Home thoughts from abroad

A week in off-season in a foreign holiday destination reminds me how assets need to be sweated as well as bodies. It is a truth obvious to those in the business of marketing locations that their role is most effective when their busy season is extended preferably to all the year round. The same is obvious to companies with large-scale capital plant, for which every idle minite is a glaring cost. But many businesses are much less awake to where their true assets lie and to the need to make maximum use of them. Knowledge assets including expertise and contact lists can be the key differentiators from competition and need to be worked harder than they often are, just like seaside hotels.