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THE “HOW-TO” HANDBOOK FOR BUILDING COMPANIES

WWW.ENTREPRENEURMAG.CO.ZA

JAN 2018

BUSINESS TOOLKIT

TONS OF RESOURCES Proven success formulas for business growth, life & money JOE PUBLIC’S 20-FOLD GROWTH

FROM Brink of bankruptcy to R700 million in 8 years BUSINESS GROWTH

R25 MILLION TO R300 MILLION A masterclass in business growth from Trappers

ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS IN 2018

MILLION DOLLAR HABITS Proven power practices to double and triple your income

MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP BUILD A MULTI-MILLION RAND SIDE BUSINESS IN YOUR SPARE TIME • Start an automatic online business • Earn annuity income in dollars

JAN 2018 — ISSUE 142

R35,90 (INCL. R49,80 (INCL. VAT) VAT) OUTSIDE IN N$49,80 RSA: NAMIBIA R31,49

CONTENTS JANUARY 2018

Rapelang Rabana

Your 2018 Toolkit Life, business and money hacks that will get you ahead in 2018 Disruptive-mindset guru, Malcolm Gladwell, local tech entrepreneur, Rapelang Rabana and international lifehacking expert, Martijn Aslander, are just some of the experts who make up this year’s Toolkit. A collection of expert ‘how to’ advice, tools and resources that will separate you from your competition, boost your bottom line and build your own skills and success mindset. » Become a life hacker » Learn to (really) innovate » Stay motivated, no matter what » Think strategy » Build a killer team that drives your company’s success » Tap into your customers’ psyche with the ideal marketing strategy » Over-deliver to gain advantage » Build a disruptive attitude » Survive exponential change

Malcolm Gladwell

Martijn Aslander

ON THE COVER

BACK FROM THE BRINK Pepe Marais and Gareth Leck almost lost their business three times. First, when they sold it; next when they lost 40% of their revenue overnight when their biggest client fired them, and finally, when they bought their business back, only to 14 almost go bankrupt. They’ve not only powered through these hardships, but come out the other side as South Africa’s largest independent advertising agency, with a turnover of R700 million and R218 million in gross profits. This is their story.

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CONTENTS

MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP

Launching a side business that makes money even while you’re sleeping has never been easier. Here’s how you can build a multimillion rand business completely on your own, in your spare time, with nothing more than a computer.

“Seizing an opportunity that comes to you is great, but creating your own opportunities is even better.” – Lesego Maphanga

BUILD

38 Next Level: How Trappers

went from 16 stores and R25 million turnover to R300 million and 34 stores 45 Why you need to start embracing change 46 SA’s law and the initial coin offering (ICO)

LAUNCH

58 Top lessons when launching a successful business

UNPLUGGED AND IN CHARGE Lesego Maphanga is under 30, a corporate whizz kid as well as founder of the social entrepreneurship movement, Unplugged and In Charge. He’s building a personal brand for himself based on the simple credo that you are the master and shaper of your own destiny. These are his six secrets to success.

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60 Why your vision needs to push boundaries

THE MOST EFFECTIVE GOAL-SETTING PLAN YOU’LL EVER LEARN Best-selling author Brian Tracy unpacks his seven-step formula to setting powerful goals to achieve greatness in your life and business. Once you have the plan, you now need to execute. Entrepreneur provides the simple three steps you need to take your plan and make it a reality. 98% of people set goals and then never follow through. This is your roadmap to joining the 2% who follow the milliondollar habits that drive wealth and success.

62 Ask Al

BUSINESS UNUSUAL

64 Why too much optimism can kill your business (and how to find the happy balance)

IN EVERY ISSUE 4 Contact Us 6 First Word 47 Digital subs

PUBLISHING CREDITS EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Andrew Honey DIRECTOR: PRINT & DIGITAL Nicole Honey MANAGING EDITOR: EMSA Nadine Todd COPY EDITOR Lesley Lambert WRITERS GG van Rooyen, Nadine Todd, Diana Albertyn, Nicole Crampton CLIENT ADMINISTRATOR: Diana Albertyn WEBMASTER & TRAFFIC CO-ORDINATOR Chelsea Gillespie CONTENT MARKETING MANAGER & ONLINE EDITOR Catherine Bristow CONTENT EDITOR Pritesh Ruthun BUSINESS WRITER & CLIENT LIAISON Nicole Crampton ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR Saveer Sugreem SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Dineo Mokgoasi PHOTOGRAPHERS Devin Lester, Mike Turner, Chris Wessels ADVERTISING BUSINESS SOLUTIONS MANAGER Nadine Todd

SENIOR MEDIA SOLUTIONS CONSULTANT Jann Becker MEDIA SOLUTIONS CONSULTANTS JHB: Clarise Sha, Nivesh Singh CAPE TOWN: Samantha Peel MEDIA SOLUTIONS ASSISTANT Seipati Modise GROUP MANAGERS MARKETING, CIRCULATION & COMMUNITIES Dean Harty ADMINISTRATION BOOK KEEPER Genevieve Reynard EXECUTIVE PA Verna Lombard GENERAL OPERATIONS CO-ORDINATOR Yvonne Botha RECRUITMENT AND SPECIAL PROJECTS Janine Lombard DIRECTORS MANAGING Andrew Honey DIGITAL & PRINT Nicole Honey ENTREPRENEUR MEDIA INC. CHAIRMAN/CEO Peter J Shea VICE PRESIDENT/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amy Cosper LEGAL COUNSEL Ron Young

ENTREPRENEUR SA PUBLISHED BY Entrepreneur Media SA (Pty) Ltd • First Floor, Fernglade, Fernridge Office Park, 5 Hunter Street, Ferndale • PO Box 20, Pinegowrie, 2123 TEL +27 (0)11 886 6880 FAX +27 (0)11 789 9113 ONLINE www.entrepreneurmag.co.za DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBSCRIBE, RENEW OR GIVE A GIFT: EMAIL subs@entrepreneurmag.co.za ONLINE www.entrepreneurmag.co.za TEL +27 (0)11 886 6880

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Entrepreneur and Franchise Zone are registered trademarks of Entrepreneur Media, Inc., 2445 McCabe Way, Irvine, California 926614 USA. Entrepreneur (USSN 1818-7706) considers its sources reliable and verifies as much data as possible. However, reporting inaccuracies can occur, consequently readers using this information do so at their own risk. Each business opportunity and/or investment inherently contains certain risks. It is advised that prospective investors consult their attorney/s and/or financial advisor/s prior to pursuing any business opportunity or entering into any investment. Entrepreneur is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not rendering legal or financial advice. Although persons and companies mentioned herein are believed to be reputable, neither Entrepreneur Media Inc, Entrepreneur Media SA (Pty) Ltd (2005/009255/07), nor any of its employees, sales executives or contributors accept any responsibility whatsoever for such persons’ and companies’ activities. © Entrepreneur Media SA (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher. Permission is only deemed valid if approval is in writing. Entrepreneur buys all rights to contributions, text and images, unless previously agreed to in writing.

SMARTS The 7-Step Formula for Goal Setting, By Brian Tracy, Entrepreneur, 23 August 2017 * 6 Tips for Goal-Setting That, Trust Me, They Don’t Teach You in College, By Phil LaDuke, Entrepreneur, 27 September 2016 * Follow These 8 Steps to Stay Focused and Reach Your Goals, By Nina Zipkin, Entrepreneur, 23 October 2017 * 15 Time Management Tips for Achieving Your Goals, By Robert Adams, Entrepreneur * 10 Great Quotes on the Power of Goals, By Matt Mayberry, Entrepreneur, 18 January 2017 * 4 Lessons on Achieving Your Goals, By Timothy Sykes, Entrepreneur, 31 May 2017 TOOLKIT 3 Ways Over-Delivering Value Gives Entrepreneurs an Advantage, By Glenn Llopis, Entrepreneur, 16 November 2017

THE ONLY “HOW-TO” GUIDE FOR GROWING COMPANIES

FIRST WORD

ENGINEER YOUR OWN SUCCESS ENTREPRENEURS are solution engineers for society. Those were the words spoken by Lindani Mthwa, co-founder of Siyanda Resources, at the 2017 EY World Entrepreneur Awards. One of the finalists in the exceptional category of the awards programme, Mthwa, a former Union mine production manager, has built a resources investment company that focuses on the acquisition and management of mining assets. Mthwa’s simple yet eloquent description of what an entrepreneur is really struck a chord. It encompasses so many of the most important traits that successful entrepreneurs share: They are solutions-orientated, rather than dissuaded by challenges; more importantly, they don’t only find solutions, they execute them. Finally, they understand that the most

successful businesses solve real-world problems that both businesses and communities need (and are willing to pay for). BRIDGING NEEDS WITH SOLUTIONS In a year that saw its fair share of economic turmoil, political and corporate scandals, and even natural disasters, negativity was rife by the end of 2017. Except amongst entrepreneurs. Naturally optimistic and driven to find the opportunity in every challenge, entrepreneurs aren’t only the change-makers, they’re the people who carry the rest of us along for the ride. They change the shape of industries and societies with timely and appropriate solutions. They are foreward thinkers. Here are three trends we believe will be shaping 2018, and worth keeping in mind as you build your own business.

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1. Profit with purpose Speaking at the BCX Disrupt Summit in November 2017, local tech entrepreneur Rapelang Rabana highlighted that according to Nielsen, 40% more social entrepreneurs are growing compared to other SMEs, and they’re showing greater profit. In addition, people say they are more likely to purchase from ethical and sustainable businesses. What people say and how they actually buy isn’t always the same, but the trend is clear — more and more, people and businesses care about shared value and how business practices are impacting communities. Interestingly, companies already operating on that mandate are proving themselves to be more profitable and sustainable. At Entrepreneur, we’ve seen a clear trend in the role that purpose has played in the growth of our cover profiles over the past year. Each entrepreneur we featured can pinpoint when they found their purpose, and how this changed the scale and focus of the business. First, because it gave the business a north star to focus on, and second, because it helped develop a culture the entire business could follow.

importance of limiting expenses and building healthy cash reserves. Find ways to run lean without taking advantage of your employees or affecting the quality of your output. Think like a start-up that needs to bootstrap everything, and reduce expenses. You’ll be surprised how this mindset can boost internal innovation as well.

2. Lean businesses prosper Running lean isn’t anything new. In fact, since the first recession in 2008, business owners have found smart ways to run lean. As growth in the local economy remains sluggish, this basic business element is of paramount importance. Just as droughts throughout the world (and locally in Cape Town) are teaching us about minimising our water consumption, so too are businesses learning the

Entrepreneur continues to be one of South Africa’s top-read business magazines because of you, our loyal readers. Thank you. We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.

3. Diversify risk, revenue streams and currencies One of the biggest shifts in 2017 was how many businesses were either opening offices overseas, or introducing new services and products to international markets. Consider the benefits: First, you have international customers paying with foreign currencies that are not subject to the rand’s fluctuations. Second, as a South African company you can be highly competitive internationally, both in terms of what you offer and the price you’re offering it for. We live in exciting times. Yes, they’re challenging, but ask any entrepreneur set on growth and they’ll tell you the same thing: Challenges are where you find the opportunities. It’s then up to you to make something of them.

Nadine Todd, Managing Editor

IDEAS FOR MAKING WISER USE OF YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION

Seizing an opportunity that comes to you is great, but creating your own opportunities is even better.â&#x20AC;? 8

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PSYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

VITAL STATS PLAYER: Lesego Maphanga COMPANY: Standard Bank POSITION: Manager: Card & Emerging Payments; Africa Regions ABOUT: At only 27, the maths & science whizz works at Standard Bank as an Emerging Payments manager responsible for implementing remittances products across multiple African Regions. He also has his own radio show on CliffCentral called the Urban Culture Drive, and is founder of social entrepreneurship movement called Unplugged and in Charge.

GO THE EXTRA MILE Lesego Maphanga is young (he only graduated in 2014 with an Industrial & Systems Engineering degree), yet he has already made a name for himself in multiple industries. His secret to success? Always doing more than is asked of him. AS TOLD TO GG VAN ROOYEN

studied engineering knowing right from the start that I would never work as an engineer. I just

couldn’t see myself working at a mine, or something like that, but I knew that engineering would give me a solid foundation and allow me to keep my options open. A STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) degree is a great base, as it shows that you have a mind for numbers and the analytic mindset needed to get things done. I don’t think you can go wrong with a degree in one of these fields, even if entrepreneurship is your ultimate aim.

How can I set myself apart? You have to ask yourself this question. There’s a lot of competition out there. You might have a great academic history or work experience, but so do a lot of people, so you need to

have a differentiator — something that makes you stand out. I entered Mr South Africa, for example, because I knew that it would increase my profile and add something interesting to my CV. I didn’t win, but I was a top-five finalist, which was good enough for me. Find interesting things to add to your CV as well, since it’ll make it stand out in a massive pile of similar submissions.

Always go the extra mile. I had a lecturer who always said: “There are two kinds of bad engineers. There are those who don’t do what they’re told to do, and there are those who only do exactly what they’re told to do.” You need to add value and show that you are a crucial part of a team, so don’t just do what you’re told. Instead, look for ways in which you can go beyond the brief. Work hard and spend time coming up with your own ideas

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SMARTS

PSYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS | ACHIEVING GOALS

and projects. At the end of my studies, I interned at Standard Bank. I knew that I only had five weeks to make an impression, so I gave it my all. When you’re young, you don’t have many responsibilities apart from work, so that’s the time to put everything into your work.

Be audacious and make things happen. Seizing an opportunity that comes to you is great, but creating your own opportunities is even better. Don’t take no for an answer, and don’t wait for someone to give you a chance. A friend and I had an idea for a radio show and decided to put a proposal together. We had no experience and no contacts in the field, but we emailed our proposal to everyone we could think of. We spammed them, sending it out every single day. Eventually, CliffCentral got in contact with us.

I don’t want a ‘normal’ life. I want an extraordinary life, so I demand a lot of myself. I think Elon Musk is a great example of this. He’s doing things no one thought possible. Of course, it requires extreme levels of dedication and hard work. If you’re aiming for the top, I don’t think work/life balance is possible. You need work/ life integration. You need to be pursuing your passion all the time. If you’re on a path you’re truly interested in, work doesn’t feel like sacrifice.

Exercise is important to me. I go to gym twice a day. It’s significant to me, as it allows me to relax and clear my mind. It also provides structure to my life. When I get up early and go to gym, I find that the rest of my day falls into place. It sets the tone. As long as I maintain focus in this part of my life, I find that things overall stay under control. Sometimes, though, I need to take a day off and just sit in front of the TV. Generally speaking, however, I find that routine helps maintain focus and momentum. EM

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THE 7-STEP FORMULA FOR GOALSETTING

PLUS 3 STEPS TO

SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION

Start achieving success today with the most effective goal-setting plan you’ll ever learn. BY BRIAN TRACY

OAL ORIENTATION is a way of thinking practiced by optimists and all successful people. In future orientation, you first develop a clear, ideal picture of what you want to accomplish sometime in the future. With goal orientation, you crystallise that image into specific, measurable, detailed goals and objectives you’ll need to accomplish to achieve that ideal future vision. Successful people develop the habits of personal strategic planning. They sit down and make

a list of exactly what they want to accomplish in the short, medium, and long term. They then use a powerful, seven-part goalsetting methodology to create blueprints and plans of action that they follow every day. Once you develop the habit of setting goals and making plans to accomplish them, it will become as natural for you as breathing. By following a proven goal-setting process, you’ll increase the likelihood of achieving your goals by as much as ten times, by 1 000% or more. This isn’t

just a theory; it has been proved and demonstrated repeatedly by almost every person who practices it. In February 2003, USA Today reported on a study of people who had set New Year’s resolutions the year before. They found that only 4% of the people who had made New Year’s resolutions, but had not put them in writing, had followed through on them. But 46% of those people who had written down their New Year’s resolutions carried them out. This is a difference in success rates of more than 1 100%!

SMARTS “I’ve spoken to people all over the world, for many years, who’ve told me that the habit of acting every day on one or more of their major goals has been life-transforming. They’ve told me that this single habit has been more responsible for their success than any other idea they ever learnt. Try it for yourself and see.” — BRIAN TRACY THE SEVEN-STEP FORMULA Many formulas and recipes exist for goal-setting. As a rule, ‘any plan is better than no plan at all.’ Here is one of the best and most effective goal-setting plans or formulas you will ever learn.

activities being completed in advance. What are they, and what is the logical order or sequence of completion?

Step five: Identify the obstacles

everything you’ll have to do to achieve this goal. As you think of new items, add them to your list until it’s complete.

or limitations that might hold you back from achieving your goal, both in the situation and within yourself. Ask yourself, “Why have I not achieved this goal already?” Identify the most important constraint or limitation that’s holding you back, and then focus on removing that limiting factor. It could be a certain amount of money or a key resource. It could be an additional skill or habit you need. It could be additional information you require. It could be the assistance of one or more people. Whatever it is, identify it clearly and go to work to eliminate it.

Step four: Organise your list of

Step six: Once you’ve

action steps into a plan. A plan is a list of activities organised on the basis of two elements: Priority and sequence. In organising by priorities, you determine the most important things you can possibly do on your list to achieve your goal. The 80/20 rule applies: 20% of the things you do will account for 80% of your results. If you don’t set clear priorities, you’ll ‘major in minors’ and spend much of your time on small and irrelevant tasks that don’t help you achieve your goal. In organising by sequence, you determine what must be done before something else can be done. You create a checklist. There are always activities that are dependent upon other

determined your goal, developed your plan, and identified your major obstacle, immediately take action of some kind toward achieving your goal. Step out in faith. Do the first thing that comes to mind. But do something to start moving toward your most important goal.

Step one: Decide exactly what you want in a certain area, and write it down clearly, in detail. Make the goal measurable and specific.

Step two: Set a deadline for achieving the goal. If it’s a large goal, break it down into smaller parts and set sub-deadlines.

Step three: Make a list of

develops within you the power of momentum. Daily action deepens your belief that the goal is achievable and activates the law of attraction. As a result, you begin moving faster and faster toward your goal, and your goal begins moving faster and faster toward you.

about and want to complete, distractions such as social media, doubts and other tasks can make it nearly impossible to concentrate on it. Don’t fret. We’re here to help. Check out these eight steps to help you prioritise and clear your mind.

1. Stop multitasking

The following excerpt is from Brian Tracy’s book Million Dollar Habits: Proven Power Practices to Double and Triple Your Income.

Instead of trying to do a million things at once, take a step back and tackle one task at a time. And while your inclination might be to start your day with busy work — like checking emails — and then move on to the harder things, you should first try to get your brain moving by challenging yourself with a bigger, more creative endeavour.

2. Block out your days A good way to hold yourself accountable when it comes to quieting the noise all around you is to specifically block out time in your day — maybe it’s 30 minutes or an hour — to spend on a given project. Colour code your calendar or set a timer to make sure you are accomplishing the goal at hand.

Step seven: Do at least one thing every day that moves you toward your most important goal. Make a habit of getting up each morning, planning your day and then doing something, anything, that moves you at least one step closer to what’s most important to you. The habit of doing something every single day that moves you toward an important goal

Now that you have the formula, here’s how you achieve your goals » STEP ONE DON’T LET LIFE AND ‘BUSYNESS’ DERAIL YOU Accomplishing a goal can be hard work. But even if a project is something you are passionate

3. Get your blood pumping You can’t focus if you’re stuck inside and staring at a screen all day long. Turn off your computer and phone, and go for a walk for 20 minutes. The fresh air and the movement will clear your head. Also make sure that you are drinking enough water and getting enough rest.

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SMARTS

PSYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS | ACHIEVING GOALS

4. Help your technology help you A platform like RescueTime, a software that runs while you work and shows you how you are spending your day, could help you understand why something is taking longer to complete than it should. Options like Cold Turkey, Freedom and Self Control block out the Internet entirely to keep you off your Twitter feed when you should be meeting deadlines.

5. Meditate Get a recommendation for a yoga or meditation class, or even make it an office outing so everyone can get some time to quiet their minds. Or look online for a plethora of apps and platforms whose stock and trade is mindfulness, like Meditation Made Simple, Calm and Headspace. For slightly more of a monetary investment, you could look into wearable tech like Thync, a device that produces electrical pulses to help your brain decrease stress.

6. Change up what’s in your headphones While background noise might help block out a loud office or construction outside your window, you need to be careful that what you are listening to isn’t distracting you more. Music with lyrics can sap your focus from the task in front of you, so consider trying classical or electronic music instead. Or use a playlist that is familiar to you, so you aren’t tempted to turn all your attention to the new sound.

7. Streamline your communication If you find that all of your focus gets trained on getting your inbox down to zero, think about how you can get yourself out from under a relentless deluge of email. Ask yourself and your colleagues to think about whether this conversation would be most effective through email, on the phone or in person. Taking five minutes to walk over to someone else’s workspace will save you the time and energy

“A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.” — BRUCE LEE THE LESSON: Achieving our goals and dreams is fantastic, but that’s not the most important thing about setting goals. The most important thing is the type of person that we become along the way.

invested into a redundant email chain and clarify how you want to attack a problem more quickly.

8. Find an environment with the right kind of noise To be most effective, you need to strike a delicate balance between too much noise and total silence. According to David Burkus, an associate professor of leadership and innovation at Oral Roberts University, “some level of office banter in the background might actually benefit our ability to do creative tasks, provided we don’t get drawn into the conversation,” Burkus wrote in the Harvard Business Review. “Instead of total silence, the ideal work environment for creative work has a little bit of background noise. That’s why you might focus really well in a noisy coffee shop, but barely be able to concentrate in a noisy office.”

» STEP TWO BECOME A MASTER OF TIME If you’re serious about achieving your goals, not only do you need to set those goals the right way, but you also have

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to get serious about avoiding distractions and becoming too immersed in the bad habits that you know you need to quit. Time-wasters need to fall by the wayside, and serious gritand-bear-it hard work needs to take its place. One of the most effective skills you can have in life is powerful and effective time management. If you’re not managing your time well, there’s no way you’re going to reach your goals at work and the life outside of it. Sure, you might make some progress. But your time management will be an uphill battle if you don't take your time seriously. People who squander and waste the precious little time they do have, know all too well how difficult achieving even mildly difficult goals can be. The truth is that time is the greatest equaliser in life. No matter who you are, your age, income, gender, race or religion, you have the same amount of time as the next person. Whether you’re filthy rich or dirt poor, your time is the same. It’s not about how much time you

have. It’s about how effectively you manage your time. The trick? Find a good time management system and work it. There are many. It’s entirely up to you which one to choose. But if you don’t want to become part of the 92% statistic of people who fail to achieve their longterm goals, then you need to pay attention to how you use the precious little time you do have in this world. What are the best tips for managing your time?

1. Set goals the right way. There’s a right and wrong way to set goals. If you don’t set your goals the right way, then you’ll lack the proper targets, which will force you to fall off track. But when you set them the right way, the sky is the limit.

2. Find a good time management system. One of the tips for managing your time is to find the right system to actually do it. The quadrant time-management system is probably the most effective. It splits your activities into four quadrants based on urgency and importance. Things are either urgent or important, both, or neither. Neither (quadrant 4) are the activities that you want to stay away from, but it’s the noturgent-but-important quadrant (2) that you want to focus on.

3. Audit your time for seven days straight. Spend seven days straight assessing how you spend the time you do have right now. What are you doing? Record it in a journal or on your phone. Split this up into blocks of 30 minutes or an hour. What did you get done? Was it time wasted? Was it well spent? If you use the quadrant system, circle or log the quadrant that the activity was associated with. At the end of the seven days, tally up all the numbers. Where did you spend the most time? Which quadrants? The results might shock you.

4. Spend your mornings on MITs. Mark Twain once said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s

SMARTS best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” His point? Tackle your biggest tasks in the morning. These are your most important tasks (MITs) of the day. Accomplishing those will give you the biggest momentum to help you sail through the rest of the day.

5. Instil keystone habits into your life. Charles Duhig

this is crucial. It’s easy to run on fumes and not even know it. Keep your mental, emotional and physical states at peak levels by breaking frequently.

turning into an organising warrior.

9. Make to-do lists in the evening for the next day.

AKA Learn to see the bigger picture to keep your eye on the prize

Every single evening before bed, make a list for the next day. Look at your goals and see what you can do to help move you closer. This doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time. But by making

» STEP THREE KEEP UP YOUR MOMENTUM

We all have goals. How to achieve those goals is not as complex as you might think. Sometimes it’s just about taking

poignantly coined the keystone habit in his book entitled, The Power of Habit. In architecture, the keystone is the stone that holds all other stones in place. Similarly, keystone habits help to not only solicit other good habits, but also help to eliminate bad habits. Focus on keystone habits and you’ll get much better at managing your overall time by making your habit development much easier.

6. Schedule email response times. Turn off your email throughout the day. When your email is pouring in, it’s easy to get distracted. Schedule time to read and respond to emails. If there’s something urgent, someone will call or text you. But when you have your email open, those distractions interrupt your thought flow and it’s harder to get back on track.

7. Eliminate bad habits. One of the biggest time-wasters we have are our bad habits. Whether it’s Netflix binge-watching, excessively surfing social media, playing games, going out frequently to drink with friends, or so on, those bad habits take away the precious little time that we do have. Use your time wisely by eliminating your bad habits if you’re serious about achieving big goals in life.

8. Take frequent breaks when working. One study suggests that you should work for 52 minutes and break for 17. You might not have the luxury to do that. But you should take frequent breaks. If you’re an entrepreneur working for yourself,

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” — LAWRENCE J. PETER THE LESSON: AHighly successful organisations and individuals all have an extremely clear vision of where they are going.

to-do lists, you’re effectively setting goals for the day. Daily goals are easier to achieve while helping to move us towards the longer and bigger goals. But that happens by creating to-do lists.

a step back to see the bigger picture. Here are three important lessons to learn about achieving your goals as you take on the day (each and every day).

10. Declutter and organise.

Focus on what you need instead of what you want

Studies have determined that clutter in our environment causes us to lose focus. When we lose focus, we lose time. If you want to avoid that, declutter and organise. Don’t do it all at once. Start small. One drawer today. A shelf tomorrow. Maybe a closet the next day. Just one per day. You build momentum and eventually find yourself

You might think you want that big house and three cars, but do you really need it? This is such a simple way to set authentic priorities, yet so few people get it. A simple ‘want’ is nothing but a fantasy. You need to be passionate to achieve what you want to achieve or it’s never

TOP TIP SEEK OUT DAILY DOSES OF INSPIRATION While we might all want to achieve something monumental in life, as much as we might try to stick it out and see things through, we often get discouraged. As soon as that happens, the negativethinking gears begin turning and the ‘whatif’ doomsday scenarios begin playing out in our minds. Fear becomes that stalker in the night, ready to suffocate us and stave us off from achieving our goals. To counteract that, you need to seek daily doses of inspiration. Reach out to others who have achieved the success you're going after. Listen to their stories, and get inside their heads. What was it like for them to endure failure after failure? How did they bounce back and achieve their goals?

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SMARTS

PSYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS | ACHIEVING GOALS

going to happen. It must almost be tinged with desperation.

Learn the lessons from all of it, positive and negative Life is never all good or all bad, so we have to learn from both. When you find yourself basking in all that is positive in your life, think about how you managed to succeed. How can you replicate that same success? On the other hand, you need to be able to grow on the negative. Think about why you failed and how you can avoid doing that again.

towards my short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals?” Making sure that you’re studying hard is key here. If the answer is no then you know you need to rethink what you’re doing. Staying focused on the prize is what will prevent you from wasting your time on the tasks that don’t matter.

The main lesson is to think before and after Think about what you’re about to do and whether it takes you closer to your goals. Think about what you have done and determine whether you could have done it better or whether things turned out the way you wanted them to. It can be hard to stop when you’re in the middle of something, but this is the most important part of all. Once you manage to do this you’ll get more results for every action.

CHECKLIST

YOUR GOAL-SETTING (AND ACHIEVING) CHECKLIST Here’s the simple reality of achieving success. Unless you have goals, you have no way of knowing whether or not you’ve already reached the pinnacle of your life. But all this tends to be a bit easier to suss out if you have those goals in hand. Setting goals is easy — we all do it. Sticking to them is harder. Here’s how you can stay on track.

Write goals that align with your values There isn’t a huge difference between corporate goals and life goals. If your career goals aren’t supporting your life goals, you are bound to have a miserable existence.

Set goals that you can control Too often, we set goals that depend on other people. Unless every aspect of the goal you set is under your control, you have very little likelihood of ever achieving it.

Think big

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” — ZIG ZIGLAR THE LESSON: If you don’t set goals for your life then it’s almost certain that you will be very disappointed with your results. Aiming at nothing is setting yourself up to achieve nothing.

Set aside some time every week to reflect on your successes and failures. It’s the only way you’re going to grow to a point where you can achieve your goals. Don’t over-think every project afterwards but if you can take one lesson from each experience you know you’ve done it right.

Set goals that you don’t think you can achieve and work your tail off to get there. Anyone can follow the advice of lesser men and set clearly achievable goals, but that’s for under-achievers and slackers. There is nothing wrong with setting your sights higher than most might believe practicable.

Give yourself time If you begin with the end in mind, that is to say, if you start by visualising where you want to end up in life, the things you need to get there are pretty easy to plot out.

CONTRIBUTORS Brian Tracy is chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specialising in the training and development of individuals and organisations. He is the leading coach on the topics of Leadership, Selling, Self-Esteem, Goals, Strategy, Creativity and Success Psychology. Phil LaDuke is an author, speaker

Plan for success Don’t worry that your dreams aren’t realistic or that you might not achieve them. Don’t ask ‘What if I fail?’ Instead, ask, ‘What if I succeed?’ Worrying about failure is pointless and destructive; the surest way to be a failure is to spend time worrying about it. Your goals won’t just accomplish themselves; you will have to have a plan, and you’ll have to work that plan.

and consultant. He writes and speaks

Stay focused on the prize

about business, worker safety, culture

It’s easy to lose focus when you’re taking on multiple ventures at the same time. To make sure you stay focused on the prize always have a plan for the short-term, medium-term and the long-term. Question everything you’re doing. Ask yourself: “Is what I am doing right now contributing

and organisational change topics.

Robert Adams is a writer, blogger, serial entrepreneur, software engineer and best-selling author of dozens of technology, SEO, online marketing and self-development books,

Manage your risks You will never achieve goals you didn’t set, but then again there are precious few guarantees in this life. While most of the things you will do on your journey to success will carry some measure of risk, that’s okay. Just be sure that you consider that risk and weigh it against the reward. EM

audiobooks and courses. Timothy Sykes is an entrepreneur and a penny stock expert, trader and advocate.

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ADVERTORIAL

LOVE BUSINESS TRAVEL How kulula work, a kulula.com initiative, makes business travel more affordable and pleasurable.

OES THE THOUGHT of a conference or outof-town meeting conjure up images of dodgy motels, delayed flights and unexpected Uber trips, because your rental car booking was mixed up — again? Time spent on the road for business can be a nightmare when you don’t have an efficient travel partner. But of course, you’re on a budget, so compromising comfort for cost is your best bet in a tight economic climate. Not necessarily. There’s an affordable solution to ensure you’re on time, every time, comfortable, refreshed, organised and stress-free when you seal that deal you travelled a few hundred kilometres to clinch. Enter kulula work. “kulula.com was built on a culture of entrepreneurship and we know how important entrepreneurs are to economic growth,” says Dawn Weir, head of kulula work. “So, we want to be sure that there are as few obstacles as possible to building a business, especially as most new jobs in coming years will be in small businesses.”

LOW-COST BENEFITS FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESS EXECUTIVES Growing your business means networking, meetings and timeconsuming periods away from your business. This is where efficiency and resourcefulness are key. A specialised corporate travel service, kulula work ensures that business people can travel to close deals, meet business partners or network without incurring excessive costs. “Face-to-face meetings are proven to be far more beneficial than email conversations or teleconferences. While technology has a role, personalised face-time still beats other means of contact for business,” says Weir. Travelling with kulula work guarantees the best fares of the day on kulula.com and British Airways (operated by Comair), and you don’t pay booking or flight change fees — only for the difference in fare and the airport taxes. ALL-IN-ONE SERVICES FOR BUSINESS ON THE MOVE With kulula work, you’re also offered competitive car hire

and accommodation options, assisting you with all your business travel requirements. The cost of convenience? Great savings and a reliable travel service, around the clock. “Because running a competitive and efficient business is about managing your costs, kulula work offers support on invoicing and monthly reporting, as well as account management and access to a Corporate Reservations team,” adds Weir. “They’re also available after-hours if needed.” DEDICATED TO YOU SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON WORK (AND PLAY) kulula work’s team of professionals features an agent dedicated to your account who assesses your business travel needs and sets up a corporate travel deal to meet your specific requirements. For that work-life balance you’re after, kulula work offers an extra 20kg free baggage allowance for travellers with musical instruments and sporting equipment. Because entrepreneurs need a healthy combination of work and play on the road to success.

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Dawn Weir, head of kulula work

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TOOLKIT

GEARED FOR SUCCESS Life, business and money hacks that will get you ahead in 2018

CONTENTS 18 22 24 25 26 30 31 32 33

Become a life-hacker Learn to innovate Stay motivated Think strategy Become a team whisperer Focus on content marketing Over-deliver to gain an advantage Build a disruptive attitude Survive exponential change

TOOLKIT THE EXPERT: Martijn Aslander challenges business leaders and helps them think outside the box throughout the world. He is the co-founder of lifehacking.nl and wants to help shape a better world. Visit www. martijnaslander. international

Life-hacking is about accomplishing more in less time, with less stress, at a lower cost with the use of simple digital tools.

#1 BECOME A LIFE-HACKER

no point in ever getting upset when something goes wrong. It happens. The next time you will fly. Martijn believes that we are always looking for the next challenges. Millionaires want to be billionaires. Billionaires want to win a Nobel Prize. There is always another goal. So how do you find success and happiness? By asking how you can contribute the most to mankind. In many ways, Martijn was already a life-hacker. At 17 he’d discovered a way to make money without doing much work, simply by being smarter and spotting a niche. At 27 he learnt that possibilities are what you make of them, and the more you share, the greater your impact, and the more you will receive. These are his rules to becoming a life-hacker, and doing more in less time, with less stress, at lower costs.

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Don’t operate on untested assumptions Most of the fears that people have, and particularly entrepreneurs, are based on assumptions that they haven’t tested. And most untested assumptions are simply not true. They live as ghosts and monsters in your head, but they’re not real. We live in a very interesting time, where it’s actually risky to be safe. Safe doesn’t exist, and it never has, because you are never in charge of all the events that take place around you. Change is the only constant. For centuries we’ve operated on the notion of survival of the fittest. He who is strongest will win. This is also a faulty assumption. Success today isn’t about strength — it’s about the ability to adapt to new circumstances. Over the last ten years more circumstances than ever before have changed, and the rate is just accelerating. You have to have an open mind; you have to learn to be flexible.

If you’re in the business of doing business, you will soon be out of business How do you measure business success? Be careful that your strategy isn’t focused on possessions — fancy offices, a

big building, or cars as status symbols. If you’re too focused on things, you’ll be too afraid of losing your stuff. Entrepreneurs who are focused on a higher purpose concentrate on improving themselves, their

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

WHEN MARTIJN ASLANDER was 17, he was running a company that had 60 part-time employees from the back of a classroom. By the time he was 21 he had two companies, and was directing 140 people. At 27 he decided to sell his companies, and ended up bankrupt as a result of the experience. What looked like a complete disaster actually ended up being the single best lesson Martijn could learn. He woke up the next day and everything was still there. He had his arms and legs; he had his health. And the worst had happened, which meant that nothing could go wrong anymore. From that moment, anything was possible. He then asked himself a key question: How big is the chance you will do this again? The answer was simple: There was no chance. Big lessons had been learnt. At that moment, Martijn realised that there was

TOOLKIT people and doing the best for their clients. They’re far less afraid of sudden changes and turmoil, because possessions aren’t as important, which makes them agile and adaptable — exactly who you want to be in a changing world. I see it as the rise of the ‘funpreneur’. The rise of a new breed of people who are focused on doing what they love, and who aspire to a higher cause, instead of just focusing on the business side of things. It’s tough to compete with people who don’t do business models, but focus on purpose instead.

I believe there are only three things you need for success: People, information and ideas.

Give your teams the freedom to adapt There are two types of teams — those who are flexible, have an open mind, and are willing to adapt to new conditions and environments, and those who are terrified of making mistakes and therefore seldom venture out of the established norm. The type of team that forms the foundation of your business is up to you. Are you hiring people with flexible, open minds and giving them the freedom to make mistakes, or do you stifle innovation in your organisation? Remember that mistakes are often the only way to learn something. If people are really dissatisfied with their own errors and performance, they will internalise the experience far more deeply. There will always be some mistakes. My advice is to create an environment where everyone learns from mistakes — their own and those that others make — and try to make mistakes that you will benefit the most from by encouraging your team to take chances. This doesn’t mean it’s okay to make mistakes on purpose, but create a safe environment and deal with mistakes in a way that shares the lessons, and instils the learnings in your business.

Make a ‘not-to-do’ list We’re so busy making ‘to-do’ lists that we forget to make ‘not-to-do’ lists. Remember that you’re in charge of your life, and you can go in any direction you want. Yes, there will be circumstances that influence your life, but ultimately you can change everything. There’s less financial risk than ever before in doing business. You don’t need big offices, buildings, or cars. Everything you need to make an impact is at your disposal. The only things holding us back are our assumptions. While you are creating your to-do lists and strategies, take some time to write down what you shouldn’t be doing — what you don’t want to do, what you should avoid — the business or person you don’t want to be. Focus on what you love, and build a great life around those principles. Don’t allow yourself to live in fear.

Leverage the holy trinity of dynamics I believe there are only three things you need for success: People, information and ideas. With these three things, you can set anything in motion. An idea in itself is worthless. It’s really nothing else but combined information; creatively connecting unconnected dots. The ability to make ideas materialise in this world however holds value, and for that you need people and information. Information is the bridge between ideas and the people who make them happen. What’s incredible is that we are living in an information society. There are more people connected than ever before. We’re living in a network age and an information age, which means you can focus on all three, connect the dots, and unleash an unprecedented amount of ideas.

You don’t need a budget to innovate The Chief Commander of the Dutch Army approached me to help him find a way to innovate that didn’t involve cutting into his budget. My question to him was, ‘Why do you need budget?’ There are 50 000 geeks in the Netherlands who dream of flying in a jet fighter or being submerged under the ocean. Simply by redeploying assets they already have, the Dutch

Army can make these dreams come true. So many organisations miss this crucial point. Money is naturally scarce, and the dynamics of money are weird. People are afraid to spend it because it’s scarce, and they’re uncertain if what they’re spending it on is a risk or not. As soon as there’s a financial risk, and you don’t know the outcome, you’re hesitant to jump in. And this ends up stalling innovation, because there’s an over-riding belief that you need money to innovate. But what about applying other resources other than money alone? Always consider what you can do with the resources you already have. This will take financial risk out the equation, which will lead to less fear. Once fear is gone, people step in, open up and contribute. If you get rid of the risk, you enable your team. In many cases, finance is not an enabler, it’s a disabler. Imagine if you could stop asking for money and setting your price, and instead asked your clients to pay what they believe your services are worth. You’d quickly either make more money, or realise you’re helping the wrong businesses, or not demonstrating your value clearly enough. Entrepreneurs know this — they’re used to bootstrapping

and being creative. The problem is that as we grow, we forget, and start becoming reliant on money to grow. And this stifles us. So how do you begin to use the resources you have? Start by targeting the one percent of your clients that are able to do 100 or 1 000 fold what they are paying you in terms of money. What can you barter or trade with them? What resources can you offer each other that are actually more valuable than money? What could your clients potentially do for you that would actually save you money? Or what would they love to pay for, that you potentially aren’t offering right now? Every single organisation has resources that they can deploy without financial loss. Start with 1% and build on it.

Build your social capital Social capital builds monetary capital. It’s not the other way around, and yet so often we focus on monetary capital first. Instead, focus on achieving something that will lead to monetary capital. I give away my social capital freely. I share my books and ideas for free. It clears my mind, and I know that I can create ideas faster than you can steal them anyway. That’s how you should view ideas. Giving away social capital gives you access, and then you don’t need money — that’s the secret to success. People are too careful with their social capital — particularly their ideas. I promise you this — the chances of becoming a millionaire with just one idea are miniscule. If that’s your strategy, it’s not only dangerous, but you’re wasting your time. If you become someone who can share ideas freely, and focus on bringing people, knowledge and ideas together instead, your chances of success have grown exponentially. Remember, people love to share, and you want to tap into that. Look for zero plus, not zero sum.

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TOOLKIT

Become a life-hacker The term ‘life-hacker’ was coined in 2005 by tech journalist Danny O’Brien. He was covering a group of programmers who were very productive, and yet they weren’t stressed. They were satisfied. How did they manage to be productive and stress-free? The secret wasn’t only in what they were doing — but in how they were sharing those secrets and tools. I personally use a few hundred tools that allow me to do a lot more in less time, and I’m happy to share the tactics that help me to work smarter. This is why I launched the lifehacking.nl website, but all the contributors on the site share the same philosophy — we freely share our insights to help others. This is a critical element to life-hacking. There is so much information out there, so many ways to access insights and information. Are you using them? Are you learning and using the tools available? There are tools that can save you hundreds of hours a year. Tap into them. We can learn so much from each other; get the best people possible in your posse and in your community.

Understand the dichotomies of knowledge workers Knowledge work is something new. Traditional business systems are based on hands. You exchange time for money.

But today we are working with our heads, and the reality is that you cannot work with your head for eight hours a day, particularly in artificiallyconstructed work hours. One third of the population work best in the evening, and yet they’re expected to arrive at the office at 8am sharp. Not only are they causing traffic jams, but they’re not working in their optimal conditions either. We need to rethink the model. We need to stop treating computers like modern typewriters. We seem to think that answering hundreds of emails is working. It’s not. We’re all just distracting each other. Digital skills are nowhere on the strategic agenda of boards. The time and skills of your employees are the most valuable asset you have, and yet we aren’t doing anything to help our employees become life-hackers. Digital skills won’t only help your teams to work smarter and save time, but become real assets, and not just glorified typists. If you READ focus on digital skills, your THIS ability to find information and ideas faster than anyone else will grow, allowing you to spread those ideas, learn faster than your competitors and entrench strategic skills in your organisation. Take these skills and invest in them heavily. It’s a true differentiator. — BY NADINE TODD

SECURING BETTER COSTEFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY After 24 years in the merit and quantum investigation industry, Mr Gerhardt Becker realised that the private and government sectors need a reliable and ethical partner, with the know-how and expertise to do specialised investigations. Poor service delivery has become customary in South Africa and

FICS assists clients to secure better service delivery in a costeffectively way. FICS offers an expeditious range of support services to professional firms and corporations in the legal, accounting and financial service industries, and Government. Client demand resulted in

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IN YOUR TOOLKIT CREATE YOUR OWN TIME Life-hacking is all about learning from others and using tools and technology to do things smarter and faster. There are many ways to achieve this goal — you just need to be open to them. Take Pepe Marais, co-founder of Joe Public United, South Africa’s largest independent advertising agency. Four years ago, Pepe decided to employ a driver. “This solution isn’t for everyone, and it took me a full three months to get used to the idea, but once I got over my own insecurities, it was a revelation. I have gained 32 hours a month — that’s the equivalent of one full work week — simply through using my travel time constructively.”

LEARN FROM THE TITANS Tim Ferriss is the master of getting more done in less time — and he’s made it his business to share these

FICS expanding its operations nationwide based on the franchise model with 145 franchise areas in South Africa. A secure state-of-the-art online IT system enables franchisees excellent interaction with partners and clients. It tracks and streamlines operations, and accounts for the status of investigation reports. The recently launched FICS Mobile App, a first for South Africa, offers new benchmark opportunities by capturing all

tips and lessons with others. Read this: Tools of Titans, Tim Ferriss’s epic amalgamation of hundreds of tactics, routines and habits, collected over the course of two years from the world’s most successful business people and world-class performers, and distilled into a notebook of tips and tricks to use in your everyday life and business. Listen to this: A summary of the book is available on Audible.com (another key tool for life-hacking and a great way to maximise your time in traffic and the gym by listening to business ‘how to’ books and top biographies). Watch for free: Accelerated learning with Tim Ferriss is a 13-minute video available on Youtube. If you want to maximise your ability to learn quickly and efficiently, start here.

relevant photographic and other factual information at the scene of vehicle accidents. This includes information of parties involved, witness details, statements, GPS location, video clips and photographs of an accident scene, and information relating to the vehicle damage at an accident.

TOOLKIT THE INNOVATION FORMULA is simple: According to tech entrepreneur Rapelang Rabana, innovation is at its best and greatest when it’s sourced from your unique perspective and accumulated wisdom, combined with shared value and execution. At this year’s BCX Disrupt Summit, Rapelang broke the process down into the three key ingredients that together shape innovation and success.

THE EXPERT: Rapelang Rabana is a computer scientist and tech entrepreneur. She is the founder of Rekindle Learning and the current Chief Digital Officer of BCX.

CREATE SHARED VALUE Thato Kgatlhanye, founder of the Rethaka foundation, an organisation that creates school bags that are also solar panels, and can provide schoolgoers with energy in the evening so that they can do their homework, says that she is money-driven, business-driven, and empathetic

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PHOTO: MIKE TURNER

To be a success in today’s fast paced world, you need innovation at the heart of everything you do.

PREPARE YOUR MIND Your ability to innovate and be creative is based on the sum of all of your experiences. Great ideas do not take shape in our minds, they are the result of external stimulus hitting a prepared mind. We don’t think up ideas — we notice them. We connect the dots in new and creative ways. And our ability to do so is based on how prepared we are to notice what’s happening around us, and to tap into that information. When asked what it takes to be great like Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, Musk’s ex-wife, Justine Musk had this advice to offer: “Shift your focus away from what you want (a billion dollars) and get deeply, intensely curious about what the world wants and needs. It helps to have an ego, but you must be in service to something bigger if you are to inspire the people you need to help you.” So, ask yourself this: What do you have that is so deeply compelling and needed that no one can outsource you or replace you? Until you can answer this question, keep building your mind, your abilities and your knowledge. Work on your repository, and your ability to connect the dots.

TOOLKIT towards her people. In other words, her business is created through shared value, and the desire to not only create money for her business, but within her communities as well. Most successful organisations would never have been launched if their primary focus was for the business to win. People are hungry for things that are inclusive and show positive change. Consider Airbnb — the founders had the audacity to put a blow-up mattress in their livingroom, and believe that other people would find value in their offering. And they were right, mainly because the business model is all inclusive. The business wins, the hosts win and the customers win. According to Nielsen, 40% more social entrepreneurs are growing compared to other SMEs, and they’re showing greater profit. In addition, people say they are more likely to purchase from ethical and sustainable businesses. The cynics might say this is what people say, not how they buy. This may be true, but it’s also a leading indicator of how we will behave in the future. We’re

trying to get there, and our behaviour will catch up to the sentiment. Always be cognisant of how responsive the market is. Learn to leverage public sentiment and get attention through the ideal of shared value. Winning with others is the fastest way to create value today. GET STUFF DONE When we start a project or idea, we try to project into the future. We want to draw a linear picture between now and then. The problem is that creation is far more chaotic. Instead, minute variations over time create profound changes. It’s a journey. There are no defining moments of success or failure; just a series of events strung together over time. To make the necessary minute variations though, you need data points and you need to take action. Often this starts with just beginning. If you start, you can move forward, slowly but surely. Progress is far more evolutionary than simply trying to imagine the end. The problem is that the mind blocks us. We essentially block ourselves from success. How?

The ability to execute and turn innovation into profit comes down to a series of fivesecond moments over years. Push yourself. Get past your mental blocks and act on your instinct. Building anything and trying to be innovative requires a series of many, many decisions made over years and years. Many of those decisions are made — or not made — from a place of fear. Our instincts tell us to do something, and then our minds stop us. The most incredible things can happen if we learn to follow our instincts though. In her book, The Five Second Rule, Mel Robbins unpacks the skill of acting on your instincts. In essence, the space between your instinct and the moment of hesitation that stops you from acting is five seconds. This

means you have five seconds to make things happen, and the way to utilise that time and to make things happen is to count down from five: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. At one, move. Get up, take action, call the client, speak to your boss — don’t let fear come in and crush the instinct. Why a countdown? A countdown suspends — for a moment — the self-doubt that gives you space to move before the brain kills it. I started using the rule for small stuff at first. A countdown in the morning to get out of bed and go to gym. Then I started using it for the harder stuff, like not losing my temper. If you can be aware enough to make the countdown, you can change your behaviour. The ability to execute and turn innovation into profit comes down to a series of five-second moments over years. Push yourself. Get past your mental blocks and act on your instinct. Combine this with building on your knowledge, connecting the dots around you, and understanding that value is not given or taken, but is created through shared value, and you have the recipe for innovation and success. — BY NADINE TODD

IN YOUR TOOLKIT FOCUS ON LEARNING NEW STUFF FACT: The super-successful focus heavily on learning new skills, reading practical books and listening or watching podcasts, interviews and informational courses. Take best-selling author and leadership coach Simon Sinek, who said: “My work is never complete, we wake up with a hunger to learn, and no one is ever truly an expert. Anyone who says, 'I’m an expert at anything’ has closed their mind to the idea that they might not know everything. There’s always more to learn.

I’ve never considered myself an expert. I’m always a student of leadership. All the work is imperfect and all the learning is continuous.”

LISTEN TO THIS

Action Step: If you can read 20 full pages a day, or even listen to an hour-long audio/ podcast, you will accumulate more than 36+ books a year of new knowledge. Start here: If you’re not sure where to start, download the audible app (audible.com) and browse the business books available, or subscribe to podcasts. Three great places to begin are:

• Trailblazers with Walter Isaacson, a show focused on disruption and hosted by the biographer of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin amongst others. • The Tim Ferriss Show, hosted by Tim Ferriss and one of

the biggest podcasts on the planet. • Masters of Scale, hosted by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who chats to some of the worlds biggest and most successful entrepreneurs.

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TOOLKIT Personal motivation is an essential cog in your overall drive to succeed.

#3 STAY MOTIVATED MOTIVATION IS a daily struggle for entrepreneurs, so I’ve put together these motivationboosting tips from eight of today’s most successful international entrepreneurs.

Fear of failure In an article that he wrote for Bloomberg, Mark Cuban stated that he uses the fear of failure for self-motivation. “No matter what business you’re in, you’re always at risk — particularly in technology, where it changes so rapidly you’ve got to put in the effort to keep up,” writes the US Shark Tank panel member. “There’s always the opportunity for some 18-yearold to come out of nowhere and crush you — that motivates the hell out of me.” Failed at something? Ask these Mark Cuban questions. “What did I do wrong? Who did I trust that I shouldn’t trust? What can I learn from this situation so I can avoid it next time?”

Follow your passion This is the key. However, as Chalmers Brown, co-founder and CTO of Due writes, “We want to not only make a lot of money but enjoy what we do as well. We are willing to take on the risk of unstable pay in exchange for

following our dreams. “Unfortunately, your dream job may not always be the best decision financially. Sometimes your hobbies are best kept as projects in your spare time for fun. If you do want to try to turn your passion into a full-time job, these tips can help you get started the right way.” Brown gives the tips below: » Improve something that you’re already doing » Figure out where the market is » Share your passion with others » Stay happy and motivated by assigning tasks that you’re not a fan of to someone else.

Keep affirmations where you can see them “It’s so easy as an entrepreneur to get sucked into feeling exhausted or frustrated, and often the blame is yours alone,” writes Murray Newlands, founder of online invoicing company Sighted. “But a negative mindset sucks up mental bandwidth and energy that you need to stay focused and successful. “It is crucial to maintain an optimistic attitude in the face of setbacks. Whenever you see a quote or a picture that helps you stay positive, place it front and centre so you can remember what this journey is all about.”

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THE EXPERT: John Rampton is an entrepreneur, investor, online marketing guru and start-up enthusiast. He was recently named #3 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine.

Surround yourself with highly successful and motivated people “No one does it alone,” said Mark Zuckerberg during a Q&A in 2016. “When you look at most big things that get done in the world, they’re not done by one person, so you’re going to need to build a team.” When building your all-star team, seek out people who excel in the areas where you’re not strong or have less experience. “You’re going to need people that have complementary skills,” he emphasised. “No matter how talented you are, there are just going to be things that you don’t bring to the table.”

Be grateful “Most of the time when people ask me about motivation, 80% of the time I attribute it to gratitude. If you want real fuel to win, be grateful,” writes Gary Vaynerchuk. “Gratitude is what has gotten me through my toughest moments in business. Whenever I have lost a deal to

a competitor, or an incredible employee, or millions of dollars in revenue, I default to gratitude. It’s impossible not to stay motivated or get too down when you’re feeling grateful.”

Never feel sorry yourself “All of my best successes came on the heels of a failure, so I’ve learnt to look at each belly flop as the beginning of something good,” says Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group and Shark on US Shark Tank. “If you just hang in there, you’ll find that something is right around the corner. It’s that belief that keeps me motivated. I’ve learnt not to feel sorry for myself, ever. Just five minutes of feeling sorry for yourself takes your power away and makes you unable to see the next opportunity.”

Don’t obsess over your vision Yes. Think about your vision. But don’t spend too much time over it or it will bog you down. Elon Musk, for example, only spends around 30 minutes a week on his vision of SpaceX colonising Mars. Besides those 30 minutes, Musk spends a majority of his time focused on the milestones that are the most immediate and critical to get him there.

Leverage the power of rejection “On June 26, 2008, our friend Michael Seibel introduced us to seven prominent investors in Silicon Valley. We were attempting to raise $150 000 at a $1,5 million valuation. That means for $150 000 you could have bought 10% of Airbnb. “Below you will see five rejections. The other two did not reply,” writes Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky on Medium. “The investors that rejected us were smart people, and I’m sure we didn’t look very impressive at the time.” Today Airbnb is valued at just under $30 billion. — BY JOHN RAMPTON © Entrepreneur Media Inc. All rights reserved.

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#4 THINK STRATEGY IT’S HARD TO KEEP UP with the pace of change. Economic uncertainty, disruptive technologies, fast-changing consumer needs and complex digital marketing means entrepreneurs have to move fast just to stand still. While managing constant change this is easy, but dangerous to forget about strategy. A couple of pertinent questions: What are your business and marketing strategies? Who owns them? How many people in your organisation understand them? When last did you review them to see if they are appropriate now, and likely to be appropriate in the next year or two? Every organisation, from tiny businesses, clubs, NGOs and start-ups to much larger companies would benefit by taking time out to review key strategy issues. I suggest you examine whether your target markets are the right ones, and are still buying enough to meet your sales targets. You should ask if your sales channels, pricing policies, promotional messages and the media used are right for the times. Do you really know what your target market needs and how those needs are changing? Are your products and services providing solutions to those changing needs? Does everyone in your organisation know what differentiates you from your

competitors? Do you have the right people? Is your financial strategy still sound? What about purchasing or manufacturing — is it still as cost-effective as it could be? What are your competitors doing now? What are they likely to be doing in future? Get out of your comfort zone These are tough questions, but if you ignore them, your organisation may drift along in its comfort zone in the hope that everything will work out. A company that continues to try to sell familiar products to anyone who will buy, and does not know what its competitors are doing is taking very high risks in a changing environment. The risk increases if your prices reflect your efficiency or otherwise at product procurement rather than the value they deliver to customers. Risk rises to danger levels if few people actually know and understand the strategy, because they will usually keep their heads down and do the same old things. Start the journey Strategy development is like a journey. You know the starting point, you decide on your destination (your goals) and then you map out how to get there, which is your strategy. You have to consider the time it will take, the resources you will need, especially money and skills,

If you want to make money, save money and improve your efficiencies in 2018, you need to keep reviewing your strategy.

THE EXPERT: Backed by 25 years of experience in the SME marketing landscape, Ed Hatton is focused on new ideas and strategies for SME growth.

and how you will know you are still on track (your milestones). Start at the beginning; ‘we know where we are’. Do not assume everyone has the same idea of where you are, especially your management team; you may

be surprised at the distance between perceptions of where you are now. Then set the goals and recognise that the future may not be what you envisage. You will have to be flexible to cater for change in a different economy. Using questions like those in this article, map out the strategy of how to get there. An outside facilitator is a good idea for a strategy session but if you choose to run it yourself be careful that your management team does not only tell you what you want to hear. What great strategies are made of Keys to good strategy in these turbulent times are to really understand your target market needs and provide solutions at a price that the customer regards as fair value. Two other ideals are to provide the products or services in a manner convenient to the customer rather than to you, and to inform the customer of the advantages of your solution in a manner and in media that the customer trusts. You may recognise the venerable 4Ps of marketing in a new guise; outwardly focused, concentrating on the customer. — BY ED HATTON

IN YOUR TOOLKIT YOUR STRATEGY CHECKLIST Do you know what your target market needs?

Do you have the right people? Is your financial strategy still sound?

How are those needs changing? Are your products and services providing solutions to those changing needs? Does everyone in your organisation know what differentiates you from your competitors?

Are your purchasing and manufacturing processes still as costeffective as they can be? What are your competitors doing now? What are they likely to be doing in future?

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#5 BECOME A TEAM WHISPERER YOUR TEAM NEEDS to be nurtured on an ongoing basis if you want to attract and retain the best employees. You can hire people, you can fire people, and you can tell them what to do. But you can’t make them like what they do. Some business leaders are content with having an unhappy team; as long as they do what they are paid to do then the state of their mental health is seen as superfluous. This line of thinking is not only wrong, but it is entirely counterproductive to the continued survival of a business. Gallup has run some excellent pieces that demonstrate the difference between engaged and disengaged employees. In particular, they list several additional things that engaged employees bring to the table: motivation, innovation, and a willingness to take on more responsibility within the company. So how can you keep your team engaged? That level of motivation contrasts greatly with employees who don’t even want to be there. They do their jobs, but they never put in

more than the bare minimum of effort. Don’t expect them to ever go beyond what their job description requires, and if there is a chance for them to duck out of work without getting fired, they’ll take it. Obviously, you don’t want to have a team that consists of these people. But without the right knowledge of how to motivate a team, you’ll find yourself unable to inspire your employees to go above and beyond what is required of them. A great company cannot exist without great employees, and there are steps you can take to mould them into the people you want to have working for you. These tips are proven methods of getting your employees to be engaged in what they do, and anybody can learn to apply them.

Be a team, not a dictatorship Every ship needs a strong captain, but that doesn’t mean that you have to spend every second reminding your employees who’s the boss. Your employees look to you for guidance, but they also want to feel as though you are in tune

Engaged employees are motivated, innovative and willing to take on more responsibility.

THE EXPERT: Pieter Scholtz is the South African Master Licensee for global franchise company, ActionCOACH. He specialises in highlevel personal and business growth.

with everything that is going on. Some managers come off as though they are giving mandates from heaven, or worse, they rattle off long lists of orders because they don’t want to do the work themselves. If you give the directive and then pitch in to reach the goal, you’ll show your employees that they are all part of a team, and they sink or swim together.

Give them a chance to shine It’s true that some people are placidly content with being a cog in the wheel. I’m sure you know of at least one person who is sitting in a job they are relatively indifferent to just so they can collect a pension in twenty years. Those that fit that mould will gravitate towards jobs that give few chances to stand out and plenty of job security. For those who want to achieve more, they will never settle for a job pushing pencils all day. These restless employees are always looking for a way to prove to you that they are capable of so much more than low-level work. Denying them this opportunity will either push them to greener pastures, or if they can’t/won’t quit, cause them to become disillusioned with what they do. If you find somebody who wants to prove themselves, let them. An employee who shows the initiative and drive to better themselves is a person who will bring your business an incredible amount of value. Don’t waste this potential.

Don’t take them for granted — show your gratitude This goes beyond a simple “thank you,” although those two words can have quite a bit of power in themselves. If your employees feel like their contributions are not recognised

ALTERNATIVE FINANCE — FILLING THE GAP Alternative finance is finance beyond the traditional — it is defined by the financiers’ area of specialisation — by what they specialise in, whom they serve, and how they provide their funding. It does not replace traditional finance, but rather functions as a complementary and additional form of funding. Alternative financiers are specialists — they focus on a

particular need and on a specific audience. As a result their ‘how’ is customised to deal with their chosen target market and for this target’s unique needs. This applies to the funder’s processes and to their level of flexibility around things such as collateral. An example of this is that a SME may have an existing R1 million overdraft (their

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traditional finance) secured by R1,5 million collateral, but suddenly they need R5 million for a specific contract or bridging finance — they need it fast and don’t have that extent of collateral. The traditional funder cannot provide what they need, their process is too long and their flexibility is too low. An alternative financier, that

is able to provide bridging finance and specialises in SMEs, is ideally positioned to fill this gap.

+27 (0)11 886 0922 www.spartan.co.za

TOOLKIT or rewarded, they will feel little incentive to go above and beyond in what they do. How you show this gratitude is as important as the action itself, because a perceived token gesture is even more insulting than a lack of a reward. Put another way, if somebody comes up with a million-dollar idea and you give them a monogrammed lanyard as a gift, don’t expect that person to stick around. Rewarding achievement is the flip side to punishing failure, and a balance between both is necessary to craft the ideal team. As intuitive as these three traits seem, you probably know from personal experience that a lot of managers don’t quite know how to implement these strategies effectively.

Share the bigger picture with them A really important element of keeping your team engaged is to share the bigger picture with them. This involves amongst others: » Constantly communicate the Vision and Mission of your business to your team. If your team can buy into why the business was started, where it is headed and why you exist as a business, they will be able to be as passionate as you are. » Provide a monthly update on how the business is tracking against its plan and this will empower them to focus on

the areas that matter most to the business at that time. This includes sharing financials with the team — here one needs to take into account any legislation that might be applicable — but the more you share, the more you show your team that they

are trusted with the information as well as being able to make better decisions that affect the business. » Keeping your team engaged, excited and energised is a prerequisite to developing a high performing team that is able

to take the business to the next level. It takes a team of dedicated people to build a successful business. Without this team, your ability to expand at the rate you had planned to will be severely hampered. — BY PIETER SCHOLTZ

IN YOUR TOOLKIT BECOME A LEADER THAT INSPIRES GREATNESS

business based in Cape Town.

READ THIS: Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, By Liz Wiseman.

Go to multipliersbooks.com for additional tips, tricks and surveys.

“Multipliers is profound. It’s been lifechanging for me and everyone that works with me. Leadership is not about having the best answers. You need to ask the best questions, and what happens is that you are turning people into productive engines. Micro-managing stops people from thinking for themselves as they wait for answers from you. The principle is that micro-management on that level means you are paying people 100% salary for 50% productivity. The multipliers effect allows you to pay 100% salary for 200% productivity.” — Robin Olivier, co-founder and MD of Digicape, a R240-million

• Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss | First Round Review • INBOUND Bold Talks: Kim Scott “Radical Candor”

WATCH THIS: Radical Candor means challenging And if you’re interested in employees directly and really unpacking the lessons showing you care personally behind radical candor, read at the same time. It will help the book: Radical Candor: you and your team do the Be a Kickass Boss Without best work of your lives. Losing Your Humanity. Developed by Kim Scott — who led READ THESE AdSense, YouTube, and Doubleclick Online Sales and Operations at Google and then joined Apple to develop and teach a leadership seminar — Radical Candor is all about becoming a leader who is both respected and followed, without being falsely ‘nice’. There are two great YouTube videos that will give you her tips and lessons in under 20 minutes:

HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES Keeping your employees engaged and motivated needs time and attention. The most effective way to assist staff to work more efficiently is by implementing an incentive that can improve performance and reward them for their efforts. A motivating incentive needs to have the following areas implemented:

1. Identify the areas of performance you want to improve. This can be anything from sales performance to improved customer service 2. Measure the behaviour. By collating relevant data, you can measure a specific behaviour, and track its performance 3. Reward. Selecting the correct reward mix for your audience is crucial. Different things inspire

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different people. Providing a tangible reward will ensure a positive association with the brand — which lasts much longer than extra cash does 4. Communicate. Launching a great incentive is all well and good, but the trick to keeping staff motivated is to communicate — effectively and often!

5. Report and analyse. Ensure that your incentive is returning the right results by monitoring results and keeping on track.

Please contact Uwin Iwin Incentives on +27 (0)11 557 5700 or info@uwiniwin.co.za

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#6 FOCUS ON CONTENT MARKETING I’M A FIRM BELIEVER in content marketing. It’s a long play, but the results speak for themselves if you invest and keep plugging away. Businesses that have invested in content marketing in recent years are reporting dividends from those investments. For example, more than 60% of B2B marketers reported more effective content marketing strategies than a year ago, showing that constant flow and activity within content marketing will increase ROI. Factors contributing to that success include better quality content, strategy development, more time spent on content marketing, and better targeting in content distribution. To maintain this growth, marketers need to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of content marketing. Here are my three big marketing plays for 2018.

GREAT CONTENT IS EXPERTDRIVEN Content marketing is moving beyond blog ideas and articles.

Consumers want to know who you are. Enter content marketing.

THE EXPERT: Greg Tinkler is the founder of brand activation and marketing agency, the Cre8tive Group.

There is a move towards a trend in which ideas are constantly improved upon, customised for different audiences, and adapted to new formats consumers are using. Just hiring writers won’t cut it anymore. The content team will need to grow and adapt for the

next year and should include people who are talented in: » Video production and editing (think TV commercials tailored for Facebook) » Graphic design, illustration, and editing (think infographics, animation and ebooks) » Audio editing and production (audio articles and podcasts) » Content distribution and promotion (Where to place it and how to promote it). So, invest in your content team, consider outsourcing to specialist agencies and provide constant quality content for your customer base.

INFLUENCER MARKETING KEEPS YIELDING RESULTS In 2018 it’s not about whether you include influencer marketing in your marketing mix, but the percentage of your marketing budget you put towards it. Remember: » 70% of millennials trust influencer and peer opinions over traditional celebrities » 51% of marketers say video produces the best ROI » 86% of women turn to social

networks before purchasing » 71% of consumers are more likely to purchase based on a social media reference If you are in a niche sector, working with micro influencers who have a smaller but higher engagement rate than traditional celebrities might work well for your brand. The key to influencer marketing is someone who is trusted and respected by your target audience.

LIVE VIDEO IS EXPLODING Marketers and brands are jumping on the train to embrace live video content. Facebook video sees an average of 135% more organic reach than images. The engagement goes through the roof for live video. According to Facebook, users spent three times more time watching live videos than a video that’s no longer live. They also comment ten times more during live videos. If that doesn’t convince you that you need to adopt live video for 2018, this may: » 80% of social media users aged 18 to 35 said they would rather tune into a live video than read a blog post. » 82% of those users were more interested in watching live video from a brand than reading social media posts. Start working with live video now — before your competitors do — to engage your audience. — BY GREG TINKLER

IN YOUR TOOLKIT CREATE ENGAGING CONTENT Here are three tools you can use to easily make all kinds of interactive content for your marketing campaigns. 1. Apester Apester is a tool that allows you to easily create polls, surveys, personality tests, video quizzes, and a whole lot more to engage with your audience. Embed your creations into

your regular blog content to create a truly interactive experience. Go to: apester.com 2. Engageform Engageform is a super intuitive tool to create quizzes, surveys, and polls. The platform offers an impressive array of visual customisation options to make your content really stand out. You can also easily embed and share your quiz, survey, or

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poll on your website or social media. Once people start interacting, you’ll get detailed reports of audience feedback, stats, and lead information. Go to: 4screens.net/ engageform/ 3. Vizia Video is probably the most powerful content type marketers can use. But use a tool like Vizia, and you can take it to the next level. Vizia helps you create

more engaging videos by adding questions and quizzes to collect feedback while people watch. The tool makes it easy to quickly add multiple choice questions, polls, and short answer questions into your videos. Vizia videos integrate everywhere, including blogging platforms, e-commerce stores, and site builders. And the best part? It’s 100% free. Go to: vizia.co

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#7 OVERDELIVER TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE Wise, established entrepreneurs know that over-delivering value — which simply means going above and beyond for the people we serve to deliver more satisfaction for our service and thus exceed expectations — is crucial to a business’s survival, growth and future. It represents the core of a company's foundation. And without a solid foundation, a business is always vulnerable to a person or company that does over-deliver. To ensure you don’t ever forget the importance of over-delivering value, here are three ways it will give you and your company a distinct competitive advantage:

Creates abundance Success comes most to those who are surrounded by people who want their success to continue. When you over-deliver value, people may be sceptical at first, thinking that you are expecting something in return, but when you are consistent and genuine with your intentions, they begin to trust and appreciate that you are just thinking of them. You never know the value of the value you are delivering. But I’ve learnt that if you are consistently delivering greater value to people, your value becomes more and more aligned with the immediate needs of the people and companies you are serving — and abundance in the relationship is created. This is what over-delivering value is all about.

Earns respect Entrepreneurs who take the time to over-deliver value are the ones who earn respect. Typically early-stage entrepreneurs tend to find ways to be the recipient of someone else’s value in a search for momentum. You never know which transactional seed is going to grow, but when adding value to others, this type of seed is never forgotten. For example, every quarter, I deliver a white paper to clients with the

Go over and above for the people you serve, and you will enjoy the benefits of an abundant relationship.

Enables distinction Entrepreneurs who add value to others create and sustain a distinction in the minds and hearts of those they are serving. After all, most people are simply THE EXPERT: Glenn doing what Llopis is the Chairman they’re told to do of the Glenn Llopis inside the box Group — a US-based they are given. thought-leadership, Entrepreneurs human capital, and can’t afford to do business strategy that. consulting firm. We are the originators, the innovators and the opportunity seekers. We live our lives constantly in search of ways to add value to make things better. We disrupt the status quo. We are not in the business of fixing the old ways of doing things. We create new ways of doing things. If entrepreneurs are technically the experts at adding value through our products, services and brands, why can’t we add value through the people we depend upon most for our success? Over-delivering value is intention to challenge the key not only to being a their thinking. My goal successful entrepreneur but is for them to know that also to the entrepreneurial regardless of whether I mindset we must continually am conducting business cultivate in ourselves and with them or not, I am others. No one is successful thinking of them and thus alone. We must see the strengthening our longvalue in over-delivering value term relationship. And since by being other-directed my white papers focus on and connecting dots of predicting future leadership opportunity with focus and trends and business purpose to become smarter strategies, when a related and wiser, while making topic arises in one of their ourselves invaluable to the strategy meetings, they people and businesses don’t hesitate to call me to we serve. discuss an opportunity for — BY GLENN LLOPIS us to engage. © Entrepreneur Media Inc. All rights reserved.

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What does it mean to navigate a disruptive world and succeed in a marketplace that is changing faster than it’s ever changed before?

#8 BUILD A DISRUPTIVE ATTITUDE WHAT DO YOU NEED to know to be a success? What resources and support do you need? How do you need to feel and think to be a success in a disrupted world? According to Malcolm Gladwell, who spoke at the 2017 BCX Disrupt Summit, you need three key things to succeed in a disrupted world: Resources, knowledge and the right attitude. THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS INNOVATION AND DISRUPTION IS YOUR MIND. YOUR ATTITUDE. For Gladwell, Malcolm McLean is the single biggest disruptor of the 20th century, in that he implemented containerised shipping. Without this fundamental shift in the way we ship cargo, the modern, connected world as we know it today would not exist. Crucially, McLean did not

invent containerised shipping, but no one had been able to make it work before a trucker from Ohio came along, and got irritated by how long he had to wait at the docks to offload his cargo (roughly 24 hours). But McLean had an idea and he presented it at a conference of maritime shippers in Amsterdam. They laughed him off the stage. Normally, when we are treated with this type of derision, we get discouraged and give up. McLean didn’t do that. He possessed a fundamental trait that all entrepreneurs need: He didn’t require the approval of others to do what he believed was right. Entrepreneurs are open, creative, and see solutions to problems that others don’t; they are also — crucially — highly conscientious, which means they follow through on an idea in a detailed, disciplined way. This is rare. You get creative

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people, and conscientious people, but it’s not easy to find both traits in the same person. Add to that the third trait of disagreeableness, in that they do not have to follow established norms, and you have a real game-changer. McLean didn’t look at the problem as a shipper did. He came from an entirely new angle, and not only found a way to make containerised shipping possible, but affordable too. Ikea is a similar example. In a nutshell, Ikea is furniture shipped flat from Poland. Ingvar Kamprad pursued outsourcing on an aggressive level, had an extraordinary amount of creativity in solving problems, and was very conscientious. Consider how difficult it would have been to build a worldclass manufacturing plant in Poland in 1961. The country was a post-WW2 mess, in the grip of

THE EXPERT: Malcolm Gladwell is a five-times New York Times bestselling author. His books include The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers.

Soviet Russia, known for shoddy workmanship and actively hostile to free enterprise. And then Kamprad waltzed in from Sweden and pulled off the impossible because of his single-minded grit and attention to detail. He is the epitome of conscientiousness and obsessiveness. Now consider Steve Jobs. By the 1970s, Xerox was the most important tech company in the world. They were the richest, most innovative and profitable company, and they invested in a state-of-the-art R&D centre and filled it with 100 of the most brilliant computer scientists from around the world, and told them

TOOLKIT to be brilliant. And they were. As per Xerox’s request, they reinvented the office. They invented the laser printer, the world’s first word processing programme, interfaces — and the list continues. And then a 23-year-old Steve Jobs visited the centre. At that stage, his company was making traditional kit computers out of a garage. He was blown away by what he saw at Xerox Park and all the incredible things they were doing — particularly when he was shown the mouse and interface the Xerox team had developed for personal computers. He immediately saw how icons and a mouse changed everything. This was the future of computing. LEADING THE CHARGE Here’s why Apple is the world’s biggest tech company four decades later, and Xerox is not: While the Xerox team understood they had changed computing forever, there was no urgency to be the first to market. Jobs left that day, immediately told his team to stop what they were doing, because it would soon be obsolete anyway, and started working on a new product based on what Xerox had developed. His team told him he was nuts — they’d spent millions on what they were doing. Jobs said it didn’t matter. It was obsolete. He didn’t have more resources. He didn’t have smarter guys. He didn’t even have a wiser and better vision. But he was in a hurry. And he was able to execute on his vision. If you can get your mindset right, you can gather the resources and knowledge that you need to be successful. Learn as much as you can. Be open to new ideas. And if something is soon going to be obsolete, walk away. Find the next big thing. Because you’re either being disrupted, or you’re the disruptor. Which would you like to be? — BY NADINE TODD

#9 SURVIVE EXPONENTIAL CHANGE

I RECENTLY WENT to a meet and greet session at a company that turns over R13 billion a year. As I was introduced to other executives, I was referred to as ‘the guy who is at the pinnacle of podcasting in South Africa’. This kind of feedback is truly humbling, but after hearing that, the only question I had on my mind was: “But for how long is anyone or any brand at the top of any market?” THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE Change is no longer happening in a linear fashion; it’s occurring exponentially. We love linear thinking, because we have been conditioned to think in small steps (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) but we totally suck at exponential thinking (1, 2, 4,

16, 32, 1 024). To a greater and greater extent this is the world we are heading into. Almost inevitably, markets that used to be relatively predictable are winding up in an entirely new paradigm and some of the world’s largest and most reputable companies have been caught unaware. The main culprit? The exponential growth surprise factor. For example, in 2012, Toys R Us was a $12 billion company with a retail footprint comprising 1 600 stores. In September 2017, they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy... only five years later. The message is simple: Innovate or die. But more importantly,

How to get out of the habit of thinking small, and start thinking in giant leaps for radical – and profitable – change.

THE EXPERT: Matt Brown is the host of the Matt Brown Show, a podcast with a listenership in over 100 countries, and designed to empower entrepreneurs.

there is a new challenge facing all entrepreneurs today: How can you prepare yourself and help your business survive in an exponential business world?

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TOOLKIT Here’s a four-step process that can help you get started. 1. LOOK OUT FOR THE WARNING SIGNS In my experience, the warning signs of disaster are present in every industry one to three years before disaster strikes. Ironically, many businesses are simply not paying attention to the warning signs in their market — or even worse, do not know what warning signs to look out for. Because all industries and businesses are subject to different warning signs, a simple, yet highly effective way to know when your business is in the throes of a critical warning sign is when something within your industry doesn’t make sense. When a linear industry is on the verge of disruption it generally manifests into something that doesn’t make sense for the incumbents in that industry. In 2008, when blockchain technology and the Bitcoin first manifested itself, it didn’t make sense to many in financial services. Fast forward to today and there are over 1 000 cryptocurrencies that you can actively trade and the promise of the decentralisation of all industries — not just the financial services industry — is very real. So, if something new enters

your industry and it doesn’t make sense to you it’s time to apply step number three.

most powerful yet completely undervalued questions that any business leader can ask.

2. ASK WHY If you ask a group of incredibly smart people to solve a very difficult problem and they can’t seem to solve it, you may find that they don’t lack collective intelligence, but perspective on the problem itself. Whenever this eventuality occurs the best thing to do is ask “why” repeatedly until you find the perspective that you need to make new decisions in your business. It’s one of

3. ACT Almost all success in business comes down to execution. Toys R Us didn’t act. When all is said and done, they simply did not believe in the Internet and they paid the highest price. In an exponential world, the ability to not just act but to act quickly is priceless.

IN YOUR TOOLKIT GET SOME PERSPECTIVE READ THIS: The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, by Clayton Christensen While decades of researchers have struggled to understand why even the best companies almost inevitably fail, Clayton Christensen shows how most companies miss out on new waves of innovation. His answer is surprising and almost paradoxic: It is actually the same practices

ASSISTING SME GROWTH Recognising the value and importance that SMEs play in the growth of the economy, collectively contributing 50% to 60% to GDP, Retail Capital is partnering with SMEs in an attempt to grow their businesses, stimulate the economy and create job opportunities. “We believe in people who believe in themselves and have advanced

4. MOVE FORWARD No industry is immune. Let’s take podcasting for example. Our

data shows that the addressable market for podcasts is already 16 million people; 50% of all podcast consumption growth over the last five years has happened in the last 12 months; and media consumption is shifting faster than we think into the on-demand space. To address this exponential shift in media consumption, the Matt Brown Show is evolving from a podcast into a fullyfledged new media company. So, my question to you is simple: How is your business preparing itself for the future? EM — BY MATT BROWN

more than R1,25 billion to date by funding SMEs to make their vision a reality,” says Retail Capital’s CEO, Karl Westvig. For many small businesses, however, continually adapting to market changes requires cash injections that they don’t often have. “‘Your Vision. Our Belief.’ speaks to why Retail Capital first opened its doors and our vision is to harness the potential of

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that lead the business to be successful in the first place that eventually can also result in its eventual demise. This breakthrough insight has made The Innovator’s Dilemma a must-read for managers, CEOs, innovators, and entrepreneurs alike. ASK WHY Drawing from Matt Brown’s article, start implementing quarterly meetings that review the biggest challenges the company is facing, and start asking the question ‘why’ of even the most basic

small businesses.” He adds that the aim is not to simply help one business at a time, but to ensure that they have the right amount of stock, adequate cash flow, and other systems in place to meet the ever-changing needs of customers. “As a partner to many SMEs in South Africa, we are continually looking at new and innovative ways to help provide SMEs with the much-needed support in order for them to

tenets that are being taken for granted. The idea is to find a new perspective of the same problem.

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realise their visions. SMEs need to be supported with initiatives like targeted education and training, supportive legislation, and funding opportunities that collectively help them grow our national economy.”

www.retailcapital.co.za

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INNOVATIVE EMPLOYEE BENEFITS ARE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR SMEs

Samantha Jagdessi, Head of Benefits Consulting at Old Mutual Corporate Consultants

A shortage of skilled workers continues to remain a challenge across various industries, and South African small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular, have found themselves in a race to attract and retain scarce talent. BY SAMANTHA JAGDESSI

to be the case. Retaining a talented workforce is crucial for business success. Frequent staff turnover has been shown to have a negative impact on employee morale, productivity and company revenue. Studies predict that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it can cost the company between 20% and 21% of an employee’s annual salary — depending on their role and expertise.

While well-resourced corporates tend to traditionally hold the advantage over SMEs in terms of offering better benefits, SMEs are able to tailor their benefits package to suit their means, thereby allowing them to gain a valuable competitive advantage. But, while the Monitor shows that SMEs acknowledge the value and role that employee benefits can play in their business, this isn’t translating into action. For instance, only 32% have retirement funding on their agenda. One such reason for this is that there remains a perception that the costs and administration outweigh the benefits — this is despite the vast array of workable and affordable solutions available that support business strategies and businesses of all sizes, ranging from a five-man

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SET UP FOR SUCCESS Start the year off on a strong note by giving your employees benefits that will motivate them to achieve great things.

SMEs in delivering tangible benefits of retirement provision, professional employee benefit consultants are also available at a minimal fee to provide support, appropriate advice, education and communication tools. When implementing an employee benefit structure, there are typically three aspects to take into account:

1 executive team to a 100+ strong employee base. A new generation of retirement fund models, such as Umbrella Funds (multi-employer retirement funds), have dramatically lowered the ‘burden’ to employers and decreased costs, thanks to the economy of scale created by group participation. To further support

Consider how retirement provision will be funded

SME decision-makers need to consider whether the business will contribute toward employee’s savings fully, partially or only manage the administration thereof. While the introduction of enabling retirement saving will ensure positive outcomes for staff, debt-burdened staff may struggle financially should they experience a dramatic decrease in take-home pay in favour

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

HE 2017 Old Mutual Corporate SME Employee Benefits Monitor revealed that the provision of employee benefit solutions can be a significant source of competitive advantage for an SME. However, the research also found that SMEs perceive employee benefits as another cost or administrative burden to ‘comply’ with. This doesn’t have

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of contributing to long-term retirement savings. To avoid such an instance, decision-makers could consider using a percentage of their staff’s annual increase to fund retirement provision before they grow accustomed to an increase in salary. Other options that have often worked for a mixed workforce (blue- and white-collar workers), is a ‘like-for-like’ funding model where the employer matches the contribution made by the employee.

Consider the levels of flexibility required by your workforce and the associated cost By limiting choices available to low-income employees — those who tend to rely more on their employer to make responsible financial decisions on their behalf — administrative costs can be reduced, thereby passing on more value to employees. White-collar workers, however, generally want more flexibility and control over their investments. Albeit more costly, companies employing highly skilled workers — often the most difficult to retain — may benefit from offering their staff some control over their contribution level, investment choice and risk benefits. Another option, often implemented in a mixed workplace, is purchasing advanced payroll software that allows staff to individually tailor their contribution level. The initial costs associated with this offering can offset the degree of flexibility required to encourage positive relations with all profiles of employees.

Consider if your staff are investment-savvy and what level of support is required White-collar workers tend to have greater levels of formal education and are in a better position to take responsibility for their own retirement provisions. Often highly digitally connected, these employees have sufficient

Typical business workplace profiles in South Africa and products best suited to cater to their needs THE CONSULTANCY OF HIGHLY SKILLED PROFESSIONALS Characterised by a few highly educated professionals, this business structure is likely to have limited or no HR function. These individuals are highly educated and more investment savvy than your average employee. They want flexibility and choice from their employee benefits, and prefer individualised attention if and when they require it. Old Mutual SuperFund’s Extended Choice range offers over 40 different investment options, including a number of options outside of Old Mutual’s investment range. We recommend that the members of the fund seek advice to confirm the validity of their decisions. THE FACTORY OF BLUECOLLAR WORKERS This group of employees are less academically educated, but often technically skilled. Characterised by generally

access to information required to make good decisions. However, when needing assistance, they generally demand immediate individual attention. Blue-collar employees generally display higher rates of consumer vulnerability. With limited access to the Internet, they rely on the fiduciary duty of trustees and decision-makers to make good decisions on their behalf. In a workplace with both white- and blue-collar workers, hands-on seminars and workshops should be facilitated by trained employee benefit consultants to bridge the gap in education and financial confidence. When making these decisions,

lower levels of income and formal education, they tend to require cost-efficient retirement solutions, and tend to look to employers to make good investment decisions on their behalf. Old Mutual SuperFund Easy is designed to suit those who prefer simple, easy to understand savings and risk solutions. Pre-packaged options put together by the SuperFund Trustees, this solution offers a savings component in a high-return smoothed fund, as well as death cover, disability cover, family funeral cover, lifestyle cover and temporary disability income. A WORKPLACE OF WHITEAND BLUE COLLAR WORKERS This workplace is characterised by a mixture of blue- and whitecollar workers, exhibiting characteristics and attributes of both. This type of workplace requires retirement solutions that are

it can be beneficial to seek expert advice. Employee benefit consultants can assist in advising on the best structure for a specific business or workforce

not only suitable, but also flexible enough to meet the expectation of both groups of people. Old Mutual SuperFund Choice offers a mixed group of employees the option of a default investment choice or the opportunity to choose their own mix of investment options. The defaults could be selected from a range of market-linked portfolios, index-tracking portfolios and lifestage models. Those who prefer to make their own choices are able to do so from a range of investment portfolios. These examples merely highlight some potential options. Your business is unique and there are many factors to consider before suggesting an appropriate choice. It’s always best to speak to an employee benefits consultant or adviser on what is best for your business.

— one that not only delivers positive retirement outcomes for its staff, but also delivers on long-term strategic goals for their business.

For more information, please visit oldmutual.co.za/superfund The information contained in this document is provided as general information and does not constitute advice or an offer by Old Mutual. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided meets the statutory and regulatory requirements. However, should you become aware of any breach of such statutory and regulatory requirements, please address the matter in writing to The Compliance Officer, Old Mutual Corporate, PO Box 1014, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.

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ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS TO ACCELERATE HIGH GROWTH

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ECONOMIES OF SCALE When Grant Ponting took over the Trappers franchise in 2003, he faced one overriding challenge: 16 franchisees who were used to doing things their own way. To build a strong, cohesive group geared for growth, he needed to win their trust and prove that business is better when you work together. Today, Trappers has 34 stores and a turnover of R300 million. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how. BY NADINE TODD 38

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KEY INSIGHTS

Use strengths to your advantage

Every business has unique strengths — are you using yours? For Trappers, the entrepreneurial nature of its franchisees means store owners who really understand their local communities. Individual stores who cater to their communities isn’t the usual franchise model, but Trappers is making it work to their advantage.

Don’t lose your north star

Every brand needs a guiding principle and an ideal customer profile. If you lose sight of this, it’s easy for your products and services to stray away from your core. In today’s competitive environment, knowing your core is a key differentiator.

Compromises earn trust

Whether you’re working with clients, employees or franchisees, trust and transparency are the building blocks of a good relationship. Sometimes you have to give more than you get to build that trust, and prove that you’re willing to put the relationship and others needs ahead of your own.

VITAL STATS

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PLAYERS: Grant Ponting (MD) and John Black (Head of Retail) COMPANY: Trappers WHAT THEY DO: Lifestyle and outdoor retail franchise TURNOVER: R300 million NUMBER OF STORES: 34 VISIT: www. trappers.co.za

VERY BUSINESS has strengths and weaknesses. Successful companies learn to recognise and mitigate their weaknesses, while building on their strengths. When Grant Ponting and his brother Mark bought the Trappers franchise group in 2003, their first priority was to determine the business’s strengths and weaknesses, and what it would take to build a strong cohesive franchise group. At the time, Trappers’ turnover was R25 million with 16 franchised stores. Today, it has 34 stores and a turnover of R300 million. Not only has the number of stores doubled, but average store turnover has quadrupled. This didn’t happen overnight. It took careful planning, patience, building up trust and delivering on promises — and above all it required clear and focused goals.

FINDING THE STRENGTH IN WEAKNESSES Both Grant and Mark were familiar with the Trappers brand before they invested in it. Having grown up in Nelspruit and attended university in Kwa-Zulu Natal, they knew the Pietermaritzburg and Nelspruit stores, and their owners. It was a strong brand that filled a niche in farming communities, but it didn’t have a retail footprint in larger South African cities. “My family were consulting for the Nelspruit store,” explains Grant. “The business had three separate shareholders. The franchised stores were loosely affiliated, with no strong head office system guiding the brand’s strategy or overall positioning. “We believed that the brand had legs, and that we could leverage its strong heritage and grow it beyond 16 stores through a franchise model,” he says. “We realised that we may lose stores who did not buy into our vision at the time, but we also knew that making these necessary

changes at that time was critical for the business to grow.” “One of the strengths of the brand was how well each store owner knew and engaged with their community,” says John Black, who bought shares in the business in 2011. “These were community stores run by entrepreneurially-minded people. But they were not used to being told what to do by a brand head office. “All 16 stores operated independently. Our goal was to centralise the company, create a clear strategy and disseminate it to our franchisees, bringing all the benefits of a franchise with it, including economies of scale.” The idea seemed simple. The reality was not. “There was pushback,” says Grant. The store owners Grant and John were attempting to woo to their way of thinking hadn’t joined a fully formed franchise. “They were there because they were good entrepreneurs. We needed to use that, not fight it; that’s what had brought

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BUILD

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the brand to where it was, and we liked the brand. But we also knew that any real growth would only come if we were able to forge a strong, unified franchise business.” The very thing that gave Trappers its strength was also the biggest barrier to its growth as a brand. “We knew we needed to win them over. They had to trust us if this was going to work. If we could harness their entrepreneurial spirit and also create a consistency in the brand and its offering, we’d build an incredibly strong business.” Grant and John’s mission was simple: Find a way to create a balance that encouraged

also knew that those remaining would have our full support.” BUILDING TRUST They needed to convince their franchisees that their strategy and credibility would change each store owner’s business for the better. “We started by providing them with exclusive product ranges via a head office-owned wholesale business, in addition to exclusive deals and product ranges in partnership with key suppliers to the group,” says John. Today, John heads up the retail operations of the business. “As the business grew, the group was not only achieving

savings, service enhancements, banking benefits and gift vouchers. “We could do costeffective group SMS campaigns, packaging, staff uniforms — these are all costs that add up,” explains Grant. “They’re also small brand touchpoints that don’t massively shift brand experience alone, but together create a consistent and recognisable brand experience.” “Once you get everyone swimming in the same direction, you enter a safe haven,” adds John. “There’s comfort and support that a franchise brings its members. As a group we are far more powerful together, which is critical in this economy.”

“AS WE PROVED OURSELVES AND EARNED OUR FRANCHISEES’ TRUST, WE WERE ABLE TO PUT MORE WIDE-REACHING SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES IN PLACE, WORKING WITH THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR COMMUNITIES AND SHOPPERS.” individual store owners to take guidance, input and leverage what head office put in place but still maintain their individual, entrepreneurial spirits, running competitively in their towns, understanding their markets, and responding to local needs. “We lost a few at the beginning. Some because the model was never going to work for them. Others because we recommended they de-franchise their stores. We were too far away from them, and didn’t believe we could give them proper support while we were consolidating the business. It was in both of our best interests to part ways,” says Grant. “We

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better pricing, but opportunities to expand into exclusive ranges presented themselves more regularly, which in turn resulted in the development of a centralised merchandising and IT model,” explains Grant. “We also needed to create a consistent marketing message. There had been no consistent strategy or brand identity. Everything was localised. While that’s good — you want strong, focused localised marketing — you also need a unified brand message. The key is to be consistent and centralised.” As these started to improve, there were economies of scale, which brought with them cost

“In a competitive market, the more leadership we can provide, the better,” says Grant. “Retail 20 years ago was simple: You just had to be a good retailer. Now you need a social media expert, legal experts, marketing — all of these are specialised services. It’s tough for a single store operator. Then, if you bought well and delivered good customer service, you did well. Now, there are so many complexities. You might be a good retailer, but you’ll still have gaps. A strong head office can fill these, either internally or with service providers, and costs and learnings are shared. “There’s a lot of information

Learn to pull yourself back. What business are we in, and what’s important? How can we take this to our people? If you aren’t asking yourself these three questions regularly, you’re going to miss changes and disruptions heading your way, and lose touch with your employees and customers. — Dawn Nathan-Jones, Shark on M-Net’s Shark Tank

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that can be shared between franchisees through workshops and conferences. We also play a key role when it comes to third parties — landlords and suppliers are more accommodating and trusting of a store that’s part of a group.” Trappers’ success has been based on trust and transparency throughout the value chain. “In the beginning, we gave more than we took,” says Grant. “Sometimes this was to our detriment, but it empowered our franchisees. We wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t. We couldn’t afford to lose franchisees, and so we took our time building their trust. We listened to them, and slowly put what we needed in place. “We ended up compromising a lot, but it was necessary. As we proved ourselves and earned our franchisees’ trust, we were able to put more wide-reaching systems and processes in place, working with their knowledge of their communities and shoppers. Our compromises cemented a culture of working together. We’ve centralised the business, and costs and efficiencies are streamlined, but we’ve also got an empowered group of franchisees.” According to Grant, if a franchisor is providing more than franchisees are paying the franchisor, you’re in a good position. “If it reverses, that’s incredibly short-sighted — especially if you’re trying to maximise something in the shortterm, to the detriment of your future relationships with your franchisees. “At the end of the day, we won our franchisees over with an increasingly trusting relationship; this has been the critical success

Focus on what you’re doing, not what everyone else is doing. In this day and age, your competitors know what you’re doing and you know what they’re doing. Be careful not to let that distract you from what’s important. Keep an eye on your competitors, but don’t benchmark against them as a basis

factor in our relationship with our franchisees.” REFOCUSING ON WHAT MATTERS Alongside the franchising growth strategy was a retail strategy. From the beginning, Grant focused on building franchisee trust while shifting from a wholesale to a retail model. When the business was acquired in 2003, it had no head office-owned stores. Under Grant and John, this has grown to ten head office stores and 24 franchised stores. When Mark exited the business in 2012, John’s role was to focus on the growth and management of the retail side of the business, having come from a major corporate retail background. “This has always been an important element of the strategy,” explains Grant. “Head office stores are necessary for scale. You need both. Corporate stores allow you to influence the overall direction of the business, experience what your franchisees are experiencing daily, and they are revenue generators. “You also need to secure products at competitive prices, and for this you need scale. We needed to expand corporate store space to strengthen our buying power, which was essential when we were winning the trust of our franchisees and proving the benefits of a strong franchise model.” But there’s a balance too. “In this, as in everything else, transparency is key,” says John. “We don’t dictate to our franchisees. We encourage them to test products within

of action. Internal practices determine your success. Your level of competitiveness is a by-product of operating at the top of your game. — Erik Venter, CEO, Comair Limited

predetermined boundaries, and we do the same in our corporate stores. When they test a product that works they let us know, and vice versa. Not all tests are successful. Retail is a mix of art and science. We don’t want to do anything that negatively impacts all 34 stores, which is why tests are important. This is a benefit of a franchise system — you can learn from each other.” True to the Trappers ethos, the brand follows a mixed system of autonomy and franchisor support. “It’s not a cookie-cutter template,” explains Grant. “What works in Joburg’s northern suburbs doesn’t necessarily work in Upington. We cater to local communities.” Slowly but surely, Trappers developed into a strong, successful franchise group, but another hurdle loomed. “In the early 2000s retail in South Africa was easy,” says Grant. “Our focus was on building the franchise, but the retailing side was slightly easier. Loads of trends (like hand held GPS units and wearables) were taking hold at the time, and

with a lack of focus our range assortments and the company’s reliance on a few very successful brands became a concern.” And then the world changed. The 2008 recession reached local shores, impacting retailers. “Some of these trends slowed down or dried up completely, and we realised that we needed to refocus. We had to ask: What are we not doing, that we were doing ten years ago? As a business, Trappers needed to refocus on its original and core customer profile, understanding that a brand’s heritage is often imperative to its success. “We had followed trends and forgotten our customer base, which left us exposed,” says Grant. “You need to know who your customer is, and focus on that niche first. “We don’t follow competitors. We focus instead on the true Trappers customer. That’s our north star. Who is our customer and what do they want? That’s the question at the heart of our retail strategy, and we ask it

Support your team’s performance. What drives corporates to perform? Financials are managed strictly and there’s an obsession with performance. They understand that if you can’t measure something, you can’t deliver on specific objectives. Performance management contracts are incredibly important. Entrepreneurs often only worry about this

daily. Our core customers don’t change, but their needs do, and so it’s important to stay abreast of those changes and check in with them; listen to them.” “This requires communication between us and the franchisees. “The more we share about our customers, the stronger we are as a brand.” WHERE TO NEXT? Trappers is currently in eight of the nine provinces. “We initially focused on areas close to our base, but once we strengthened the franchise and corporate store base, we branched out,” says Grant. “We’re now looking to grow in the Eastern and Western Cape, and as far afield as Namibia. We’ve consolidated our base. The next phase is to continue to identify geographical and financially sensible pockets of our market that we are not currently located in and place either a franchise or a company owned store in these areas that best satisfy our core customer needs.” EM

when they want to get rid of a non-performer, but it’s actually essential to cultivate strong performers: Do they have targets, is it clear what they do, is it clear what your expectations are? This naturally helps with non-performers, but more importantly it supports performance. — Romeo Kumalo, Washirika Holdings and Shark on M-Net’s Shark Tank

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CHANGING THE SHAPE OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE Ten years ago, the idea that a dynamic map could tell you there was a traffic jam ahead and how to avoid it was unthinkable. Today it’s a reality that you can find in your car, on a device and even on your phone. Here’s how TomTom Telematics is changing the present (and the future), and the lessons in innovation that you can learn from a gamechanger. BY NADINE TODD

O BE A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY in today’s fast-paced and everchanging market, you need three key ingredients: Access to markets (which starts with products that clients need), short-term agility and long-term goals. Consider the epic success of Apple. Steve Jobs was hungry and fast — he drove his teams to achieve more in less time. But he also had a long-term vision that directed the business’s trajectory. True innovation is the result of looking five to ten years into the future, and laying the groundwork now for where the company needs to be then. TomTom started out in 1991 as a software provider for Palm Pilots, long before the Internet was a thing, or GPS had been opened for civil usage. Today,

the listed company’s latest acquisition is Autonomous, a business that focuses on navigation systems for driverless cars. Over the course of almost three decades, TomTom has consistently focused on what comes next: What do consumer and business clients need, where will technology take us, and what will be possible in the near future, enabling greater efficiencies? Thomas Schmidt, MD of TomTom Telematics, unpacks the five lessons TomTom has learnt while developing world-class solutions for the consumer and B2B markets worldwide.

Focus on the problem you’re solving, not on the product you produce

Companies that are too fixated on what they do, instead of

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where technology and markets are heading, will often find themselves left behind. The most common example is Kodak, who refused to see the dangers digital photography posed. Instead of seeing themselves as a company that helped people capture moments, they saw themselves as manufacturers of films and cameras. The rest of course, is history. Robust businesses reinvent themselves, adjusting solutions to fit the market and making use of technological breakthroughs. “In 1991, the founders of TomTom launched a company called Palmtop,” says Thomas. “They designed and created the software for digital organisers. In principle, it was like a smartphone with no connectivity, and included a digital bible, a digital cookbook, a

personal organiser, a calendar and a whole host of other features. By the late 90s it even included a digital map, which they had licensed through Tele Atlas, a Belgian company that developed very basic digital maps.” Here’s how it worked: You bought a PalmPilot, purchased the map software, uploaded it to your device, and then purchased the cables and mountings that you’d need to instal the whole system in your car. It was complicated and something that only techies were really trying out, but it triggered something in the TomTom (at that stage Palmtop) team, who recognised that if they could remove the tech hurdles to get there, they’d democratise navigation. The company had been a forerunner in the personal

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VITAL STATS PLAYER: Thomas Schmidt COMPANY: TomTom Telematics POSITION: MD VISIT: telematics. tomtom.com/ en_za/webfleet/

organiser software business. Based on where they believed the market was heading however, they began to shift their focus to hardware, and began manufacturing personal navigation devices (PNDs), complete with digital maps licensed through Tele Atlas. By 2003 the business had been rebranded to TomTom and their first device, the TomTom Go, was launched. From there the business consistently grew 400% year-on-year, and an IPO was concluded in May 2005. In hindsight, the shift looks simple, but in reality, it’s never easy to reinvent yourself as a business, unless you’re agile, adaptable, and willing to focus on the best solution, rather than what your current product stack looks like.

Always look ahead

Great visions always precede technological solutions. If they didn’t, nothing would ever progress or change. The companies capable of those visions become the trailblazers and game-changers that shape industries, solve problems and drive greater efficiencies. The evolution of TomTom’s dynamic map data is a perfect example of this mindset in action, because the team kept asking what would make their product more useful to consumers. They had the device, and a digital map. What they didn’t have was mobile data. Instead, Tele Atlas had vans driving around, capturing everything. It was time consuming, expensive, and meant maps were always out of date. They also weren’t dynamic. “When you consider the fact that 15% of a map’s data changes yearly, we knew there was so much more we could do with this product if we just had the right tools, and developed appropriate solutions,” explains Thomas. TomTom’s team started by looking to the future: What did they want this product to look like? The answer was simple: They wanted a navigation system that was dynamic and up-to-date. If anything happened, a user would know within minutes. This would include traffic, accidents, traffic lights that weren’t working, delays — anything and

everything that would add value to a motorist or business with vehicles on the road. Today, this includes data drawn from how a vehicle is operating and how the driver is performing, right through to its location with regard to a dynamic map, and the capability to send companies and clients up-todate information. The technology that has made all this possible came after the idea of what the team wanted to achieve. With the right starting point, they were able to develop solutions that were possible. “We had millions of units on the road. We created a functionality that allowed users to update information on the map when they plugged it into their computers to update the software.” The problem was that it was a slow process. By the time TomTom gathered the data, sent it to Tele Atlas, and the changes were implemented and released in an update, months had passed. Consumers lost interest because it took so long to see a change. So, the team went back to the problem to engineer a different solution. “We went back to the data we were collecting, and started comparing that data with the map. What were speed averages on different roads? Based on this, we could predict times of the day when you could expect traffic congestion and delays. We also paid attention to roads on the map that no one

used, or areas with no roads that nevertheless had traffic. These were flagged as out-dated areas on the map, and we could send vans to check those areas only. It was all based on historical data, but we were adding more information to the map on a continuous basis.” The next component to be added to the mix was telematics. Thomas’ company, Data Factory, was purchased by TomTom in 2005. “Telematics brought more data early on to TomTom. This was real-time data that could be deployed elsewhere. In the early days we were using trunket radios to capture data, but it was all fed into the system. An average car spends less than an hour on the road each day. Compare this to six hours for a business car, and up to 12 hours for a truck, and you’ll get a view of how much data we were actually collecting. The trick was to continuously ask how we could use the data, and what we could do with it. It was not yet a dynamic system, but we were constantly moving forward and improving. We kept asking, ‘If we had this, what could we do with it?’” TomTom also made another decision, and offered to purchase Tele Atlas in 2008. “We recognised that the future was fresh, up-to-date data. If we owned the maps, we can streamline the process. Two different companies, even working in partnership, create a lot of delays. “Increasing efficiencies wherever you can is in our DNA. That’s what we do for customers. And it’s why we’ve been able to offer our customers up-to-date dynamic maps that are data-rich and create a seamless customer experience.”

Adapt to the future

This takes the ideal of looking ahead a step further. On the one hand, looking ahead is focused on the lane you’re currently in, and envisioning how you can change customer lives. But it’s also about paying attention to how

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the world is changing, and what the future will bring. TomTom is currently a software and hardware developer. The business has four divisions: TomTom Consumer, TomTom Automotive, TomTom Licensing and TomTom Telematics. In each case, hardware and software solutions are deployed to drive efficiencies and cost savings, from consumers with a TomTom device in their vehicles, cars with onboard systems designed by TomTom, telematics systems that track a business’s entire transport and logistics solution,

master in your specific area of competence. At our core we bring customers, data and development together. It’s always about the best experience and solutions.”

Be fast, agile and adaptable

Even though TomTom is a listed company, its controlling shareholding rests in the hands of four people — all of whom are entrepreneurs. “TomTom’s original founders still head up the business and drive its vision, and the four different business units are run by MDs

then leave. We’re focused on long-term, industry changing visions that will change the way our customers operate and do business. That’s what gets me up in the morning and keeps me constantly engaged and excited.” The business is also run on a system of flat hierarchies, which Thomas believes is a key ingredient to TomTom’s success. “No single giant can know or understand everything. To remain relevant, businesses need fresh ideas, and these come from open and collaborative teams. As the leader, you don’t need to come

“Increasing efficiencies wherever we can is in our DNA. That’s what we do for customers.” to the map data as one of the sources for Apple’s map solution. But TomTom is looking much further than the solutions it currently offers. “TomTom democratised navigation, and today it’s available in multiple different ways; your phone, a device, your car. We understand this and move with the times. We expect technology disruption to go on and things to change even faster in the future. Today we manufacture devices. We don’t believe we will still be doing this in the long-term future. How our solutions will be accessed will change. We are also now investing heavily in the navigation systems and maps autonomous cars will use. This isn’t a big revenue stream for us now, but it will be incredibly important in the future, and we will have solutions ready. “To stay alive, you need to be smarter, faster and the

who are entrepreneurial as well,” explains Thomas, who is one of those MDs, and who by his own admission could never be a standard employee. “Data Factory was the third business I built, and I sold it to TomTom in 2005 because I knew this was the best way to achieve international growth. 12 years later I’m still here as MD of the Telematics business because our CEO and founder, Harold Goddijn, convinced me to stay and grow the exciting business unit. The fact that we’re given so much autonomy to grow each business unit as a company makes us fast, agile and adaptable. It’s the essence of this business. We all have a fiduciary duty to our shareholders, but we also have long-term visions that allow us to be trailblazers in our industry. “We’re not executives who begin to implement projects and

up with all of the ideas — but you do need to be open to fresh thinking, even from your juniors. Have an open door policy, and listen to ideas when they are shared with you. That’s how you push the envelope.”

Give customers what they need, not what they want

Listening to customers is important, but you also need to look beyond their current needs if you’re going to be a gamechanger — both in your own industry, and in terms of what you can do for your customers. “Take note of your customers’ pain points and deliver solutions that create value, but you can’t innovate if you only listen to what your customers want. You need to be delivering to their needs, otherwise you’re just an executor and not an innovator. “It’s up to you to jump to the

next step that they can’t see yet, and often don’t even realise is possible. Customers are focused on the now — we need to be looking five years ahead.” How do you stay ahead of the curve though? Thomas believes it’s all about asking the right questions. “Consider the question, ‘What if we had unlimited energy for free in the world?’ So many people stop there and don’t ask further, because it’s seen as an impossibility. And that’s what kills innovation. If you remove that obstacle, and instead look at what this would mean for the world, you can start shaping a different future. “So, what would it mean? It would mean an unlimited water supply, because we could easily make drinking water from salt water, at little to no cost. What does unlimited drinking water mean? An unlimited food supply, because water is the biggest restrictor. Once you start asking the right questions, you reach a future that you want to be a part of and make happen — and that’s when you start finding solutions. “Solar is already doing this, at 50% of the cost of other alternatives. The latest technology delivers at 50% of the price, and it was developed because the right questions are being asked. “This is how we operate. We are always dreaming about what we could do. This allows us to create solutions. They don’t always work, but we’re hungry, and when we fail we fail fast, learn the lessons we need and push on. We’re always heading in the right direction, and changing the shape of what’s possible.”

About TomTom Telematics TomTom Telematics is a business unit of TomTom dedicated to fleet management, vehicle telematics and connected car services. WEBFLEET is a Software-as-aService solution, used by small to large businesses to improve vehicle performance, save fuel, support drivers and increase overall fleet efficiency. TomTom Telematics is one of the world’s leading telematics solution providers with more than 785 000 subscriptions worldwide, servicing drivers in more than 60 countries.

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Visit telematics.tomtom.com/tellmemore and follow us on Twitter @TomTomWEBFLEET

BUILD

FOR THE LOVE OF CHANGE

SHIFT QUESTIONS

The only constant is change. If you can’t learn to embrace it, you’ll be left behind.

N MY EXPERIENCE, change is harder for those who perceive themselves to be succeeding than those who perceive themselves to be failing. Failure produces an irresistible motivation to reflect and to seek changes that will eliminate the pain you are feeling. It is those who perceive themselves to be successful who are most likely to stick to the status quo in a sea of change. Change always happens: Contexts change, markets change, competitors change and so on. So, reinforcing a strategy and recipe for success seems the logical thing to do, right? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, goes the mantra. Why on earth would you mess with a winning formula? The problem is that these winds of change are numerous and subtle, moving slowly and in different directions, making them invisible to the ‘successful’ eye. Business books are filled with case studies like Kodak who, despite acknowledging the threat of digital, were so entrenched in their current thinking that they sailed their ship right off the end of their flat earth. Here are five thoughts to provoke you and guide you in finding the courage to change.

This too will pass Live by the law of impermanence that says that nothing remains permanent; neither failure nor success. This should create a level of healthy paranoia in successful entrepreneurs that drives them to anticipate what will change

BY ALLON RAIZ WEF Young Global Leader, a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and founder of Raizcorp. @allonraiz www.raizcorp.com

and when it will change, and to constantly live in a start-up mindset. Being aware, selfreflective and conscious of your bias is the best remedy for the allure of a permanent reality mindset.

Use what you have One of the most common reasons that we do not want to change is having to admit that the resources we have so painstakingly and expensively built and maintained are not as useful anymore. The now popular and commonly-used terms of ‘radical’ and ‘disruptive’ conjure up scenarios of throwing away everything we have. In most instances where change is required, the most successful way to change is to use the resources currently available in your business in a reconfigured manner. My rule of thumb is that any new strategic direction should incorporate no more than 20% of new resources, know-how or processes. This approach might not be radical or disruptive, but it ensures that there is a higher appetite

“This should create a level of healthy paranoia in successful entrepreneurs that drives them to anticipate what will change and when it will change, and to constantly live in a start-up mindset.” for change in the organisation and a higher probability of it succeeding.

Focus on the positive energy change creates Change is terrifying for many, but it creates a positive energy in a business. We often spend too much time trying to pacify employees who are fearful of change. In my opinion, you should rather be weeding these people out of your business as it grows. They slow down

progress and redirect valuable time and energy from focusing on the future and building towards that. It is important to focus your energy on the positive energy that is being released when change happens, such as excitement, new possibilities, and new growth opportunities for people and the business.

Plan your change, but also expect the unplanned Effective change is ideally planned. Thought-through, documented and communicated phases are always better than a chaotic laissez-faire approach. But as Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Life happens, the unexpected is everpresent in our lives, and we need to plan for this. Allowing a 10% to 20% tolerance for the unknown is a wise thing to do to ensure your expectations are catered for. Accepting the potential of random change in your planning will make it easier to accept and manage.

Expect Magic After the dust has settled following a recent change or upheaval, and nerves and emotions have normalised, there will inevitably be an unforeseen positive outcome from the change. When you expect to find this outcome and appreciate the chemistry of time, resources and random events that created it, you will see change as the unavoidable path to these magical events. It makes going through the change so much more tolerable when you know that when this phase of change is completed, there will be an outcome that will make it worthwhile. This expectation has never failed to deliver for me. Entrepreneurs do not have the luxury of remaining still and constant, even for a short while. Mighty corporates are also susceptible to the devastation of the law of impermanence. But, there is a different lens on this that I prefer; every day and every moment brings the gift of change to us which is always a door to a better, more fulfilled future. EM

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BUILD

NEXT LEVEL | CHANGE | THE INITIAL COIN OFFERING

Make the most of SA’s law and initial coin offering Cryptocurrencies offer significant investment opportunity, but remember that when something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

LEGAL WRANGLING

BY ANDREW TAYLOR Co-founder of Legal Legends, which is revolutionising the legal industry by being Africa’s first eCommerce website for quality legal services aimed specifically at startups and entrepreneurs.

www.legallegends.co.za

HIS ARTICLE could comfortably take up a single blank page in this glossy magazine and still be accurate — South Africa (and many other countries with it) is rapidly adopting the blockchain and cryptocurrency revolution and it’s all happening in a relative legislative lacuna (my Latin professor would be so proud). At the outset, however, this article relies on at least a working understanding of some of the underlying technology and concepts that make ICOs possible, and I won’t be trying to explain them in any great detail. Far smarter tech-journos have written some illuminating pieces on the topic and a Google search will quickly yield some very insightful guides. In essence, however, an ICO involves the creation of a unit of value, called a ‘coin’ which, at a basic level functions like most cryptocurrencies (cf Bitcoin). Purchasers of the coin buy the coin at a predetermined listing price, upon consideration of a ‘whitepaper’, published by the coin offeror, which eerily resembles a prospectus for the

purchase of shares in a listed company. Importantly, however, the purchase of shares (usually) doesn’t entitle the coin holder to exercise any rights in relation to the operation of the business — this is a key differentiating factor from shares. From a commercial perspective, the coin holder anticipates that the value of the coin purchased will increase over time as demand surges on the back of a (hopefully) successful business concept. This sounds very much like the promised land for start-ups starved of genuine venture capital in South Africa. More particularly, the 150+ businesses that have raised more than $2,5 billion would argue that it’s a highly effective way of raising capital from an investor group that invests based on very limited knowledge and (potentially) recourse to the issuer. In fact the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has stated categorically that, because it does not guarantee the trade or issuance of cryptocurrencies, it offers no recourse or protection to consumers.

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So where does this leave you, average Joe Seffrican? Certain key pieces of legislation ought to be examined and applied to your precise scenario — both for would-be issuers and consumers of ICOs and other cryptocurrencies: » The Banks Act will have some bearing where offerors of cryptocurrency coins fall within the definition of deposit-taking institutions and are thus required to adhere to the requirements of the Banks Act and potentially fall within the purview of the SARB. » Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISCA) regulates businesses that seek to ‘collect’ or pool funds and investments and is regulated — and very strictly at that — by the Financial Services Board. » The Financial Intelligence Centre Act, more commonly known as FICA, may have significant scope over certain transactions taking place utilising cryptocurrencies, especially mindful of the bydesign anonymity of blockchain technology. » Exchange Control Regulations have strict penalties for transactions

that violate the permitted capital outflows of capital from the Republic. Given that the blockchain is designed to facilitate these very outflows, in many instances, this will be an area of concern for businesses and investors alike. » Twin Peaks Financial Sector Regulation Bill, once promulgated would regulate all financial service businesses that provide the financial service and financial intermediary services. This opens a veritable quagmire of potential legislative and regulatory impact on the ICO sector. » Here’s the big one — if it walks, talks and smells like equity, then the Companies Act and our courts in enforcing the Companies Act, are going to treat it like equity, meaning that some coins, which often carry rights and duties similar to conventional equity, may fall within the ambit of the highly regulated arena of public offerings of security. This is particularly the case in the light of our legal system’s view of the ‘substance over form’ doctrine. » There may well be interplay between the Companies Act and the Consumer Protection legislation, which may be triggered in transactions that have no underlying value, operate in a manner consistent with a Ponzi scheme or are not adequately insured against data losses etc. While it pains me to be the one pointing these risks out, when all and sundry seem to be turning pittances into fortunes, your grandma would be quick to point out that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. At the end of the day, there are profound opportunities for both investors and businesses to be had, but you would be well counselled to carefully consider the full legislative and regulatory consequences of any purchase of offer of any ICO coin. This is unfortunately a classic case of the innovators innovating while the legislators scramble to play catch up in a world that is changing faster than their arcane promulgations can seek to regulate it. EM

N O V E TI SI UC 0 AS D 24 M RE R E E IC AV PR S

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PROFILE

MARCH 1998 Pepe, Gareth and Noel launch Joe Public, a menubased creative advertising agency.

NOTHING WORTH HAVING COMES EASYâ&#x20AC;¦

BUT THE RIDE SURE IS FUN 48

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PROFILE

1999 The founders make their first million. Flush with cash and success, Pepe and Gareth open a restaurant, Sloppy Joe’s. Within six months it closes, but they’re locked into a three-year lease. The entire business venture costs them half a million (The equivalent of two houses).

2000 Within two years the business is making a net profit of R2 million.

2001 A large multinational offers to buy the young business and take Joe Public’s ‘takeaway’ concept international. The founders agree — Noel wants to move to New York, and Pepe and Gareth see it as a way to extend their business model. Pepe and Gareth realise the corporate culture of the holding company is the antithesis of how they’d been running their agency. They quickly become disillusioned with corporate agency life. 9/11 happens, and New York enters a recession, triggering hundreds of retrenchments.

Pepe Marais and Gareth Leck’s paths first crossed when Gareth saved Pepe’s life. A few years later they were introduced by a friend who thought they’d make excellent business partners. He was right. Within two years, Joe Public was making a net profit of R1 million, and Gareth and Pepe were persuaded to sell their business. They were young and excited, and agreed to the deal. It would take them eight years to buy their business back. On the day they signed the deal their team made a mistake that would almost bankrupt the company, but they’ve survived that too.

2006 Joe Public loses its biggest client, along with 40% of its revenue. 50% of the company’s employees are retrenched overnight and their Cape Town office is closed down.

Today they’re South Africa’s largest independent agency, with a turnover of R700 million, and gross profits in excess of R200 million.

THE PLAN Keep the business operational and build a strong brand (the team wins four Gold Loeries in 2008), but don’t drive up profits or cash flow. Great profits = a higher PE (price over earnings) ratio = a business Pepe and Gareth cannot afford to buy back. Keep cash flow and profits low however, and the holding company might agree to sell.

BY NADINE TODD I PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEVIN LESTER

It’s the worst day of both Pepe and Gareth’s careers. But perhaps it also offers an opportunity — the business partners have been wanting to buy back their business. With the company’s valuation driven down by the loss, is this now a possibility? The holding company says sure — for an astronomical number that is completely out of reach for the young entrepreneurs, and five times what they sold their business for in 2001.

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PROFILE

26 JANUARY 2009 Joe Public Independence Day “Never, ever sell your soul” — the day Pepe and Gareth buy back their company. And all they had to do was mortgage themselves to the hilt to do it. On their way back to the office after signing the deal, Gareth and Pepe receive a call — their team has made a media mistake that will cost them R800 000. They’ve deliberately kept cash flow tight and cash reserves are non-existent. They have no idea how they will cover the loss.

T WAS a July morning like any other. Little did Pepe Marais and Gareth Leck know they were about to get a call that would shake the company to its foundations, and result in 35 people being retrenched overnight. In 2006, eight years after launching their business, and five years after selling it, Pepe and Gareth’s biggest client fired them. The account brought in 40% of their revenue, and the company needed to retrench 50% of its employees as a result. It was the single worst day of Pepe and Gareth’s careers. They no longer owned Joe Public, but it was theirs in name and brand. Three years later, the business almost went bankrupt — but it was theirs again. How were these two drastic events related, and why did losing their biggest client allow Gareth and Pepe to not only buy back their business, but find their purpose and change the course of the company as well?

The art of zigging when others zag To understand how losing their biggest client could actually be the best thing that happened to Joe Public, we need to rewind to 2001, when three business partners at the cusp of their thirties decided to sell their start-up to a multinational. Joe Public was launched in 1998 as a rebellious, young agency that wanted to do things differently from the rest of the advertising world. Pepe and Noel Cottrell were creatives, and Gareth was a young hotshot account manager. Together, they believed they covered all the angles to run a new, disruptive business. “I’d had this idea for a business, which I wanted to call Fresh Advertising, after a night of red wine and brainstorming,” recalls Pepe. “My dad had a café, and I liked the idea of

MARCH 2009 The company has 30 employees, and no cash coming in to pay salaries. A client who had been spending R380 000 per month also puts a halt on all spending. Pepe and Gareth focus on new business, and together with the help of Laurent, Xolisa and their team bring in six key accounts, keeping the business from bankruptcy.

doing ‘fresh’ ideas and an office with a fridge door as the front door. Our third partner at the time, Noel, took the idea further, and we developed the concept into a café-style menu. We were the creatives, and we needed a business guy to make it work. Noel knew Gareth, and so we approached him to join us.” Gareth loved the idea — he was in his mid-20s, and didn’t have anything to lose. There was another power at play as well. During their initial meeting, Gareth learnt Pepe was a boat man, and recounted a story of how he'd rescued a drowning paddleskier and placed him on a raft of piping until the NSRI could pick him up. A chill came over Pepe as he realised Gareth was talking about him. He'd been knocked unconscious paddleskiing during the first storm of the season in April 1995, and to that day hadn’t known how he’d come to be lying on the piping. They saw the business and the partnership as fate and dived in, head first. It was nothing like they’d imagined — particularly for Gareth. “It’s a massive jump from account management to running a business,” he says. “VAT, PAYE, salaries, traffic control, production. Suddenly these were all my problem. I was getting up at 3am so that I could get to the office and do cost estimates before going to see clients. I didn’t sleep for a year. When I did manage to get into bed, I woke up in the middle of the night wanting to throw up because we didn’t have cash in the bank and I had no idea how we were going to pay salaries.” The partners had hit on something special though: They were selling Rare, Medium and Well-Done ideas, not time, and because they

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2010 Pepe and Gareth find their business purpose. They also start to build their cash reserves. A period of meteoric growth follows. 2011 TO 2014 The business is growing — but culture is getting lost. Fast growth requires managers who tend to come from large corporates — bringing a corporate culture with them.

2015 Gareth and Pepe recognise the dangers of the new culture permeating the business — the business is doing well financially, but unless they can shift course culturally, that rise will be short-lived. They start putting the ‘cult’ in culture, shaping Joe Public around the ideals that the business is built on: That Joe Public exists to exponentially grow clients, people and the country (in that order).

2017 Joe Public’s year-on-year growth averages 48% from 2009 to 2017, far outstripping the industry average of 6%. Turnover surpasses R700 million and gross profit (GP) is R218 million.

were delivering quality work ‘done well’, they were turning a decent profit. The first few months were extremely tight while they built up a client base, but by their second year they’d netted R1,5 million in profit. “We were a small, dynamic team. We could take a concept to market within two weeks, so we were fast, and we were also very good. In 2000 we won five Loeries with a staff of five people,” says Pepe. “We offered quality,” agrees Gareth. “We were quick and slick, and well-priced by the time you reached the end product. The menu concept also offered clients real transparency in an industry known for smoke and mirrors.” The idea had developed based on the fact that as youngsters who hadn’t yet made a name for themselves, they needed to be disruptive and innovative out the gate, with

PROFILE US-based holding company, and before they knew it, they were just another subsidiary of an international giant. Everything became about the bottom line, and Pepe and Gareth soon found they were compromising great work in the pursuit of greater margins. And then the worst — and as it turned out, best — thing happened. Their single biggest client fired them.

A blessing in disguise

PLAYERS: Gareth Leck and Pepe Marais MAIN SHAREHOLDERS: Pepe Marais, Gareth Leck, Laurent Marty and Xolisa Dyeshana COMPANY: Joe Public United, an integrated brand and communications agency LAUNCHED: 1998 TURNOVER: R700 million GROSS PROFIT: R218 million VISIT: joepublic.co.za

“Sometimes the worst thing to happen to your business is actually the best thing. Stop seeing problems and passing blame, and start making things happen for yourself.” — Gareth Leck and Pepe Marais

a solid business model that would make great returns. “We wanted to zig while others zagged,” says Pepe. All that zigging and zagging had the desired effect, and business soon picked up, but it also had another, unintended consequence — a potential buyer came knocking. “We’d already realised there was a scalability issue with our business model,” says Gareth. “How could we replicate it without people as creative and driven as ourselves? You hit a ceiling when growth requires people of the same calibre as yourself. Anyone in our business will tell you that you can’t have a company full of creative directors. It doesn’t work.” But there was a second option. A multinational was offering to buy the business, and part of the deal was that they would roll

out the menu option to their subsidiaries and offices around the world. “Noel was spearheading the deal — he really wanted to move to the US, and the deal gave him the opportunity to join the international network’s New York office,” says Gareth. “From our side, the idea of spreading our model, having an international office, and of course making money from the business all sounded great.” In a nutshell, they were young, the offer was appealing — and it was the worst decision they ever made. “We sold completely prematurely and got shafted,” says Pepe. “But more than that, we ended up in a corporate environment that was the exact opposite of everything we’d built our business on.” The local multinational sold to a larger

Pepe had made the decision to fire a senior executive. “We couldn’t work with him. He was toxic to our business. We fired him on good intention, with a full view of how his attitude was harming our business and staff morale,” he explains. The problem was that the executive in question was very close to the company’s biggest client. So close in fact that once he was fired he was offered the position of marketing director at their company. His first order of business? To fire Joe Public. “We were devastated. We hadn’t fully comprehended the danger that such a big client posed — and how drastically our business would be affected if we lost them,” says Gareth. But there was another unexpected consequence of the loss — the value of the business depreciated. “We realised that for the first time in five years, we had an opportunity to buy our business back. We immediately started negotiating with the holding company. The problem was that they wanted an astronominical amount for the business, which was nowhere near what we’d been paid for it. We didn’t have that kind of money. We fought for three years, and eventually resigned. We just said to them, ‘Take it all. We don’t want this.’ That’s when they came back with a reasonable number that we could manage.” On the 26th of January 2009, the business partners bought their company back. The day is memorialised in their offices by a plaque that reads ‘Never, ever sell your soul, Joe Public Independence’. On their way back to the office, they received a call: A media mistake had been made that would cost the company R800 000. Gareth and Pepe had put all of their eggs in one basket. They’d leveraged themselves to the hilt to be able to buy back their business. They’d also kept profits and cash flow low since 2006. “We didn’t have R1 million in our bank account. We’d basically been breaking even for the last three years,” says Gareth. “Our revenue was R13 million, but that left very little positive cash flow after salaries and expenses were paid each month, and we had no cash reserves. It had been part of our

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PROFILE strategy to keep our PE ratio low so that we would be able to buy back the business. We were doing well, winning Loeries and keeping momentum behind the brand, but we weren’t chasing profits. We’d never envisioned such a disaster was possible.” By March, the business was on the brink of bankruptcy. To add to Joe Public’s precarious position, a client who had been spending R380 000 per month put a halt on all marketing spend — also overnight. “I remember thinking to myself, if this all went pear-shaped, my family and I wouldn’t even have a roof over our heads,” says Gareth. Although more careful than Pepe by nature, the business partners realised they

Finding a purpose In 2007, Pepe began a journey of selfdiscovery. His focus was not only on the business and its needs, but on himself as an entrepreneur and leader. Gareth began his own personal journey two years later. “We haven’t only worked on the business but ourselves,” says Gareth. “All business owners need coaching, mentorship and counselling,” agrees Pepe. “We’ve both done a lot of personal work and we still do. We hit blocks and work through them. Personal development and self-reflection are incredibly important to the business’s overall success.” Through this journey of self-reflection and development, Pepe and Gareth found

“We sold completely prematurely and got shafted. But more than that, we ended up in a corporate environment that was the exact opposite of everything we’d built our business on.” needed to find a solution. Failure was not an option. “We went out and got business,” says Pepe. “We brought in six new accounts that year. One of those accounts was Anglo American. It was a small job that no one wanted because of its size. We went all out to get it. We understood the value that having a blue-chip client on our books would bring to the business. We also continued doing work for free for the client who had halted all spending. They were in the process of listing, and we believed they’d come back to us once they had, and we were right. We just needed to show them value and loyalty.” Step by step, Pepe and Gareth brought their business back from the brink. From 2009 to 2010 the company’s revenue grew from R13 million to R20 million, and the partners started building a solid cash reserve. Today, their reserves can carry the business for six months.

their purpose, both for themselves and the business. By the time they were able to buy the company back in 2009, they had a clear vision of where they wanted the company to go, and how they wanted to change course, and it all started with not putting the bottom line first. “When we started, our whole focus was on the quality of the product,” says Gareth. “We had a good business model and we were creative and driven. A good product led to a good brand, which resulted in revenue. It was a good formula.” “The year we made our first million, we weren’t focused on the bottom line,” adds Pepe. “We were focused on delivering the best product and service possible, and the natural result was a big, fat bottom line.” After they sold, the partners soon found themselves in a very different situation. “When you become too focused on the bottom line, you reach a point where you start

compromising your product in order to save on costs,” explains Pepe. “The problem is that you can’t put bottom line at the top. Revenue is a lag factor. If you become too focused on it, you lose sight of the rest of the business. You can’t measure the health of a business on the bottom line.” Pepe and Gareth are the first to admit that they’d completely lost their way. Losing their biggest client, gaining the opportunity to buy their business back — only to almost lose it again — and finding a way to power through the setbacks gave them a chance to do things differently. They grabbed that chance with both hands. “You need to make mistakes to get the lesson,” says Pepe. “We needed to re-forge the business based on the right culture. “We needed to bring the power of purpose into the business. We feel it on a deep level, and it’s now the framework of everything we do. We exist to exponentially grow our clients, our people, and our country — in that order. If we focus on clients, we will grow our people, and we will have a good organisation that can positively impact and help the people of South Africa. We call it growth to the power of ‘n.’” Revenue growth has naturally followed, but the deeper sense of purpose is helping Pepe and Gareth make a much more meaningful impact. Joe Public registered One School at a Time, a non-profit organisation in 2008. Through the organisation, they have taken their chosen school in Soweto from one of the poorest performing township schools in Gauteng to in the top three. They raise R1,2 million a year for the project, of which R250 000 comes directly from Joe Public. This same drive and dedication is given to clients. “Purpose is just strategy. We do strategy for businesses,” says Pepe. In 2005, Laurent Marty and Xolisa Dyeshana joined the business as shareholders. Today, Xolisa is Joe Public’s chief creative officer and Laurent its chief strategist.

LESSONS LEARNT 1. Always review where your industry is going, and how you can best serve your clients. In our case, we’ve realised that of our top ten clients, more than half of them want integrated solutions. Large corporations tend to work with 15 different agencies. It’s fragmented. We’ve launched multiple business units with this in mind. Joe Public Shift focuses on brand design; Joe Public Connect is our digital

agency; Joe Public Ignite is our beyond-the-line agency and Joe Public Engage is our PR business unit. Half of our revenue now comes from specialist companies that are the product of paying attention to our clients’ needs. 2. Everything begins and ends with strategy. Strategy is the silver bullet, and creative is the gold around it. We put our clients brand at our centre, and then

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build solutions around them with our different business units. This means they have one point of contact and everything is under one roof, but more importantly, it means that strategy is at the centre of everything. Never make the mistake of thinking that what you’re offering or doing isn’t strategic — if it’s not strategic, it’s not worth doing.

3. Don’t spend all your time on process, and forget about product. Profit is a by-product of product, not processes. Processes are important, but they shouldn’t be followed at the expense of the products you offer your clients. 4. Look at least three years into the future. Always remain conscious of what’s coming your way so that you can catch

PROFILE Pepe, who is technically a creative, now also does purpose workshops with the executive teams of their clients. “We bring a creative edge to board-level strategies. Our purpose is to help our clients grow, and that starts at the top. McKinsey has released a report stating that high calibre work in the marketing space will give you a seven times higher return than other work. In other words, high calibre creative counts, and should be part of your strategy. And nothing inspires better work than purpose. It’s our role to help our clients achieve just that.” Over time, Joe Public has found its mission, which aligns with the business’s purpose. “We now need to develop the metrics that prove the purpose. Every business should be able to quantify the ROI it gives to its clients.”

The ability to course-correct From 2009, Joe Public refocused on product over the bottom line. Meteoric growth followed. The problem with growth is that you need people to manage teams and business units — and those people were coming from traditional corporate environments, and they were bringing preconditioned ‘bottom line’ focus with them. “Within three years we were back where we’d been, struggling with the wrong culture,” says Pepe. The trouble is that you don’t always spot a problem until it’s too late — particularly when your numbers are good. “The business results were excellent,” says Gareth. “We had found a way to win pitches, the company was growing, revenues and profits were great — but the culture was getting lost. We learnt that you can lose your way culturally and not financially.” Except that culture feeds the bottom line. Lose it, and the business will eventually start to plummet. “We needed to radically adjust what we were doing,” says Pepe. “We hadn’t hit a problem yet, and our numbers were great, but we realised we were heading towards the top of our bell curve. “We had already determined that the business must succeed if we want to do more — for our

any problems ahead of the bell curve. Purpose is essential to this — if you’re always looking for proof of purpose, it’s much harder to lose your way. 5. Be a servant leader. This took us a long time to understand. You are not your business, and your business is not you. Don’t blur the lines. Your business is your creation, but just like your child is your

clients, our staff, and in education. Success is fundamental to achieving our purpose. If we didn’t want to go the way of so many companies that reach great heights, only to miss all the warning signs and plummet, we needed to make some serious changes, starting with culture.” For Pepe and Gareth, a beautiful creative space filled with happy people is the foundation of a company that can do great things. “It’s all about triple profits,” explains Pepe. “Serve your clients and keep them happy, keep your staff happy, and your profits will be happy. A healthy business lets you do all these things. It’s the oxygen to deliver on all the rest. With strong revenue streams you can achieve so much more.” There are industry jokes that Joe Public is like a cult. Pepe and Gareth are happy to agree. “We’ve built the ‘cult’ into culture,” says Pepe. To achieve a strong, client-focused culture, the partners needed to make some tough choices, and even exit some people who were not aligned to their purpose of serving clients through great work. “It’s never a nice part of business,” says Gareth. “We’re nice people, and in some cases we took far too long to act. We moved in on people in the organisation who weren’t a good cultural fit. It was damaging to our team and to them to remain here. A happy, healthy workplace is a team effort. You’re not doing anyone favours by keeping toxic individuals in your workspace. It’s been a tough lesson to learn, but we’re much faster to act when we realise we have the wrong people in the business now than we were before.” Today, Pepe and Gareth follow a simple formula. “One of our clients once told us that all they wanted to do was serve the best possible product to customers, with the best service, at the right price to give value,” says Gareth. “It really resonated with us, reaffirming everything we believe as well. We all have a tendency to complicate business, when what we should be doing is serving our clients — and the best way to do that, is to do great work.” EM

creation, you aren’t the boss of it. You’re there to serve it and guide it. You’re the custodian of the organisation. 6. Stop planning and start doing. We all tend to complicate business with planning and processes. These shouldn’t be ignored, but you need to also just start — start your business, start that project, start walking the path you want to be on.

7. Play your heart out and the money will follow. Pepe learnt this valuable lesson when he was a student and busked at Greenmarket Square. You don’t stand with your hat, waiting for cash and then play — you play your heart out and the bills pile up in your hat. It’s the same in business. You can’t look at the bottom line first; it’s the other way around.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Matt Brown interviews Pepe and Gareth and digs into the details of their rollercoaster ride building South Africa’s largest independant agency.

To listen to the podcast, go to mattbrownmedia. co.za/matt-brown-show or find the Matt Brown Show on iTunes or Stitcher.

The Matt Brown Show is a podcast with a listenership in over 100 countries and is designed to empower entrepreneurs around the world through information sharing.

8. Be the top-end restaurant in your industry. People and businesses will pay a premium price for real quality and real value — even in a recession. We run our business like a topend restaurant. This is the key to maintaining your business and your brand. Our focus has always been on the calibre of our product. It’s the only way to earn the respect of your clients and negotiate higher fees.

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LAUNCH EXPERT ADVICE, YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS, INSPIRATIONAL PROFILES AND IDEAS CENTRE

You can sit at home and answer customer emails in your underwear, as long as your customers are satisfied with the product and service that they get from your company.â&#x20AC;? 54

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SIDE PROJECTS

MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP

Launching a side business that makes money even while you’re sleeping has never been easier. Lawrence Cawood of Vinewave explains how it's possible to build a multi-million rand business completely on your own, in your spare time, with nothing more than a computer. BY GG VAN ROOYEN

INEWAVE doesn’t produce sexy consumer software, which is why you’ve probably never heard of the company. Its most popular piece of software, for example, is a staff directory. But it is special for a number of reasons. First, Vinewave is a South African company, despite the fact that you’d never guess it from perusing the website — all prices are in US dollars. Another surprising aspect of the business is its client list. Users include Sony, Samsung, Harvard Business School, the United Nations and SpaceX. Most astonishingly, however is the fact that, for a very long time, it had only a single employee: Founder Lawrence Cawood. Since 2010, Lawrence has owned and operated Vinewave completely on his own, from a single computer at his home. Although he is now looking to scale the business aggressively, his initial aim was to create a business that could provide for him and his family, without demanding 80-hour work weeks. “I wanted to be able to spend time with my family, so my aim was to create a lifestyle business that didn’t demand crazy hours, and that would allow me to work when and where I wanted,” says Lawrence. Vinewave ended up being exactly what he was

looking for. Working on his own, Lawrence created a business that quickly boasted around R1,6 million in annual revenue, and a valuation of R10 million. Being an online business that targeted companies all over the world, time and space was irrelevant. “I would often wake up to discover that I had made R60 000 in sales while I was sleeping,” he says. DOING THE WORK Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can become a multi-millionaire while watching TV in your pyjamas. Lawrence is quick to add that launching Vinewave wasn’t easy. Sales were slow to come in and refining his software demanded hard work. “It took me six months to make my first sale,” says Lawrence. “Also, as the only person in the business, I had to work hard. I was responsible for absolutely everything: The website, advertising, SEO, product development, and so on. However, the nature of the business allowed me to do things on my own terms. Where and when I did the work was irrelevant, meaning I could spend time with my family when I wanted. Even though I had to invest a lot of time and energy into the business, it provided a certain sense of freedom. Normal business limitations didn’t apply.” As mentioned earlier, Lawrence is now working harder on the business

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than he did in the early days, since he is looking to scale, but Entrepreneur spoke to him about the ins and outs of creating a lifestyle business or side project that doesn’t demand absolutely all of your time. Here’s his advice for creating a business that can make money while you sleep. 1. Product, not service The more successful a service business is, the more time you’re likely to have to invest in the business, since you are essentially trading your time for money. For example, if you have a photography business, every new client will cost money, require more time and add complexity to the business. Selling items online, in contrast, is easier to scale as a business, since the difference between selling ten and 12 items isn’t all that much. Easiest of all is a business that sells a digital product. The added cost and complexity that comes with every added customer of a piece of software is very small, since there is nothing to package or ship. For this reason, a company like Facebook, Dropbox and, indeed, Vinewave is hyper-

scalable. “I think it’s important to be passionate about what you do and to pursue something that you’re knowledgeable about, but you also need to be realistic about the demands of the business you have in mind. Some ideas and products demand more time and resources than others. If you want a business that you can run on the side, you need a product that is relatively easy to ship and sell. Software is easiest, of course, but a physical product isn’t out of the question. Just make sure that systems and processes can be put in place to streamline the process and free up time.” 2. Build a better version Unless you’ve got a lot of time and money on your hands, reinventing the wheel isn’t a good idea. A company like Google, Apple or Amazon can gamble big on revolutionary ideas, but if you’re looking for a manageable side business, you want to instead focus on creating a better version of an existing product. “You want to look at what

is already selling, and build something similar, but better,” says Lawrence. “As always, you want to identify a burning problem, and provide an elegant solution that people are willing to pay for. The last thing you want to do when you don’t have a lot of time and money to invest is to try and create a new market on your own.” 3. Listen to customers The best way to launch a business that scales quickly and easily is to create a product that customers are eager to buy. “It took me half a year to make my first sale. I wanted to sell a suite of products, while customers wanted to be able to choose the products they needed. It’s important to listen to customers and give them what they want,” says Lawrence. “Also, remember that customers are sophisticated these days. They have high expectations. Even though I am selling a B2B product, I’m cognisant of the fact that my users are also users of things like Facebook and Instagram. Ultimately, people use things that are elegant and simple and easy to use. They

TURNING YOUR SIDE HUSTLE INTO A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS Want to create a successful business on the side? Here are five things you can do to increase your odds for long-term business success, without quitting your fulltime job straight away. BY BRENTON HAYDEN Many entrepreneurs have found success by growing their side hustles, defined as a gig on the side that has turned into something more. In fact, a study by the US Academy of Management shows businesses that are launched while the founder is still employed and only later become that founder’s full-time focus are one-third less likely to fail than those that started out as full-time ventures. If you have a side project

that you’re passionate about — one that you’ve wanted to scale for a while — the good news is that you don’t have to quit your job and take a leap into the unknown. At least not right away. Here’s how you can set yourself up for success by growing your business idea on the side. Lay a foundation Stepping out into the great unknown can be dangerous,

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but you can mitigate much of that risk by creating a solid plan before you start. The great thing about a side hustle is that it’s one of the best ways to assess a business idea, giving you a chance to prove its viability before going all in. Before you quit your job, determine how much money you’ll need to make per month in order to quit, and decide how much income your side hustle needs to be generating for it

pick the best product.” Unfortunately, this means that there are no shortcuts to success. A bad product won’t find traction. Lawrence suggests launching an MVP (minimum viable product) and refining it. “Listen to customers and create something they truly want,” he says. 4. Think big Lifestyle businesses used to be small and location-specific. Thanks to the Internet, that’s no longer the case. Geography has become irrelevant. “Just because you have a lifestyle business doesn’t mean that you have to sell to your immediate community,” says Lawrence. “You can now sell to the whole world, which means that you can make money anywhere, at any time. You can sell around the clock. This is particularly true if you’re selling a piece of software that’s delivered instantly, but it’s also true of physical products. Shipping around the country and internationally is less difficult than it once was. Don’t think small. Expand your potential market as much as you can.”

to be successful. Define your idea of success, and then get to work creating and tracking financial benchmarks that will indicate whether your project is a sustainable business idea. Put in the time Prepare yourself for what’s ahead. I won’t lie, when you first start out, you’ll have to put in a lot of hours. Since you’ll have your regular job, and will also be working on growing your startup in your spare time, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices. This means skipping those after-work drinks with coworkers and giving up outings with friends pretty much every weekend. It does get easier, but in the beginning your project will take up a lot of your time.

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Vinewave founder, Lawrence Cawood

The fact is, if you’re not excited about the thought of spending all of your spare time on your side project, then this venture probably isn’t right for you in the first place. Scale the right way When it comes to growing your company, avoid the temptation to spill lots of money into the venture. Start-up culture glamorises the idea of investorbacked companies, but growing your company slowly is often a better idea. Sure, a new desk and computer would be nice, but do you really need it to get started? Countless entrepreneurs have started out small. Take Craig Newmark, for example, founder of Craigslist. He started

the company as a side project in 1995 and scaled it into a fullfledged company in 1999. Test the waters and then scale your company gradually if you can. Always be cautious about taking on extra, unnecessary debt in the beginning. Avoid burnout Burnout is a real risk when scaling a business. Working around the clock at your day job and trying to fit your side hustle in around your off hours can be exhausting. To stave off burnout, try to devote a few of your most productive hours to your company. It’s hard when you’re working a full-time job, but it’ll be difficult to scale a company when you’re only working on it

5. Look and act professional The traditional shopfront is increasingly being replaced by the website. Vinewave’s customers, for instance, had no idea that it was a small South African company with a solitary staff member. Lawrence spent time and money to create a professional website that looked great and attracted large clients, and that was all that mattered. “The size and location of your operation doesn’t really matter, provided you appear professional at all times, and offer great service,” says Lawrence. “As I said earlier, customers have high expectations these days, but as long as you meet those demands, everything else is irrelevant. You can sit at home and answer customer emails in your underwear, as long as your customers are satisfied with the product and service that they get from your company. Around 98% of my customers are from overseas, so I knew it wouldn’t work if I tried to sell in rands. Instead, I created a website that sold in US dollars. You have to respond to the demands and expectations of your customer.”

6. Marketing made easy A lot of people are intimidated by the thought of marketing and selling a product. For many, the idea of creating a product is enticing, but they are intimidated by the thought of having to market and sell. According to Lawrence, however, marketing and selling is easier than ever, thanks to the Internet. “I’ve almost never spoken to a customer and I rarely interact with them via email. If people are happy with your product and it does what they want it to do, you rarely hear from them. So you needn’t be put off by thoughts of difficult customer service,” says Lawrence. “The same is true of sales and marketing. Through things like SEO and online ads, you can make customers come to you. You don’t need to cold call, just create a product people are actively searching for. Spend time and money on your website, and invest in SEO and online ads. When done properly, these things can drive your entire business.” EM

between midnight and 3am. Exhaustion leads to burnout. You’ll want to fit in your hustle whenever you can, but avoid the temptation to work seven days a week. Give yourself at least one day off to recharge.

success, the fact is that most companies just aren’t founded that way. By and large, most entrepreneurs find success by carefully calculating their moves and working quietly behind the scenes to lay the groundwork first.

Take the leap (eventually) Finally, keep in mind that there’s never going to be a perfect time to quit. At some point you’re going to have to just go for it. If your business idea shows great promise and you’re checking off your financial milestones, the smaller details will almost certainly fall into place once you’re devoting more time to it. While we all love stories of those who leave their jobs on a whim and, with a stroke of genius and luck, go on to find

BRENTON HAYDEN is the founder and chairman of the board of Renters Warehouse. A Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Business graduate, Hayden leads a team of over 140 employees and franchises in 21 states with a portfolio of managed properties valued at just under $1 billion.

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KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON While Relax Spas is all about rest and relaxation, the business itself is the product of hard work. Founder Noli Mini explains how she got her unique business idea off the ground. AS TOLD TO GG VAN ROOYEN

Know what you’re getting yourself into. Passion and a fun business idea are important, but you also need to understand the basics of launching a company. How easy will it be to develop your product or idea? How will you market it? What sort of financial controls will you put in place? What regulations must you comply with in your industry? Are any licences required? What are the labour laws? These are all questions you need to be able to answer before launching. Build a good team around you. The combined effort of a team is almost always greater than the sum of individual contributions. Find people that can complement your skillset and bring tools to the table that you don’t have. Improving your business acumen and knowledge is important, for instance, but you

don’t necessarily need to go to university to do it. You can also increase your knowledge by surrounding yourself with the right people, particularly mentors who can guide you in both a personal and business capacity. Create a buzz around your business by sharing your story. People love hearing stories, and I believe that just about every start-up has a great story to tell. Offering to write free editorial content for magazines is a great way to do it. Another is to speak at conferences. These strategies require effort, but they can greatly increase your reach and position you as a thought leader in your industry. Use every single opportunity you get to market your business. You need to live and breathe your brand. Marketing is about more than spending money. You can market your business by sponsoring charity walks, wellness events and golf days in your community. Collaboration is another good strategy. There’s no better way of building a business than to get out there and shake some hands. You need to get to know people. Also, be authentic in your networking so that people get to see and know the real you.

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VITAL STATS PLAYER: Noli Mini COMPANY: Relax Spas FOUNDED: 2010 ABOUT: Noli Mini started in 2010 as a ‘mobile spa therapist’, going to different hotels and offering mobile spa treatments. The concept has evolved and Noli has set up bases, including two spa suites, at various hotels and guest houses. An additional aspect of Relax Spas’ offering is to provide spa treatments at corporate offices and on corporate wellness days. She also has her own range of massage oils and is introducing her own brand of beauty and skincare products. To complete the circle, Noli will soon be launching her beauty and spa training institute. VISIT: www.relaxspas. co.za

Build relationships. Establishing strong relationships with your clients and business partners is of paramount importance. One way you can do this is by face to face weekly or monthly visits, depending on the demographics of your business. Another way is by keeping in touch using email or telephonically. Remember, human interaction is key. People love feeling appreciated. Also, remember that customer service is important, as a person will usually base his or her entire opinion of a business on a handful of personal interactions. So, you need to make sure that those interactions are positive. It’s all too easy to lose a customer forever. EM

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Previous experience in an industry is key. Working in an industry before launching your own operation is crucial, since it provides you with the understanding and expertise needed to successfully launch your own business. By working in other businesses first, you gain a realistic idea of what the industry is like. You also experience different environments. You see what works, and what doesn’t. You can cherry pick from different companies and create an organisation and culture that will work for you.

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IMAGINE SUCCESS As a start-up, does your vision push the boundaries? Are you putting everything you have into achieving something great? Here are seven lessons to help you (and your business) reach full potential. BY NADINE TODD

SEIZE THE DAY

Wes began his career in the people development industry. He was involved in high-impact training and developmental coaching, and entrepreneurship couldn’t have been further from his mind. “I had no appetite for going solo,” he recalls. “I was employed but doing some part-time coaching on the side, and while this may have seemed like a springboard into

entrepreneurship, I’ve always viewed start-ups as requiring three key things: Timing, opportunity and experience. Experience in particular was a stumbling block for me. I was young. I didn’t feel like I’d earned real credibility or had enough life experience to offer real value to others. Who would listen to me? I was just Wes.” And then an opportunity presented itself and Wes decided to take the plunge anyway. “After becoming an expert in behaviour and personality profiling, I was asked to join a project management company. About a year into joining them they shut down.” Facing unemployment, Wes decided to take the plunge and never work for a boss again. Instead, he seized the opportunity to launch his own business and brand. And so, Five-Star was born, a brand that sought to help businesses improve their customer service by first focusing on their employees.

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Wes decided to cut his teeth in the hospitality arena, where customer service is the lifeblood of the industry. The lesson: There is no perfect time to start a business. There will always be excuses to put it off. You will never be 100% ready. And yet, until you’ve taken that first step, you can’t start testing your model in the market, tweaking and adjusting your offering to suit your audience. If your dream is to become an entrepreneur, don’t look for all the reasons why you shouldn’t

take the plunge, but focus on the one reason why you should.

DON’T WAIT FOR BUSINESS TO FIND YOU

When Wes launched Five-Star, he had no savings to invest in the business and no assets. He had himself and his experiences. “I didn’t spend time on a business plan or money on getting a website up and running — that would all come later. I spent what I could afford on business cards, and hit the streets. I believed I could tell my story better than a website could, and so I focused on getting myself in front of the people I needed to sell my services to.” Wes’ first call was to the GM of one of the fastest growing hotel groups in the country. “I introduced myself as Wes from Five-Star, told him I’d heard a lot about how good his hotel was, and that I’d love to take him out for coffee to discuss what would take them to a ten. I didn’t sell anything over the phone — I wanted a face-to-face meeting,

PHOTO: DEVIN LESTER

LOT OF starting a business is just winging it. Call it the hustle, faking it ‘till you make it or biting off more than you can chew (and then chewing like hell), the reality is the same: Doing what you can, when you can to get yourself and your business out there so that you can build a brand with longevity. Here are Wes Boshoff’s seven lessons in building a brand that matters, offering your clients something of worth, and always following your passions.

PLAYER: Wes Boshoff LAUNCHED: 2008 WHAT HE DOES: Wes works in what he terms ‘headspace’. His goal is to move perspectives by one degree, allowing the people he works with to see different results. He does this through leadership and growth coaching, motivational speaking, business strategy and turnarounds. VISIT: wes. imaginethinking. co.za or email wes@ imaginethinking.co.za

LAUNCH and the opportunity to share real value. I wanted him to see why we should work together, rather than make a hard sell.” Wes is an expert in hospitality, training and customer service. But he was also winging it. During the coffee meeting he was asked to do a mystery guest assessment, to uncover which areas could be improved upon. “I asked him if he’d like me to use their report or mine, and thank goodness he said theirs, since I didn’t have one.” Nine years later, that hotel group is Wes’ longeststanding client. This is the tactic Wes has used to build his business and brand ever since: He focuses on face-to-face meetings, sharing his story, who he is and what he’s learnt, and really listening to his clients’ challenges so that he can offer advice and add value — even if they don’t end up doing business together. The lesson: Entrepreneurs make things happen for themselves. Wes personally does not like cold calls, and so he’s found a sales strategy that works for him. How you sell isn’t as important as the fact that you are out there, selling yourself, your business and the solutions you can offer. If you aren’t out there selling, you’ll never build a sustainable start-up.

In Wes’ own words, he’s not a book smarts guy, but a street smarts guy. “It’s why a business plan didn’t work for me — I needed to be out there, testing my model and my theories, and tweaking and adjusting my offering. I paid my school fees, and used those learnings to develop the tools I needed to deliver results. “I love developing models. Applied knowledge is power. But don’t overcomplicate things. There’s a simple process to learning and development: The stages of knowledge start with a revelation, new knowledge, followed by realisation — making it real — and finally a revolution, which leads to purpose and progress. That’s what I help people to do — create perspectives, interrogate the perspective, and then affect real change in their lives and businesses.” The lesson: The more open you are to learning and adjusting your solutions, the more you’ll be able to offer to your clients. Any tools you can develop to add to the overall experience are value-adds that benefit yourself and your clients.

“I BELIEVE GREAT BUSINESSES AND BRANDS ARE BUILT WHEN YOU ADD VALUE BEFORE YOU ADD AN INVOICE.”

MAKE THE MOST OF TOOLS

The report that the hotel gave Wes for his first mystery guest assessment became the template for a report he built for himself. Over the years he has developed numerous tools, building on his experience with Discus and other methodologies to create frameworks for his motivational talks, training and coaching programmes. “In the early days I couldn’t afford to purchase tools, so I had to really listen to my clients and develop what they needed. There are so many resources available to us today. You just need to do your research, know your industry and be constantly tweaking your offering based on what works best.”

on anything. I believe great businesses and brands are built when you add value before you add an invoice.” This has been Wes’ motto throughout his career, long before he launched his own business. “I’ve always put my hand up when a new challenge or task has presented itself. I don’t believe in constantly looking for what’s wrong in what’s right. Face the reality, and determine the best way to get the opportunity out of the obstacle. You need to choose to be opportunistic. I’m a realist, but that doesn’t mean I want to live in a negative environment. “I’ve brought this attitude to everything I do, including how I view my clients’ businesses. It’s not about what I can get from them, but what I can add to them. Some of this I can charge for, but valuable advice should be freely given. I believe in cultivating an opportunistic mindset; and I want to help my clients and their employees to do the same.” The lesson: As an entrepreneur, you need to walk the talk. If you truly care about your customers, add real value without always

ADD VALUE BEFORE YOU ADD AN INVOICE

Wes is a born networker. He loves meeting new people, sharing his story, and finding out more about the people he’s networking with. He’s also very good at uncovering the challenges they face and offering solutions, even if those solutions aren’t one of the products he offers. “When you increase your network, you increase your net worth. I believe in being the go-to guy for my clients. I want them to feel comfortable picking up the phone and asking my advice

expecting something in return. You’ll build long-term relationships built on trust and mutual respect.

DON’T LOSE FOCUS

It’s a common problem amongst start-up entrepreneurs. Early wins leave you feeling overly confident and eager for more. It’s at this stage that many business owners start looking for new challenges, and where else they can divest their energy for new and exciting wins. For Wes, this diversion was cars. “I’d been accepted into the Branson Centre for

Entrepreneurship, but instead of focusing on Five-Star, I was looking for a way to combine my passion for cars with business.” What Wes found was Plastic Dip, a US-based product used to wrap cars. “I stopped focusing on Five-Star and launched Plastispray,” he recalls. “I had this massive vision, with not much support. I forgot the cardinal rule that I’d learnt in Samuel Chand’s book, Who’s Holding Your Ladder, and that’s the importance of support. We might be the sole founders of our businesses, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need support systems. Who is holding your ladder? Who won’t get bored and walk away? “I ended up in a situation where my focus was completely scattered, I wasn’t managing my personal life, and the business I was trying to build just didn’t have legs. I even landed this incredible project, building a Mini Cooper for the launch of Virgin Mobile. We turned it into a photo-booth and broke a world record for the most people squeezed into a Mini — which was 25. “I thought, that’s it, after this project, the business will just take off. And nothing happened. It opened no doors.” It was a hard lesson to learn, and one that took its toll on Wes emotionally. “2013 was the lowest year of my life,” he says. “I started seeing a psychologist, and spent 2014 rebuilding myself. I realised I needed to work on my attitude, my fears and my business. I also needed to learn how to focus again. We can’t achieve anything in life if we aren’t focused. “I failed hard, but it also gave me perspective. When you learn you win — which means that failure isn’t actually losing. It’s important to understand that, and it’s what pushed me through the tough times. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” Once Wes regrouped and renewed his focus on Five-Star, the business started taking off. “People outside of the hospitality industry started asking me for

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help. I was invited to speak at international leadership conferences, and work with businesses on turnaround strategies. From there the business has just grown from strength to strength.” The lesson: Focus is essential. It’s easy to get distracted and chase the next trend or hot idea, but real success takes time to build, and sticking to anything long-term takes focus. The more focused you are, the higher your chances of success.

UNDERSTAND YOUR BRAND

For nine years Wes has operated the business under the Five-Star name. The longer he’s been in the industry however, the clearer it’s become that his brand isn’t the business, it’s himself, and his ideas. “I’m always, unapologetically, ‘just Wes’,” he says. “You’ll never be everything to everyone. The best thing you can be is authentic. Some people will love you, others won’t. That’s okay. Just be true to yourself. I’m not a suits guy. I arrive how I am, share my story, my lessons, and give the best advice I can. I share tools and tips to become the best version of you. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I wasn’t completely myself when I work with my clients.” It’s for this reason that Wes has recently rebranded the business to ‘Wes’, with the tagline, Imagine Thinking. It’s an ideal closely linked with his talks, his philosophy, and his name in the market. “I’m becoming a thought leader, and that comes with risks,” he says. “When you put yourself out there, you need to have enough confidence for people to disagree with you, because that’s hard. Not everyone will like what you’re saying or agree with you on a particular issue. You put yourself out there in the public domain and if you aren’t sure of who you are and what you stand for, insecurities can come to haunt you. “I tell everyone I speak to, ‘disagree with everything I say...’

I can’t change the way people think, or what they think — I just want to challenge them to think for a change. I want you to consider your opinions and question them. Imagine thinking. Thinking is a verb. You have to do something — you need to disagree to set your own thoughts in motion. Be brave; share your thoughts so that we all benefit together. “I used to take myself seriously; I don’t anymore. I don’t want to offend, but I’m okay if you don’t agree with me.” The lesson: Your personal and business brands tell a story. They let your customers know who you are, what you stand for, and what your values are. People do business with people, not companies, so don’t be afraid to authentically share your story.

HAVE A VISION THAT SCARES YOU

For Wes, too many organisations have a vision that’s external and designed for clients. But he believes vision is an internal thing. “As an entrepreneur, your vision should be for you and your employees. It should be your guiding light. It’s your future, and it should consistently grow. “If you don’t achieve your vision, it’s because you don’t have an appetite for the mission. If you’re only looking two to five years into the future, that’s a goal, not a vision. Your vision should scare you. It should wake you up and keep you up. It should drive you.” “The mission is how you achieve the vision. You need to know what it will take to get there, and this usually includes a lot of hard work, stress, fear, and living on the edge. But that’s okay, because we’re designed to stretch ourselves. That’s when we discover our full potential.” The lesson: Don’t ever be too scared to think big. Thinking small isn’t what entrepreneurs are built for. Big hairy audacious goals (or BHAGs) are the foundation of successful, game changing businesses — and successful, fulfilled entrepreneurs. EM

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LIVING THE DREAM From raising capital to getting the most from your employees, business ownership is all about living your dream.

How do I chase my dream? — Sam First, you need money. Moola. Cash. Capital. Chasing your dream without enough capital is akin to having a premature baby. All the baby’s energy goes into survival rather than growth. Start-ups are not about survival (paying the bills). They’re about growth (getting rich). Before you chase your dream, make sure you have enough capital. Keep your lifestyle simple and living costs down. Save up enough to last two years. Or marry rich.

I’m considering selling my business. I need help. — Clark Before you enter M&A conversations, first decide: “Am I a seller?” You won’t find it easy backing out during negotiations. Don’t start a process you can’t finish. Don’t look for buyers if you don’t want to sell. Most people I know that sold their business regret it, unless they had a very specific reason: i.e. the business was about to die,

or the business can’t grow without a big brother, or they want to leave the country. If that’s your reason, go ahead and sell. If it’s simply to have a pile of cash, reconsider. What are you going to do with the money? Put it in your bathtub and wash yourself with notes? Buy fancy cars? Buy a fancy spouse? Lots of money in your pocket can only tempt you to the dark side. Eventually you’ll get bored and you’ll want to start a business again, and you’ll start all over. If you don’t need to, don’t sell.

How do you instil an ownership mindset in your staff? — Johan It’s hard to work with people that have no drive. Some people just come to work and go home with no planning or vision or energy. Start with getting rid of the bad apples, then start fine-tuning recruitment to only let in the folks with a good attitude. Use some of these methods to motivate and

LAUNCH READ THIS Alan Knott-Craig’s latest book, 13 Rules for being an Entrepreneur is now available.

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BY ALAN KNOTT-CRAIG

encourage buy-in from staff: » Delegate. » Ask staff for feedback. » Do not tolerate mediocrity. » Make sure everyone knows their job. » Share information. Keep everyone in the loop. » Look after your staff and they’ll look after you. » Lead by example. Pick up litter. Be first to office. Be last to leave.

How do I determine what venture to dedicate my energy to and when do I know when to stop pursuing one of the opportunities? — Mike Go with whatever gets traction first. Ruthlessly scratch everything else off your to-do list. Generally speaking, go with the business with the most triedand-tested business model.

I left my former employer to move away from the legal side of things. I know that I have the technical skills in

this area and I have used that in completely running the legal side of the micro lending venture, but the ultimate aim is to be an entrepreneur/ businessman rather than constantly seen as the ‘lawyer’. Do I discontinue the legal consulting or slowly taper off? — Mike If you can live without the sideline income, do so. Focus 100% on business. If you need the money, keep selling hours on the side

I have a very successful farm store. I’m considering expanding countrywide. Any advice? — Elo Ask yourself “why?” If the answer is to get rich, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to scale your successful farm store. Maybe a better option is to take the free cashflow of your farm store and invest it in a different business. An annuity revenue business. A business that will make

Successful businessman, bestselling author and social entrepreneur. Named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2009, and now passionate about sharing what he wishes he knew when he started his own business. @alanknottcraig www.bigalmanack.com

money while you sleep, rather than only when you’re behind the till. Cash cows are hard to come by. If you don’t want to lose your cow, don’t try to scale it unless you’re 100% sure you never have to sell it.

Can you help me flesh out the detail of a pitch to investors? — Mamkhele There’s only so much you can rely on others for. At some point, you need to man up and do the work yourself. You need to answer the questions yourself. The answers for all pitchrelated questions are on the Internet. Google it. No one will save you, only you will save you. EM

WHAT IT’S ABOUT It’s easy to be an entrepreneur. It’s also easy to fail. What’s hard is being a successful entrepreneur. For an entrepreneur, there is only one important metric of success: Money. But life is not only about making money. It’s about being happy. This book is a collection of tips and wisdom that will help you make money without forgoing happiness. GET IT NOW To download the book, purchase a hard copy, or browse Alan’s other entrepreneurial books, visit bigalmanack.com/ books/

ASK AL Do you have a burning start-up question? Email: alan@herotel. com

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BUSINESS UNUSUAL

WHEN OPTIMISM KILLS

NO MATTER how bad your day’s going, it’s probably nothing compared to your average day at the ‘Hanoi Hilton’. This was the euphemistically-named prisonerof-war camp (actually called Hoa Lo Prison) where American soldiers were interned during the Vietnam War. Pilot Jim Stockdale was shot down on 9 September 1965 and sent to the prison. While there, he was tortured, denied medical Entrepreneurs tend to depend on optimism in the attention, kept in a windowless cell same way that fish depend on water. It’s absolutely and locked in leg irons at night. Stockdale spent almost eight years crucial for survival. In fact, it’s arguably the single in the prison, and while many other most important character trait that a successful American soldiers died there, entrepreneur can have, but it also has a dark side… he survived. BY GG VAN ROOYEN This brings us to the topic of optimism. You don’t survive eight years in a prison camp by giving up hope. Despite almost impossible A REALISTIC conditions (and odds), you PATH need to stay optimistic. TO SUCCESS Stockdale never lost » Lead with hope. questions, not “I never lost faith in answers. the end of the story. I » Engage in never doubted not only dialogue and that I would get out, debate, not but also that I would coercion. prevail in the end and » Conduct turn the experience into autopsies the defining event of my without blame. life, which, in retrospect, » Build red flag I would not trade,” mechanisms. Stockdale later said about his time in the prison. THE STOCKDALE PARADOX So, Stockdale was an optimist right? Yes, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. Jim Collins interviewed him while writing his seminal book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t. After hearing how Stockdale refused to give up hope and stayed optimistic throughout his internment, Collins asked him who didn’t make it out alive. “Oh, that’s easy,” he replied. “The optimists. They were the ones who said: ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say: ’We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And

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they died of a broken heart. “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” From this, Collins identified one of the key things that differentiated great companies from others: The ability to accept brutal facts. Greatness demands optimism, but not in the face of obvious disaster. Collins called this the Stockdale Paradox. TOO MUCH OPTIMISM What happens when a bunch of executives enter a boardroom with their charismatic founder? The founder is optimistic, inspiring... and demanding. He has absurd expectations. He wants the impossible. (Steve Jobs was a good example, who employees said had a ‘reality distortion field’ around him). The executives are eager to seem equally gung-ho, of course, even those who know that a crucial deadline won’t be met, so the brutal facts are ignored. “We’re going to be shipping product by Christmas,” they all say. And Christmas comes, and Christmas goes. Then they say: “We’re going to ship by Easter. And Easter comes, and Easter goes. And then Thanksgiving, and then it’s Christmas again… An overdose of optimism is a dangerous thing. While optimism is a crucial tool in the entrepreneurial kit (especially when it comes to motivating employees), it can lead to disaster if administered too liberally. Like morphine, a sensible amount can take the edge off a scary reality, but too much will distort reality to such an extent that you become oblivious to existential threats. And how do you keep your company off the morphine? Collins suggests four things: Lead with questions, not answers. Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion. Conduct autopsies without blame. Build red flag mechanisms. If you do this, optimism becomes a powerful tool, and not a ticking time-bomb. EM