Tag: South Africa

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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”

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Why would you want to lose R1 million in Cape Town?

Table Mountain seen from Cape Town harbour's jetty
Table Mountain seen from Cape Town harbour’s jetty (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was sitting outside with the proprietor of an Italian restaurant in an up-market suburb in Johannesburg. We were talking about the specials on the menu. These included rabbit and goats. Her son was telling us how he sources the goat meat from the Northern Cape and the rabbit meat from a special supplier in Botswana. I’m not quite sure why the proprietor mentioned it but in her thick Italian accent she said people ask her to start the same restaurant in Cape Town but she doesn’t want to go there and lose R1 million.

Would you invest R1 million opening a business in Cape Town? Continue reading “Why would you want to lose R1 million in Cape Town?”

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How much pain can you take before you act on your cash flow?

English: Fish seller in Kalk Bay, Cape Peninsu...
Fish sellers in Kalk Bay, Cape Peninsula, South Africa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One Christmas morning not too long ago I was walking after church with my children in Kalk Bay when I came across an old friend who I had fished with on the wooden commercial fishing boats when I was growing up. He looked in a bad way. One leg of his denim jeans was ripped. He had a gash on his big toe. His face said it all: he had a dreadful night alone on Christmas Eve.

I shook hands with my old fisherman friend and wished him Merry Christmas. We spoke briefly about fishing. There was a promise that someday we’d fish again on one of the commercial boats that go out from Kalk Bay hunting for yellowtail and snoek. Continue reading “How much pain can you take before you act on your cash flow?”

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Earth Day 2013 – A tidal wave of innovation needed

A pair of African Black oyster catchers. Photo credit: Chesney Bradshaw.
A pair of African Black oyster catchers. Photo credit: Chesney Bradshaw.

In my late teens I ran along Fish Hoek beach in the mornings, sometimes with my father, and we’d see little sand pipers race up to the water’s edge to find tiny sea creatures to eat.

Some years ago I was chatting to friends, who grew up in the area, on a hot summer’s morning in December right there at the end of the same beach near Clovelly corner. We were talking about growing up in such a beautiful place when I remembered that I had not seen sand pipers for years.

“What happened to all those sand pipers we used to see on the beach?” I asked one of my friends. Continue reading “Earth Day 2013 – A tidal wave of innovation needed”

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From the road

Simon's Town (Photo: Chesney Bradshaw)
Simon’s Town (Photo: Chesney Bradshaw)

A young man hitch-hiked from Cape Town to the Eastern Free State to attend a funeral in a rural area. He can’t afford the taxi bus fare because the price has gone up. The rising fuel price is bringing the return of the hitch hiker.

A craft shop in Hanover, a pass-through town in the Karoo, displays crafted furniture, paintings and ornaments – all made with care and quality you’d previously only find in city stores. Even back water crafters have upped their game. Continue reading “From the road”

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I wonder what would have happened to this mysterious musician without such a loyal fan base … wonder I do

After all these years ... seeing Sixto Rodriguez live (Photo: Chesney Bradshaw © 2013)
After all these years … seeing Sixto Rodriguez live (Photo: Chesney Bradshaw © 2013)

It’s the music. Compelling music that broke through the heavy metal and pop of the seventies.

Music that spoke almost in one mysterious riddle that helped unlock the angst of our youth … growing up in a time with seething below the surface … awakening to a perspective streetwise, injured, cynical yet alluringly beautiful. Continue reading “I wonder what would have happened to this mysterious musician without such a loyal fan base … wonder I do”

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Is passion waiting to find you?

Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage route
Discovering one’s passion on the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage route of 750 km

A friend who has been trying to find his passion went over to New Zealand and Australia for six months. He travelled in a camper van with his surf board and came back to South Africa with stories: travelling along scary roads up cliffs and in dense trees to surf spots, getting electrocuted leaning against a farmer’s cattle fence and even stumbling on a nudist beach by accident.

Yet after all his amazing adventures, seeing different lifestyles and meeting new people, he hadn’t found his hoped-for passion. You see, after years working in demanding corporate jobs and high-pressure sales promotions, he has taken time to figure out what he really wants to do. Continue reading “Is passion waiting to find you?”