Posted by Bruce Wade on Monday, February 28, 2011,
In :
Entrepreneurship
We have seen many different games come and
go that promise to teach us coordination, balance, manners and wealth. Only a
few have stayed long enough to have an impact on our society. Monopoly is one that
has been around for years, another one is Cash Flow 101 that has now gone
online so anyone with access to the web can play. But how relevant are these
for small business owners? Do you learn the fundamentals of business management?
Sadly no, that was never their main focus.
Posted by Bruce Wade on Wednesday, February 23, 2011,
In :
Leadership
Oh, to be
single and have no responsibilities or time barriers. Just think about how much
work we could get done without the nagging of family commitments. Sound
familiar? Well, let me share with you a secret. If you are single and have not
yet started a family, you yearn for the day, and those, like myself, with a
house full of noise yearn for the old days. Not always but there are times that
a quiet home with no noise or agenda sounds appealing.
Posted by Bruce Wade on Tuesday, February 22, 2011,
In :
Marketing
In the world of small business, the word “try’
and ‘hope’ should not be part of your daily vocab. We are not called to try and
make it work, or to hope the results are positive. We cannot run our business
on luck.
We need to be prepared for the future, no
matter how unknown it may seem.
Never plan a marketing campaign and then
hope someone will call, plan in order to ensure someone calls. Get your details
correct, plan the execution to the finest details and then sit back with
antic...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Wednesday, February 16, 2011,
In :
Leadership
First let
me explain what the difference is between an Executive Director and a Non
Executive Director is and what their hat looks like. Any board of an
organisation is made up of paid staff and outside consultants. The Executive
Director heads the organisation; they have day-to-day responsibility over the
processes and procedures of the business and draw a salary for this.
A
Non-Executive Director sits on the board and is a non-salary person but has
responsibilities that include Strategy, ...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Tuesday, February 15, 2011,
In :
National Pride
We received this letter from Absa this week
“We
notice that no deposits have been made to your cheque account for some time. We
would like to know the reason for this and also whether we, from our side, can
assist in rectifying the matter.
Should
we receive no response from you within fourteen (14) days from the date hereof,
and if the lack of activity does not change, we will be obligated to close the
account on your behalf. Any balance payable at that stage will be payable by
yourself....
Posted by Bruce Wade on Monday, February 14, 2011,
In :
EI Clients
Every so often there is a glimmer of hope
in humanity. These rare occasions give us hope and inspiration to keep doing
what we do and build our nation.
Marius Boaden from Prison Broadcast Network had to
sell his car a while ago because it had, well literally given up being a car. In
his newsletter
this month he shared story and asked for assistance in this regard. Within days
he was able to raise some money, just less than R100k but now needed to find a
vehicle. Suitable reliable cars for th...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Friday, February 11, 2011,
In :
Entrepreneurship
Last night we got to attend the launch of the III: Institute of Inventors and Innovators, in Cape Town. Ravini Moodley from the office in Johannesburg is driving an program to get the institute well know throughout South Africa and back to the point it was a few years ago. South Africa is bursting with new ideas, concepts and inventions, but the majority of people have no idea where to go for help and guidance to get their idea off the ground and into production. The III has created the infra... Continue reading ...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Friday, February 11, 2011,
In :
Entrepreneurship
According to Russel Martin from JWT presented during his speech at the Institute of Inventors and Innovators the world is going to be very different in the future. Ok, not so far out or new, but the guys at JWT put out the Top 100 things to watch for in 2011. Now thta is worth looking at. Here is a link to the slide show: If you are too lazy to read all that just watch the video blow that will give you the top 10 of the top 100.
Posted by Bruce Wade on Wednesday, February 9, 2011,
In :
Leadership
I reside on
a management board of a Non Profit Organisation as Chairman. It was an
interesting journey finding my place as Chairman of a board of an organisation
that I do not work in on a daily basis. What is the role of a chairman? What do
the other board members and the staff expect of me? And how do I get along with
the CEO?
The
Chairman’s hat is a large and often heavy one to wear. It is woven with
responsibility and procedure and can often bring about long discussions and
uncomforta...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Tuesday, February 8, 2011,
In :
Marketing
Service providers in the industry go
through a certain routines with customers each day. It becomes second nature
and they become proficient in the task, then it begins to slip. We begin to
rely on muscle memory and begin to operate in the Unconscious Competence
quadrant. Some examples of this I have experienced are:
My doctor doing the post opp exam on my
shoulder
The booking agent at a hotel or rental car
The check out person at a supermarket
And my pet hate the waiter singers at the
local S...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Thursday, February 3, 2011,
In :
Entrepreneurship
This week we have seen our
entrepreneurial idol Richard Branson attend a number of events both worldwide
and here in South Africa. The Branson
Centre of Entrepreneurship has hosted workshops for over 4000 small business
owners , staged a fashion show for Lesego Malatsi a fashion designer from the
centre.In an interview earlier this
week Branson advised entrepreneurs
to approach business with a greater purpose. "I think they just need to change their way of thinking as to running
their busin...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Wednesday, February 2, 2011,
In :
Leadership
Think for a
moment how you would act or react if you had equity in another business? What
sort of input would you like to have in the way the money is spent on R&D
and marketing or wasted on yet another batch of pink T-Shirts for the next
convention. Now consider your own business, I assume you have equity in this?
Why then do we ignore the way we often waste our resource just because we have
the authority to do so. The Share Holder’s hat needs to be worn all the time to
assist in the distr...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Tuesday, February 1, 2011,
In :
Entrepreneurship
Failing is not something we promote at the
Entrepreneur Incubator but it is a reality for a lot of small business owners.
We found an article on Leadership.co.za
by Reid Hoffman that is well worth a read. Here are some extracts.
Entrepreneurship
is like jumping off a cliff as you assemble an aeroplane on the way down.
Looking back on my life I've come to realise that what I am most driven
by is building, designing and improving human ecosystems
Failure needs to be dealt with head on -
and qu...
Posted by Bruce Wade on Tuesday, February 1, 2011,
In :
Entrepreneurship
This is a question that I get a lot, how do
I find the right job or business to get into that will make me happy? The
answer is easy, the solution a little tougher. Let me explain.
We have a process that will drive your
thoughts and actions down a path that will assist in determining a niche that
you have in your core that we could then assist in developing a business
around. We do this a lot and many people walk away with a business that feeds
them both financially and well as emotionally. ...
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