Persistence and Tenacity

A few excellent quotes to inspire you (and me):

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb."

Nelson Mandela, South African leader

“I haven't failed. I've found 10,000 ways that don't work.”
Thomas Edison (1847-1931);
Inventor, Businessman

“I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955);
Theoretical Physicist, Philosopher, Nobel Prize Winner

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933);
30th Us President

“If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933);
30th Us President

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
Robert J. Collier (1876-1918);
Writer

“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.”
F. Scott Fiztgerald (1896-1940);
Novelist, Screenwriter

“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others let go.”
William Feather

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.”
Malcolm S. Forbes (1919-1990);
Publisher

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1886);
Author

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t. ”
Thomas Edison (1847-1931);
Inventor, Businessman

Just when the caterpillar thought its life was over, it became a butterfly.. Proverb

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.

How to See Opportunities Others Miss

We’ve all seen a great business idea start from scratch and either felt we could have done it or perhaps we even got the idea first and did nothing or told someone else and they ran with it!

Here are some things you can do now to prepare yourself so that you’re ready to grab the opportunity that comes past your nose next time:

• Practice looking at the details, beyond what’s on the surface. Opportunities are in the details.
• Train yourself to go the extra mile. Be prepared to do the things others couldn’t be bothered with. There’s very little competition in the second mile.
• Don’t take complaints personally, rather learn from them. Be thankful and appreciative when people complain about your business. They give you an opportunity to improve, to fine-tune, to hone your business. From the outset, when Beautiful Bracelets started, I listened carefully to comments and criticisms which gave me an opportunity to improve the product. As a result, to date there have been no complaints or returns. But if there are, I will learn from that situation.
• Embrace change, don’t run from it. This will give you an opportunity to see opportunities that others don’t.
• Be flexible and adaptable. Someone who is rigid or set in their ways is more likely to miss opportunities whereas research has shown that creative solutions and innovative thinking are more likely a result of flexible thinking and adaptive responses to situations. Rigid thinking seldom solves a problem.

If you follow these tips, then hidden opportunities will attract your attention like a magnet.. Opportunities are everywhere. The trick is to recognise them, and having done so, pursue them!

Disaster Creates Opportunities

Valley of Desolation, Camdeboo National Park (Source: www.southafrica.net)

I really believe the best online businesses that will be the big names within the next 5 years are probably business ideas or concepts that no-one has even thought of up till now. As new situations arise and develop, and things happen that have never happened before, entire new industries will develop (at one time the internet was an “event” that had never happened before and now some of us depend on it for our livelihoods).There have been some amazing ideas even in South Africa that have sprung up.

Businesses can happen out of situations of great distress. For example, the AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa has (sadly) been a massive source of prosperity for new (and old) businesses in South Africa. Some of the “old” business ideas have been the funeral parlours. AVBOB is probably the best known of them, established in Bloemfontein in 1921, it is probably a little known fact that the company is now one of the most successful in South Africa, with net income in the tax year 2011/12 posted at R820million (an increase from R456,6million in the previous year) whilst total assets increased over the same period by 19.5% to R6.2billion (see Chairman’s Report). I was actually shocked by these figures, particularly the increase year on year which indicates that the AIDS pandemic is far from being “under control” which our Government is very quiet about. I cannot imagine another reason for the doubling in turnover of a funeral service business, since South Africa has not had a sudden outbreak of War or other major catastrophe. Scary.

Another business in South Africa which was probably much needed previously, but became a viable business as a result of the sheer numbers of deaths due to the AIDS pandemic. I heard (from a reliable source, I once interviewed the Founder's Personal Assistant many years ago when she was looking for a career move!) this business was started as a result of a conversation between two people in a pub. One of them had a relative who’d passed away (around 1998) and was lamenting that he needed to repatriate the body to another country bordering South Africa for a burial according to local traditions but was struggling with the logistics, being unable to find anyone who could help. This birthed a new business where the founder secured deals with all the local insurance companies providing insurance policies, and started the first specialized business handling all the logistics for people who needed this service. It is a thriving business with its head office in Midrand, 21^st Century Life, now with 25 branches across the country.

If you don’t ask, you won’t receive: Ask God for a new business idea, but when you get it, don’t speak about it: ACT swiftly and DO it!

Re-Seller Opportunities

In some countries (USA for one), you need to ensure you have the necessary permits:a Re-seller's Licence or Permit. I can't find anything like that in South Africa nor have I ever heard of it, if anyone has please let me know! The reason is that the VAT portion is removed for parts of the transaction. That isn't really applicable in this case since the VAT registration threshold in South Africa is R1million of taxable supplies per annum (2012). Beautiful Bracelets will be thrilled when it reaches that level!

I had been looking at other ways to sell Beautiful Bracelets, which included Re-Sellers, when people started approaching me directly to Re-sell Beautiful Bracelets, even from overseas! (Australia). The ones I am most excited about are the students, who at the moment in South Africa have their summer break of 2-3 months over December/January. Today I met one of them, who had listened to the entire Money Show Challenge and had been inspired by it to create her own small business on the side whilst she continues to complete the final year of her IT degree next year. I find this very exciting, because this is really the best way to solve the unemployment situation in South Africa in my view: Students need to be thinking about business already whilst working on their studies.. The long vacations are the perfection opportunity to practice starting a small business, and if you or someone you know is in that scenario, why not use the model given in the Radio 702 Challenge, and make a decision to work as hard as you can and see if you can make a go of it? The worst case scenario is you used R1000 and got no return. Or R50. Or, you could generate a profit of R3,750 or R4,850 or R12,000 or, like the incredible Pavlo Phitidis maybe you also have a brilliant idea and with a whole lot of hard work can multiply it into nearly R70,000 in just 6 weeks! 

It was truly gratifying today to be told by this Student that she had been inspired by the R1000 Money Show Challenge to do it herself which is why she contacted me to start her own small business, using her social networks to sell Beautiful Bracelets!

Acts of Love

Acts of Love 2012 Shoebox Project

Beautiful Bracelets loves working to help charities, like Acts of Love, who are involved with various social upliftment projects in the greater Midrand area throughout the year. At the moment they have been mobilising the people of Acts Church to assist with the Christmas Shoebox Project, where each child (in many cases an AIDS orphan) is given a Christmas gift.. People volunteer to donate either a Shoebox filled with goodies (having been given a name, gender, age) or donate R200 for a Shoebox to be made up. I love doing this, it gives me great joy to be part of the giving. If you haven't already linked up with a similar project in your area, you are welcome to donate via their website here: Acts of Love is a registered charity in South Africa (NPO: 021 828). Facebook Page: Acts of Love.

Shoebox filled with toys, clothes, toiletries and other gifts fit for a 10 year old girl..

Inspiration from Others

I really enjoy hearing from people who get in touch with me and tell me they heard the Radio 702/ Cape Talk R1000 Money Show Challenge, some of whom were avid listeners, they didn't miss a single show that focused on the Challenge. Earlier this week I received an unexpected call from a couple whom I knew very well but hadn't spoken to for a number of years, they now have an olive farm in a remote spot in the Cape, so remote it doesn't even have cellphone reception, but the farmer listens daily to the Money Show..! A fascinating re-connection.

And then last night, someone who'd been listening to every broadcast of the Money Show especially the section focusing on the R1000 Challenge, introduced himself at the Midrand Moonlight Christmas Market and bought a Beautiful Bracelet for his wife! I find these moments very encouraging, it seems that many people were inspired by the R1000 Money Show Challenge.. and are all amazed at Pavlo Phitidis.

Bought my wife a Beautiful Bracelet from @1000bracelets. Contact Val and get yours. Thanks Val, lovely meeting you. twitter.com/drivability/st…
— Graeme McCormack (@drivability) December 1, 2012