nbmedia, Author at EM Solutions

BOB – Episode 6

We’ve just come to the end of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, and its been a week of activities – talks, workshops and competitions all over the world.

Cape Town had a whole host of interesting talks and workshops all around. Did you have a chance of attending any of the workshops or talks that took place around Cape Town? If not, then worry not, you can find most of the recordings online.

Our very own workshops here at EI can be found on slideshare.com. Please take the opportunity to go and catch up on these awesome workshops that will empower you.

It has also been an interesting week fro those living in France. We all know what has happened over there. After all that has happened, we are seeing a continuation of sagas, uncovering plots, blame and everything. But a number of things have come out of this. and i wanna remove myself from the emotions of the lost of life and distractions of property and violation.I wanna sort of, look at the way the world reacts to this type of a thing.

First, it is shock and disbelieve. Then it is anger, and then blame. we wanna go around pointing fingers and blame someone for what happened. And when it becomes hard for to blame someone who has blown themselves up, we begin to point fingers elsewhere and want to find someone, somewhere whom can be nailed for what happened.

All of this is similar to the way we run our businesses. When things start going bad in our businesses, we close our eyes and pretend it’s not happening. Then we hope it will go away, When it does not go away, we get angry and frustrated. and as time goes on, we want to look for someone that we can blame. That is what we call emotional immaturity.

In situations like this, We need to take responsibility of our actions, all the time. We need to man up and look for solutions instead of playing the blame game. We need to find a strategy of moving from chaos to clarity. That will make you a better entrepreneur.

Watch Bruce on Business here:

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:16+02:00November 23rd, 2015|Bruce on Business|0 Comments

The Entrepreneur – Poem by Tom Jackobs

Be inspired by this poem by Tom Jackobs.

The entrepreneur

The drawl, Sexy, freedom, Wealth
Do what you want. No boss to tell you what you want
The dream, Made reality through impulse future
With fear, with money borrowed
Time given, sweat and tears…
What?
This dream sold to me in a magazine
For my want for a better life is
Not what I expected
Fifteen hours and counting in a day

Negative bank accounts too many times to count
The Failed marriage,
The added rate, your life put on the line
Hair pulled out, tears pulled back, time put in
Like a prisoner, we are stuck by our own desires of freedom
Freedom from bosses, freedom from clocks, freedom from worries
The truth sets in…This- is- hard- work

The choices made, the voices heard
I will attack my fears with…
Unknown to me until now
I will do what no others will, I will persevere
I will silence that negativity in my head
I will ask for help, I am not alone
There’re others suffering silently
Fighting the good fight

Where is the ‘thank you’?
Where is the ‘great job’?
Where is the reward?
It’s in the knowledge that you gave done what no others will
You have persevered
You have made a difference
You have freedom
You are a unseen hero
Looked upon as someone who has it all
Oh, how quickly they forget
Or choose to ignore your blood sweat
Tears…
Just remember, fellow unstoppable entrepreneur
I walk with you, millions walk with you
Thank you! Great job!
Finally, your reward.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:16+02:00November 20th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Looking back to plan forward Part 3

This week we will take a short journey through a series of exercises that we use to cement the leanings from the past year and prepare for the quantum leap into 2016.

Today we will begin to look ahead to 2016 and put pen to paper on what your BHAGs and WIGs are. Let’s start with goal setting, this is preached at every business and personal development and time management seminar you will ever go to and for good reason.

Setting Goals do actually work. Simply by writing out your goals and sharing them with other people, you have already done up to 40% of the work towards achieving them. So get going. Set some goals for 2016. We are encouraged by John Maxwell to set BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goals. These are goals bigger than ourselves, a little larger than we would be comfortable with and just out of reach of our normal way of operation.

What this does to us is causes us to grow in ourselves and learn to rely on others to achieve them. Both are not so bad things. We are also told by Covey to set and keep a list of WIG’s, Wildy Important Goals. These are the top 3 to 5 goals that we spend 80% of our time on each day. We read them when we get up and re read them before we go to bed, they are top of mind at all times.

So what are your goals for 2016? Write out a list of 20 main objectives for the new year. Remember to include some of the following categories: Finance, Business, Personal Development, Family, Fun Time, Product Research, Networking and Holidays. Have fun with this and allow your mind to dream a bit. If your list scares you a little you have done it right. Now select your top 5 WIGS and circle them in red. Job done.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:17+02:00November 19th, 2015|Business Resources|0 Comments

Global Entrepreneurship Week: Workshop 3

Cool Marketing tools for your business.

In the third workshop of today’s snappy workshops series about Social Media, we have looked into the various tools that you can use to market your business.

All these tools do the work that you want in one marketing task, every day. The attendees learned on how to get these tools to work for you and your business while you spend less time a day on one simple marketing task that will bring the work you want.

Below are some of the tools we talked about:

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:17+02:00November 17th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Global Entrepreneurship Week: Workshop 2

Social Media Strategy for your business.

This is the second in a series of workshops we are running today as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week. The purpose of these workshops is to share information and activities that are of interest to entrepreneurs and businesses at large.

In the second workshop of today we talked about the Social Media Strategies for your business. The workshop takes you through the best ways to use social media through an actionable strategy using engaging content generation and social media monitoring. By now you probably realize that social media has taken over our lives, and a lot of businesses use social media to market themselves.

Here is how you can use Social Media for your business:

1. Know where your clients are.

– Get to know where your clients hang out. Do not fish in an empty pond.

2. Post company information.

– The platform that you can utilize to post any news about your company are:

Your company website
Your company twitter account
Your company Facebook Page
YouTube
Instagram
Blog

3. Increase your presence on social media platforms.

Blog at least three times a week.
Use interesting, catchy titles
Write series instead of long articles
Engage with the users

To get more info on this presentation visit www.slideshare.com, the slides are available for you there.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:17+02:00November 17th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Global Entrepreneurship Week: Workshop 1

As Part of the Global Entrepreneur Week, EI is running a series of snappy workshops today and tomorrow (17 – 18 November).

We have kick started our workshops, with the first workshop being on cleaning your online profile.Today’s first workshop highlighted key places on social profiles where hiring managers or potential clients look for “red flags”.

How important is it to keep a clean and professional profile online? How effective is it?

In today’s competitive world, especially in the job market, it is important to stand out on paper, in person, and even online. It is critical to think about what you post on social media platforms.

1. Profile Pictures

Get professional pictures taken -Be sure to choose pictures that paint a clean, friendly image about you.
No selfies
No pets, children or foetal scans
No group pictures
Do not post provocative or inappropriate photos.
Do not post photos of yourself drinking or using drugs.

Among other things that we have covered in the workshop are:

Personal information – Write it out and keep editing it.
Personal website – It is important for everyone to have their own URL. e.g www.yourname.co.za
Professional biography – Create a one-pager profile (almost like a brochure of yourself).
Company pages – Update your info on any business pages you are associated with.

For better or for worse, your social media profiles serve as an advertisement of your personal brand. So how do you make sure that your profile is clean? Google yourself. Find out what other can learn about you by doing a simple search.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:17+02:00November 17th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Looking back to plan forward Part 2

It is always said that the best way to keep focused while driving forward and looking through the windscreen is to keep an eye on the rear view mirror for the lessons learned.

As the year winds down, this week we will take a short journey through a series of exercises that we use to cement the leanings from the past year and prepare for the quantum leap into 2016.

The first exercise is to rid yourself of any guilt that you may carry into the festive season and holidays.

Make a list of all outstanding issues, programmes and unaccomplished tasks that you have been meaning to get done with this year.

This could include simple things such as replacing the kettle to setting up your new website or carrying out office renovations. This list is your ‘Parked’ list. We are not throwing these items out, just parking them to identify them as not yet fully addressed.

Too often we set our sights on a task that is outside our main focus and when reviewed it just seems not urgent anymore. Now is a good time to kill these babies and get back on track. Go back over them and cross out any that are no longer relevant or required.

For the issues left, mark them with an A or C – A being those that are important and still needing to be done this year and C being those that can wait until next year.

Then take the afternoon off. Just by doing this simple exercise, you have already gained enough motivation to get cracking on any outstanding issues.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:17+02:00November 13th, 2015|Reflections|0 Comments

The Global Entrepreneurship Week

The Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) – which attracts high profile entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson and Michael Dell – is almost here.

For people who are planning to start their own businesses, the need for plenty of tips and advice to help them succeed in realising their dreams ranks high on their hierarchy of needs.

As a result, attending entrepreneurship workshops is an excellent way to get all of that.

The GEW is upon us in South Africa and is scheduled to start next week, with the first event taking place in Cape Town on Monday, 16 November. To be part of this incredible event, EI will also be having a range of workshops focusing on social media and marketing on 17 and 18 November 2015.

Launched eight years ago, the GEW is the world’s largest entrepreneurship event.

It takes place every November all over the world and its aim is to celebrate, educate, inspire and motivate all the innovators and job creators of this world.

The GEW inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.

This not-to-be-missed event is run by people who have already successfully navigated their way through the business world – which is why it continues to attract and engage high-profile entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Russell Simmons, Muhammad Yunus, Mark Cuban and others who are enthusiastic to share their personal experiences and insights.

Those who are among the privileged few attending these much sought-after events are equipped with valuable nuggets which could enable them to follow in the footsteps of these great global entrepreneurship icons in their own business ventures.

People who are planning to attend these insightful events that are taking place at various areas across the country can expect to benefit in a number of different ways – including but not limited to networking, connecting participants to potential collaborators, mentors and even investors and introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities.

– For more information please visit: http://za.gew.co/

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:18+02:00November 13th, 2015|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Entrepreneur Formulas: Which one works?

Just like a jigsaw puzzle, the success of any small or medium-sized business is ultimately the product of a number of pieces falling perfectly into place. Successful businesses have some building blocks on which they hinge – and these include dedicated execution of numerous key factors.

These factors are not the be-all and the end-all of business success, but key among them are a distinctly enunciated clear mission, proper goal setting and measuring progress toward those goals, and then resolving the inevitable conflicts that arise.

Well, there isn’t really any definitive formula for the success of small businesses – this is a combination of various things that can bring you success. Some of them include experience twinned with hard work (Hard Work + Experience).

Below are the first three of our many not-really magical entrepreneur formulas that we’ve come up with:

Offering + Gap = Niche

Purpose + Clutter = Focus

Exercise + Attitude = Wellness

As time goes by, we are going to talk about these formulas one by one to see what they really mean and how they can be optimized for the success of a business.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:18+02:00November 11th, 2015|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Global Entrepreneurship Week hits Cape Town

Entrepreneurship week is upon us and we have some exciting workshops to add to the mix of other interesting events happening in and around Cape Town next week.

Snappy Workshops: We have a range of snappy (90 minutes) workshops focusing on social media and marketing on Tuesday 17^th. You have a selection of one or more of the following titles:

09:30 How effective is your online profile Book Here

12:00 Online Strategies for your business Book Here

14:30 Cool Web tools to save you time and money Book Here

17:00 FaceBook and YouTube for business Book Here

These will be followed by two more in-depth workshops on Wednesday 18^th for those wanting to get a more hands on approach to business:

09:00 Pimp Your Pitch Book Here

12:00 Creating a kick-ass business plan Book Here

All these workshops will be held at the Entrepreneur Academy in our Woodstock venue (directions here) Please register, rsvp and join us for a time of learning, sharing and development.

This could be the very thing you and your business needs.

By nbmedia|2016-11-01T10:20:18+02:00November 10th, 2015|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments