Tag: business plans

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How important is a new idea to the success of a start-up or small business?

English: A close up of the Apple IIGS metal lo...
English: A close up of the Apple IIGS metal logo badge, used in the Apple IIe to IIgs upgrade. Taken from www.macgeek.org (Permission has been received from the copyright holder to make use of this image on Wikipedia). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Steve jobs started out in a garage trying to build a personal computer that he could put into nearly everyone’s hands, he knew the basics about PC boards, electronics and computer programming. In fact, I remember seeing somewhere that he read Popular Electronics, a do-it-yourself approach magazine that covered the new field of electronics in the 1970s. But what was important was when he came up with an idea of how to make his own personal computer Apple that things started to happen. Continue reading “How important is a new idea to the success of a start-up or small business?”

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Incidents like this can hurt your people and small business big-time

The flame test for sodium displays a brilliant...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was sitting in a small restaurant when I heard screams coming from the car park below. Black clouds of smoke started rising past the window. Not knowing what had happened on the street below, I picked grabbed my belongings, got up and walked out of the restaurant towards the top side car park.

When I found out what it happened, I went back to the restaurant, paid my bill and afterwards drove around to see the site of the accident. When I got there the two business people who work in the small sit-down and take-away restaurant were seated in chairs with severe burn marks on their legs. A gas fire had spread rapidly in the shop and they were closest to the source of the gas and suffered damage to their bodies. Fortunately, the shop owner above this restaurant knew first aid and was attending to these business people with burn gel while contacting the paramedics and ambulance service. This small sit-down and take-away restaurant business was trading only for over a year. Who knows when it will open again? Continue reading “Incidents like this can hurt your people and small business big-time”

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Do you need a business plan for your promising business idea?

IMG_3497A man and a woman started a small side-walk eatery in a rural town. On the surface of things it seems that such an informal business would not require any real planning. Basically, the business comprises selling cooked boerewors (farmer’s sausage) and a curry mince in a vetkoek (fat cake). The business is located outside a butchery where the owners can get a ready supply of fresh meat. The butchery benefits from potential customers being able to taste their product just outside of the butchery door. Continue reading “Do you need a business plan for your promising business idea?”

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5 ways your small business needs to tackle inflation – unless you’re the Great Gatsby

MV5BMTkxNTk1ODcxNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDI1OTMzOQ@@._V1_SX214_The Great Gatsby, or Jay Gatsby, the lead character in F Scott-Fitzgerald‘s novel, was a bootlegger. The new movie shows the millionaire protagonist living a lavish lifestyle but behind-the-scenes he made his wealth from selling illegal liquor during the Prohibition period.

Jay Gatsby would have made even more money in our present inflationary times. But commentators who have examined his criminal past say that bootlegging was a fairly low-margin business. The reason: he had to pay for bribes, lawyers and mob protection. It is also doubtful that he would have raised prices above all his many competitors.

Warnings of high inflation are coming from economists, business owners and consumer unions as the Rand got beaten to smithereens by the US dollar. It’s difficult always to make predictions about how fast inflation will grow but it’s best to take precautionary measures now than wait until your small business gets a kick in the stomach from inflation. Continue reading “5 ways your small business needs to tackle inflation – unless you’re the Great Gatsby”