How Do You Score out of 12?

Developing a principle-based business is easier on paper than it is in practice. Each and everyday business leaders will be challenged to push the boundaries on their principles, both personal and business. For some, this is not an issue, but for those of us who have clear and firm boundaries on how we wish to run things, it is a constant challenge.

In a recent workshop, we were challenged with 12 principles for a Godly business that seemed to fall in line with our own vision and mission statements, but when we began to scratch a little there was definitely some uncomfortable shifting in seat amongst all those present. Here they are in summary: How do you measure up to these in your business?

1.       Whatever you do in word or deed, do it for God

2.       Do all things without complaining and disputing

3.       Be humble

4.       Watch what you say

5.       Keep learning

6.       Guard your integrity

7.       Work hard

8.       Seek good counsel

9.       Honour God with your wealth

10.   Show mercy and be gracious

11.   Control your anger

12.   Don’t fear people

There were a number of additions to this list once we began to discuss our own lives and businesses, but these are a good start to help define an initial culture of authentic business practices.

By |2018-08-14T12:02:38+02:00August 14th, 2018|Leadership|0 Comments

E Bear makes his return

E-Bear has finally made his return to the business. After his initial adventures,detailed on his own Blog, he will merge his future journeys and adventures here to be told as part of the whole EI story.
We look forward to having him share pics with our clients, guests and famous people.
Could this become the newest form of appreciation for Entrepreneurs?

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E Bear visited the Shanduka Black Umbrellas Entrepreneurship workshop today.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:32+02:00July 11th, 2014|EI Clients, General|0 Comments

Entrepreneurial lessons from Zanzibar part 2

Having recently visited Zanzibar, Tanzania for my honeymoon, I was struck at how different it must be to run a business on an island in an African state. Here is part 2 of my observations:

Service together with product is unseen: The ability to smile and sell does not seem to coexist in the same person. Selling is done on an aggressive forced manner that just drives tourists away. We had to, on more than one occasion, ask our guide for assistance to chase a person away from harassing us. Sales is all about meeting customer’s needs with the benefits of your product or service. No one willingly buys a product that is forced on them. I know competition is high, but then a niched product with friendly service will be an overnight success.

Business in Africa is different from most other places in the world. Survival is at stake and often just one sale could mean food on the table that night. I understand this but the business moral bar is just lowered all the time to cater form the quick sale with very little consideration for long term business plans.

We did how ever find one person: Abdul who seems to have broken the mould. More on him and his business ventures in my next post.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:34+02:00June 9th, 2014|Entrepreneurship, General|0 Comments

Bruce ties a new Knot.

This past weekend saw Bruce Wade, Coach and Owner at the Entrepreneur Incubator get married to Adri.

Bruce’s belief in moving on with plans and surging forward despite the circumstances apply in both business and love. This is evident in how the relationship with Adri started 2 years ago and has flourished into marriage. Focus, effort and dedicated time is key for new venture to work. It is however important to maintain balance in the focus to ensure an even distribution of effort at the right time for the right people is maintained.

Bruce is off on a 2 week break and will be back at the helm again in June, with some promising new projects and ideas for the second half of 2014.

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By |2016-11-01T10:20:35+02:00May 19th, 2014|General|0 Comments

Getting Around the Spam Filters

Have you ever wondered why your emails never get delivered or opened? Could it be due to the high amount of Spam alerts that they create? Even if you are sending out genuine legitimate emails with real business information, they may still be classified as spam. Here are a few hints to watch out for:

Make sure your email subjects have good call to actions that do not use any of the Spam words listed below.

Start emails to the person’s name. So not use, Hi all or Hello

Use your own name and email as the From address not Undisclosed Recipients

Cut down on the amount of Images in relation to the volume of text

Reduce or eliminate the use of the following Spam words:

Free, Instant access, one time offer, cancel at any time, give away, signup for free, this is not spam, instant cure, click here, compare our prices, earn more here, easy income.

The list goes on and on but you should see the trend here. For a complete list read this article by Hubspot. The more you try to manipulate your customers into buying stuff online without first building up a high level of trust, the more you will be pushed away. Not only by spam filters but by potential clients as well.

Try different email subjects on different days and times. See what best works for your clients and what gets the best open rate. The experts will tell you that an email send out on a Tuesday at 09:30 is the best time, but try it for yourself and your customers and then stick to a schedule that everyone can rely on.

By |2016-11-01T10:20:44+02:00March 18th, 2013|Business Resources, General, Social Media|0 Comments
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