Tag: small business

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How long can your small business go on for without meeting a new competitor across the road?

English: Fish and Chip shop in Plymouth
English: Fish and Chip shop in Plymouth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In our small suburb a cake and pastry shop opened up about five or six years ago. The cake and bakery shop has done well, now even delivering from several delivery vans. It’s interesting that this cake shop business is on the main road where it is visible to passer-by traffic.

I suppose the passer-by traffic works well for attracting customers to the business. In fact, the owner of the business sometimes takes out space on a very big outdoor sign to advertise her cakes. Continue reading “How long can your small business go on for without meeting a new competitor across the road?”

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Do you have an idea for an online food company?

Burrito and Coke
Burrito and Coke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Healthier food and beverage habits are catching up with companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, says a brief in Bloomberg Business week. Profits of both companies have declined.

Customers of McDonald’s see the company mostly as a “manufacturing plant” and not an eatery.

In the US and China consumers are increasingly skipping sugary beverages, including juices and sports drinks. Continue reading “Do you have an idea for an online food company?”

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How do you detect a good business owner in a blackout?

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

How do you spot a good business owner when the lights go out? It’s easy. In the darkness of a local shopping centre, you may find the lights on at a small pizza takeaway and restaurant with the sound of a diesel or petrol generator chugging away furiously.

Small business owners shouldn’t be lulled into doing nothing now that blackouts are less frequent. With a crisis in electrical supply, small business owners have to do their own thing to survive. But how many have taken this step to ensure the survival of their business? Continue reading “How do you detect a good business owner in a blackout?”

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How would you go about devising a turnaround plan for your small business?

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

Businessweek covered the story about McDonald’s turnaround plan but analysts were not impressed with the company’s strategic roadmap. McDonald’s sales at US restaurants fell 2.1% in 2014, the biggest decline since 2000 (US restaurants account for 40% of the company’s operating income).

The turnaround plan announced by the new chief executive officer, Steve Easter Brook, involves making the company more efficient, making its food more appealing to the healthy, a new company structure, selling off corporate stores and reducing expenses. Continue reading “How would you go about devising a turnaround plan for your small business?”

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Creative approaches necessary for solving everyday challenges

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

A standing joke of an optimist is someone who believes that they won’t encounter a pothole on their way to work, will find their electricity on in the morning, running water from their taps, have mail delivered, experience a drop in energy prices and not get robbed at their home or their car hijacked and stolen.

Creative living requires responding to life’s challenges. Blackouts have provided opportunities. Last Christmas new types of gifts appeared in Father Christmas stockings such as battery-powered torches and lights, LED reading lamps and butane and propane gas cylinders for boiling hot water. Outdoor and camping stores have many blackout survival tools these days. Not to mention the investment in generators and renewables for residents and business. Continue reading “Creative approaches necessary for solving everyday challenges”

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It’s so different when you create something of your own

Photo courtesy of "Death to Stock"
Photo courtesy of “Death to Stock”

I met a consultant and trainer the other day who told me how busy he was, never being able to stay much at home because he was flying to different cities. Such is the demand for his service that it’s hard keeping up with it all. It’s a fantastic story when specialised training is in high demand and you are one of the few suppliers who have a top-notch product. Continue reading “It’s so different when you create something of your own”

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Who do you trust when it comes to small business advice?

Death_to_stock_communicate_hands_9Not too long ago financial advisers were unregulated but because standards were lacking in the industry they eventually had to write financial adviser exams and be registered. Too many customers were advised on investments that were not in their best interests. In these times with the increase in the number of small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures, the number of small business advisers has grown. Continue reading “Who do you trust when it comes to small business advice?”

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Is direct marketing effective for the small start-up?

2015-09-29 08.57.54
(Copyright © 2015 by Rayne Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

I’ve spent a lot of time in the traffic and at almost every four-way stop people thrust pamphlets at your side window. Are these pamphlets effective? They’ve slipped ones through the top of my window for storage facilities, vehicle repairs and maintenance, beauty products, gyms and even for retirement accommodation. Continue reading “Is direct marketing effective for the small start-up?”

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How valuable is your small business in these changing times?

(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)
(Copyright © 2015 by Chesney Bradshaw, all rights reserved)

I rang up a retail owner the other day to find out if he had some specialist supplies that I wish to order. He told me that he had closed down his retail business in Benmore, Johannesburg, in the winter. This business had been trading for the past 50 years. Initially his retail arm was situated in downtown Johannesburg but about 15 years ago he moved out and relocated on the environs of Sandton. Now, it was gone for good. Continue reading “How valuable is your small business in these changing times?”

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A lesson about risk from a successful entrepreneur

photo-1439902315629-cd882022cea0
Credit: Unsplash,Christopher Campbell

The other day I was talking to a successful entrepreneur that I’ve known for some time and I asked him what was the biggest lesson he had learnt as a business person. He immediately came out with this answer: don’t take too much risk. About two years ago before he started the business that he is presently running, he imported a container load of product. Everything was working out well until the local currency dropped overnight. He had not taken any forward cover and his loss was astronomical. Continue reading “A lesson about risk from a successful entrepreneur”