Insight-driven growth for business and lifestyle
Chesney Bradshaw
A while back a report stated that more than 40 tertiary colleges were degree or diploma mills or not properly registered to do what they are offered. These so-called colleges inflict financial loss on unsuspecting students who spend their money on certificates that carry no weight or future. It is also a disappointment and setback for young people who think that these qualifications can be an entry pass to the future. Continue reading “Promises flying like lies from politicians’ lips”
By Chesney Bradshaw
About a year ago a fast food flame-grilled chicken outlet with a restaurant opened up in the local neighbourhood. The previous premises were completely refurbished at great expense, a new kitchen built, the table arrangement changed and the outside decor was modernised with the latest signage. The doors opened, the store traded for about 6 to 8 months and then shut down.
Just imagine how much money the owner put into this restaurant. No expense was spared at bringing it up to a level that matched or even in some cases surpassed the giant fast-food chain stores. Sometimes it’s like this. A would-be owner of a small business needs to start up with everything ready so that they can serve customers with the quality and price perception that they are trying to create. To go smaller or with less bells and whistles might mean a turn off for customers. Yet the risk of going full-scale is much higher because simply the market hasn’t been tested for demand. Continue reading “Should you start out with a smaller project before you take the leap and run a full-scale business?”
A business person was caught in a situation where he received ugly treatment from a media company and decided to throw in the towel.
There is only so much that anyone can take.
Unfortunately, despite value statements engraved in brass plaques or high-gloss and framed posters, some companies do not live up to their espoused values.
Anyway, this business person left and a few days later received a call out of the blue to say that the lease had expired on a small restaurant and would the business person like to take it over. Continue reading “Is it possible to manufacture your own lucky breaks?”
When I started out researching, interviewing and experimenting for my book “Breakthrough Ideas” I wanted practical, hands-on tools and resources that would give people the best possible chance and actionable results.
I pride myself on action orientation and leadership of change and used these qualities to go beyond deep research into the subject of turning new business ideas into viable products and services. I collaborated with several start-ups and experienced small business people to test-drive my concepts to ensure that they work in the real world.
One key ingredient was to ensure that the tools and techniques would be fun to use. This is important. Why would you put all the hard work, time and money into developing a promising new idea unless it was going to be fun to do?
One of the celebrity entrepreneurs who I admire says that you should ask yourself when pursuing an idea whether you would do it for fun. This comes from an entrepreneur who started at the very bottom and worked his way up. He’s not someone who has become rich and famous and dishes out advice to extend his brand personality. No, this entrepreneur walks his talk. He has a genuine interest in helping others do well for themselves – a rare quality.
Pursuing an idea that you want to turn into a small business needs to be fun. It especially needs to be fun if you think you are eventually going to make a living from it and it will be your main lifestyle. You need to put in the extra hours, burn the midnight oil, suffer the pain of the challenges that are presented to you and work weekends until you don’t even know what a break feels like. Of course, you need to take breaks but you know what I mean.
The important ingredient of fun comes with the underlying belief that doing something for yourself, starting something from scratch and making it work gives you a freedom that others year for.
Yet once you have earned your freedom through the vehicle of a successful enterprise you need to be extra careful to not give that freedom away. What do I mean by this? It’s simple. You can so easily give your freedom away to bankers when you take out loans. You can give your freedom away to shareholders who take a cut of your business. You can give your freedom away to a landlord who sinks you and your business into a deep spiral of debt by jacking up your rental with exorbitant annual increases.
You have to be on your guard. All of these and many other traps lie in wait for the unwary. They may be furthest from your mind when you start out but when you plan your formal legal structure, access to finance and location it’s important to consider how much of your freedom you are giving away to others.
Yes, that celebrity entrepreneur knows what he is talking about when he says ask yourself whether you are doing this for fun. It sounds like an innocuous question but behind it is really how much meaning does it give to you and how much freedom?
A surfer from the Eastern Cape took his son to the beach. While they were there, his son was stung by a bluebottle or Portuguese man o war. The surfer began investigating what could work to relieve his skin because vinegar certainly didn’t. He discovered that papaya or pawpaw has a substance that works to relieve bluebottle stings. He developed this idea and now has a product that relieves a range of stings. Continue reading “A new business idea needs this one quality to really succeed”
A young graffiti artist spent a lot of time after he matriculated skateboarding and doing graffiti after hours in the dark. This was his passion and he enjoyed it thoroughly. It wasn’t too long before he went to America and learnt from some top graffiti artists there but also learnt about specialised spray-painting methods. He’s come back and now is running his small business doing a new kind of graphic design that sets himself apart from all the graphic designers that are churned out from high-charging colleges.
A young woman, a successful model, in Srilanka started selling personal care products and later garments from a factory because her father had encouraged her to become a business person. One day while she was selling garments from the back of her blue station wagon she came up with an idea to come up with her garment range. Several years later her fashion house is one of the top such companies in Srilanka and is listed on the stock exchange. Continue reading “Is there an opportunity in your domain expertise?”
In the song “Heroes and Villains” from Brian Wilson’s “Smile”, there is that memorable line “In the Cantina Margarita keeps the spirits high”. It conjurors a picture of men and women in a bar having a fun time possibly after hearing bad news or witnessing some awful event. But it reminds me of the importance of morale, especially when times are bad. Continue reading “When times are tough, keep the spirits high”
On a Friday evening in December we went to listen to an opera at the Roodepoort, Theatre. The main draw card was South Africa’s top tenor Stephan Louw. If you’re not interested in opera don’t worry because the fascinating part of this opera was the business model.
Opera audiences in South Africa aren’t big and running an opera in a small theatre such as the Roodepoort Theatre was probably the right size venue because even though we were to watch and listen to a top tenor, the theatre was about half full. Continue reading “Does your business model require a makeover?”
Felix Dennis, one of Britain’s wealthiest self-made entrepreneurs, says:
“The second myth is that people got rich by having a “great idea”. While this is a more feasible hypothesis than having got rich by accident, it is a trap, because it is a partial truth… The follow-through, the execution, is 1000 times more important than a “great idea”. In fact, if the execution is perfect, it sometimes barely matters what the idea is.”
What you think of this wisdom from Felix Dennis? Continue reading “The myth that people get rich by having a “great idea””
Peter Block told a magazine: “I think that people are more afraid now about losing their jobs and feel more vulnerable than employees have ever felt based on what I have seen. It is not caused by the recent recession. It is beyond the recession. Regarding the humanness of our institutions, this is where I don’t see much progress. I am not blaming HR. People are afraid of their bosses, and they are isolated in their work.”
Peter Block has consulted to many of the world’s largest and most complex corporations, government agencies and public service institutions for more than 35 years.
It was my humble honour to eventually meet him in South Africa after following his breakthrough work for many years. Continue reading “Why it’s important to develop alternative sources of income”
