BUSINESS guru Tom Edge has told more than 300 Bolton entrepreneurs to ignore the 'R' word.

"If you hear the word 'recession', ignore it and blank it off," he said during a two-hour session at the Reebok Stadium.

Business people lapped up his optimistic message -- even the advice to practise delivering it in front of the mirror.

"You are twice as good as you think you are," he said. "Repeat that to yourself every morning."

Mr Edge, who is 58, ran factories in the Midlands until his fourth redundancy 22 years ago led him to set up his Training Projects company.

He said it has helped 20,000 small businesses prosper. Mr Edge, who kept exhorting his audience to "wroite this down", was invited by On Track, a programme for entrepreneurs run by Bolton Council's Business Support Unit.

Organisers invited him back after 130 people turned up for his appearance in the town last year.

Supporting the event were the East Bolton Regeneration Scheme, the Federation of Small Businesses and HSBC bank. Mr Edge, whose talk was titled 'How to Recession Proof Your Business', said: "If you really want to work at recession-proofing, one of the first things to do is beef up your customer service."

He suggested keeping a check on how employees dealt with the public -- perhaps by pretending to be a customer.

And he said that sales came through the human touch rather than relying on answerphones and other machines.

TOM Edge's advice for managers:

If it's to be, it's up to me.

Never compete on price -- someone will always do it cheaper, so compete on service.

It's nothing to do with how good you are at making it -- it's how good you are at selling it.

If you are not prepared to delight your customers, they will flock to competitors who are.

Networking is not about handing out your business card -- it is about getting other people to give you theirs.

Holidays are a necessity -- not a luxury.

Find what customers want -- not what you think they want.