When passion isn't enough: Run your pub like Spain or Germany, not like England

And with that disappointment, the pub trade is also denied what is surely the most lucrative of all football matches, an England versus Germany semi-final.

England’s ambitions and talents were hopelessly limited. In all their games they enjoyed less possession, less territory and fewer shots on goal than their opponents. And yet somehow they remained unbeaten until the agonising spot-kick denouement.

It wasn’t particularly satisfactory, even given the country’s low expectations, or enjoyable to watch — and the nation awoke on Monday morning with the realisation that heart and resolve on their own were not enough. There were a few things to admire about England’s effort, but also plenty to criticise. Passion, but not enough skill, ideas or ambition.

In short, when it came to the crunch, England weren’t as good as the opposition. I hope you can’t say the same about your pub.

Let’s see if I can make this footballing analogy work. If you run your pub like England ran their Euro 2012 campaign, then I worry for you. With all the red tape, economic gloom and cost pressures bearing down on you like the Italian strikeforce, it would be totally understandable for you to adopt a reactive approach.

It might seem sensible to stand on your back foot, ready and prepared to defend your business from the various assaults it faces. And of course you need to do this at times. But you also need to go on the attack every now and then. You need to scan your environment, consider your options, select a winning strategy and pursue it, not retreating into basic survival mode every time something threatens the business.

Footballers can ‘park the bus’ in front of their goal, and hope to survive until the penalty shoot-out. Licensees have no such opportunity. For you, it’s not just a quarter final every couple of years. It’s every day. And there’s no extra time. You can’t just shrug and say “hope we do better next time” and pocket another consolatory six-figure payday. It’s your livelihood and, often, your home.

Happily, despite the trials and tribulations you face, most licensees operate more like Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy than England, full of initiative and attractive endeavour. I’ve recently been involved in preliminary judging for the Great British Pub Awards. And I’m pleased to report that, in the process, I have seen evidence of hundreds of great pubs vigorously taking control of their own destiny with imaginative business development plans.

And I’m certain that thousands of other pubs of all types, shapes and sizes continually reject that very English temptation to be satisfied as a plucky loser. The best teams uncompromisingly want to be winners. And we’ll support them all the way.