As you may know, Open Query is entirely self-funded, which means the banks owe OQ and me money not vice versa. Things like interest rates are of little concern, which is helpful in volatile times! Of course I do rely on my bank staying in business, but that's now subject to a government guarantee in Australia so I'll just have to go with that for now ;-)

So far, OQ has not experienced much from the economic troubles. But I'll tell you about the possible encounters, since I think they're of interest and lessons can be learnt.

We give away one book to each student at a training day, that is, provided they've paid on time (basically a personalised quick payment bonus). I've got a small shortlist of decent books, but generally I've been handing out copies of …