I WENT to work, albeit it temporarily, for a sales company on the Team Valley, in Gateshead, when I first left university.

It was an attempt to tackle the previous year’s student debt which, to my mind at the time, was comparable to the nation’s.

Before you could start work you had to attend a training course where lots of fancy acronyms were fired at you and you left more confused than when you went in.

But one of those mantras did stick and that was – Kiss – Keep It Simple Stupid.

It was Kiss that sprang to mind when I heard the news recently that, unlike many other retailers, pre-tax profits at Greggs have risen by 12.3 per cent for the first half of the year, to £18.6m.

So, apart from the moreish Steak Bakes, which are to die for, just what is the magic Greggs formula?

Greggs has kept its prices fixed throughout the economic downturn and instead put its efforts into two key revenue streams – the lunchtime £2.99 meal deal – and, roll the drums, the traditional bacon and sausage butty, of which they have shifted some 4.5 million since February.

They didn’t rebrand. They didn’t add swanky products. They didn’t reduce their quality. They didn’t make random acquisitions. They didn’t panic.

In fact, they just kept it really simple and it paid off; one might say it really did save their bacon.

Just like Greggs, every business owner must understand what their business strengths are, commit to them (allowing some room for minor, well-calculated diversification if necessary) and then hold on tight.

Inevitably, there will be roadblocks along the way, but owners must believe in their business and their products or service; that way, you can weather the storms.

Here at Innovation Towers we advise and support small to medium enterprises every day and we have come to agree with the Kiss mantra without exception.

While long-term dreams of expansion, rebranding, franchising and sailing on your private yacht are important in your planning, your immediate focus, particularly in this financial climate, is the here and now.

Now, more than ever, keeping it simple has to be the way forward.

■ Deborah McGargle is a consultant in the innovation team at BHP Law.

Contact her at DeborahMc@BHPlaw.

co.uk or on 07850-605266.