Plans for 2013

A discussion between Pavlo Phitidis and Bruce Whitfield on the Radio 702 /Cape Talk Money Show this evening touched on making goals for 2013. This is something I always try to do ahead of time for each New Year. Not Resolutions that will be thrown out by February: Specific Goals... I have found that when I set specific, measurable goals with time limits on each one, I tend to have an 80% success rate in achieving whatever goals are on the list. This does indicate that the goals were achievable, but I do try to “stretch” myself each time. Just a little. Although perhaps some of the 20% not achieved fall into the unrealistic type of goal. It’s still worth it to me. Sometimes those unreached goals just need a little more time to reach fruition.

So I decided to put some of my goals “out there” I haven’t sat down yet and written the specific plan, but I already know what some of them are likely to be. Some of these goals are an extension of certain things that I already know will be happening in 2013.

So one of my goals will relate to publicity. I am aware that there will be an article appearing in the January 2013 edition of EntrepreneurSA Magazine. This article will be on the Money Show Challenge which ran for 6 Weeks from 1 October to 12 November 2012. So this triggers a goal which will stretch me a little but won’t be impossible relating to publicity: I make it my goal to have 6 Press Releases published during next year. That works out to about 1 every 8 weeks. Should be possible.

Another goal relates to increasing Followers on Twitter and Facebook for Beautiful Bracelets. I would like at least 1000 Followers on Twitter. To this end, I will run a Competition on Facebook and Twitter (this seems to be what everyone else does to increase Followers if you’re not a Celebrity!). So I will do my best to run a Valentine’s Day Competition. Should be fun! Keep a look out for that.

The third Goal relates to the Book which is due to be published in April 2013: “1000 Beautiful Bracelets” How I made a profit from R1000 ($120) in just 6 weeks and how you can too. You can pre-order this Book on the Website, Beautiful Bracelets. I once heard that certain Publishers overseas won’t consider publishing a book that cannot make at least 4000 sales from the author’s own circle / contacts. I also once heard that in South Africa, because the market is so small, a book that sells more than 20,000 copies is considered a Best Seller! That seems like quite a minimal number of copies to sell, in my view. So my first goal is that sales of 4000 copies would happen quite quickly (for the sake of the Publisher). And then, of course, I would like to reach the next goal during the year if at all possible – to sell more than 20,000 copies: whether that figure makes it a “Best Seller” or not, it’s a nice figure to aim for. If each person who reads the book actually decides to “do” the book (or put it in the hands of a friend or family member together with the R1000 startup capital to “do” the book), that would be an incredible achievement. Can you imagine what kind of an impact we could have in our country ‘s economy if 20,000 people started a business and employed one other person each.

It would be amazing. A dream come true! I will work on many other goals for Beautiful Bracelets in 2013, but these are enough to start with!

How NOT to Start a Business

A great article in this month's Entrepreneur SA magazine has inspired this post. We desperately need new business startups in this country that will have a greater chance of success. Avoid some of these pitfalls if this is you:

Wrong reasons to start a business: 1) To become wealthy. 2) Job creation 3) Freedom

The main reason to start a business should be to fulfil a need in the marketplace. Better still, to fulfil a need that will evolve in the future, filling a niche that others haven't found yet. And your business should adapt and change as the market moves on too.

A key to success is having the right financial controls in place. "Any enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts" Proverbs 24:3-4

You need to know exactly where you stand at all times, keeping your finger on the pulse of things. Poor credit arrangements, lack of financial planning, unnecessary overheads, insufficient reserve funds or cashflow are amongst main reasons business startups fail. Don't use your new business profits like a piggy bank to splurge on luxuries. Decide on a monthly salary and don't go over that.

Be realistic, under-promise and over-deliver. Too many startup businesses make promises they can never make good on. Don't take on an order that is so fantastic there is no way you'd ever fill it. If you can realistically produce 10,000 units, then you need to turn down an order for 100,000 until your capacity for the production is there. Or ask for an extended time period to deliver that will fit your production capacity.

Keep it simple, stay focused, and get the right people for the job. If you pay attention to all these things, your business will have a better chance of success.

For more on the Article that inspired this Post, see Entrepreneur SA.

Next Steps...

Note: This Blog Post relates to some of the things one would need to do for a business in South Africa.
Whilst some of the things would be similar, each country has its own requirements, which you could find out via a Google search or speak to an attorney, accountant or business advisor in your own country.

For the first 6 weeks of this Beautiful Bracelets business I focused on growing the business and generating sales. I didn’t want to add unnecessary expenses to the business and in any case one would first want to prove the business to be a viable one before doing that. A number of years ago I had a recruiting company, one of the clients who used my services for recruiting his start up staff spent R50,000 with me in the first couple of weeks into the business (the equivalent of R250,000 in today's money), utilizing the Access Bond on his house to finance his business. His business folded within 6 months, and sadly these employees lost their jobs. It would be prudent in a micro-business start up to watch your spend very carefully in the first 6-12 months. Take advice and wisdom from others around you (for me this is my business coach, Stan Close of Ikusasa).

Now we have to work on the practical aspects. Beautiful Bracelets and its profits are now MINE to do with as I wish (until 12 November all profits went to Radio 702/Cape Talk Money Show for the Starfish Foundation and I’m thrilled about that), I have to make sure to do all the right things and some of these things cost money and require re-investing some of the profits back into the business. Like purchasing domains that would point to Beautiful Bracelets or the 1000 Beautiful Bracelets Blog... So by going into “Google Analytics Dashboard” I can work out which “search terms” people from around the world are using to find Beautiful Bracelets and start by registering those domains and pointing them to my websites. I also want to make sure I get them before anyone else does, possibly to pre-empt any copycat ideas! For starters, you will find the Blog if you try www.1000beautifulbracelets.com or www.1000beautifulbracelets.co.za with highly visible links to the main Beautiful Bracelets website where you can buy Beautiful Bracelets online.

The next step is to register the company name with Cipro and get all the paperwork done. In my first business, a recruiting company, I registered my own Close Corporation and had the Founding papers within 24 hours by driving to the Registrar of Companies and Close Corporations in Pretoria. At the time I could do this easily without assistance of an attorney or accountant: my first 4 years of employment were in law firms where this was one of my tasks! You can still do it yourself online or in person but if you don’t have time, pay a lawyer or your accountant to do it for you.

The next thing I want to do is get all the correct paperwork and import/export licences from the Department of Trade and Industry. Even the day after the Money Show Challenge ended I received an order from Canada and the level of business from overseas countries is increasing to a point where I need more systems in place to insure everything is above board. With higher volumes of Beautiful Bracelets being ordered online it won’t be feasible to send the Beautiful Bracelets as “gifts” to other destinations any longer!  A great service is provided by my international courier, with whom I signed a contract giving Beautiful Bracelets preferential local and international courier rates yesterday. This company is focusing on providing excellent rates to e-commerce start-up businesses at the moment. They will help me achieve the required export/import licences via their contacts within the DTI, but I have been warned it can take up to 6 months therefore it is probably important to get these applications in the pipeline soon .

And last, but not least, once your business in South Africa begins to show a turnover that will be likely to exceed R150,000 in its first tax year, it begins to be a more viable option to ensure your business is registered in a format that would attract a lower rate of tax. Your Accountant can advise you on this. Since I have big dreams and a huge vision for Beautiful Bracelets I am already looking at all these aspects. SARS (South African Revenue Service) gives good advice and insights on Turnover Tax here.

There are other aspects one needs to be aware of and deal with as the business grows, I will cover these via this Blog as I get to them. Things like Labour Laws, Basic Conditions of Employment, the practical aspects of business administration and other things one needs to be aware of in the first 6 to 12 months of running a business. I believe in treating people well, and looking after my staff because I believe that if you have staff that are also your raving fans, life will be easier. I want Beautiful Bracelets to be a happy place for people to go to work as it grows! Mike, one of the joint owners of Cappuccino's Midrand (my favourite hangout whilst working on this Blog and the 1000 Beautiful Bracelets Book) is a great example of how one should treat one's staff. Happy staff equals happy customers and more sales!

Big Day Tomorrow!

I have known from the start of this Challenge that 10 November would be the biggest day for me... A Christmas Market at my church where 600 women have confirmed attendance for a Conference running parallel to the Market, a wonderful opportunity for Beautiful Bracelets to be showcased and many have warned me to anticipate a sell-out! I really hope so.

In addition to this, elsewhere there are Beautiful Bracelets selling, in stores, at Flea Markets, online and even at a Charity Art Auction in support of the Starfish Foundation...

I must say, this Radio 702 Money Show R1000 Challenge (make a profit from R1000 in just 6 weeks) has blossomed into something bigger than even I could anticipate. The publicity has been phenomenal, although I am being quite careful to keep tabs as far as possible as to which sales I could attribute to the fact of the publicity generated by the actual Challenge, and which sales are as a result of my own personal networks and social media and ENERGY. It takes a LOT of energy to make a success out of any business and I have worked very hard on this business NOT just with the idea that it is a "6 week wonder" but rather, I have viewed the 6 weeks as an opportunity to start something that would have legs, that would go the distance and actually continue to be a sustainable business that would help people going forward. It may be in the spotlight at the moment, but I still have a big vision for what it possible, whilst still working on the nitty gritty of the day-to-day aspects that are needed to nurture a micro business startup.

There are probably things I could have done better. And I'm sure I will receive useful guidelines. There are people now depending on the ongoing success of this business and my desire is that it will continue to be a source of inspiration, hope, and an income for many...

5 Key Issues for Effective Logistics

Today I noticed our first compliment on HelloPeter.com (click to view).

Which brings me to one of the most important things if you're contemplating an online business, and that is to ensure you have an effective Logistics Strategy to ensure customer satisfaction. The world is a very small place and if your logistics, delivery and service are excellent this goes a long way to ensuring a favourable perception of your product and branding in the market place. Since I have been wanting to have an online business (maybe several in time), I have been quietly testing the market to see which companies that I order from deliver the kind of excellent service I expect and demand when ordering online. Two of my favourites are Kalahari.com and YuppieChef. Having done that, I researched which company THEY used to handle all their couriers. And one name stood out far above the rest. So I am in negotiations to sign the contract imminently, with preferential rates. It just so happens that over the past month, this local and international courier organisation is running a strategy to favour new startups in e-commerce/online businesses!

There are 5 Key Issues you need to consider for Effective Logistics:

1. Movement of Product. You need to have an effective system in place to ensure rapid delivery of the product to the client whether it be in the case of Beautiful Bracelets, to the individual who orders one Beautiful Bracelet for a 21st Birthday gift to be delivered the next day in another city or to a Gift Shop.
2. Movement of Information. It is important to use "online tracking" so that you know where the product is at all times. And to maintain customer contact if there are any problems.
3. Time/service. Orders must be filled completely, quickly and accurately.
4. Cost. This is a key issue when measuring logistics effectiveness. The highest price does not necessarily mean the best service, nor does the lowest cost necessarily meet your needs. In this business, Beautiful Bracelets, I approached the Company that I felt was delivering the best service and fortunately they are driving to secure e-commerce service which means they have also given a quote for a preferential rate and a phenomenally low price for this service! And that is for both local and international courier charges.
5. Integration: between yourself and your suppliers, your customers and retailers, as well as good internal liaison and integration. Partnership and competitiveness are enhanced by good integration, and meeting your suppliers and clients face-to-face is important to enhance good partnerships and alliances.

Each of the above points is essential to ensure the success of your logistics, its value-add to your business and your competitiveness in the market place.