Last week we, Entrepreneur Incubator and Motivate Cape Town put together our first Teenage Animation School programme. Advertising through the Home Schooled network and Teen Entrepreneur we were able to gather a good bunch of keen young entrepreneurs into our training room.

Our first lesson consisted of the basics of marketing, Sales Cycle and how video can play a role in this for small businesses. We then did a once over of GoAnimate software in preparation of the homework assignment. We d...

This time of year many creatives are tired, worn out and often suffering from just stuckness. It has been a long year to ride, often with little or no break and we long for the leave that we know we will not take but desperately need. We expect of ourselves to just push through and make that difference and get that last deal or finish that project that has been outstanding. But we have that lethargic ‘slug in treacle’ feel to our day.

Apart from the good old vitamin B complex shot in the...

This post, although profound is not perfect or anything to do with Mr. Poppins Penguins. It is filled with propaganda issues pertaining to profit and procurement in your small business. So without further pause, here are the 13 P’s, in no specific order, you should be peering at when leading a business, proactively of course.

•  People – be attentive in all your relationships. Understand each person you deal with as to where they come from and where they want to go. Remember to thank them ...

12 Things Entrepreneurs Should Be Thankful For

1. Customers.

2. Getting to pick the exceptional people we work with.

3. An opportunity to add value, big or small, to people's lives.

4. Not having to ask permission to try something crazy.

5. The patience and understanding of our family and friends — especially when we likely don't des...

Today saw the first of three days of CTEW expo and conference in Cape Town. I was torn between all the different events and functions to attend and having spent a wonderful evening last night at the FNB Biznetwork event, I was looking forward to some great insights and networking.

My day started out at the Enablis FNB event at the pavilion. We got to listen to a group of developing entrepreneurs from different businesses. I sat next to Anton Fester, Head Ninja from Ice Cream Ninjas. We have ...

What do we need to realize the potential of entrepreneurship in South Africa? Well the easy answer is more entrepreneurs. But the right answer would to create more channels that assist people to identify their potential and then incubate them from where they are at to a place of sustainability. What we need is more Incubators that assist people in developing businesses.

So what is an incubator? It is easier to answer, what an incubator is not: it is not a place where free grants and help is...

Not being prepared for an opportunity as a business owner has to be one of the major sins of entrepreneurship. Yet every time I go to a networking meeting or conference I find people who have not got business cards, flyers or even their contact detail on them. When asked to introduce themselves they Basically ummm and ahhh their way through a bunch of made up facts that tell us nothing more than this guy is just not prepared and not able to promote his business at all.

Other people I chat t...

Frustration amongst the general population is fast becoming a way of life and almost expected reaction to most phone calls queues or dealings with large organizations. For the small business owner is begun to be the largest blockage of doing business and scenes of head butting desks and phone slamming is just a normal part of the day. But frustration can be turned around and used as a source of a business idea and a way to profit. The opposite of Frustration is something most people will pay ...

Stop for a minute and ask yourself if you and your time management system are out of control. Here are a few questions to assess your current situation;

1. Did you spend 10 minutes first thing this morning planning your day and diary?
2. Do you have control over your time in your day that may be dictated by things that other people deem urgent?
3. Do you have no more than 10 emails (read or unread) in your inbox?
4. Do you no outstanding messages on your phones?
5. Do you have scheduled time planned for yourse...

This week the world’s population is set to reach 7 billion! It seems like just yesterday when we celebrated the 6 billion mark the birth of Adnan Mević, the first son of Fatima Helać and Jasminko Mević, in Bosnia. It took only 50 years for the world’s population to double and only 12 years to grow from 6 to 7 billion.   

It has become the regions less able to support themselves that have always produced the highest population growth rate. Then the reverse happens in the modern develop...

As a small business owner it has become all important to begin planning as early as possible to survive the pending holiday season. Already we have seen shops and centers redecorating in green trees, holly and sparkly stars. They have also started playing carols at airports and the waterfront.

How do we plan to cope with this commercial invasion into our lives and still hope to continue to do business and bring in an income during the next few months? Here are some tips;

Plan your Diary �...

Innovation is what has and always will drive the ground swell of a countries economy. It has shown that those who can think and live ahead of the curve have always emerged as the winners in life. Just look at IBM, Apple and Sony. The minds behind these businesses, kept deep in buildings with lead windows and concrete walls, are often ignored and never recognized.

But this is all about to change. If you are or have someone locked in your basement who is an inventor of note, then it is time to...

Another Business Plan competition; Seems to be the season for winning money for the perfect business idea.

This one run by the DA Youth as a way of promoting business ideas amongst the younger generations in our country. So if you are between 18 and 30 years old, a SA citizen with a great business idea then get to www.dayouth.org.za and enter before 25 November 2011.

 If you have an idea and need some support and advise on how to get it to a point of being able to enter this or any other c...

We attended the launch road show of the SEDA Stars competition this morning. This is just one of many business plan competitions that run each year but it does have the advantage of being very well run and supported. The team responsible for this programme span the length of the country and we should be getting a huge amount of attention from this one.

If you have an idea for a business or currently run a business and are a SA citizen and over the age of 18, then get going on this and regist...

Cape Town Entrepreneur Week got going today with the first of a number of satellite events, this one in Gugulethu at the Sports Complex hall. A handful of enthusiastic entrepreneurs from the local community arrived looking for assistance and guidance in taking their businesses to the next level.

Caro Vicci from the City opened the day with a welcome speech and then handed over to Bruce Wade from the Entrepreneur Incubator. Bruce shared the six big issues that hinder business growth and then...

We have been hearing a lot about how the world of non-profits are coming to an end. The days of setting up an easy way to make money for self through other people’s tragedy and sad stories is not being bought by corporate and public alike. We have become immune to pictures of famous people holding hungry kids asking for donations. Most of these funds never get to serve any purpose to alleviate the pain of why they were raised. The money seems to line the pockets of those who make a living o...

The Teen Entrepreneur Spring Academy kicked off today in Cape Town. A group of enthusiastic teenagers gathered at the Belmont conference centre in Rondebosch to start a 5 day journey towards learning what it takes to develop a sustainable business.

We were treated to a series of talks by Samantha Obery and Peter Greenwall and myself. The teens walked away a little shell shocked today after getting to grips with what it takes to be an entrepreneur, generating ideas through innovation and then...

PRESS RELEASE

SA Teen Entrepreneur Foundation, an NGO which creates a platform for teenagers to turn entrepreneurial ideas into real-life businesses, will open their Spring Academy doors to teens this October. The five-day workshop, which will run from 3 to 7 October, at the Belmont Conference Centre in Rondebosch, will equip youth with the business skills to make running their own business a reality.

Teens will explore concepts of innovation, bus...

Last Monday at the media launch of Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week, I got to address the meeting with some closing points. Henk Smith from Klank Baan captured this on video for me.

Yesterday saw the media announcement of the launch of CTEW – Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week. Following on from last year’s success, this year promises to be bigger, better and offer the entrepreneur’s a lot more resources and events.

The main core of the week is the 3 day expo and conference to be held at Cape Town City Hall from 17 – 19 November. This year’s theme of Create, Connect, Compete will flow through all events during the week.

We plan to play a role in the expo with a ...

Amanda Foster wrote this article about Joshua Bell on her blog yesterday to highlight the lack of attention people pay to beauty in our every day hurry of life. (Take time to read it so the rest of this makes sense.) Too true, but I want to look at it from an Entrepreneurial perspective as well. 

Here we have the world’s best violinist playing music on a $3.5 million violin in a subway and he gets no attention. How many of us are good, no great, at what we do but no one seems to pay attent...

New award winning sport comes to Cape Town. 360ball™, the new racket and ball sport invented in South Africa and the winner of international sporting award will be played in the mother city for the first time at the Sports and Events Tourism Exchange at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Five of the Top teams of the sport will be playing demonstration games as well as fighting it out for the Kickbutt Cape Town Cup over the three days of the Exchange which is open to the public. ...

Is there a difference in being wealthy and rich? I think so, it has a lot to do with contentment. Rich is about the accumulation of money and possessions. It drives people to win in the games of “He who has the most toys wins” game. How much is enough? Well just a little more than I have today. This syndrome has infected most of the modern world and promoted by marketers, consumerism and the all important credit card, has created a society of perpetual purchasing and waste.

This video, T...

If there is one thing that stands between failure and success as an entrepreneur, it is confidence. There is very little a confident person will not attempt.  This week (week 4) on Exploit Yourself, the online reality show for entrepreneurs, we explore this confidence. So what is confidence and how do we achieve it?

Confidence, I believe comes from 3 things;

Self Belief: The ability to look oneself in the mirror and know from deep within that whatever you will face today, you will have the ...

As an entrepreneur we are often faced with the issues of balance. How much time to spend at work, with family or doing exercise. This dilemma that we have to deal with each day is easily solved with a strict schedule that is adhered to by everyone involved.

Let me explain. We need to have 3 focal points when it comes to time management. Working In, On and Out of our business. That means that we have set times that we roll up our sleeves and work In the business, this is when we generate the ...

The Chilean government has started an initiative to build an entrepreneurial nation. This will be done in a simple process: Invite some of the world’s best entrepreneurs to their country, assist them to start a business, empower the local communities, network and then leave. This creates jobs, sustainability and a network of international resources between their country and the rest of the world.

Now why didn’t we think of this? Is it too late to copy this fantastic programme here in Afr...

The Entrepreneur Incubator and Academy has won a business support package from BulkSMS.com through their Entrepreneurial Incentive Scheme.

This has given us a boost in our ability to develop our new online application to reach and develop entrepreneurs across Africa. BulkSMS will become instrumental in this offering using their engine to drive communications to small business owners through SMS and short codes. This allows us to bridge the divide between those who have internet access and th...

Reality TV is now at the final stage of death due to boringness and fatigue. We have seen it all happen from all angles and positions. We have seen the tears, the joy and the spider and bug eating. Now we are bored. The same goes for the soaps, boring boring boring.

Then came CSI, crime mystery with science, but having to watch up to 10 deaths each week, that too has grown weary, how many new spins on DNA can you do and still keep it fresh. So what is next for TV?

The Entrepreneur Incubator...

We have always said that a true Entrepreneur is someone who is prepared for the opportunity that convergence offers. This was evident for Maurice Harary, just 23, who was able to respond to the news of the death of Osama last week. Before the sun had risen on the east coast of USA on Monday he had his website, www.osamadeadtees.com, up and running to sell T-shirts. By Tuesday evening he had sold more than 10 000 units at $12 each. 

A day before or after this short window and it would have su...

In this series, we are looking at the key words that define a successful sustainable business. The fifth word is Convergence. This is defined as: When a number of seemly random event come together to open up a window of opportunity. Now you may have picked up that this if word 5 in a series called 4 Key Words. I have added this word here because it is the collective word that binds all the 4 together. We can operate in business for years and focus on any of the 4 key words and never see any s...

In this series, we are looking at the key words that define a successful sustainable business. The forth word is Leverage. This is defined as: The power or ability to act or to influence people, events or decisions to gain higher return.

Having and using the tools to leverage has been for too long seen as a negative aspect. We see leverage done in politics to the point of blackmail. We see relationships leveraged to the point of duty and even kids on the playground using an invitation to the...

In this series, we are looking at the key words that define a successful sustainable business. The third word is Convenience. This is defined as: Anything that saves or simplifies work or adds to one's ease or comfort.

It is a given that if you offer a product or service that reduces someone’s pain or frustration, it will be a hit. But yet so many people have businesses running that have customers fuming and having to tolerate poor service, crappy products and zero customer attention. Just...

Almost a year ago I was asked to assist two ladies with their project plan. They attended one of our Business Plan workshops and we got going on the process of converting their dreams into actual plans and budgets. All things were going well until the project hit a brick wall: Political red tape. There just seemed no way forward so it was decided to shelve the plans and wait.

Yesterday I got a call from one of them, “We have land, we can go ahead with the project”. The wait had paid off ...

Exploit Yourself, a new social media-based reality show, will be hitting online screens on 01 June 2011. As the title suggests, 10 chosen entrepreneurs will push themselves – and their businesses – to the limit in a battle for the Grand Prize and title of Top Entrepreneur. 

The concept was co-created by Cape Town communications company, Media Rendezvous, and Entrepreneur Incubator and Academy who, in association with other businesses, put the show together.   

The series will run for 16...

I am often asked to define success in a business. This is always an open ended question and will always point to the person doing the asking as looking for affirmation of what they are doing at the time. There are a number of  issues that will make a business successful and when it does take off, it will sometimes take you by surprise and have very little to do with your current effort and investment. So what, if we reduced success to principles, can we conclude will make a business grow and ...

We often speak about living the dream and wanting to relax on the beach at Bali and sipping cocktails while the water laps at our toes. But living the dream needs to be preceded by dreaming the life. Life is not like the movies when we find a suitcase of money or win the lotto and live happily ever after. It is about planning, working, collaborating and getting the job done. It involves at the very basic level a dream to follow.

We are required to dream of our future; it is our imagination t...

Many small businesses with great ideas never get to the point of being able to protect what they have and will often result in some larger business stealing or just taking over their ideas and nudging you out of the market. We have seen several small businesses owners just disappear off the radar only to see their products appear on other shelves with someone else’s branding.

To assist us with the protection of our member’s IP or Intellectual Property, we have asked the team from Spoor ...

Birthed out of the entrepreneur capital of Africa, Cape Town, the hottest thing on social media this year has to be Exploit Yourself, your online entrepreneur reality show. Exploit Yourself will focus on the issues around developing small businesses and entrepreneurships in South Africa.

10 contestants will battle it out against each other whilst working on their own business to complete weekly tasks and grow their business to win prizes and the favour of the readers.

This blog and web bas...

People who are successful in small business have certain attributes in common. Here are 3 of them:

1. They know who they are and they know who they are not. Knowing the difference is critical to making a difference
2. They know how to have fun, even at work
3. They never stop learning through life, business and love

People who are successful in small business have certain attributes in common. Here are 3 of them:

1. They have a defined sales funnel with key points and processes to capture, categorize and convert those within it.
2. They know how to leverage opportunity within the business to get the best return on investment
3. They never forget the basics of running the business and will often sit down and review the rules of engagement with their staff.

People who are successful in small business have certain attributes in common. Here are 3 of them:

1. They employ the right people for the right job at the right time. No deadwood or costly mistakes.
2. They network with effective people who will grow themselves and the business through their networks
3. They know what their IP is and they protect it as well as share it to get growth.

People who are successful in small business have certain attributes in common. Here are 3 of them:

1. They know what they do. They have defined their vision, mission and values for both themselves and their businesses.
2. They know what their key performance areas are, that can be measured and managed in their business. We call them KPI’s
3. They have a set of instruments that are used to measure the effectiveness of their business detailing values, alarms and tren...

Running a business requires a huge set of skills, talents and the entrepreneurial spirit. We come across a lot of people who do this well and enjoy what they do. They make money, have fun and have a positive influence on both community and environment. But what are the secrets to their success?

This week we will highlight 12 key activities that successful business owners have implemented in their business as part of their daily routine. As we unpack some of these and highlight some simple to...

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.

So we took the op...

Features: attributes that constitute the design and function of a product

Benefit: What value add the features provide for the end user

Price: What value the customer is willing to pay for the features based on the identified benefits they will receive

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...

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...

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. ...

Every Business needs someone to wear the hat of the manager. This hat is the hat of responsibility and procedure. Doing things right is the motto of the manager. He gets the right stuff done at the right time in the right way. Admin, finances, forms, legal and taxes are all done in the correct order. This is often a neglected area of a small business as most owners do not wear or even own a managers hat.

To get the business in a place of sustainable growth the manager needs to visit the busi...

This article in the news today” The legal framework necessary for the implementation of the new Companies Act would be ready on April 1, Zodwa Ntuli, the deputy director-general at the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), told the portfolio committee on trade and industry yesterday. She added that the minister had consulted widely on the matter and that the business community was fine-tuning their systems to bring them into line with the new legislation. Ntuli, who was providing the depa...

From the people I get to see and consult with each month, most are Techies. People who have learnt a trade in the industry and have gotten to a point that they think they now know everything or enough about what they do to start their own business. Technicians make great business owners, because they know what they are talking about. Better a Technician who sucks at business than a businessman who bullsh#ts his way through the sales process.

All businesses need someone to wear the hat of th...

Our first hat we discuss is that of the Entrepreneur. This for me is the easy place to begin because it is my natural hat. An entrepreneur in simple terms is a risk taker and opportunity seeker. We like to seek out new ideas and concepts and then make a plan to get them to market. This requires vision and energy. The Entrepreneur is one who sleeps with a notebook and pen, so he can awake at 02:45 to make notes for a new business concept. Entrepreneurs have huge imaginations and the word ‘im...

Looking at creation and all that it contains, what would be the most significant species on our plant? Which organism would make up the largest percentage of all biomass? Biomass being the mass of all living matter in a given geographic region. If that region means the whole planet, then the mass of all living organisms must be quite substantial.

If I told you that the ant species accounted for a massive 15% of all biomass on our planet would you be shocked? Think of the mass of all the gam...

Every business owner and Entrepreneur has many different roles to play. Each one separate from the other, yet similar in many ways. Getting the balance right is an art, getting it wrong results in failure at work and at home. Over the next 9 weeks on Wednesdays, we will look at the various hats or roles that any Entrepreneur needs to wear. We will unpack all the pros and cons around each hat and assist you to become a better business owner, parent and spouse and Entrepreneur.

Be prepared to...

Looking ahead to 2011: I have some key phrases that we will be focusing on for the year:

Collaboration – to build a team of key appointments to assist you and your business towards opportunities and through issues.

Financial Measurement – to understand, measure and manage financial risk for both business and personal.

Innovation – Look to be creative in product development, marketing and delivery of services, to go to places not yet realized.

Education – to learn new methodologies...

Wow, what a year for small business. The world over was darkened with the financial recession and slow down of spending but we have seen some exceptional growth in some small businesses. Cape Town has risen to the task and been able to produce some brilliant development in the ICT sector with growth up by huge margins, not only in sales but employment as well. We survived the World Cup, Malema and the Vuvuzela.

Our members list looks a lot different now than it did 12 months ago. We have se...

A fresh new look for our website and a set of new focused offering for our members in 2011. Take a look through what we now do, it is better, faster and a lot more results orientated for you, the business owner and entrepreneur.

We have added some additional services and our new resource page will be up soon with some great content for sale to build a better you and business.

We are in negotiation with some people to come aboard as full and part time staff, so keep close for new announcemen...

The South African Venture Capital Association met this month in Cape Town to discuss the results of a recent survey done on the state of investment into business by these funders. Here are some of those results:  

•  33 funds surveyed recording 251 VC transactions (2000 to July 2010); 7 in 2008.
• R2.6 billion invested in the VC asset class (2000 to July 2010).
• 60% of transactions by private VC fund managers, 5% Angels and 35% government backed VC fund managers.
• 50% of deals were into businesses in t...

When I worked in corporate all those many years ago, I was exposed to certain tools and terms that we used to solve problems. In the beginning, we relied on a single expert to do the job. Anything difficult was sent to their cubicle and after copious amounts of coffee and late nights the solution would emerge in forms of an equally complicated result. This not only kept their job secure but created an envious career path for other techies.

Later on we began to use a team approach, mostly bec...

With just one month to the Christmas shutdown a lot of small businesses will be scrambling for survival in order to still be in business for 2011. It has been a rough year with the impact of the Soccer World cup , strikes and the low economy.  A lot of small and medium businesses have seen their doors shut for the last time and have had to lay off staff. This is the last thing we need for South Africa. Small business is the key to the emerging economy and job creation, we have to make this wo...

Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week has gathered momentum over the past few days with a huge volume of people now sitting up and taking notice. For year one of a ten year strategy I am encouraged to see such a high volume of chatter this early in the project. The City of Cape Town and the source partners have achieved a huge goal in a very short space of time. My only complaint is the lack of time in the day to attend all the functions I want to be at.

We had a chance to present a number of exci...

I was planning to write something profound on my blog this morning, really. I had had a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast and as I began to get my thoughts together my iGoogle reader popped up with the days blogs that I scan, read and adapt from. I let my eyes drop through the list and as I read, deleted or saved the entries, one jumped out at me from Ideate. POP!

As you know I am a regular contributor to Ideate through my series on various topics, so I am always interested by the...

I am constantly amazed at how sluggish people are when it comes to something new. Change in our lives is seen as a burden and rectum pain even if it may offer some benefit for us.

We coach many different people each month to assist them to break through their person glass ceilings and into new territory. Each case is approached with caution because if I are pushed to hard I will be faced with anger, resistance and resentment. Change is a new constant that we all need to learn to deal with an...

The Cape Town Entrepreneurship Week is a part of the International Week of the Entrepreneur. Cape Town has put together a huge array of events, workshops, talks and open days. The week is split into two sections where the first 3 days 15 – 17 Nov will see many different smaller events taking place throughout the Cape Town greater area. These can be viewed on the CTEW map here.

The Thursday (18^th) is dedicated to the Activa Entrepreneur Summit at the CTICC, Friday (19^th) will see the Activa...

Today is the first official meeting of the new potential partners of the Entrepreneur Incubator. This sounds like a political statement with no real meat at all. Let me explain.

Due to the downturn in the corporate market and expected increase in people wanting to and having to start their own businesses we are retooling to be able to offer a comprehensive service in a whole new better bigger more efficient way to our clients.

We have some huge plans on paper and today is the next step in ...

The concept of bartering and exchanging your services or products with another person has been around for ages. This has been spoilt and frowned upon since the introduction of commercial entities such as money, banks, tax and all those other ugly things that get in the way of making a living. So when I found the Cape Town Talent Exchange website, I jumped at the chance to screw the banks out of their fees and start getting some real value out of my skills.

A quick registration process and I ...

This is a question I get to hear often. People of ages between 16 and 60 have come to me to assist them to find some sort of direction for their careers. Now I am not a career guidance counselor and I do not do any sort of psychometric tests to establish your best suited job. What I can do for people is ask some very simple questions that will often reveal the answers you are looking for.

Let’s break it down a bit. If you knew how you were made and what you were equipped for this will give...

In the spotlight this week: You. The typical South African Entrepreneur, not much different from one found anywhere else in the world yet unique in their natural ability to be innovative and work through a project to the end. Found at airports, coffee shops, beach cafes or alone late at night constructing, writing or doing research for future world domination.

The characteristics of our normal Entrepreneur is not as important as their ability to fully understand who, what and why they are. T...

Pete Carruthers has been writing about how to crash proof your business for many years now. He has a huge following on his Pete’s Weekly newsletter and a subscription of Business Warriors. Pete and I have a few things in common; we dislike people who derail small businesses. Pete is very verbal about banks, Cipro and red tape; even though he now lives outside SA he still offers his advice to mostly South Africans running small to medium businesses.

His current offer in the form of a free w...

Creating a name for any new business has to be one of the hardest issues Entrepreneurs have to deal with. a recent article on OnStartUps.com highlighted some interesting points to remember when engaged in this difficult frustrating stage of your business. Here is a list of their points to remember:

Two issues identified by some of our members as priorities in their daily activities as business owners are how to handle conflict and negotiation and then also time management. Been able to run your business is not always about financial cash flow and marketing but also includes the soft skills that every Entrepreneur needs to address in both themselves as well as their managers.

We are currently filling up spaces on our workshops for the following topics:

• Conflict and Negotiation Skills �...

SA’s biggest and most exciting entrepreneur competition is now open for applications!  This year, you can win your share of almost R 2 million worth of exciting prizes, which include:

• A Corporate identity makeover

• Laptops

• Software

• Business development

• Access to funding

• Networking and business exposure

• Many more!

This competition is for you if:

• Your business is in an expansion phase

• You have a business idea that needs to be evaluated or funde...

The portfolio lifestyle as discussed on Mnet’s Carte Blanche on Sunday describes the lifestyle of those who derive an income from multiple sources whilst living their dream. They discussed how the previous secure corporate jobs were no longer able to offer the security once assumed by career veterans. Over 1 million jobs were lost in 2001 with now 1:6 adults out of work.

We at the Entrepreneur Incubator often engage with people who are looking to start a new career after being ejected out ...

As we get closer to the implementation date of the CPA, we are finding more and more people are still ignorant to its implications and impact on their businesses. In this post I want to focus on some of the marketing issues covered in the CPA, and how they will impact your existing marketing campaigns. 

As far as marketing goes at the moment, the only restriction that I am aware of is the inability to use comparative marketing. The CPA outlines a few more restrictions for us in the act it is...

It is a new season either Spring or Fall, depends on where you are. But a new season is a good time to do some change and change comes with planning, and planning comes with goals. I encourage you, know I challenge you, to take 30 minutes today and write out some of your most important goals for the next 90 days. Use the following 5 headings as a guide if you get stuck.

•  Making my business more focused
• Improving my cash flow
• Expanding my brand footprint
• Developing better relationships with my cus...

The consumer protection act comes into effect in October this year. This act spells out all the rules of engagement in the supply chain of both retail products and services industries. It affects almost everything to do with the running of your small business. We will, over the next couple of weeks try to understand as much of that act as we can, but please understand that I am not a lawyer, nor do I understand the law as well as I could, and that this is just an act and only becomes law once...

With recent improvements in the DSL and Skype upgrades we are able to extend our coaching service to include sessions to Entrepreneurs and Business Owners outside the Cape Town area.

Our Skype coaching will include all the normal services, functions and benefits we offer our Cape Town based members, just without the uncomfortable chairs at coffee shops.

Skype members pay an initial first month R220 registration fee plus R650 per month for a minimum of one 2 hr Skype session. Addition sess...

It is Friday the 13^th and tradition, superstition and old wives tales tells me to stay in bed. But if I listened to all that and my own body, I would never get anything done. How often do we allow others to run our lives and make decisions for us. I value others opinions and will often ask for a different view point but the buck stops with me and I need to make the final decision.

We take new Entrepreneurs through the process of creating a brand for their new business; this includes a new lo...

We got to listen to a thrilling presentation by Michael Jackson at the Business Breakfast/Sanlam event today at Kelvin Grove.

Here are some of the points made by Michael relevant to Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• The world is running at a lot faster pace today than we have ever experienced before.
• Previous 10 year cycles are now down to 3 years
• Work is a privilege now not a right
• Get to know the difference between cash and credit
• Invest in your own health each day
• Never allow your opposition to o...

Any small business owner will tell you that their work is done for passion and the pleasure of seeing a satisfied customer before the gain of any financial return. This is what keeps us going and what gets us out of bed each morning. Over the years we have seen many of our members enter various competitions and even win a few. This has been the result of a focused team effort and the ability to develop a business around a solid strategy of growth and value based foundations. 

Cape Talk and S...

The Young Entrepreneur Program (Y.E.P), a program run by Evo Media, Sierra Nevada College, Northern Nevada University and US State Government, promotes the development of the entrepreneurial spirit in young South Africans. The program starts with Orientation classes in South Africa then takes the “YEPers” to the United States(USA) where they are paired up with local entrepreneurs for 5 weeks. After this experience YEPers are ready to turn training into reality. 

The first group Young Ent...

We ...

•  It’s the stuff you leave out that matters.
• Focus on substance, not fashion.  Focus on what won't change. 
• When good enough gets the job done, go for it.
• When you make tiny decisions, you can't make big mistakes. 
• Pour yourself into your product.
• You rarely regret saying no but you often regret saying yes. 
• Better your customers grow out of your product, than never grow into them. 
• You can’t paint over a bad experience with good marketing.
• All companies have customers. Fortunate companies have au...

Remember the song “I’ve got a combined-harvester and I’ll give you the key” from the early 70’s. Was this the beginning of this movement or as all good things was it just copied from African tradition of bata and ubuntu. Anyway the rise of collaborative consumption and the joint venture for the greater good of the community can be seen as a major trend in small business.

A simple rule applies: Do I have something that I am not using right now that could be used by others who need ...

I heard this quote in a movie on TV a few days ago and it lingered with me. I do not remember what programme it was or when but the comment was directed to a girl who had physical assets that she was encouraged to use to further her dancing career. She was dressed in a loose fitting grey and brown outfit that did nothing to show off her ‘sexy’.

How often we as business owners keep our best attributes under wraps at functions or networking events in order not to seem proud or boastful. We...

What are the characteristics of a successful business owner? This is the million dollar question that if we could know we could replicate and sell. The truth is that we need to access each person within the frame work of their specific business and the environment that they work in. A person may prove successful in Cape Town but fail in Sydney, not because they have changed but the rules of engagement differ in different locations. There are some issues that need to be considered that are con...

Over the next few weeks we will discuss the various issues of preparation as an Entrepreneur. We will cover the following points:

• Preparing yourself as a business owner
• Preparing an idea for development
  
• Preparing your business for launch
  
• Preparing your business for funding
  

Each of these is a season that every business owner will face and need to endure with a positive result to develop from idea to sustainable entity.

Each article will be publish on the Wednesday of the next four weeks. Join us...