Not too long ago Lymm Dickensian didn't happen. After it was introduced it quickly became a wonderful family day, bringing people in to our village from far and wide, and also introducing the new Lymmites to the beauty and convenience that we have right in the centre of Lymm.

The streets throng to the sound of barrel organs and fairground rides, the smells of baked potatoes, hot soup and mince pies fill the air. The enduring the sound of children’s laughter, smiling faces mill about and Peter Powell, our town crier, is seen and especially heard! bringing a wonderful, old fashioned Christmassy feel of times past for at least one day of the year. We can't turn back time, but it almost feels like we've gone back a couple of hundred years on this day.

Shops are packed, pubs heave under the strain of additional custom, charities bring in much needed funds, thanks to the hard work of their volunteers, much is achieved during this one day.

This happens thanks to the hard work of Mike Evans and Rotary. Mike pulls everything together, and there’s a lot to be done. So why don't we help him a bit more folks?

Every year Mike finds it a struggle to bring in the funds required to stage this event, some businesses in Lymm contribute nothing at all, maybe because they don’t directly benefit from the day, for example Solicitors, Hairdressers, Estate Agents and I understand their point in a way. However it is for charity, it puts Lymm on the map so all benefit in the long run from this event and just a £25 donation from all these village businesses would make Mikes life much easier and ensure the festivities continue for years to come, I know about the credit crunch but 25 quid wont break the bank will it?

Some, in fact most retailers benefit directly from the day, how much do you contribute in relation to this increased turnover, yes to many this will include increased overheads, but do you give back some of the extra you bring in, some from multiple outlets, if the answers no, then why not?

Some pubs and shops don’t contribute at all and I honestly cannot understand that, Christmas, bah, humbug. Miserable so and so's ! 

It’s non of my business what you do with your money I know, let your conscience help make your decision, but please don’t make Mikes work harder than it already is.

As Mike says “We don't expect much, £25/£50 would help a lot. Any donation could be dropped off at Laura's choice alternatively contact me through the web http://www.lymmdickensian.com/index.html  or phone 75 5765"

So lets make Mikes job easier and let’s hope for good weather for all concerned. 

Phil

Agree or not? Click on the comment button below this blog and let’s hear what you have to say.

How do you win in your business? There are all sorts of things you can focus on whilst trying to drive your business forward - the key is to understand what is special about your business and focus on that. Most retail businesses can say they compete on Authority (specialising in their field), Price, Convenience, Customer Experience & Choice. This is all very well but realistically they can only really win on two or three of these. When you know which two or three you can win on, that is what you focus on without trying to do it all.

Take the Supermarkets for example, jacks of all trades, masters of none - so 'Authority' is not one of their focus points, neither is 'Customer Experience' (except in a robotic way at the check-out) - 'Choice' is sort of there but only two real versions e.g. Value or High end ranges. So that leaves Price & Convenience. They know they can and do win on Price & Convenience so that is what they focus on - ad campaigns about being cheaper etc and beating competitors on price - as far as 'Convenience' goes they have 24hr trading in some of their large stores, local shops, city centre shops, edge of town stores & petrol station stores as well as on-line shopping & home delivery.

Focusing on what they know they can win on rather than focusing on everything works for them and that is why they are so successful. Boots does the same and you will have noticed a new store open in the village 'your local Boots Pharmacy'. Boots can win on 'Authority', 'Customer Experience' & now 'Convenience' .

Anyway you may be wondering where this is going - well it's just to give food for thought really and to encourage us all to help each other to identify what we should focus on - after all we are all pretty much each others customers and therefore should be able to give each other constructive feedback. 

At The Sweet Shop we have an 'after school rush' as you expect in a sweet shop. It lasts for about forty minutes and if you don't like waiting you'd avoid that part of the day. Friday, in particular is busier because it's treat day! - last Friday the shop was really full after school and there was a long line waiting with both adults and children. Some people chose to wait, others went off and came back later, but everybody seemed happy and nobody complained. Two people, independent of each other left our shop and went to browse around another whist they waited. They mentioned how busy it was in the sweet shop to the owner who explained that after school was a busy time. The owner of that shop mentioned this to us the other day, so now we know that it does bother people we can do something about it. So, on Fridays between 3.30pm & 4.15pm there will be two of us behind the counter!

When you give feedback to someone you take a risk because you don't know what the reaction will be - I take feedback as a gift because it always makes me think and can lead to me doing something different. Only when you truly listen to your customers and organise you business, day & week around them to meet their needs can you start to win.

What can you win on? 

I am pleased to also announce the Rotary Santa Float will be putting in an appearance on Thursday nights in December, driving slowly through the village, so let's capture that family audience, again tell all your customers, let’s get the village buzzing. Thanks to Mike Evans for helping to organise that.

This truly is Lymm Traders working together for a better future   

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As you can probably see, RSS is a great way to stay up to date with anything Lymm. 

This site is here for all to use, to encourage communication between Lymm traders, to exchange views and opinions and to enhance our working relationship.

Enjoy

Some of you may be surprised to hear that in my youth I was a 'punk', especially now with my slick pink head and ever expanding waistline, but I was. Well alright a non pierced, non spiked, non green dyed type of punk rocker, but all the same I had the 'attitude', still do.

No this doesn’t mean I'm going to storm the latest Parish council meeting, throwing cans and spitting venom, it means I will always question the status quo (not the three chord wonders, doubt I would get a particularly constructive answer!), but I will always question the system.

I won’t just accept something because it is the norm, I won’t accept mediocrity, it would be easier to just drift along, but where would it get me, nowhere fast I suppose, but let’s face it, it’s a damn sight easier than swimming against the current isn’t it?

Go with the flow and you will only end up where the flow goes and at the speed it wants to take you, but sometimes to get where you want to go you have to swim against the current, it’s the only way you can change direction.To achieve success sometimes requires fighting against the general flow, it requires hard work, commitment, always questioning direction. A strong business reviews its direction on a regular basis, questions results, and plans the route, adjusting along the way to ensure we reach our ‘destination’

This is what Lymm Traders is trying to do, the present direction of Lymm needs to be changed, not by Anarchy, a situation where there is a total lack of organisation and control, but by mobilising and empowering the majority to strive to achieve a thriving, bustling forward thinking business community.

There will always be some who won’t contribute, who are scared of change, or think it’s too much effort, of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same, however the amount of effort put in is equal to the resulting success –

0% effort = 0% return, not a difficult calculation ;)

Matthew said in the bible - Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth, well I’m not sure how this would work in today’s society, but I’m certain of one thing, the Apathetic definitely won’t rule the world, they can’t be bothered.

If you want to make Lymm change for the better come along to the meetings, post on the forum, tell me I’m a self opinionated idiot if you like, but for goodness sake do something positive!

Phil

“Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care” - Singer Jimmy Buffet

“My generation's apathy. I'm disgusted with it. I'm disgusted with my own apathy too, for being spineless and not always standing up against racism, sexism and all those other -isms the counterculture has been whinning about for years.” Kurt Cobain

Like what I say, don’t like, don’t agree then click on the comment button on the bottom of this blog and express your opinion.