I couldn't drive into the office this morning because my car is in the garage. So I used Uber instead. The car arrived two minutes after I ordered it...at 5.00 am. And dropped me off 15 minutes later. Compare that to my last experience with a traditional cab firm. I ordered the taxi the night before, at 5.15 am I was still waiting, so called them up, only to be told: "We're still looking for a driver." "Still looking?!?" I booked a cab! I'm just in awe of Uber's efficiency and business model. We could all learn a lot from them.

Love love love this from James Clear this week: "You can cold email nearly anyone, but nearly everyone overlooks how powerful it can be. Sending one email each week that feels like a stretch can change your life. Will you get turned down? Sure, most of the time. But you only need one to pay off for something amazing to happen. Take your time, write a thoughtful message, and muster the courage to press Send." I've always believed in the power of cold emails, and it's opened some doors for us which would, otherwise, have remained closed. And remember cold emails ≠ spam.

So yesterday something new happened. I was in my usual Nero cosy corner, I'd done a couple of hours writing and all was quiet, with just a couple of other customers. About 8.50 a lady sat close by eating her breakfast and working. 10 minutes later I started a quick Zoom call; lasting 20 minutes maximum. My headphones were in, and I was speaking at a respectful level, no different to if I were having a conversation with someone opposite me. Then all hell broke loose. The lady moaned at me for being on the call, saying she needed "quiet time to work". She then went and complained to the staff (who didn't do anything). Then she proceeded to make a loud call of her own. I rarely make Zoom calls in coffee shops, because I feel self-concious, but I've never encountered this before and it's got me thinking. What's the etiquette here? I certainly won't be making any more Zoom calls from coffee shops for the forseeable future.

Interested to hear people's thoughts on this.

Just back from a week away on the south coast bringing some northern glamour to Sandbanks. On our last night, we had dinner at a local restaurant. The owner is a marketing and sales genius, three things he did: 1. Thursday night is ‘Ladies’ Night’ with unlimited free Prosecco if you order a main meal. The result? The place was packed full of women AND men (who were all drinking full-priced drinks) 2. When we’d finished our mains, the waiter said: “Would you like a couple of minutes before I offer you the desert options?” that’s so much more effective than the usual, “would you like to see the dessert menu” 3. We overheard a waiter tell a table close to us that they didn’t have most of the items on the dessert menu – that’s not great obviously. So when the time came for our waiter to offer dessert, instead of bringing a menu and telling us what they didn’t have, he came over with his notepad and said: “We have some special desserts for you tonight” and reeled off a list of what they did have. It’s all about perspective, if he’d brought us the menu and told us what they didn’t have, we’d have been disappointed. Instead, he turned the problem into a positive. At a time when so many restaurants are struggling it was great to see such a fantastic approach to marketing and sales. And they weren’t just gimmicks either, the food was great and the service top-notch.