The latest Clay Shaw Butler 'Looking After Business' column

Looking after business, the business page column from the Carmarthen Journal.
By David Butler, of Carmarthen-based accountants and business consultants Clay Shaw Butler

Sport is bound to be high in all of our thoughts this summer – Wimbledon, the Euro 2012 football tournament and the Olympics are just three of the events dominating press coverage.
I am proud to be involved with a charity called SportsAid Wales, which supports some of our most successful sportsmen and sportswomen.
A few weeks back, the ‘team’ at Clay Shaw Butler also turned out on a Sunday morning to cheer the Olympic Torch Relay as it moved up Lammas Street in Carmarthen.
It seems that, no matter where you turn, sport is one of the major topics of conversation.
But does sport matter when it comes to business?
Well, it can teach us valuable lessons.
For example the dynamics of sport can have parallels in the world of business.
In both areas you need –

• Leadership 
• Group cohesion (or teamwork) 
• Communication. 

Sport doesn’t just burn calories and stimulate endorphins; its benefits pay off in longer term.
For example, sporting activity helps keep us fit and can give some of us that extra edge in business.
Sport builds up physical and emotional endurance, and demands that players are constantly aware of their weaknesses and strive to overcome them.
Pushing yourself through things in sports can help create the kind of resiliency that you will need if you are thinking of starting your own business.
Sport provides a complete set of metaphors for business success: getting a team working together and finally reach the podium is very gratifying.
Applying these metaphors to the business world can be the key to success.
Many top sport performers used the lessons learned during their sport career to establish a successful career in business.
Success in both sport and business must include the following –

• You have to be focused. 
• You have to plan meticulously. 
• You have to learn how to perform at a consistently high level. 

There are lessons galore in sport.
For example, if the team members of a business are not well motivated and they do not enjoy their jobs, then it is impossible to maximise the team potential and win.
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The team at Clay Shaw Butler can be contacted on 01267 228500 or through the website at www.clayshawbutler.com