7 things you must know before you start your new business venture

A hamburger with a rim of lettuce sitting on a...
A hamburger with a rim of lettuce sitting on a black plate against a black background with a black and red napkin on a black and white-dotted tablecloth. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A person I met recently talks about starting a hamburger restaurant business. At every opportunity he wants to talk about his hamburger restaurant business idea. But unfortunately he doesn’t get around to taking even one step towards realising his dream idea. Talk won’t get you anywhere. You’ve got to have a vision and a plan.

Here are seven things that you must absolutely know before you start any new business venture whether it is based on a product or service: Continue reading “7 things you must know before you start your new business venture”

Does your revenue model have multiple sources of income like this one?

Four revenue streams
Four revenue streams

Eighteen years ago in June I took out my first cellphone contract. This June I cancelled the contract. When I look at how much I’ve paid over almost two decades, I can see what a brilliant business model the cellphone companies have in this country.

But for the consumer like me it’s a different story. I won’t even use the word customer because the relationship with a cellphone company is close to zero. Though you benefit from a cellphone, it’s still a grudge purchase.

The cellphone company shackles you into a two-year contract. They charge a premium price for the cellphone unit and load it with a hire purchase interest rate. This is only the beginning. You are charged for voice, SMSs and data. Continue reading “Does your revenue model have multiple sources of income like this one?”

Could this be the world’s youngest entrepreneur?

TN Aquairum shark tank also26
TN Aquairum shark tank also26 (Photo credit: edball40)

Does age have anything to do with coming up with new ideas for products and services? How young can you be? What about more mature people – do they have any restrictions on coming up with new ideas?

Kiowa Kavovit, a seven-year-old, is the youngest inventor to dive into Shark Tank, a TV show which invites entrepreneurs to pitch to a panel of potential investors. She has come up with idea for a roll-on patent-pending-translucent liquid compound that doesn’t peel off from the skin. Essentially it is a paint-on bandage called Boo Boo Goo. The paint-on bandage for scratches comes in a range of colours including pink. Continue reading “Could this be the world’s youngest entrepreneur?”

Could this be the world’s youngest entrepreneur?

Shark tank at Newport Aquarium
Shark tank at Newport Aquarium (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Does age have anything to do with coming up with new ideas for products and services? How young can you be? What about more mature people – do they have any restrictions on coming up with new ideas?

Kiowa Kavovit, a seven-year-old, is the youngest inventor to dive into Shark Tank, a TV show which invites entrepreneurs to pitch to a panel of potential investors. She has come up with idea for a roll-on patent-pending translucent liquid compound that doesn’t peel off from the skin. Essentially it is a paint-on bandage called Boo Boo Goo. The paint-on bandage for scratches comes in a range of colours including pink. Continue reading “Could this be the world’s youngest entrepreneur?”

What should you expect from a business adviser?

Show Business (magazine)
Show Business (magazine) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With supposedly serious small business magazines touting headlines on their cover that anyone can start a business without any cash, it seems as though business skills to develop a product or service idea and launch a business are hardly necessary.

But we all know small business magazines with controlled circulations battle on the newsstands. Their hyped up headlines are there to merely tease or tantalise prospective readers but when you turn the pages and find the article it’s the same feeling that you had as a kid when you opened a lucky packet to find some cheap plastic toys inside that break on first use. Oh boy, lucky those lucky packets are no longer around. Yet am told they could make a comeback at one of the larger grocery chains. Continue reading “What should you expect from a business adviser?”

How to create value from new ideas through a business venture

Rain camera
Rain camera (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

It’s raining. At last. After four months of winter in Johannesburg the rain has finally come. The August rain is the first sign of the change of season from winter to spring.

Outside in the garden the birds are twittering in the trees, dropping onto the ground to forage for food. A frog began croaking in the early hours of the morning in the rain after months of silence.

With his almost journalistic eye, Geoffrey Chaucer in the 1300s begins “The Canterbury Tales” with the promise of spring and its invigorating energies in nature: Continue reading “How to create value from new ideas through a business venture”