Tag: small business

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Don’t throw in the towel too early

Climber in Vedauwoo
Climber in Vedauwoo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Starting something new takes a lot out of you. You’ve got to do many things: build a solid value proposition, a sound business model, test your product or service prototype in the marketplace, prepare a business plan and if you don’t know marketing, learn marketing as you have never done before.

Would-be start-ups come up with “brilliant” ideas all the time. But will they stay the course with their ideas until they have seen the concept implemented, tested it and adjusted it to the marketplace? Many would-be start-up entrepreneurs give up too soon.

Continue reading “Don’t throw in the towel too early”

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Failure to do this can see your business disappear in 30 seconds

English: Burned shop in the town of Dourdan, F...
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A gas leak in a new format takeaway and restaurant business took not more than 30 seconds to shut the business down. Perhaps for good. Who knows whether the entrepreneur who started this vegetarian eatery will be able to restart the business after his physical and emotional scars.

The small business start-up began apart a year ago. The food was delicious because the entrepreneur and owner had worked both in this country and Australia honing his culinary skills in vegetarian cooking. The business was thriving until the gas fire snuffed it out in a matter of seconds. Continue reading “Failure to do this can see your business disappear in 30 seconds”

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Small business in tatters because of bad advice

Creole seafood gumbo. French Market Restaurant...
Creole seafood gumbo. French Market Restaurant & Bar 1001 Decatur Street New Orleans, Louisiana (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A restaurant owner running a Cajun style restaurant went from 200 patrons and night to a single table at best because he listened to a so-called celebrity TV business adviser.

The restaurant was running for about six years when the owner agreed to go on a restaurant makeover show. The TV celebrity business adviser overruled the menu and the decor which nearly wrecked his business. From authentic Creole dishes like seafood gumbo and jambalaya, the celebrity chef chopped the menu down to 20 bland items such as cheeseburgers, Hush Puppies and fried chicken. The colourful interior design was changed to muted beiges and greys and uncomfortable church pew benches were installed. A disgruntled customer said the new furnishings and menu had turned a fun restaurant into a funeral parlour. Continue reading “Small business in tatters because of bad advice”

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Look for the idea right in front of you

A pile of Lego blocks, of assorted colours and...
A pile of Lego blocks, of assorted colours and sizes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An entrepreneur who has started several businesses including a legal services firm, guided imagery business, online platforms and apps says sometimes the best ideas can be right in front of you.

This entrepreneur discovered that parents were taking their children to the shops and shopping centres but they had problems. The children could get lost, they were difficult to manage and they wanted their parents to buy them Lego. So the entrepreneur could see that there was a need for a service to look after the children while their parents were shopping. Continue reading “Look for the idea right in front of you”

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Not knowing the numbers can put your small business in financial jeopardy

Scotch pie showing inside contents. Purchased ...
(http://www.dalbeattiefinefoods.co.uk) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you know the key financial numbers in your business? How well do you know them? If woken up in the middle of the night, could you give a pretty accurate estimate of where your business sits financially?

Without control over the financial and operational numbers in your business you really are operating blind. Knowing the numbers allows you to see potential problems before they occur. You can also operate and run your business with confidence knowing where you are going.

A report from Canada showed small-business owners were lacking in basic financial knowledge that could help them better manage their companies. The report said that while 93% of entrepreneurs surveyed did believe they have an average or even advanced understanding of financial management principles, 39% failed a 18-question financial literary quiz. About 57% achieved a score of 50% or less. With small businesses struggling to be profitable and competitive, this isn’t a good sign, said one of the people who ran the survey. Continue reading “Not knowing the numbers can put your small business in financial jeopardy”

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Selling on price alone will harm your start-up – what’s a small business to do?

Red Hot Sun
Red Hot Sun (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A business adviser said the other day that with the rise of the mobile revolution, the size of your small business doesn’t matter nearly as much as how connected it is. The adviser encouraged start-ups and small businesses to learn how to manage a business on their phone or tablet and develop a social media or mobile marketing campaign to reach new customers.

With so many affordable tools available online to help promote small businesses it’s surprising that not more small businesses have a stronger online presence. In small retail businesses owners have relied so much on walk-in trade and their location that many have neglected to take their business online. Perhaps it’s because they may not know what to do and how online differs from selling in a retail store, for instance. Continue reading “Selling on price alone will harm your start-up – what’s a small business to do?”

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Are you stuck because of what you know?

Waiter
Waiter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a movie the other evening we went to a local restaurant where we were served by a waiter who had just started at the restaurant. His manner was uncaring, his attention to detail lacking and his insistence that we order more wine was rude. When the second glass of wine did come, it was a sweet red wine but he tried to con us into believing that there was something wrong with our taste buds.

A waiter who has been at this local restaurant for several years overheard our conversation, took away the two sweet red wine glasses and replaced them with a dry red. We thanked her.

This story isn’t about moaning about poor customer service. Rather it’s about a man who has worked as a butcher for a small butchery but at his age feels aggrieved that he wasn’t able to get shares in the small business. So he has branched out into learning the restaurant business, starting out as a waiter. Continue reading “Are you stuck because of what you know?”

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Are you brave enough to do business in unfamiliar places?

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

Gooroo teevee and radio business advisers tell you about known, familiar places to do business. But is this always the right advice?

Shopping centres, many industrial parks and online retail platforms can be lucrative but how come so many small businesses fail in these “comfortable” places? The competition is fierce. Customers have so many local shopping centres to choose from that they are sparsely spread out. Continue reading “Are you brave enough to do business in unfamiliar places?”

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How much risk are you willing to take in this economy?

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

A business owner running a large factory was closed down because of cheap imports. He then decided to become an importer himself. Things turned out all right in the beginning but he made one wrong move with a container load of goods because of a sudden currency decline and lost millions. He sat down, did some hard thinking and to rescue his dire situation started a takeaway and restaurant business. This business owner knew full well that the restaurant business is risky and made plans to take as much risk out of his new enterprise as possible.

His secret was to start small and keep things small. After opening up in a down economy, a year later he has done exceedingly well. Even halfway through his first year trading he had so many customers that the temptation was they to double up the size of these restaurant space. But he didn’t do this. Having been bitten twice before, he decided to increase his retail space only marginally more. This is meant that he has so many customers that he has an overflow on the pavement outside. Continue reading “How much risk are you willing to take in this economy?”

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Is your business shrinking without you knowing about it?

Scrap Metal (video game)
Scrap Metal (video game) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The other day I came across three manhole covers that were stolen in the road where I do my morning run. I later found out that thieves sell these manhole covers for about R500 to scrap metal dealers. New plastic materials that are worthless to thieves could make a difference to manhole cover theft when scrap metal prices are so high.

Time magazine recently reported on some of the world’s weirdest heists. People steal everything from beehives to syrup and beach sand. Police in France found 61 beehives stolen from a beekeeper. They held about 25,000 bees, estimated to be worth about $83,000.

In Québec thieves stole 2.7 million kilograms worth of maple syrup estimated at $18,000,000 from a warehouse. Police were able to track down two thirds of it. Criminals stole 5.5 tons of chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella when they robbed a parked trailer in a German town. The spread was worth $20,000. Continue reading “Is your business shrinking without you knowing about it?”