Welcome back to your weekly dose of everything you need to know in the world of business, entrepreneurship and all things Matt Haycox!

Welcome to your Friday morning dose of everything that matters in the world of business, finance, entrepreneurship and my life! If you want ‘agenda free’ news, top tips, tried and tested strategies and a bit of my banter, then you’re in the right place!

This week you’ll find:

• 🤔 INSIGHTS: What I’ve been up to this week and what you can learn from it.

• 📊 POLL: The results are in!

• 📈 BEHIND THE NEWS: Major trending business news this week and my take on it.

• ✂️  SNIPPETS FROM THE WEEK: What the business world is reading.

• 📸  BIG PICTURE: A deep-dive into some of the biggest market trends.

• 💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Personal motivation from the experts.

• 🎟️ EVENTS & NETWORKING: The only event you need in your calendar this summer to entertain clients, meet HNW’s and rub shoulders with legends of the sporting world. And I’ll be there!

🤔 INSIGHTS: ‘How to network like a power player’

When you open this newsletter today you should have been reading it whilst I sip orange juice and eat a croissant on the back of a super yacht in Monaco for the Grand Prix weekend…

But, I decided to be a good boyfriend and stay in Dubai to support Elena with baby Nele. She has been a dream Mum for both baby and me over the past 5 weeks and as I can now see exhaustion setting in I decided to keep her company and provide moral support (and earn some brownie points!).

I am not telling you this as part of my campaign for 'best boyfriend award', just setting a little context. I would have been in Monaco this week writing about networking and the importance of investing, to put yourself in environments where you can meet high calibre people who can grow your business 10X. Lucky for you, even though I am not there I am going to write about it anyway…

I had paid £25k for 4 nights accommodation on a yacht and my tickets to watch the race on Sunday. But to me this was absolutely not a cost, or some jolly (I don’t even really care for the F1!), but an INVESTMENT in networking. 

I can say investment because I was absolutely expecting to be getting a return of many times that amount by being in an environment surrounded by successful and wealthy people. Doing 1 deal with 1 person would repay me £25k many times over. And during Grand Prix weekend, a place like Monaco is overflowing with successful and wealthy people.

And to build a power network it takes planning, a strategy and investment. 

If you have followed me for any amount of time, or know me personally, you will know how seriously I take networking. I probably spend 30%, if not more, of my working week meeting new people and strengthening relationships with ones I already know.

And I invest big money (multiple 6 figures a year) into it - but again notice that word INVEST, not spend.

I attend great events, I hire ski chalets and holiday villas, I host dinners on my yacht, I arrange charity galas - all that come at great expense, but all that has the opportunity for a great payoff.

I have many videos online where you can learn in more depth how to network like I do, but my key tips you must learn and follow are:

1. Networking should be planned and thought out, like any other aspect of your business.

• What kind of people do you want to meet?

• Which specific individual do you want to meet?

• What are you looking to achieve with them?

  You wouldn't randomly try and sell your product to customers who are not qualified, don't try and build your relationships in that way either.

2. When you have your plan in place you can ensure you only put yourself in situations and opportunities that will further that plan.

And that is when you will start to love doing it too!

People who hate networking hate it because they are doing it wrong. If you are meeting great people, in fun settings, that can further your business and enrich your life, then what could you possibly hate about that?!

If you hate it then it's because you are aimlessly throwing out business cards at some crap business breakfast with the wrong audience that you shouldn’t be at in the first place.

Realise that whilst some people may present immediate deal opportunities for you, others will be slow burns as you build long term relationships and wait for the right circumstances to present themselves.

But don’t blow it by trying to force things and hard sell at the wrong time.

Your plan should be organic relationship building, and if you have identified the right people to do it with then when the time is right, the opportunities will present themselves. And if they don’t? Well you have built a great relationship with a great person, and that is a win in itself.

Give Give Give! If you want to build great relationships then you need to invest in them.

And you do that by being a person who creates and gives value - not someone who tries to take and milk a situation. Don’t ask, offer. Again it is that word INVESTMENT. You are investing in relationships and relationship building.

I could talk day and night about examples of how I network…How I create environments…How I provide value…

But if you do nothing else at all, those 4 points will transform your networking and put you on the fast track to great relationships and great success.

(P.s. top tip for providing massive value on a budget - be a great connector)

Introduce people to each other. Let them meet people to do business with, meet people to have fun with.

You will be known as the connector and always remembered. But remember, don’t ask for anything in return.

Don’t be trying to take a slice of a deal, just put people together and step back and leave them to it.)

And a quick plug.... If you want to be in an environment of wealthy and successful people that I created specifically for this purpose then get your tickets for Berry's Tennis while you still can! 

Scroll to the bottom of this email for more details.

📊  POLL - RESULTS ARE IN

Rising costs and labour shortages are the two biggest business headaches you face in 2023, according to the results from our poll in last week’s newsletter. With many of you citing soaring energy costs as a key contributing factor behind this, something which M&S also expects to be hit by this year. The retailer anticipates £50m of energy cost rises and £100m in staff pay increases this year, see our Behind The News Story below for more details.

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Rising costs

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Decline in consumer spending

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Supply chain issues

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Labour shortages

🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️ Other

📈  BEHIND THE NEWS: How M&S Achieved Its Turnaround Strategy

British retailer Marks & Spencer posted adjusted pre-tax profits of £482m in the year to April 1, better than expectations of £431m, as its turnaround strategy appears to be paying off.

Sales rose 9.6% to £11.9bn for the year, boosted by strong performances in food and clothing. Food sales rose by 8.7% to £7.2bn, whilst clothing and home sales grew 11.5% to £3.7bn, beating analyst forecasts.

However, adjusted pre-tax profits were less than the £522m figure from last year, due to the loss of government business rates relief, a hangover from the pandemic. As well as continued cost inflation hampering margins in clothing and food.

Despite an uncertain outlook for consumer spending this year, M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said the performance was evidence of progress in its turnaround plan, which has included overhauling its store portfolio, shutting some stores and repositioning others to key city locations.

A strategy which has included looking at ‘the right stores, in the right place, with the right space.’

This week, the retailer opened its new M&S store in Leeds’ White Rose shopping centre, which at 96,600 sf ft is a flagship for the North and the first iteration of the retailer’s new look in the region.

But as with many businesses, labour costs and energy are expected to bite into profits this year. With the retailer anticipating £50m of energy cost rises and £100m in staff pay increases this year, which it aims to offset with a cost-cutting plan in other areas.

CLICK TO READ SOME OF MY TIPS ON HOW TO ACHIEVE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS TURNAROUND

✂️ SNIPPETS FROM THE WEEK 

• Women comprise 54% of luxury homeowners, new report reveals. Read here>

• Asda owners to unveil £10bn merger with petrol stations EG. Read here>

• Fears of further rate rises spooks the market. Read here>

📸  BIG PICTURE: Why Gen Z are immersing themselves in investing

81% of Gen Z investors in the UK started investing before the age of 21, a new study reveals.

According to a new study by the CFA Institute and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation), 81% of Gen Z investors in the UK started investing before the age of 21.

Four in five (82%) Gen Z investors in the US say they began investing before they turned 21, as did 79% of Canadian and 63% of Chinese Gen Z investors.

The report found that Gen Z individuals started investing due to a range of factors, including the ability to access financial information on social media and the proliferation of investing apps and cryptocurrencies.

Two in five Gen Z investors in the U.S. (41%), Canada (41%) and the UK (43%), and almost two in three (60%) of Gen Z investors in China cited ‘FOMO‘ (fear of missing out) as a factor in their decision to start investing.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE RESEARCH INCLUDE:

• More of Gen Z are investing than not!

  Canada has the highest proportion of Gen Zs who invest, with nearly three in four (74%) saying they own at least one investment, compared to more than one in two in China (57%) and the US (56%), and 49% in the UK.

• Crypto is a popular investment choice among Gen Z investors

  More than two in five (44%) U.S. Gen Z investors first started out investing with crypto, compared to 35% of US Millennial investors and 23% of US Gen X investors. Crypto was also the most common investment Gen Z investors started out with in Canada (35%) and the UK (43%).

• A large number of Gen Z investors started investing before they turned 21

  More than four in five (82%) US Gen Z investors began investing before they were 21, as did 79% of Canadian and 81% of UK Gen Z investors. In contrast, less than two thirds (63%) of Gen Z investors in China started investing prior to this age. Chinese Gen Z investors, however, have the largest median investment balances among the markets surveyed.

• The majority of Gen Z investors are focused on travelling, but UK investors want to buy a home

  61% of US, 55% of Canadian, and 53% Chinese Gen Z investors say their top financial goal is having enough money to travel or go on vacation. Over half (55%) of Canadian Gen Z investors also cited being able to pay monthly bills as their top concern, while 48% of UK Gen Z investors (a plurality) state that their financial goal is to buy a home.

• Most Gen Z investors rely on social media to learn about investing

  Almost half of US Gen Z investors (48%) use social media to learn about investing. It is the top information source for Gen Z investors in the US, Canada and the UK. It is the fourth most popular option for those in China, with the top information source being financial apps.

• Barriers to investing remain

  Lack of savings is the top reason Gen Zs in the U.S., Canada and China cite for not investing, whereas the top barrier for Gen Zs in the UK is not having enough income or living paycheck to paycheck. Over half of Gen Z investors in the US (56%), Canada (56%) and the UK (58%) also state that a lack of knowledge around investing is a barrier to investing.

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

🎟️ EVENTS & NETWORKING

The summer is almost upon us, and that means only 1 thing. No, not more pictures of me with my shirt off on Seasquirter - it means it is time for Berry’s Tennis on the 22nd and 23rd of June!

If you are from the Yorkshire area I am sure you will have either been yourself or heard about it in the press. I created the event about 6 years ago as the perfect fusion of 2 of my favourite activities - tennis and networking! We built a marquee and created a grass tennis court in the beautiful grounds of Hazelwood Castle, and over the course of the event our sponsors and my businesses entertain around 800 guests between us.

The food and Champagne is flowing, our partners showcase their luxury items like Patek Philipe watches and Rolls Royce cars, and everyone is entertained by tennis legends such as Richard Krajicheck, Mark Philippousis and Henri Leconte.

When it comes to my networking events I like to create incredible environments and provide ‘money can’t buy’ experiences to my best clients. And arranging them to play games of tennis with Wimbledon champions is the prime example of a way I get to attract the attention of people who normally have access to everything they want.

So if you want to entertain your clients, network with the good and great of Yorkshire, or just entertain yourself at a unique day out then get in touch with me or my team for information on tables and tickets. There aren’t many left!

TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND GET REWARDED

I love sharing things with friends, and if this newsletter has made you smile or been helpful then please share it with your mates and wider connections. Even better, there will be something in it for you.

We are still finding our feet, and the full reward programme isn’t in place yet. But any referrals you do in the meantime will all count towards it when it is.

What rewards can you expect? One of the rewards will be a long weekend in Dubai with me for the ultimate business immersion experience and dinner with some of my network on my yacht. So get referring now!

Copy and paste this link to others to refer them to the newsletter https://matthaycoxdaily.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

JOIN MY TEAM

I’m always looking for talented and hungry people to join the Matt Haycox group. I own a number of businesses including Funding Guru, Huddle Capital, Zoom Property, Power EPOS and Larizia.

I’m currently looking for a management accountant & a group financial controller. There are opportunities in Leeds and London, so if you know someone who fits the bill, you’ll be rewarded with a referral fee if they are taken on. Send me an email for more information.

GOODBYE FOR NOW

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading! I always love to hear feedback so let me know what you liked and what you want to see more of. I’m all ears!

And if you want to talk to me about borrowing, investing, growing your business, or anything else I am good at, then get in touch!

I’m an entrepreneur, investor, funding expert and mentor who has been building and growing businesses for both myself and my clients for more than 20 years. There’s nothing I don’t know about finance!