What clothes to wear, what to eat for breakfast, what time to leave the house, what to have for lunch, whether or not to have a cup of tea, whether to attend to that email or do what you had planned.

Decisions are a core part of our existence, and as entrepreneurs or managers, they are just part of the equation – we often help others make decisions too.

How to be S**t at Business and Live to Tell the Tale is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the twenty-fourth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

The first series was excellent. But Tom Hiddleston’s bottom was the catalyst for a fairly major series of HR issues in my business and, frankly, I’m hoping that in this series, he keeps his keks on so I can have an easier life.

How to be S**t at Business and Live to Tell the Tale is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the twenty-third article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

How to be S**t at Business and Live to Tell the Tale is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the twenty-second article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

How to be S**t at Business and Live to Tell the Tale is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the twenty-first article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

What I discovered was shocking to my 20 year old self. Years later, I realised I’d witnessed one of the most optimised small-business operations I’ve ever seen.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the twentieth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

There are millions of articles and blogs out there about starting businesses but very few about the end. Spectacular, sensational newsworthy failures, yes, but the process of company death? No. It’s taboo.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the nineteenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

Convince me your effort is worthwhile before I give you any money.

It’s the unpaid summer internship to get the chance to learn.

It’s the unpaid trial shift you do just to prove you can.

It’s the speaking or photography gig you do for exposure.

It’s all design work you do as part of the pitch.

It’s the extra mile you deliver on a fixed fee project that make it less than profitable.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the eighteenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

First of all, I’ll skip over the bit where I dribbled strawberry jam down my nice clean jumper while writing this article. Lesson learned: wear a bib.

I’m going to share my guilty little pleasure with you.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the seventeenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

Not a f*****g clue what was trying to achieve beyond “being able to invoice someone legally”.

This is not a joke.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the sixteenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

My personal credit crunch happened about 12 months before the global credit crunch, thanks to the sociopathic angel investor I wrote about in Let’s Start with the Sociopath.

It’s probably no surprise to you, then, that I got cancelled on the internet long before people realised that a digital pile on was an accessible weapon of mass destruction.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the fifteenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

Losing your voice can be frustrating. But we mostly know it’s just temporary. A few hot lemon and honey drinks and we’ll soon be back to our normal vocal abilities.

What happens, however, when you lose your voice to emotions?

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the fourteenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the thirteenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

Without having to read it, I’ve so far learned she’s ambivalent about her sexuality, she cried when Alex Salmond died, she likes London, and that being arrested is horrific. Oh, and that she considers that she made mistakes during her time as a leader.

Heaven forfend!

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the twelfth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

There is a lot of s**t to process if you run a business. Like, seriously. And I’ve got more than two decades worth of mental baggage to unpack. Give me time.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the eleventh article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

Of course, I’m basing this assessment of my performance almost entirely on the pervasive narrative of what makes a great leader on social media channels and not much else.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the tenth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business

This mistake is technically not my mistake, but I was involved in a way and, because of that, I’m going to share it with you. It might be useful, it is kind of funny and, let’s face it, business can be tough and we all deserve a chuckle now and then.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the ninth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

Sick dog. Dead dog. Massive project behind. Massive project delivered on time. Team member’s kids sick. Twice. Team member’s kids well. Yay. Team member’s kids sick. Again. Need to sell car. Need to buy new car. Not necessarily in that order. Team member’s husband in hospital. Team member’s husband home, but incapacitated. Team member’s husband now walking. Simple medical procedure planned. Simple medical procedure not so simple. Recovery time needed from not so simple medical procedure unplanned. Deadlines colliding. Work piling in. Wheels have come off.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the eighth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

This feeling of utter dread happens every month, without fail, the day before pay day.

Listen to the podcast of the seventh article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We set ourselves goals and objectives. We plan how we’re going to achieve them. We brief the team. Then we set off on the journey, all gung-ho that our route map is invincible.

Listen to the podcast of the sixth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the fifth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

A long, long time ago, when I was just a little bit too naive for my own good, I had the misfortune of aligning myself with a very, very good one.

Listen to the podcast of the fourth article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

Thanks for reading How to be S**t at Business! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Listen to the podcast of the third article in the series: How to be S**t at Business.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Listen to the podcast of the second article in my series: How to be S**t at Business.

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Please forgive my audio editing techniques - this was a first attempt and I’m fairly proud of myself - I know it’s not perfect! But sometimes good enough is good enough!!

How to be S**t at Business is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.