Introduction
This week’s podcast looks at various business models and in particular explores Being Royal and Being Philanthropic. We will look at impact and approaches, and point out how Royal Tours are very different in purpose and content in comparison to meetings with a variety of business leaders in a number of locations, i.e., global Foundations, such as Archewell. Service is indeed universal, and it does not have to be carried out by a selected few.
Business Model Examples
The term business model refers to a company’s plan for making a profit. It identifies the products or services the business plans to sell, its identified target market, and any anticipated expenses. Business models are important for both new and established businesses. They help new, developing companies attract investment, recruit talent, and motivate management and staff. Established businesses should regularly update their business plans or they’ll fail to anticipate trends and challenges ahead. Business plans help investors evaluate companies that interest them.
“One way analysts and investors evaluate the success of a business model is by looking at the company’s gross profit. Gross profit is a company’s total revenue minus the cost of goods sold (COGS). Comparing a company’s gross profit to that of its main competitor or its industry sheds light on the efficiency and effectiveness of its business model. Gross profit alone can be misleading, however. Analysts also want to see cash flow or net income. That is gross profit minus operating expenses and is an indication of just how much real profit the business is generating.
The two primary levers of a company’s business model are pricing and costs. A company can raise prices, and it can find inventory at reduced costs. Both actions increase gross profit. Many analysts consider gross profit to be more important in evaluating a business plan. A good gross profit suggests a sound business plan. If expenses are out of control, the management team could be at fault, and the problems are correctable. As this suggests, many analysts believe that companies that run on the best business models can run themselves.”[i]
The Sussex Approach
Nothing that the Sussexes are doing now should concern the Royal Family or their media and the Carnival of So Called Experts. The years of effort put into trying to sabotage the wedding of Harry and Meghan (fact – confirmed on Australian news) and subsequent years trying to destroying the marriage itself. Increased the abusive behaviour towards Meghan after finding out that she was suicidal, and the Royal Family refused her access to medical assistance. That help came from a friend of Lady Diana, from the Spencer side of the family. Meghan told daily to go back to the USA – sanctioned it transpires by the BRF. When the Sussex family announced 8th January 2020, that they were indeed stepping back from senior Royal duties, the 3 groups of abusers mentioned earlier were in shock. No one expected Harry to leave with his family. From that moment onwards, the BRF and its media went out of their way to place barriers and hurdles in the way of such a move taking place, or being successful if they actually left the country. The games that were played from a decades old playbook was pitiful to watch. Harry was being punished because he chose his wife and child over the Monarchy and its abusive regime, particularly for those described as Spares.
Things that the Royal Family informed Harry and Meghan that they could no longer do once they stepped back from being a Working Royal:-
- No longer receive public funds for Royal duties
- Cannot use HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family
- Queen’s Statement “acknowledged” that the “gifted Frogmore Cottage” would remain “their UK home” Yet we all know how long the UK Media were complaining, no doubt with the permission/instruction of the BRF about £2.4m renovation costs for the cottage, even though this had already been allocated funds for renovation via the Sovereign Grant. Despite that the Sussexes paid off all that was claimed to be owing, for their “gift” and also rent in advance up until March 2022. I wonder if Jack and Eugenie will be required to pay rent beyond March 2022.
- Harry and Meghan no longer carry out Royal duties.
- The Queen wrote confirming that “stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service”.
- Honorary military appointments and Royal Patronages held by the Duke and Duchess will be returned to Her Majesty before being redistributed amount the working members of the Royal Family.
- Harry allowed to keep Well Child and Meghan allowed to keep Smart Works.
- Harry and Meghan were not allowed to continue with their highly popular Social Media account on Instagram. One of those Royal family members, known for a fragile ego, started to purchase followers in order to keep the figures of their subscribers, always around 500-1000 more than Sussex Royal. Beyond childish that this made that individual feel better as a result, and sad to know that UK taxpayers money was used for such a purpose EVERY time Sussex Royal pulled ahead in the numbers stakes. This was independently investigated by a respected publication in USA and many questions were asked of this exact percentage increase in numbers, always following an increase of whatever number on Sussex Royal.
By BRF own definition, as none of these things are now in place, current activities cannot be considered “Royal”, not to mention the actual business model that Archewell operates within.
Royal Charities and Patronages[ii]
“Members of the Royal Family have links with hundreds of charities, military associations, professional bodies and public service organisations. Some are well known, while others may be smaller bodies working in a very specialist area or on a local basis only.
Having a Royal patron or president provides vital publicity for the work of these organisations, and allows their enormous achievements and contributions to society to be recognised”.
Royal Patronages of Charities Do Not Appear to Help Much[iii]
Extracts taken from findings on research into a number of claimed support for a variety of charities and causes. One section is devoted to UK Royal Patronages of Charities, who are they, who gets them and do they help? The aim of the organisation is to provide robust evidence so that charities and donors can be as effective as possible.
There is a wealth of information on this site, not just about the Royal family. I highly recommend. The summary of their findings, which full details of the research and findings are on the site, is that 74% of charities with Royal Patrons did not get any public engagements with them last year. They also stated that they could find no evidence that having a Royal Patron increases a charity’s revenue. “There were no other outcomes that we could analyse, not that Royalty increases generosity more broadly.”
“UK charities should not seek or retain Royal patrons expecting either many public events with them, nor an effect on revenue. We could not find any effect of Royal patronages on charities’ revenues, despite multiple sophisticated statistical analyses.”
This was published on 16th July 2020, and refers to the previous 12 months, so no excuse about pandemic is needed to try and explain away something which I personally looked at in 2018, and came to similar conclusions. I did not use complicated or detailed statistical analysis, but the very phrases used in published Royal accounts and more so on the Royal Family website, is at best vague. Much of the figures are based on “expected” income, not actual. No explanation is stated anywhere that I could find in 2018 of the methodology used for the figures presented, and there is no comparison about the “expected” income alongside the actual income for the exact item quoted the year before. I am confident that Giving Evidence has, as it states “multiple sophisticated statistical analyses.” Proving that in 2020, their published findings made it clear nothing had changed.
Philanthropic Business Models[iv]
Philanthropy involves charitable giving to worthy causes on a large scale, but it is much more than just a charitable donation. Philanthropy is an effort an individual or organization undertakes based on an altruistic desire to improve human welfare, and wealthy individuals sometimes establish private foundations to facilitate their philanthropic efforts.
Nonprofits are organizations set up to support a variety of social causes, such as educational, health, scientific, public safety, and human rights. In the United States, organizations that qualify as non profits are exempt from federal tax liability under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 501(c)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Philanthropy refers to charitable acts or other good works that help others or society as a whole.
- Philanthropy can include donating money to a worthy cause or volunteering time, effort, or other forms of altruism.
- Increased transparency is a serious matter for many non profits, and how funds are obtained and used should be carefully documented. Technology, including social media, has also shaped how many individuals give to others.
- Andrew Carnegie is one of America’s most famous philanthropists, noted for the large scale of his charitable contributions, which included building more than 2,500 libraries worldwide.
- In modern times, philanthropy is often undertaken by those seeking tax breaks, in addition to feeling good and helping others.
Understanding Philanthropy
Philanthropy refers to charitable acts or other good works like volunteering your time or efforts that help others or contribute to the well-being of society overall. For some people, philanthropy means donations of money, often large sums, to support or create university buildings, research centres, or fund four-year college scholarships. For others, acts of philanthropy mean an annual donation to a local theater, food pantry, or public school.
There are many ways to make charitable contributions from a local to a global scale, and there is corporate philanthropy, and there are individual philanthropists. Philanthropy may be done for tax breaks or altruism, or a combination of the two things. Anyone can be a philanthropist if they give of their talent, time, money, or skills.
I think that Archewell should carry on doing what they are doing. It is an absolute advantage NOT to have Royal links to the Foundation.
Less than two years ago, the Royal family and its allies, decided to ‘other you and Meghan’ and exclude you from the life that you Harry had only ever known, purely because you chose to marry a person of colour. The worst crime was that this phenomenal lady was not a vacuous clothes horse with an empty brain, and therefore just by existing, outshone the apparent leading lights within the Firm. The Royal family tried to destroy Harry and Meghan, and daily sent poison arrows their way, both before the marriage and stepped up the seek and destroy game post wedding in 2018.
Once the announcement was made on 8th January 2020, that the Sussexes had had enough, and were stepping back from senior Working Royal duties, and were leaving the UK, the response was to circle the Royal Wagons and send out an avalanche of poison arrows and metaphorical fire bombs in the hope that you would scare the living daylights out of the couple, and that they would return to the abuse behind gilded gates. That ploy also failed.
Then the Royal Family commissioned its unwritten contract with the media to send minions out to let the Sussexes and the deranged of this world know their exact locations in Canada and then in the USA. Thankfully a higher power was protecting the Sussexes over that period and an angel on earth stepped up and protected a grandchild of the Queen of England (who agreed with the removal of the security), and his family, from the dangers posed by the actions of so called family members, including a parent. The irony that it was a billionaire businessman who was a person of colour that came to the rescue of the Sussexes, is not lost on people who recognise the figurehead White Supremacy family in the UK, and its treatment of an American citizen on UK soil and now attempting to do the same on international soil, who were saved and protected by a black billionaire.
The UK Royal family are neither charitable or philanthropic and definitely not a business that is audited in the correct way, or offers any tangible relevant measurement as to its benefit to the UK. The nerve to circle the wagons against the Sussexes, then to follow up with the people who were sent ahead to increase fear into the Sussexes, to force them back to abuse, and to recently compound the audacity by trying to hitch some of those same wagons to Sussex success on its recent business visits within the city of New York. It was not a Royal Tour. It was not a jolly. It was not a walkabout in order to have photo opportunities. Real business was being discussed, with the aim of hopefully securing engagement based on knowledge and skill of the Sussexes and their team, not because of connection to Royalty. In fact connection to UK Royalty is a definite disadvantage. Discussions are able to take place with prominent senior figures because of the respect shown to Harry and Meghan based on their ability and skills to make things happen, and to make huge differences to the lives of many. Media will hear about projects and initiatives agreed further down the line. Until then it is no one else’s business, and quite frankly the UK has no need to know any more than they will read in the media in the future. Nothing that the Sussexes do is any business of the UK and its figurehead family or the government. The BRF actively made life very difficult for Harry and Meghan, particularly Meghan whilst she resided in the UK, and multiple Human Rights breaches took place, and many continue today, whilst this family live on another continent. The daily shout for Meghan to go to back to the USA was a disgrace. The average number of articles written daily even now, by each tabloid is around 30 per day. In which realm does the Uk operate in when its tabloid media continue to write approx. 100 articles per day, about a couple who have lived elsewhere for 2 years. The public are tired of reading hateful articles and lies every day about the same people, and those same people being visible less than 5 times in the last year. Distraction tactics still in play, and a deliberate avoidance of writing about, or reporting on major issues within the UK and major issues within the Royal family itself. Most days of the year spent writing hateful articles and panels of tv most days, only discussing the Sussexes and finding something else to complain about, even though they are not working Royals, are self financing, and are doing exactly what the Uk ordered them to do, daily, was to pay back the costs of renovation of Frogmore, even though there was money in the Sovereign Grant specifically for this purpose, and they no longer are paid by UK taxpayer or Prince Charles. They are self financing, and it is absolutely no business of anyone in the UK, least of all the media and the carnival of so called experts, discussing how much the Sussexes earn. It is of no business of anyone else but the Sussexes. How they earn and what they earn is no ones business. You all wanted them gone, they left, so deal with it.
The uk continue to be clowns for the world to see daily. The UK hounded the Sussexes, the most popular couple in the Royal Family out of the country, and now because they have not failed outside of the Royal bubble, you think that you can beg them to come back for selective events, where you need engagement, so that your articles and images will earn more, and abuse them outside of those key events. The idea of asking Harry and Meghan to return to live in any rusty broken down moth and vermin infested dwelling on Royal grounds is a clear sign that some of you actually believe that you are of importance. Why would an abused person return to their abusers, and in doing so, ensure that their children were treated like Royal family slaves. I hope that if the Sussexes ever return to the UK, that they buy a property of their own, definitely not on Royal designated grounds (ie no Crown estate property) and is in a gated community with people who can afford to keep out media driftwood and friends. For the foreseeable future, I hope that Meghan does not return to this hate filled country. The Royal family and media have made her a target of hate and her life would be at increased risk in the UK. No repeat of UK media making money out of a Royal who dared to actually want to make a difference, who was vilified in life, and made into a income generator in her death. That will not be happening to any of the Sussexes.
Uk gave away the jewel in their crown, and now they can live with what they asked for. The Coercive Control the BRF and its media continue to employ is a list of illegal acts, and with all the professionals they employ, one would think that would have realised by now. The abuse continues, and I will never stop, from my small corner of the world, stating that fact.
Any future business visits by the Sussexes to any location, will always attract crowds. People like them, despite the hate campaign waged in the UK. None of what the Sussexes do is in any way Royal, not least because it is result driven and impact based in respect of the vulnerable. It is not and will never be described by sane people as anything Royal. The crowds that gather and the interest shown to this couple from day one, is not matched by anyone in the BRF. There is not one tour carried out by any other UK Royal in decades that could be described as successful, not by meaningful measures anyway.
For the 2nd time in history the Royal family once again are attending a UK based G7 meeting. The only one out of the 5 Royals who attended recently, and garnered some respectful interest was the person in their 90s. So much for the future of the Monarchy. The jokes write themselves.
Harry and Meghan on the Global Stage
Harry and Meghan have made huge successes already, and the Key Performance Indicators for their contracts are there for all to see. Leave this couple alone. They have moved on. The Uk should do the same. Australian media like the UK Royal family, so maybe some trade deals can be reached there, because elsewhere nations are not begging to do business with the UK, and where they do, the terms will not be as favourable as they could have been if the UK had been respectful to all nationalities and ethnic origins. The Sussexes are working on a global stage now, way above the nonsense that occupies UK media and their publications and tv daytime vitriol. UK lights are slowly going out, whilst Harry and Meghan now have no one telling them to dim their light. Shine like diamonds Harry and Meghan. Sussex Squad who are based in 84 countries, has got your back. Continue to show that Service is indeed Universal.
Ivy Barrow
10/10/21
Reference Sources
[i] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/businessmodel.asp
[ii] https://www.royal.uk/charities-and-patronages
[iii] https://giving-evidence.com/2020/07/16/royal-findings/
[iv] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/philanthropy.asp