The 5c’s of Entrepreneurship part 1 – Convenience.

Frustration amongst the general population is fast becoming a way of life and almost expected reaction to most phone calls queues or dealings with large organizations. For the small business owner is begun to be the largest blockage of doing business and scenes of head butting desks and phone slamming is just a normal part of the day. But frustration can be turned around and used as a source of a business idea and a way to profit. The opposite of Frustration is something most people will pay dearly for: Convenience. The convenience of not having to put up with delays, traffic, queues, filling in forms, waiting in endless waiting rooms and then there is the whole food and cooking thing. As an entrepreneur we need to embrace other people frustration and pause long enough to ask how this could be turned into convenience and converted into a business for profit. The people I know will often pay dearly to have their problems removed out from their lives. No I am not speaking about some cloak and dagger hit man, just simple services and products that add value to everyday life that will make my journey through life a little less frustration and a little more pleasant. So next time you see someone having a bad day, pause a little and start a new business, it just could be the beginning of your retirement plan.

By |2014-05-22T10:24:36+02:00May 22nd, 2014|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Can You Take Leave?

This is not a legal question or one of human resources, but aimed at you the business owner. When last did you take a considerable chunk of leave to relax and refocus and not put your cash flow of business in jeopardy?

Have a business model that allows for the owner to take time off is not something that just happens, it takes focus and effort to build a business that does not rely 100% on the owner’s time contribution or effort. Let’s unpack some of the issues that small business owners face:

1 Selling Time – The business owner sells their time as the primary source of income. This will always restrict the time the business owner can take off. Any time away from work reduces income. It is important to develop passive income streams from other staff, products or services.

2 Undocumented processes – No one else knows what to do, as all the processes reside in the head of the business owner. This results in errors of work done or just nothing been done when the owner is away. It is important to document procedures or at least train others to do certain tasks and processes up to a reliable level to ensure that the cogs of the business continue to turn whilst you are away.

3 Unreliable staff – Staff who are unable to do the job always become a liability to the business and require high maintenance from the owner or managers. Sourcing good competent staff is key to developing a business that can run without you at the helm all the time. This goes back to proper recruiting, training and management of staff at all levels.

4 Unproven business model – a business model that is not mapped out or is just made up as things go along, will always require a 100% effort to maintain any form of direction or stability. A business model with various forms of income streams, support structure, processes and reliable backups is key to growing a business to a point that when the owner is not present, things continue to function and the income continues.

Developing a sustainable model is key to not only growth but allowing you to have a holiday and still return to a functional business with cash in the bank. Our Productivity model can assist you with this is you are struggling to find focus and the idea of a holiday this year seem just a distant myth in your plans.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:35+02:00May 12th, 2014|Business Resources, EI Clients, Entrepreneurship, Leadership|0 Comments

Small Business Web Assessment Tool

Having a website for your business has to be one of the best ways to attract new customers that you do not yet know. It has also become an important tool to validate your claims and product offerings as well as give potential customers access to your contact information and product details. More important is the conversations around your brand on social media platforms that support your claims. All these need to be set up and managed by your business. But how well does yours perform?

We use a number of different leading-edge website assessment tools, together with our experience, that not only assesses your current layout and design of your site but the ability to be used as a marketing tool to attract new customers and grow your business. Using this tool together with a number of other assessment techniques, we are able to give your website a full examination and under-the-hood assessment giving you a comprehensive report on how your score and what to do about any shortfalls.

We are giving away 20 free assessments this week to celebrate our 20 years of democracy in South Africa. If you would like to be one of the lucky 20 to get this free assessment report worth R350, then email us here with your domain name and a contact number and we will email you a full report.

By |2014-05-05T14:46:57+02:00May 5th, 2014|Business Resources, EI Clients, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Creating an Entrepreneurial Mindset for your Employees.

Creating an Entrepreneurial Mindset for your Employees

It is not every business that is able or willing to ask their employees to find faults with their work environment. But the Vineyard is encouraging all their employees to look for areas of frustration , anger and fear amongst their staff and guests and then do something about it. We together with Teen Entrepreneur have been busy running a series of workshops for the Vineyard staff this month on how to “Turn Pain into Gain” through an Entrepreneurial Mindset.

Session of up to 25 staff have work shopped areas of frustration in the hotel and then worked through these to a viable solution that can be presented back to management with a feasible solution. The response has been very positive with some great ideas already resented back to managers and in the process of implementation. Staff have also been empowered to take any issue forward together with a viable solution to management using the new defined processes and forms. A recognition process for staff for implemented solutions is also being looked at.

What a privilege it has been to work with such a forward looking and proactive company. We are looking for ways to roll this type of workshop into other hospitality businesses as well as into other sectors.  If you are interested in learning more about this process and how it could benefit your business, then please contact us here.

New Picture (5)

By |2016-11-01T10:20:36+02:00April 24th, 2014|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Could you campaign for your job?

Almost every lamp pole in our country currently hosts at least one political poster with pictures and slogans. TV and radio adverts are coming out with political parties promising us a better life together if we vote for them. In the coming weeks leading up to 7 May when we go to the polls, we will begin to see an increase in campaigning and promises that will sway those of us who have not yet made up our minds where to place our voters cross.

What is it you and your business had to secure customers in the same manner.

What would your pole posters look like?

Would you put your face on the poster?

What would your slogan or tag line be?

If you had a 3 minute radio interview would you know what to say and how to say it?

How different is your marketing campaigns to an election campaign? Can you stand by your words and promises that you make to your customers. How satisfied would your customers be once they have spend money (cast their vote) on your product offering? What would they be sharing with their friends about their experience with your business?

Take time today to think on these things and make any changes that may be required to move your business away from the fly-by-night political party campaigns we see far too often.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:36+02:00April 14th, 2014|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship, Leadership|0 Comments

Change is Constant

There are not many things that remain constant in our lives these days, one that does is the need for change. With the rules of life, business and love ever changing or modulating from one phase to the next, we need to be on the constant lookout for new opportunities and gaps in the market that require our attention.

A few big changes that we have undergone at the Entrepreneur Incubator is that of our new office.  We are now based in Woodstock, the new hottest venue in Cape Town. Our offices situated in the Upper East Side Complex offers us luxury, security and a range of facilities such as coffee shops, restaurants, conference facilities and a gym and pool for those de-stress sessions.

Included in our office move was the appointment of our newest staff member: Chevon Cupido joins the team as a Strategic Assistant. Chevon will be working alongside myself in supporting our clients and helping to generate modules, tools and workshop materials.

Our offices also boast the ability to create high quality videos for use on websites, training programmes and social media. The green screen technology and wireless microphone allows us to get perfect sound based at any location you desire.

So with change, come the opportunities for us to expand our offerings and for you to join us to help push your business up a notch or two to the levels you have hoped for. If you want to get more info from us, then please contact Chevon direct on admin@ei.co.za

By |2016-11-01T10:20:36+02:00April 10th, 2014|Business Resources, EI Clients, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Small Business Growth Conference

An exciting announcement regarding the Small Business Growth Conference taking place in Cape Town on 24 March 2014. In keeping with their commitment to bringing you the right tools and expertise you need for growing your business, key sponsor Santam will be bringing you the ‘Consultation Station’ at this year’s conference.

It’s a unique opportunity for you as a Small Business Owner/Manager to get expert advice and solutions to your business challenges at absolutely no additional cost.

If you register as a delegate, you will have the opportunity to reserve two 15-minute consultation sessions with a panel of industry experts on any of the below fields of your choice:

  • Business Strategy
  • Promotions
  • Human Resources
  • Business Legal Matters
  • Financial Management
  • Operations and Logistics

For more information on the Consultation Station, simply click here.

If you have any queries, please contact us on 021 180 4111.

By |2014-03-13T09:08:58+02:00March 13th, 2014|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Where does my time go-Learn how to cope

The common complaint of business owners and Entrepreneurs seems to be TIME. Time flies by so fast, our lives a fuller than ever before and just when we think the work is done, another 100 emails IMs, tweets and posts call out for our attention, not to mention actual meetings, proposals and running a business.

Time Management for Entrepreneurs can never rely on traditional programmes and courses taught in corporate. It is just ridicules to expect any Entrepreneur to comply to a set of rules. Rather build a framework of guidelines that facilitate the management of time around yourself and find the best way to mold your time around you.

If you are a 3 am person, like me, or a late riser and midnight oil burner, then why should you ever want to be squeezed into a 9 – 5 box.

There are a number of easy to adopt tools and rules that we offer in our Time Management for Entrepreneurs course, will not only make you more productive, but less stressed and more happy.

This link will give you a free access to do the course. Please feel free to share this with your friends and colleagues. This link will be active for a limited time so get in while you can. Offer expires on 28th Feb. Go for it, Enjoy.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:36+02:00February 19th, 2014|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments
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