We’ve all heard the term ‘elevator pitch’ – a short, succinct and persuasive sales pitch, traditionally delivered in the space of an elevator ride. Once upon a time that was two minutes: let’s adjust for today’s lifts and say 30 seconds.

I was talking to someone who specialises in bringing entrepreneurs with great ideas face to face with significant investors. “To be honest,” he said, “The elevator pitch is dead. These days there are so many good ideas – the market is so competitive – that investors want to see a serious proposal. And that includes a working website or an embryo app.”

Point taken. But call me old-fashioned. As I never tire of saying, you must be able to define your business in a few short, sharp sentences.

You can say a lot in 30 seconds. If you’re making a speech you’ll speak at between 120 and 140 words per minute. So 30 seconds gives you 60-70 words.

So here’s the challenge. Can you do that? Short, succinct and everything else in 30 seconds.

In the meantime, there’s an even more important 30 seconds looming for all of us.

Christmas Day is ten days away, and in three weeks we’ll stumble back to our desks to start another year. And the single biggest key to success in 2016 is simple: knowing what you want to achieve.

So here’s another 30 second challenge: can you define your goals for the coming year in that time? Can you clearly, simply and unequivocally say what you want to achieve? If you can’t - you’re in trouble.

In 2016 I want to provide an even better experience for my current board members. And I want to help ten more business owners in York get more out of their business and their life.

That’s 35 words: the definition of TAB was 38. So the definitions are short – and for me, they’re memorable. Every second of every day, I know what I want to achieve next year. And everything flows backwards from there: the marketing I need to do, the people I need to speak to… everything.