FINANCIAL intelligence adviser, Gary Thompson, has recently published a new book titled “Manager’s Toolkit” which contains essential guidelines he believes will help new businesses thrive and grow.

As a business consultant heading the firm Global Branding and Marketing, Thompson revealed that he has conducted in-depth research which shows that over 70 per cent of businesses that get started failed within the first five years of start-up.

“We decided to dig a little deep into the reasons why those businesses are failing across the world. We have seen that some businesses that have good brands and provide excellent services are not able to pinnacle the way they would want to,” he told this publication on a visit to the Guyana Chronicle a few days ago.

The research has shown that some businesses do not understand their target audiences and fail to effectively inform such audiences of the products and services they have available.

“As a business consultant, I think it’s your role to do research,” Thompson said, adding that the solutions found in his new book were thought of following diligent interaction between his firm and several businesses.

“I have been interfacing with small businesses and big businesses over the last 20 years. Because of study, research, interaction, and listening to their concerns, we have come up with some of the solutions,” he explained about the new 96-page book, which will be available in bookstores shortly and on amazon.com.

Thompson said his business puts tremendous emphasis on adding value and fixing problems beyond simply looking at cash flow. “Our mission right now is what we can do to help businesses to grow. We can do a major book launch and get sales, but right now we are engaging the specific beneficiaries (businesses) and our mission going forward is not just to sell a book.”

The intention, he added, is to work with businesses to ensure that they internalise the information contained in the book. “One of the pitfalls we see is that people hardly read, and when they do read, the full internalization is not there. We ensure that we’re there to mentor them if they are having difficulty applying the information,” he explained. In fact, part of the humanitarian work Thompson said he does is to conduct a number of training programmes for free.

He pointed out how his business was able to teach over a hundred university students how to raise investment capital, as well as train hundreds of small business owners in branding and marketing and financial intelligence.