Section 2 Are You Running in Top Gear?

BUSINESSLINK NEWSLETTER
From the BusinessLink Team
Issue No.30 / July 08-15, 2012
Main topic
Are you running
in top gear?
Contents
section 1 Readers Comments
Section 2 Are You Running In Top Gear?
Section 3 Learning Business From Makandiwa
Section 4 Seven Reasons You Might Fail To Become The Best In The World
Section 5 Entrepreneurs Report
Section 6 Supervision Training Courses
Section 7 How Well Do You Know Your Customers?
Section 8 Factor Reality Into Your Strategy
Section 9 5 Traps To Avoid When Growing Your Business
Section 7 Businesslink Community Market Place
Section 8 Vacancies / Student Attachments Wanted And Available
Section 9 Training And Development

SECTION 1 READERS COMMENTS

Can a married couple run a business successfully together?
Last week’s main article, entitled generated some interesting comments. Here are just two of them.
Dear Philip
I have worked with my wife to run our flea-market and tuck shop. She is very good especially on follow up of credits. She does most of the book work while I am at work and then I do the auditing. I like it. I am however afraid we are bringing business stresses home. We would try the tips in the Newsletter.
Regards
MM
Hie Phillip
I enjoyed your article about working as a husband and wife team. Brendan and I have been working together now for the past 7 years and we have had our fair share of challenges . We are both very strong characters so have many heated discussions on a daily basis!! One of the most important things that have improved our working relationship is to very clearly split our roles and responsibilities!!
Sally Palmer
**************************************************************************************************************************************
Hello Phillip
Although I'm a street vendor on the streets of Harare I've found your articleseducative. I've moved from selling what everybody is selling to be innovative.
Thanx PC .

Section 2 are you running in top gear?

By Phillip Chichoni
A friend asked me to join him for a ride in his new car the other day. He was going to Chitungwiza to see his mother as he was in the country for just two days.
“I hope there are no police speed traps along the way,” he said.
“Why, are you planning on over speeding?” I asked him.
“No! It’s just this car. On the way from Bulawayo, local police did not believe me when I told them it’s very difficult to keep it below 180,” he said, seriously. I laughed. But when he started the engine, I thought maybe he was right. As you rev, it purrs and growls like an animal and you can feel the tension like a coiled spring ready to unleash if you just ease the clutch. The V12 SL65 AMG accelerates from 0 to 100km/hr in 4 seconds! At slow speeds you can feel it struggling to contain its energy- sheer brutality.
The human mind is a powerful organ. Its power is incomprehensible. Imagine what it has done: sent man to the moon, flew faster than the speed of sound, split the atom, created ultrafast computers, tamed elephants- the list is endless. The only limit to what you can achieve in your life is what you can dream.
There is a sad fact though. The brain is not like a machine which releases its full potential at the push of a button and can refuse to operate below a certain optimum speed. The brain’s capability increase the harder you push it. The bigger the task you give it, the more resources it harnesses to accomplish it. Give it small tasks and it becomes lazy; actually it reduces its capacity- in other words it atrophies!
So if you find yourself in a dead-end job, running a slow business, struggling to get ahead and moaning about how unkind life is, it’s because you decided to lower the power and speed of your mind. You have told your brain not to worry about solving your problems. Life is challenging enough without our making it even harder by limiting ourselves. So open up your mind and think.
Brian Tracy said it aptly, “The biggest obstacle to creating a wonderful life is self-limiting beliefs. A self-limiting belief is an idea that you’re limited in some way in terms of time, talent, intelligence, money, ability or opportunity.”
Interact with people who believe there are no limits and you will soon find your mind thinking of solutions beyond your wildest dreams. Every day when you get up, choose who and what you want you want to be. Ask yourself, “Do I want to live today as a person with a poor context or a rich context?”
A person with a poor context will say something like, “I will never be rich.” A person with a rich context will say, “I need to increase my business and financial acumen so I can work less and make more money.”
It’s all within your reach. Tell your mind and it will purr and growl to propel you forward. Live you life to the full- move at the top gear!
Feedback to

Section 3learning business from makandiwa

By Max Soutter
Church leaders like Emmanuel Makandiwa and Urbert Angel who have massive followings in Zimbabwe can teach you a little something about business. I’m not talking about the controversial stories of flamboyance and so on – that’s a debate for another day (maybe another website), I’m talking about the way they move people.
See if instead of seeing clients as just buyers of your product, you saw them as actual people, with beliefs, values and a world view that shapes how they live; you may actually become empowered to lead them. You might shape your marketing material so that it answers the questions they’re really asking, meeting the needs that really nag them.
You would build your brand, your message and your whole business around a powerful and exciting Gospel (good news) that matches the world view of the people you need to influence.
Maybe you would see that a nice looking logo and great signage is really just a very small part of what it takes to build a brand. It’s about reaching the market on a deep, emotional almost spiritual level. It’s about positioning yourself as not just another solution, but the only viable option, THEE man of God, so to speak.
Makandiwa has done this masterfully (yes by the power of the Lord, I hear), but the principles stands. And in a religious country like Zimbabwe with a pastor just around every corner, the value of being seen as thee man of God, thee solution, thee best option has never been higher.
Max Soutter Max Soutter is the founder of the Business Setup Group (BizSetup Group). An organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs start-up and grow businesses the smart way.
Email Max directly on for help with your business setup, internet marketing strategy or corporate marketing efforts or visit

SECTION 4 Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World

By Max Soutter

• You run out of time (and quit).
• You run out of money (and quit).
• You get scared (and quit).
• You’re not serious about it (and quit).
• You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit).
• You focus on the short-term instead of the long (and quit when the short-term gets too hard).
• You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent).

Seth Godin - The Dip.
Need company registration, a shelf company or Tax Clearance fast?
Call Phil Chichoni
0777 774 007

Section 5Entrepreneurs Report

By the BusinessLink team
In this new column we bring you what entrepreneurs have to say about themselves and their businesses. If you want to be featured, please contact the editor by email to .
This week’s Entrepreneurs
4 years
Phillip Chichoni
Admiral Business Systems (Pvt) Ltd
How did your company come about?
The idea of starting a business always appealed to me. In 2008 I could see that I’d never be happy continuing to work for someone else, especially as the firm I was working for was struggling to survive in those hyperinflation days. I registered Admiral Business Systems whilst still working, providing part-time consultancy services. I was also busy completing my first book, Business Planning Simplified. A few months later I left run my own business full time.
What business do you do?
We provide strategic business planning, accounting, financial management and business systems development services. Our services are targeted at SMEs that want to accelerate their growth, move up to the next level and build sustainable businesses. We also provide training in entrepreneurship and business management skills.
What challenges did you face during the start up phase?
It was a challenge starting up in the midst of Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis. Those days, it was difficult to get customers who could afford our long-term and high value services. Each month we had to find new customers who wanted once off services like writing a business plan, or preparing a set of annual financial accounts.
When did you get your biggest break?
In 2011 we noticed that we were getting more enquiries from the bigger SMEs rather than the very small ones. So we decided to focus on their needs, which included business systems development, business training workshops and seminars and strategy coaching. Other organizations began to want to partner with us and we started getting some significant contracts. We now have partners we subcontract on those jobs our teams are not specialists in, so that we are able to provide a full set of services needed by fast growing SMEs.
What ambitions do you have for the company?
I’d like Admiral Business Systems to become “the guys to find” when entrepreneurs want to set up business systems and accelerate their growth. We want to become a global brand, starting with branching into Africa later this year. I would also like to see BusinessLink magazine which we are working on become a global brand, along the lines of Entrepreneur and Inc magazines, but running out of Africa.
What success tips would you offer aspiring entrepreneurs?
Believe in yourself and have a passion for your business and your clients. Self confidence is the single most important trait that will attract high value clients. And spread the word about yourself and your business, through blogging, newsletters, the press and social networks. Become known as an expert in your industry.
SEVEN YEARS
LUVUYO RANI, FOUNDER OF SILULO ULUTHO TECHNOLOGIES
How did your company come about?
Silulo Ulutho Technologies was started in 200 when I was a teacher andrealized that many of my colleagues couldn’t use computers. So Iresigned to start my own company, with the aim of imparting basiccomputer skills to teachers. I started by selling refurbished
computers from the boot of my car at about the same time the
Department of Education was introducing a curriculum called Outcomes-based Education, which required teachers to use computers as learningtool. That, coupled with huge lack of computer resources and basicoperational skills, made me realize there was a need for Internetcafés and computer training in townships.
What does your business do?
Silulo Ulutho offers a combination of IT-related products and businessservices, including Internet access, printing services, basic computertraining, and hardware and software sales. We know there’s a hunger fortechnology in townships and we want to feed that demand. By opening upcommunities to the world of computers, we’re offering people the powerof education and information.
What challenges did you face during the start-up phase?
Most people thought I was mad. Some even spread rumours that thecomputers I was selling were stolen! The fact that I was trading fromthe boot of my car didn’t help, as no-one would trust me with theirmoney. Such doubts from the public hampered the growth of the companyand resulted in lack of capital. So I had to take a loan to fiancé thebusiness.
When did you get your biggest break?
In 2006, when my partners and I decided to start an Internet café at Khayelitsha Mall. Having business premises helped us grow and now we have 18 branches. We’ve recently partnered with Vodacom to include mobile services in our portfolio.
What ambitions do you have for the company?
We’d like to grow beyond townships and expand across all the country’s provinces. We’d also like to be a one stop IT shop that caters for both individuals and organizations and to eventually offer franchises.
What success tips would you offer aspiring entrepreneurs?
Hard work, determination and believing in your dreams are the best recipes for success. Work on one idea at a time, in order not to lose focus- it’s easy to get sidetracked. It’s also important to do what you love, regardless of the money.
Source: Destiny Magazine

section 6 Supervision Training Courses

All About People HR Consultants in conjunction with SME BUSINESS LINK will be holding a two day Effective Supervisionworkshop. If you need to find out how you can improve your supervisory skills, this is the workshop for you!
Contact us for bookings.
SUPERVISOR TRAINING- ALL ABOUT PEOPLE IN CONJUNCTION WITH SME BUSINESS LINK
VENUE: AMBASSADOR HOTEL, HARARE
TIME: 0830-1630
DATES / COURSE CONTENT / COST per person (incl. of course material, lunches and teas, certificates of attendance) / WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Thursday 19th & Friday 20th July 2012 / EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION
-Defining and Understanding the role of a supervisor.
-Traits of a good supervisor
-10 keys to effective supervision
-How to be a good supervisor
-How to manage performance
-Developing assertiveness
-Dealing with pressure
-What not to do / $160.00 for the two days /

• Supervisors
• Prospective supervisors
• Senior staff with supervisory roles

EFFECTIVE PLANNING
- Effective planning- importance of planning
- S.M.A.R.T. Planning
- Goal setting: characteristics and steps of goal setting
- PDCA Cycle- Plan, Do, Check, Act
- Time Management
COMMUNICATION IN LEADERSHIP
-The Communication Process
-Barriers to communication and how to overcome them
-How to manage the grapevine in an organization
MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES
-What do people want from their jobs?
-Understanding what motivates employees
-Motivation Theories
-Inspiring employees, rewarding good behavior and stopping bad behavior
-Basic reasons why employees do not perform well
-Effective team building
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
-Definition of and importance of performance management
-Difference between performance appraisals and performance management
-Types and Frequency of performance appraisals
-Defining and clarifying role expectations
-Managing employee performance
Please note that the above mentioned dates are flexible. We can book you on any other date that is suitable for your staff.
For bookings and information, please contact
Buhle- 0773 974 669 or
Phillip 0777 774 007

Section 7how well do you know your customers?

By Sally and Brendan Palmer
Most people in business think that their customer is a random person in the public that buys their products. However, to really succeed with selling your products to customers, you have to know your customer inside out. The depth to which you know them can determine whether or not they buy from you rather than from your competitors and whether or not they KEEP buying from you.
The more you learn about your customer, the easier it becomes to speak to them, to market to them, to fulfill their needs, to satisfy them and to build a long lasting relationship with them. Your customer should be your business's best friend. Remember that without customers, you have no business.
You should spend some time researching and defining your customers so that you know all of the following information...
- Who is your ideal customer?
- Are they Male or Female?
- What is their age?
- What is their job or work status?
- What does your customer like to buy?
- Why they like to buy those products?
- What price are they willing to comfortably pay for products?
- What do they not like about your products?
- What other similar products do they buy?
- What challenges do they face in their day to day life?
- What makes them excited about life?
- What frustrates them in life?
Once you know the answers to the above questions, you will be better able to meet your customers' needs and really start making them happy!!
What can you do to strengthen your relationship with your customers?
- Ensure their experience with you is enjoyable
- Ensure that you satisfy their needs and that they leave happy
- Surprise them every once in a while
- Ensure they "feel" like they get a good deal from you and do NOT feel ripped off
Remember that your customers are your best marketers and agents for your business so make sure they love you and your products so much that they say great things to their friends!!
Here are some of our favourite quotes about customers. We hope you enjoy them...
“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.”
PETER DRUCKER
“If we don't take care of our customers, someone else will.”
UNKNOWN
The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.
SAM WALTON
In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want.
ALICE MACDOUGALL
Until next week...
"Brendan and Sally Palmer, Sabre Business World. Sign up for free weeklybusiness tips at "

Section 8factor reality into your strategy

By Milton Kamwendo