We are a tremendously inventive. When the pressure is on we tend to come up with the goods. I would argue that the constraints on us as a country give us an incredible chance to stimulate this innate inventiveness. I have faith that we can come up with answers, products, new forms of government, businesses and cultural adjustments that will lead us forward in the world.

Stiff upper lip chaps.

Who are we and why should we be optimistic about the future?

This is where I want to make a point of being positive.

We have a tremendous resilience in this country and we have seen many changes over the years which have tested us. The high inflation and subsequent interest rates of the 70s and the rebuilding after two world wars have created a mindset of stubborn stoicism which is engrained itself in our cultural DNA.

We have reverence for our culture and history. It is deep, well know and envied the world over. We are proud of it and any attempt to erode it will be met with considerable resistance. We are seeing this now with the cultural shift through immigration which has happened at a more an more increasing rate since the late 90's. The current government seems again to be increasing the rate of cultural change with its policies of favouring legal and illegal immigration, funding wars overseas and foreign aid. These are prioritised over the wellbeing of its our own citizens. This is really being noticed and both the main parties responsible will be punished at the ballot box. The UK will not stand for it, they will be stoic but forceful with their words and deeds

What Next?

This is where you focus on your craft. Work on, and in, your chosen field as best you can. Be open, honest and willing to dispense your knowledge liberally. Failure to do this in my opinion always comes back to haunt you. A short term focus will only get you results short term and you will come to regret it. The true bitcoiners in the world who have studied hard and fallen down the rabbit hole get this. Delay gratification, beat the marshmallow test.

Strip out or avoid as many bureaucratic processes as you can from your business. Don't create more for yourself than is absolutely necessary. It will stifle your innovation, suck your time and life-force and harm your company's long term vision. I have found the space x sign on design processes to be helpful when it comes to this.

Make it easy to pass on

I'd suggest, as many people do, to plan for the future as early as possible.

This includes involving your family in the business long before you are due to retire. That can either be as an employee or shareholder but passing down vital knowledge to the next generation is much easier if they are with you. Inevitably the depth of knowledge of the business in the next generation is much more superficial when this is not the case and the success of said generation will be limited.

Get your own personal finances in order so that if you need to pass the business on in a shorter time frame i.e. personal health, change of government etc. you will be secure. Things like life insurances are helpful/essential too.

So

Setup a bitcoin treasury

Foster a great reputation

Own as many of your own assets as physically possible

The third part of this is the "something to attach them to". I phrased this in this way as this can be done in several ways. Traditionally it would be done with a physical space, a shop, factory, land etc. but as we enter a more digital phase in human history this could also include things like websites, social media accounts etc. Make sure you have as much control over all of these items as you can. Stripping out as many intermediaries as is feasibly possible will allow you to have more control. Freeholds not leaseholds or rents for property and land, purchase your domain names yourself and not through a supplier. Look at things like Nostr to own your social media presence.

Bitcoin was specifically designed to solve all the tomfoolery and shenanigans that the modern central bank and fiat currency systems are riddled with. With something like this in your treasury you will be able to weather upcoming storms with relative ease. Bitcoin has very recently been adopted by Blackrock and Fidelity, two of the largest asset managers in the world. Usually when they get involved you can know that there is something of value there.

Do I need to explain the bitcoin part of this? Probably.

Bitcoin is a hard asset that you can self custody with no intermediaries. It has a fixed maximum supply which is released at a decreasing rate as time goes by.

Essentially for this part that is all you need to know. There is nothing else like this in the world, bar the ground we stand on, which we technically cant guarantee in the UK

Both of these are hard to accrue but will last long after you are gone.

Being an old company c1750 we at Pumphreys have cultivated a reputation over that time which as passed though multiple generations. We still have 90 year olds buying their "quarter" of coffee beans who regale tails of the times they met their first boyfriend/girlfriend in our old shop. This stuff is sticky. Create memories, delight customers, interact with them as human beings and not units of commerce to be milked and you will be surprised how even just a little of this will compound. People today are yearning for human contact. This is something we have lost with the increase of multinational companies with hired staff who have limited vested interest, emotionally or otherwise.

So how do we help with this.

Have something to pass on & make it easy to pass it on

I'd argue that we need to store business value in something that is hard to erode over time so that we have something to leave to the next generation. There are obvious options for this for me.

Bitcoin, Reputation and something to attach them to.

We used to be famous for two things—as a nation of shopkeepers and as the workshop of the world. One is trade, the other is industry. We must get back our reputation - Margaret Thatcher

You were greatly offended with me for having called you a nation of shopkeepers. Had I meant by this, that you were a nation of cowards, you would have had reason to be displeased; even though it were ridiculous and contrary to historical facts; but no such thing was ever intended. I meant that you were a nation of merchants, and that all your great riches, and your grand resources arose from commerce, which is true - Barry O'Meara,

The prevalence of this frame of mind in British culture manifests itself in small and mediums sized businesses. We have, or used to have, the "Nation of shopkeepers" stereotype thrust upon us by other European nations. Sometimes positively and sometimes negatively. The fact that this even exists is testament to how this was part of our culture.

Secure my business for future generations

This one is a big one and it comes from core motivations people have to provide for their lineage. Some would argue that this has its origin hard coded into our DNA and its easy to see why. From an evolutionary perspective it seems obvious that if you have lots of people in society who are hell bent on providing resources for their closest relatives and inner circle of trusted fiends then they stand a much better chance of surviving all the disasters that life and the environment could throw at them. Those who did not prioritise like this likely had less offspring survive, were cast out of their groups and didn't get to pass their genes on. Run that program for 50,000 generations and there is going to be an overwhelming prevalence of that in the population.

Having spoken to a lot of business owners over the last few years I have seen the above reiterated back to me in different language many times. These seem to be fundamental wants/needs of business owners. All of these elements have been under attack increasingly, I would argue, since the 1970s with various raids over the years speeding the process up.

As an SME business owner there are a few things that I would like to be able to do easily.

Secure my business for future generations.

Provide adequate resources for my family, staff, customers and suppliers.

Save money easily for future development and "emergencies".

Develop our business's skills.

Help provide a platform for other companies to thrive.

Maintain my love for my business.

As anyone who knows me will contest to, I am an incorrigible optimist. Notes like the one below are somewhat of an abnormality and not really in my character. Although cathartic, I don't think this style of posting benefits anyone in the long run. Maybe that is the nature of the format. Short sharp angry comments seem to go a long way. It may serve the monkey brain in us all but that's about as far as it goes. If being involved in bitcoin (if that's a thing) has taught me anything it is to focus not on the short term, but to have a long term time preference.