After last week’s post I was asked why I didn’t use a photo of Connery with Desmond Llewellyn (the original Q). Two reasons: firstly, I couldn’t find one and secondly the benefit in kind rules came in in the 70’s after Roger Moore took over so Connery’s Bond wouldn’t have had to worry about it.
However during my research for a photo I came across an interesting fact. Apparently Fleming picked the name James Bond because he thought it sounded a very boring one (he had a copy of “Birds of the West Indies” by James Bond on his bookshelf and he certainly met the man himself). Ironic, because he made the name into one redolent with excitement, danger and glamour (and fast cars). It just shows how proper marketing can change peoples opinions of something.
You could of course also ask why I didn’t pick Daniel Craig; again firstly, see above, and secondly the new Bond-mobiles have almost no gadgetry on board (which is truer to the novels; Fleming didn’t like gadgets, he wanted a grittier more realistic spy, having been in the SIS himself during the Second World War).
Which brings me to my main point (apart from the marketing one, which is very important and I will be picking it up at a later date). Namely this; tax rules are constantly changing. What works this year may not work next year and sometimes you have to do a complete U-turn to get the most tax efficient results, all the while remembering not to let the tail wag the dog. Your aim in business is to make money, NOT to save it. Yes saving helps, but not at the expense of missing out on potential profits. At the end of the day, (in financial terms, I do know there is a lot more to life than money), it’s the bottom line that counts: as well as turnover being vanity, tax savings can be a bit of a distraction too.
Money in the bank is what counts.
Have a great week
Paul