#TeenBoss 2017 a Huge Success

Wow!  What an experience!  #TeenBoss 2017 was absolutely HIT from start to finish!

The group of young learners was geared to take away as much as they could about entrepreneurship from the event from Day 1, and they certainly all brought their ‘A-Game’!  Their business ideas ranged from innovative modes of transport for schools to novel tuition techniques to make studying easy and enjoyable for matriculants, to new and fresh ideas for child care services, plus much more.

The judges did not have an easy time adjudicating; all the entries were well thought-through and presented, but at the end of the three-day boot camp, the winning team, whose business idea was centred on the creation of leadership and development camps to tackle boredom during the school holidays, was Goodwood College.71d1e7af-9b2a-4f95-a665-888bb0e04298

We wish to extend our congratulations to Goodwood College (aka Teen Transformers), as well as all the other participating teams, i.e. Oude Molen Academy of Science & Technology (aka Learners with Attitude), EE Van Projects (aka J.A.C.K – which happens to be the first letters of the group members’ names), two teams from Atlantis Schools (aka #Boss Tomorrow and #Red Devils), two teams from Bonga Cycling Academy (aka The Stars of Tomorrow and Le Pelleton), and Isilimela Comprehensive High School (aka Young Minds).  To us, you are all winners!

An ‘extra’ big thank you also to our sponsors and partners – Praesidium Capital Management/IBuild, Shoprite, the Sage Foundation, The River Club, Over the Rainbow, Entrepreneur & Management Solutions, and The Agency – without whom #TeenBoss 2017 would not have been possible.

The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe, paid us a surprise visit on Day 1 to encourage our young participants on their entrepreneurial journeys.  Thank you, Deputy Minister Thabethe, for spending the morning with us!

Our social media channels were abuzz with activity, thanks to The Agency and all our partners who participated in promoting the event on digital media.  We’d say in excess of 200 000 impressions for the 3-day period is not too shabby!

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By |2017-08-01T13:17:20+02:00August 1st, 2017|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Bruce scoops Expertise prize

Bruce Wade was officially announced as the winner of the Expertise.tv global challenge last week after a gruelling competition that saw over 50 Coaches and Entrepreneurs battle it out over the 5 stages of competition.

This event attracted new users to the Expertise.tv platform from countries across the globe. Each day after a brief education video, participants were set challenges and tasks to gain confidence on the platform and to build their respective accounts in line with best practices and learnt lessons. The leader board was first posted on Wednesday showing to score for each participant and as the tasks were delivered and deadlines reached the top spots were diminishing until just 10 were left sharing the 1st place.

The final goal was set and with just 3 days to achieve high results, Bruce was able to secure his position as the overall leader and claim the prize.

For his efforts, Bruce and his business Entrepreneur and Management Solutions will be awarded a fully funded FaceBook campaign sponsored and run by Expertise.tv as well as additional features to add to his account.

Entrepreneur and Management Solutions already run a weekly webinar on Wednesday’s dealing with innovative business and marketing strategy. Join this group of Learning Legends by registering here and receive regular updates and invites to webinars and programmes to enhance both yourself and your business.

By |2017-05-22T14:48:21+02:00May 22nd, 2017|Bruce on Business, Entrepreneurship, Social Media|1 Comment

Marketing Strategies Give a business the Unfair Advantage

Learning Legend

For any business operating in today’s world of cut budgets, time constraints and failing economies, it becomes harder and harder to penetrate new markets. But with a clear marketing strategy that includes relationship building techniques and tools together with a focus on experiential and convenience as primary factors, these businesses are continuing to see growth in double digits.

So what are you doing? Do you have a clear vision and mission for your business? Do you have monthly marketing strategies and goals? Does your business plan to stay ahead or become a victim of the current economy.

Join us on Wednesday 17th May at noon to learn what makes up a strategic marketing plan and what your business needs to do to keep up with other growing organisations. Register below and make a difference to your future.

REGISTER HERE

https://expertise.tv/webinar/developing-a-marketing-strategy/landing/5330

By |2017-05-16T13:58:21+02:00May 16th, 2017|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Are You a Learning Legend?

Learning Legend

Last week we launched our online Learning Legends programme. This allows everyone on our current mailing list to have access to our wealth of information and programmes for developing both you and your business.

The first release was access to the book Exploit Yourself, a master class in personal networking techniques. This is delivered in audio book format to your email over a 7-week programme. We have already had a flurry of people taking up the offer. If you want access to this free programme, then simply click HERE and complete the form.

We want to make online learning and access to information as easy as possible for the busy business person. Our programmes will in future include email courses, online video and eBooks. All of these will be available from our website, some free, others paid for, but all worth participating in.

We would love to hear from you about topics and ideas that you would like to have covered and we can see what we can do to accommodate you.

Keep an eye out for specials and discount vouchers for upcoming courses. Do not forget to get your free Audiobook HERE

By |2017-03-13T11:12:54+02:00March 13th, 2017|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Cutting, pruning and firing

I am not an HR or Labour consultant, so this post is not about how to fire a staff member and not end up at the CCMA.

Every business seems to have at least one of those high maintenance, destructive staff members. Those people who seem to suck the very energy out of others. They seem wise to the laws and walk very close to the minimal effort line, but their attitude is what does the damage. You know who I am speaking about.

So what can you do? I just love the Apprentice show, where the Boss leans over the table and says “You have been terminated”. But the laws in South Africa just do not allow for this. Due process needs to be followed and this at best of times can be long and tedious. We have just come out of a season of right-sizing and getting rid of some staff, moving others and employing more. Our team is now better and more efficient than ever. It was a long and often painful process, but we did hire the expertise of a consultant to keep it legal and regulated.

It is important to keep your head above the issues during these times and remember that the bigger picture of the business is always more important than the personal issues and remarks from individuals. People can become very nasty and destructive during retrenchments, hearings and warnings, but as business owners, this comes with the job description.

There is also the coaching and consulting that should happen with each staff member to help avoid the decay that leads to dismissal. Regular meetings, encouragement, guidance and education all help prevent staff loss. But alas there are those that will just not cooperate and need to be pruned.

If you are going through this season in your business, hang in there. Keep taking the high and legal road. Do not get sucked into the personal squabble and hurtful remarks. Address people as adults, hear their views and follow due process. It will work out in the end.

If you are struggling with staff and wanting to do some pruning and cutting, then start today. Waiting even a day longer than necessary just adds to your resentment and decreases the joy of coming to work. Good luck.

By |2017-03-06T14:11:28+02:00March 10th, 2017|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship, General|0 Comments

Accountability and assessments

You cannot manage what you do not measure and you cannot reward what you do not manage. We see and hear this all the time at productivity seminars, but how does this apply to your staff? Are you able to measure the effectiveness of your staff at their various levels of productivity?

Sure we can count output of widgets made per hour per workstation, but what about staff engagement and happiness. Colin Hall from Learning to Lead works with businesses all around the world assisting staff to become more engaged in their daily jobs. With as much as 80% of staff disengaged or involved in activities other than core productivity, it is no wonder our businesses are stagnating and people are grumpy at the coffee machine.

Regular check-in sessions with a mentor with a huge dose of accountability and at least annual or 6 monthly assessments are key to getting a better level of engagement.

But do not fall into the corporate trap of descending a huge black cloud of despair on the business when it comes to assessments. These should be unrelated to salary increases and more about promoting productivity at work. A great assessment should be at its heart a self-assessment that each staff member can then reflect back to their mentor or manager with. The manager is there to guide through their experience the development of a roadmap that addresses failure, understands learning and maps a way forward that is congruent with the development of the business.

Getting this right is not easy and the larger the business the more staff dynamics you have and the more complex the task becomes. If required, get professional help, there are many companies that offer such services.

I like to think that each staff member is accountable firstly to the business as a whole then to their manager for their job KPA’s and then to themselves for their conduct and behaviour. Sharing this at induction sessions and repeating this at regular mentor sessions helps create an environment of achievement and development energy not easily found in most businesses.

And if you still have those grumpy, unproductive staff members around, then maybe it is time to cut. More on this in the next post.

By |2017-03-06T14:08:36+02:00March 9th, 2017|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship, General|0 Comments

Inducting staff into your business

New staff are just that new. They may have looked and sounded great at the interview but they still remain new and know nothing about what you do or how it is done. You can never just leave a new staff member to ‘find their way’ and hope that everything will turn out right.

Develop some form of induction programme, this does not need to be a whole week of training and signed contracts, but at least a checklist of things that are important to the functioning and compliance of your business. Here are some ideas for your list:

  • Employment contract read and signed
  • Access control, cards, ID, fingerprints etc
  • Tax forms, UIF, copy of ID and payroll forms completed
  • Read and signed Companies Vision, Mission and Values document
  • Introductions to other staff members, individually or at a staff meeting
  • Office orientation of where everything is, desk, toilets, kitchen, emergency exits etc.
  • Daily, weekly and monthly schedules for meetings, processes and deadlines
  • Procedure, process and policy manual for reading and reference
  • Chain of command for line managers, HR and other issues
  • Allocation of a mentor

I am sure there are many more, but this list is a good starter kit to get that first day working well and the new staff member settled.

We put all our staff on a long term learning programme, but more on that in the next post.

By |2017-03-06T14:02:29+02:00March 7th, 2017|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship, General|0 Comments

Now is the time to start your Business

We have so many enquiries of people who are working on starting a new business. If this is you or you know of someone, then this article is for you.

Being your own Boss and running your own business seems like a fantasy dream for anyone trapped in a corporate job or sitting at home unemployed. But it is not all fluffy pillows and cute puppies. Starting a business is tough and requires hard work, long hours and a host of networks, hoop-jumping and regulations to get through.

That is where we come in. We do this for a living and helping you start and grow your business is what we do, and we are good at it.

To assist you or a friend, we have set aside two days in March to kick start your business.

Join us for a half-day programme to kick start your financial future as you learn what to do next to start your profitable business. In this programme you will:

  • Complete a business readiness assessment
  • Learn what 5 initial steps to take in developing a business
  • Understand the legal and compliance issues
  • Develop a plan of action to take the first step

Signup for one of our programmes today for just R300 and also receive a full list of over 100 business development steps that require your attention within the first year of business.

The dates are:

To register for one of these dates, please click HERE to get to our events calendar, click on the date and complete the online registration form.

By |2017-02-23T14:09:25+02:00February 23rd, 2017|Business Resources, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Looking Ahead to 2017

Many people are back at work this week after taking a break. Others have worked themselves to a standstill and are looking forward to a break.

Whatever group you belong to, welcome to 2017. It is going to be just another year with the same old same old. Unless you do something to change things. We have a sign in our office that reads “If you change nothing, nothing will change”. This cannot be truer. The future is what you make it and it requires a conscious move from being a reactive person to a proactive person.

Reactive people wait to be told to do something before they start anything. They wait for the alarm clock to go off, then get out of bed, they wait for others to do things for them and wait to be told what to do.

Proactive people get up early because they want to. They seek out opportunities and explore them. They invent things to do discovering new ideas and different ways to do things. They engaged with people to initiate conversation and build networks.

May your year ahead, no matter what it may throw at you, be one of focus, enthusiasm and breaking ground for growth and expansion.

By |2017-01-09T09:22:47+02:00January 9th, 2017|EI Clients, Entrepreneurship|0 Comments

Entrepreneur Options for School Leavers

With our Matric results out in South Africa and all the mixed emotions that go with them all, we are left with the obvious question: What to do now?

If you are or know a school leaver then here are some options: Further education is always a great way to go. But remember the dropout rate and failure rate for higher education is above 50% and will often leave you with huge debt and emotional and social issues to deal with.

Getting a job and working is an awesome option, but jobs are scarce and your Matric does not really qualify you to do much other than entry level jobs. But a job is a job and experience will come. I know so many people who got a job, worked hard and have moved up to managerial positions and job security. So find a job, put in some effort and make it happen.

Then there is the gap year. A gap year without a plan is just a total waste of time and energy, not yours, but those who need to support you. If you want to take a gap year, do something with it. Learn a skill, job shadow, volunteer, travel, do things that will give you experience and mature your skills into something worthwhile.

The last option I have is to start a business. Last on the list, but should be considered first. South Africa is ripe for Entrepreneurship and ready for small business. But starting a small business on your own may be considered as imminent failure, unless you get help from a mentor and coach. Learning from others who have gone before you makes the path less hazardous and more productive.

If you are in Johannesburg and want to do a full gap year of Entrepreneurship then here is an option.

If you are in Cape Town and want to find out more about what it takes to start and run a business, then we have a specialised workshop for school leavers on Wednesday 11th Jan. Click HERE for more info.

Whatever your choices are for 2017, make sure you make then, stick to them and give it a good go. If you want to chat to our team for more advice, then go here. We are here to help you grow your business.

By |2017-01-06T09:25:45+02:00January 6th, 2017|Entrepreneurship|0 Comments
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