Some years ago, we were building a Mayan Temple mirror maze at Port Aventura, Spain’s largest theme park.

I needed to drive from Tarragona to catch a plane at Barcelona Airport, and tried to join the Autoroute. Unfortunately, I misread a road sign, and found myself in heavy slow-moving traffic struggling for several kilometres from one intersection and small roundabout to the next. After what seemed an interminable age, I saw another sign for Barcelona, collected my toll ticket and joined the autoroute.

Suddenly I had three lanes and a hard shoulder almost to myself, all the way to Barcelona. What was going on? This splendid autoroute had been built with EU funding, which if you want to be specific, came partly from British taxpayers to provide regional funding for the Spanish economy in particular and to help Europe prosper as a whole. That much I wholeheartedly applaud.

The clue was in that toll ticket. Virtually none of the Spanish traffic could afford to use the autoroute, whether cars, vans or lorries. It’s not as if the road needed paying for, for goodness sake. It had already been paid for, and given to Spain. The Spanish economy was thus needlessly underperforming by failing to use its assets to the full.

All the more reason to applaud the Severn Bridge toll arrangements I found last year on the M4 into Wales. The toll booths had disappeared without trace. The bridge has now been paid for, so no more tolls need to be collected. This is a brilliantly simple and effective way to help the Welsh economy prosper. What’s true for motorway tolls is also true for businesses. What assets can we put into effective use, at little extra cost, or perhaps at no extra cost at all? What equipment and resources are lying idle and unused for most of the time? Why own equipment when we can rent them whenever needed?

Can we run the business using less of our existing premises, perhaps by installing shelves and using all those unused cubic metres towards the ceiling? If so, what else could we use that free floorspace for? My brother’s mining company in Toronto had some spare office space, and he let two freelance entrepreneurs use it for free. Later they asked him to be the chairman of their new company, and all three ended up with shareholdings in a valuable mineral mine. Open doors to others, and perhaps they will open doors for you! Make those assets sweat!

Adrian Fisher is an award-winning maze designer in Durweston.

Support Us

Thank you all so, so much for the love and appreciation you’ve shown us since we launched the New Blackmore Vale.

Please show your support and add a review on our Facebook page or on Google.