We have seen a recent flurry of activity in the Entrepreneur Incubator with four new businesses joining our ranks to gain the unfair advantage in business. We will do a more formal introduction a bit later with a full post dedicated to each one, but for now, welcome to:
With the financial economy at its worst and the buying power of businesses and individuals at an all time low, we need something other than the ‘gut feel’ to judge our buying decisions for those new business items. Here is a simple yet effective formula to help you make those purchase decisions.
W = How much do you WANT this item (1 – 10) 10 being new sports car
N = How much do you NEED this item (1 – 10) 10 being a new liver
I – How good an idea is this to have (1 – 10) 10 being will open up a new untapped market
M = How many months have you taken to select and research this product
S = Your monthly income into your business
B = Your monthly bills and expenses
R = Your monthly rental or bond payment
$1 = Your current balance in your business account
$2 = The cost of the item
Substitute the values and compute the equation working from within the brackets outwards. If Buy is greater than 1 then go shopping. If you fudged the values just to justify your expenses then do not give your business partner my email address, this one is on you. Enjoy.
Monday morning alarm goes off and you realize that this is the day that you are presenting your new business proposal to the board and appointed VC team. You future hangs in the balance with each word and PowerPoint slide detail. How prepared are you?
This simple formula will help guide you to a logical conclusion to either give you a boost of self-confidence or give you the option to go straight to the airport and book a flight to Harare were you chances of survival will be better.
I = The importance of the event (1 – 10) 10 being the speech at your wedding
S = Hours of sleep you had last night
C = Cups of coffee of caffeine drink consumed today
P1 = Hours of required preparation for this event. Research shows that for every 10 minutes of speaking at least 30 – 60 minutes of prep are required
P2 = Actual hours spent in preparation, not including playing with graphics and clip art
D = Difficulty of your subject (1 – 10) 10 being particle acceleration in a vacuum
N = The level of nervousness you feel right now (1 – 10) 10 being just changed pants again
Substitute the figures for numbers, complete the equation. If Prepared is greater than 1, relax you will be fine, if not go back to your desk and do some more work. Good Luck.
The team at Entrepreneur Incubator has been hugely enhanced with the arrival of Danielle Wolmarans. Danielle comes from a formal Psychology background with some experience in the film and training industries. Danielle’s primary focus will be on a support role to the incubator as well as heading up our EI-Educate division as a first contact with Business Owners and Entrepreneurs.
The arrival of Danielle has allowed us to introduce of our newest offering the Lunch ’n Learn that offers business people a chance to attend monthly business related talks over a lunch at various venues in and around the greater Cape Town area. Topics promise to be entrepreneurial related and educational as well as offering a good place to network and have a bite to eat at reasonable prices. Venues and topics will be published shortly.
Why don’t you answer my emails?
This is the question I get to hear a lot these days. People send me things and I send things and they seem to just go into the big black hole in cyber space with no return. Here are some tips to prompting a reply from an email.
Email etiquette is being constantly redefined, write to each person in the appropriate manner that they will understand and respond. This should help with your replies and follow-ups.
Our newest client to join the Entrepreneur Incubator is Margaret Mortimer from Upholstery Works. Margaret comes from a family of Entrepreneurs and retailers each having run successful ventures in and around Cape Town. Upholstery Works opened in 2003 as a home business and has moved to their main road shop and factory in Diep River, Cape Town.
Margaret has developed her products and service based on relational focused service. Her face is well known in the industry and area. They offer new and upholstered furniture as well as a range of accessories. Looking for excellent quality fabric for your old or bespoke furniture then drop by Upholstery Works, 188 main road Diep River, or call 021 715 4924.
We look forward to having Margaret on the Entrepreneur Incubator programme and developing her business to beyond her dreams in the coming months.
F = the amount of kg you need to loose to reach your ideal weight
S = Marital status: 1 = married or repressed, 5 for dating, 10 for swinging single
T = How tired are you: 1 – 10, 10 being almost dead most of the day
M = Minutes it would take to get from home to the gym
C = How important non gym activities are to you: 1 – 10, 10 being on your way to give birth
D = How many days you have worked out in the last week
If Gym is greater than 1 you need to join a gym and get involved in a training programme now, or email Robin from Fitness Boot Camp today
The only requirement to being able to open a business and earn a living are the following:
Three simple criteria that a lot of people seem to overlook in their endeavor to build their own empires with a financial or personal focus.
Helga Steyn of Oak Tree Marketing Solutions won the Western Cape Business Opportunities Forum’s Business Person of the Year in the youth category. Helga was awarded her prize in December 2008 but is featured on the cover of this months WECBOF magazine.
Helga is a member of the Entrepreneur Incubator as well as a supplier to other members for full marketing solutions for their small businesses. We have seen Helga grow from strength to strength as we have walked the road with her in the growth of her business. Her ‘Failure is not an option’ attitude has given her the persistence to breakthrough the tough times that often see small business close as she has moved from her home office to her business premises and been able to employ staff members. We look forward to working with Oak Tree Marketing solutions on various new projects that we have in the planning stages. Well done Helga, from all our members.
We continue on our Monday, Formula for Life theme with an interesting assessment of when to quit your job. We have all had times when we have urges to storm into the boss’s office and stab him in the neck with your clutch pencil and quit. Ok, maybe it is only me. But what if you could calculate the best possible time to leave your current job. Try this one:
H = hours per normal day that you are unhappy at work
A = Your current age
G = How good your current job is (1 – 10) 10 being taster for Lindt
K = How many kids you have, that you know of
P = Chances for finding another job (1 – 10) 10 being already signed a contract
F = Your current level of financial commitment (1 – 10) 10 being mortgaged for the next 40 years
S1 = Monthly salary you could expect from a new job (ZAR)
S2 = Current monthly salary (ZAR)
Fill in all the numbers; work from with in the brackets out.
If QUIT is greater than 1, then you have a good reason to speak to the boss today. Good luck.
A while ago I wrote about the marketing slogans that political parties were using on their street posters and asked for some comments. I have been gathering some additional ‘alternative’ slogans that have cropped up in the media and rouge street posters. Here are some of them:
Apologies to political parties concerned, but you need to see the fun side of any marketing campaign. The lesson we can learn from all this is to be careful when choosing your slogan and do some research and market feedback before launching headlong into distribution. Maybe that is why we have not seen a single COPE poster, are they still waiting for my input or do they just have no money?
The error a lot of small businesses do is to tell others what they do. Now this may sound like an obvious thing to do, but it often alienates your customers with your information before you have even asked the question about what they need or want.
A lot of websites I visit are like this: they offer lots and lots of dazzling information about a lot of stuff that I do not need or want and I get lost in the first 20 seconds and go elsewhere.
Take a few minutes to visit your business premises, website, business card and logo as an outsider. Look at the branding with fresh eyes and ask the simple questions: Does it say what it should? Does it inform and educate before it sells? Does it work?
