. I am not sure why this is the case and I am sure there is some psychological reason behind the fact that some people like giving and others like receiving.

When you start a small business, it's hard to think about what leadership style you would like to incorporate in your company. Typically, your thoughts are on what product or service you would like to take to market; your business plan; how you are going to get sales; and how you will attract the right people to work for you.

Leadership styles is often thought to be a medium or larger business thought-process.

Travel diaries: I am currently travelling to Amsterdam for a Global Entrepreneurs Conference. All stories are inspired by conversations with other entrepreneurs and adventures along the way.

Someone's First Choice

I want to be someone's first choice. But what happens when you are not?

In the movie with Kate Hudson "Something Borrowed" Ginnifer Goodwin's character has an affair with her best friend's (Kate Hudson's character Darcy) fiance.  Now this does not seem like your typical feel good scenario as it goes against the grain of what friendship and loyalty is all about, but it does make you question the whole concept of first choice. To be someone's first choice is a romantic notion and is not only my fairytale but the fairytale of millions of girls the world over.

In business, we all want to be someone's first choice. When you first lock eyes, that the connection you have with that person is so intense that it forms a lifelong relationship, right there and then. It's like love at first sight, but in a business sense.

But the question is, ' can you create that moment where you become someone's first choice'?

When you choose Burger King over McDonalds - can Burger King really do something about making their burgers your first choice? Or when a consultant walks into your office to sell you a service-can they be your first choice by changing the way they look, the tone of their voices, the style of their presentation or the warmth in their smile when they say goodbye? Presentation coaches would say that you can create a love at first sight scenario - but can you really?

I want to be someone's first choice, but is their first choice more than being just about me being me? That really is the question that every business person needs to answer.

An outstanding NSS advertisement, placed in Lloyd's List, which was developed by our creative team!

What are you really saying to your customers?

Have you had a great conversation with a potential customer, been really optimistic about getting them on board, and then never heard from them again? Maybe that conversation wasn’t as great as you had thought? Impossible! You know your product inside and out, you answered every question they had. As hard as it may be for you to identify, there may be something small in the way you are speaking with these customers that is putting them off coming back.