Uncategorized

BOB episode 18 – Financial Calendar

As you know, this month is finance month and we are speaking all things numbers.

One of the key tools to a successful business is to have a “Financial Calendar”. In case you are asking yourself what that is, a Financial Calendar is a 12-month accounting period for a company or organization. It is a list of all the key dates and deadlines that your company has to comply with.

There is a whole lot of key dates and deadlines that a lot of businesses forget or miss, and have cost them a lot of money in paying penalties and interests. So please know those key dates. Things like: VAT returns, Tax return, salary related issues – all those form part of a financial calendar.

It is best that you know all these dates to avoid paying penalties that you don’t even understand, or worse, to get your company de-registered. If you would like to know all about the important dates that your company should comply with, we will be talking about all of that in our finance workshop later on this week. To know more about the workshop please drop us an email on bruce@em-solutions.co.za or visit our website www.em-solutions.co.za

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:09+02:00March 7th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

How to handle your finances as a start-up entrepreneur

968886_498969703524410_1351264542_n In case you were not aware, March is termed the Financial Month, so we will be talking a lot on finances this month.

In this articles we would like to give you a few tips on how to handle your finances as a new entrepreneur. A good understanding and management of finances should be your priority when you start a business. Even if you decide to hire an accountant or bookkeeper to manage the books, you still need to familiarize yourself with basic bookkeeping and money management principles and activities.

Here are 4 tips on how to handle your finances if you have just started a business:

1. Open a bank account.
Once you have registered your business, you will need to open a commercial bank account. Start by selecting the bank you want to work with – a bank that will be small-business-friendly. It should be easy to open a bank account for your business, nothing complicated is required. The next step will be to deposit funds into your new account

2. Get a professional.
Accountants and financial advisers have always been trusted and respected helpers of small business owners everywhere. Their intimate knowledge of the profession as well as tax laws in their jurisdiction will save you money almost every time. The thought or temptation to do it yourself so you can save a buck or two will creep in sometimes, but it’s almost never more cost-efficient in the end. An accountant will almost always find more deductions and keep you penalty-free. Just make sure you have the cleanest records, and be more organized year-round. But when things get technical or taxes are due, save yourself the money, time and headaches and call in a trusted professional.

3. Accepting cash and online payment services.
In today’s competitive business world, you must provide customers with many ways to pay, including cash, debit card, credit card and electronic cash. There is a cost to provide these payment options – account fees, transaction fees, etc. So make sure to shop around for the best service with the best prices. Not all banks and payment processing services are the same, and fees vary widely, so do your research and compare prices.
Online payment services: PayPal is one of the most popular online payment services with more than 40 million members in 45 countries, offering personal and business account services.The advantages of online payment services are that they’re quick, easy and cheap to open and you can have the funds deposited directly into your account.

4. Establish payment terms and conditions.
Every small-business owner needs to establish a payment terms policy. You may want to standardize the way you get paid, at the same time you will also have to be flexible enough to meet clients’ needs on an individual basis. Setting payment terms covers deposits, progress payments and extending credit. It’s important to establish a clear, written payment terms with clients prior to providing services or delivering product. Your payment terms should be printed on your estimate forms, included in formal contracts and work orders, and printed on your final invoices and monthly account statements.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:10+02:00March 3rd, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

March – The Financial month

The marketing month – February is almost over, we are now entering into a new month – March the financial month. For many companies March means the beginning of the financial year. In preparation for setting your budget and financial goals, we are allocating this whole month to you. We would like to help you with all your financial matters.

Before we go any further, allow us to share exciting news with you. We have grown so much as a company in the past few months. We are now a big company with THREE core offerings that we take to the market. Entrepreneur Incubator & Academy has merged with Michelle Davidson Business Solutions to form one big company. We are now Entrepreneur and Management Solutions (EMS). This is such an exciting time for us. We specialize in this three key areas:

Accounting Services
Couching Programmes
Marketing Solutions

To find out more about the services we provide and about our new company, please visit www.em-solutions.co.za.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:10+02:00February 29th, 2016|Uncategorized|0 Comments

How do you show up for work?

How do you show up for work? No this is not about your fashion or dress sense, but more about the emotional engagement you have when you walk in the door at work.

The Gallup surveys tell us that the majority of the work force in USA is not engaged in their day to day activities at work. More to this is that a vast amount of available time and energy goes towards covering their backs and hiding their mistakes from colleagues and superiors. All this reduces the input and impact on the businesses output. How sad it must be to not want to go to your place of work where you spend up to 40% of your time.

Running a small business requires the same if not more energy to keep afloat. There is a constant battle to keep the ship upright and headed in the right direction. There is no time to be disengaged of distracted from the task at hand. A business owner and their staff need to be focused on the vision, lead by the mission and guided by the values and keep the eyes on the prize at all times.

But this is not always possible; things do go wrong. People have off days, get sick and have personal issues with each other. During these times the balls get dropped and issues fall through the cracks. It is a business that has well defined business procedures and processes that will thrive even in bad times. Simple well rehearsed drills, similar to a good sports team, will keep the ship on course.

As a manager, take time to flow chart the processes within your department and reduce, where required to paper using lists, flow charts and forms. Introduce these to the staff through training sessions and then encourage and enforce their use until they become automatic and part of the everyday life in the office.

Then sit back and manage by exception rather than fighting fires. This just makes your life a little easier and allows your staff to be more engaged with the purpose of the business not their personal agendas.

By NB Media|2016-11-01T10:20:20+02:00October 14th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Every Second Counts launch.

Bring true luxury to the bedroom

It’s time to reconnect with your nearest and dearest at Block and Chisel’s Larder (Diep River) where high tea will be served in celebration of the Southern Suburbs’ favourite gal, Kim Orgill.

Kim will be launching her proudly South African brand Every Second Counts on Friday, August 28, at The Larder, 99 Main Road, Diep River.

“I am so excited to be launching my online gifting store. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m so proud to be sharing this exciting offering with all of you,” said Kim. Fully functional and fully responsive, the ESC website is ideal for sending and receiving gifts from your mobile on the go, and makes shopping for birthday, anniversary and wedding gifts fast, easy and super convenient.

Every Second Counts is an exclusive online gift registry offering a bespoke range of satin pillowcases – the first in a series of exciting gifting concepts that are set to be released this year.

Finished with an Oxford pleat and available in 10 colours (including black, white, ivory and champagne), each set of pillowcases is handmade by a team of local women, and can be individually monogrammed for that extra-special finish.

Big on personal service, each order is individually wrapped, sensually fragranced, gift-boxed and hand-delivered to your doorstep. “Each time a friend unwraps an ESC present you’ll be engaging her senses of sight, touch and smell, and in so doing not only recreating the time-honoured nostalgia of gift giving but reminding her of just how loved and special she is,” says Kim.

Made of the highest quality satin, ESC’s pillowslips cannot tolerate dust mites and are hypoallergenic, which make them ideal for asthma and allergy sufferers. They’re also a salve for dry ageing skin, keeping skin hydrated, and crease and line free at night.”

Visit www.esc-satin-pillowcases.com and start shopping today.

Every Second Counts’s launch will be at The Larder, 99 Main Road, Diep River (in the same premises as Block and Chisel). This café is known for its fresh, local artisan offerings and seasonally sourced ingredients and dishes that will fill your belly and warm your heart. Be there to enjoy the fare.

The launch starts at 3.30pm.

To reserve your place call Kim on 078 590 6368 or email info@esc-satin-pillow-cases.com.

By NB Media|2016-11-01T10:20:22+02:00August 12th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Innovation Showcase at CPUT

Today I visited the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) first Innovation Showcase. The event held at the Bellville campus in Cape Town is the result of a number of years of work by Prof Gary Atkinson-Hope and Chris Lombard.

Exhibiting at the showcase were 38 projects run by both students and staff across the two CPUT campuses. Three projects caught my eye and I got to chat with the students involved in their development.

Lumons The Lumons is a set of three lights that are remotely charged whilst on their styled wooden stand and can then be carried around the home or office at night during load shedding. There is zero risk of fire or electrocution, and this product looks like it belongs in a style magazine for upmarket homes. Snugpack

The second product is one of those that we only realise we need when it is too late to invent it. The Snugpack is a small portable bag that fits over your backpack and gives you a safe and secure time to catch a nap during long trips, airport layovers. The team behind this product has turned experienced pain into a profitable and very clever product.

The third product is one that gave me that “Why didn’t I think of this” feeling. The portable photogrphy studio named the SOOC (Straight-Out-Of-Camera) offers the photographer a very high spec portable light box with LED lights and infinity screen for staging and photographing small to medium items.

Other products of interest were the Dryway, a clever folding clothes dryer. The Pivot offering a clever way to keep your keys safe and secure. And finally the TBT or The Braai Tool a clever well engineered braai tool that is sure to put a smile on every man’s face at the next national braai day.

Well done to all the students and staff of CPUT for their innovations, imaginations and development efforts. The state of our young minds in South Africa is encouraging.

By NB Media|2016-11-01T10:20:23+02:00August 6th, 2015|General, Uncategorized|0 Comments

The gift of creativity – The EASY project
Gallery

The gift of creativity – The EASY project

Social Initiative: Give the gift of creativity

The Elves At School Youth (EASY) project, which is an initiative that was founded by a young woman by the name of Abigail Florence, plays a key role in skills development in young people.

The 32-year-old Abigail (Abby as she is popularly called), who hails from Athlone, Cape Town said she has always been passionate about helping school learners in choosing the right career path.

Abby said she has realised that many kids find it difficult to choose careers and some are not even aware that they can do wonderful things with their own hands and venture into entrepreneurship through the things that they have created.

She and her staff members (comprising about five people) run workshops over school holidays every year to teach high school kids on various skill development areas and also to empower them and instil an entrepreneurial spirit in them from a young age.

“With this programme, we aim to inspire the spirit of creativity, design and entrepreneurship in high school learners using timeless needlecraft skills like sewing, crocheting, knitting and embroidery as a foundation,” she said.

This year’s workshop started on Monday, 13 July 2015 and ended on Friday, 17 July 2015. She ran the workshop in partnership with Bruce Wade of Entrepreneur Incubator & Academy, who gave training on entrepreneurship.

Abby’s project solely depends on the donations from generous individuals and businesses that are willing to invest in the development of the youth.

“The EASY project is made possible entirely by the generous contributions and donations of corporate and individual sponsors,” she said.

Abby believes that entrepreneurship and self-empowerment offer pathways for young people to emerge from unemployment, hence she started this initiative.

Our country needs a lot of people like Abby who sees that there is a great need to invest in young people, in their skills and in their ability to innovate. The youth need to be equipped to make the best choices for themselves. Programmes like these are needed to nurture the development of entrepreneurial skills in youth.

For more info about the EASY Programme please visit www.elvesatwork.co.za or contact Abby Florence on 021 4470446 / info@elvesatwork.co.za

By NB Media|2015-07-20T09:33:12+02:00July 20th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Lunch ‘n Learn – Presentation skills

Another Wednesday – and another insightful Lunch ‘n Learn session hosted by EI!

As it has now become synonymous with Wednesdays, another Lunch ‘n Learn session held today served to equip participants.

Today’s topic was about Presentation Skills. It was delivered by yet another great speaker Debra Glover, who is a Voice & Speech coach and presentation trainer.

As most would know, presentation skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. Most professionals need these skills when making presentations in business environments.

Drebra’s job is to develop people to have the confidence and capability to give good presentations, and to stand up in front of an audience and speak well.

She did a phenomenon job by sharing some of the useful tips and tricks about speaking and presenting in front of an audience and feeling comfortable about it.

She talked about the key objectives of making a good presentation, which are:

– Comfortable

– Confident

– Engaging

– Credible

“You need to look comfortable and confident when making your presentation in order for your audience to be comfortable too,” she said.

She emphasised the importance of body language, saying that gesture is very important because even if we are not speaking, our bodies speak.

“YOU are the message when making a presentation,” she said.

Another aspect of a good presentation that she touched on was preparation and practice. These two combinations, according to Debra, should make it a lot easier for anyone to make an impressive presentation. And of course knowing the kind of audience one is presenting to is also a key factor.

She quoted Mark Twain by saying “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

By NB Media|2016-11-01T10:20:24+02:00June 24th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

EI launches Lunch ‘n Learn

EI launches Lunch ‘n Learn

Business people and other interested stakeholders showed massive interest as they tucked into the EI’s newly-launched Lunch ‘n Learn programme.

The EI’s Lunch ‘n Learn programme, which kicked off with a bang on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, would see weekly one hour sessions dedicated for business people or any interested person to spend their lunch hour learning, networking and sharing business ideas.

Each week there will be a speaker sharing ideas on different topics that are aimed at empowering and instilling knowledge that would help in improving the attendees’ businesses.

During the maiden session of Lunch ‘n Learn, the EI’s Bruce Wade shared on Time Management for Entrepreneurs, which provided valuable lessons not only for entrepreneurs but for professionals in general.

In his presentation, Bruce touched on the “Time Wasters”, which are the little things that become ‘time thieves’. He explained that in order to manage time properly, people needed to be aware of those things.

Some of the “Time Wasters” could be the internet, social media, e-mails and bad habits. He said it was important for one to identify, schedule or eliminate them.

He further elaborated as follows on some of the techniques one can use in order to improve on time management as an entrepreneur, which he termed the 4Ds:

Do it now – If you do not do tasks immediately, you may forget to them later;

Delegate to someone else – We always have people around us who can help us. Give the tasks that you cannot do to them;

Diarise it for later – If it is not urgent, put it in the diary for later and focus on the urgent tasks first; and

Dump it in the bin – If it is not important or urgent, do not waste time on it, and dump it.

The first-ever Lunch ‘n Learn session set the bar quite high and if it is to be used as a yardstick, then upcoming events are expected to be even more insightful.

By NB Media|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00May 7th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Lunch n Learn

This week we launch our latest initiative to empower entrepreneurs and business owners.

Lunch ‘n Learn kicks off this Wednesday at 12:30 at our office in Woodstock. Directions here. This weekly, one hour session is dedicated to spending your lunch hour learning, networking and sharing your business ideas. Each week we will have a guest speaker to deliver a mini-master class on a topic that will enhance both yourself and your business. This is followed by networking and general discussions.

We will be very strict about time: start at 12:30 and finish at 13:30 sharp. Those who want to hang around for a second cup of coffee are welcome to linger and chat. This week – 6th May, Bruce will share some interesting issues around Time Management for Entrepreneurs. Those special rules for people who do not keep normal hours in a day.

If you are in the area on any Wednesday, bring your lunch, R20 and pop in for some edu-time with like minded people. more details and RSVP HERE

By NB Media|2016-11-01T10:20:25+02:00May 4th, 2015|Uncategorized|0 Comments