“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect” (W. Clement Stone) With the world experiencing its toughest business environment in decades, your sales reps are the people who more than anyone else need to not only embody the company and its values, but also be capable of…
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure” (Colin Powell) The obvious starting points to securing tenders would be the likes of B-BBEE certification and company registration, but from an operational perspective – there are things suppliers can do to find relevant tenders, and to…
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Arthur C. Clarke, English science writer and inventor) Virtual meeting platforms have their pros and cons, but the standout advantages seem to be their cost effectiveness, time saving capabilities and their ability to host large numbers of attendees at very small cost. The options available to companies…
“A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.” (John C. Maxwell) Succession planning is preparing for the future of your business, ensuring the people and resources are available for its ongoing success beyond the lifetime of the current key players. It is especially critical in small businesses where the loss of a key person can…
“Meetings should be like salt – a spice sprinkled carefully to enhance a dish, not poured recklessly over every forkful. Too much salt destroys a dish. Too many meetings destroy morale and motivation” (Entrepreneur and author of “Rework”, Jason Fried) While the capacity for digital meetings and interviews has been around for some time, they…
“Forewarned is forearmed” (Samuel Shellabarger, Prince of Foxes) The daily Covid-19 infection rate has decreased considerably over the last month or so. South Africans have found a way to live with the risk of infections and have in the recent past become generally more active. This has increased the fear that there might be a…
“It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” (Jack Welch, former CEO of GE) The health and wellbeing (HWB) of employees has a substantial impact on business success and sustainability, and this has never been more…
The South African economy could take as long as seven years to get back to the size of R5.1 trillion it was at the end of 2019 before Covid-19 and the national lockdown. This forecast is according to Citadel chief economist Maarten Ackerman, who expressed this view during an interview. Long way back Christopher Loewald,…
“Cyber-Security is much more than a matter of IT.” (Stéphane Nappo, 2018 Global Chief Information Security Officer of the year) According to official communications from Experian, a consumer, business and credit information services agency, an individual in South Africa claiming to represent a legitimate client fraudulently requested services from it and was simply given the …
Business start-up planning has been extensively covered over the past twenty years and longer, and without understating its importance or re-inventing the wheel, perhaps it has been overplayed. Much training is available on the Internet, including templates and guidelines provided by banks and the SA Department of Trade and Industry. To start a freelancing business…