And so new generation continues to flounder. Whilst for many companies it is already too late to do anything, those who do still have time, who do still have a few of old heads still left, would be well advised to start to listen to some of comments, to seek them out and ask their advice, to include them in discussions of strategy and tactics. They should make use of their experience before it is too late.

It is a truism that life in general is too short to learn from our own mistakes. We should make use of others' experience and learn from their mistakes. So it is for a company. The sum of experience within a company is an asset which must guarded and looked after and drawn on as needed. It absolutely must not be thrown away before it has been preserved, recorded, and passed on to next business generation.

So value your older employees and accept that they still have something to offer. Don't let them just drift off into retirement or redundancy. Use them to train new generation before they go. Get them to give their comments on way company is run. You may not always like what you hear, but you may learn something of real value.

Did you for instance know that in Japan colour white represents mourning? So if you are selling party gifts to Japan make sure you don’t wrap them in white paper! The examples of businesses not succeeding because of such cultural misunderstandings are many. Make sure you don’t make this mistake!

This means you might have to adapt your communication strategy. The sales letter that works at home might not bring any sales in a foreign market. Have a look at your web page, your brochures, your information leaflets etc. Is this information presented in a suitable way for foreign market?

If you fail in bringing your message across - your business will also fail. If you can’t excite people about your product – if you can’t get them to trust you – you will not be making any sales.

So make sure your business will be a success and get your information ready for foreign market!