Article by: www.growthinstitute.com

Experiencing a major growth spurt in your business for the first time?

Then chances are, you’ll be making some mistakes. Though some are a natural part of the growth process, the rest should be avoided at all costs. And here’s your chance to learn from those who ventured out before you.

Growing from a startup or mid-market company into a scale-up is a challenging transition. Even the most experienced CEO or executive will admit that growing pains are inevitable once you start scaling. However, the faster you overcome the hurdles, the smaller the chance your business fails.

One of the biggest problems when you lack experience with scaling up, is that you don’t know what you don’t know. But fortunately for you, others have already made some mistakes in the process. Knowing what they are can help you prevent them.

Over the past decade, I have personally helped thousands of startups and mid-market companies move from one phase to the next. By now, more than 70,000 companies have successfully scaled up with my elaborate framework of tools and tactics, the Scaling Up methodology, which is described in detail in my bestselling book Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t.

One of the main reasons CEOs and executives of fast-growing companies struggle and fail is that they try too many things at the same time. It’s really important to have focus, be disciplined, and gather the data you need to be able to know what works and what doesn’t.

Here, I’ve listed 10 of the most common and dangerous mistakes CEOs and executives of scale-ups make that you can avoid.

1. Scaling up too fast

One of the most common mistakes companies in the startup phase make is that they scale up prematurely. After getting one or two clients, they believe they have already proven their market-fit.

Although the excitement is understandable, you really have to validate your business model before you scale. Because even when you already have more than one or two clients or users as a startup, you still have to gain traction on the main market.

Geoffrey Moore wrote an interesting book about this phenomenon, called Crossing the Chasm. It describes the challenge of getting from very few buyers to a lot of buyers. You have to realize that at first, it’s the early adopters that are buying your product; people who generally like to try new things. But after that, you need to reach the majority. The majority of buyers are very different and the gap between the two can be a difficult one to bridge. Therefore, this point is also the one in which most companies get stuck or even go down entirely. Make sure to test your product-market-fit thoroughly and that you know exactly who your ideal customer is.

Also, without proper preparation and strategic focus, rapid growth does not necessarily mean profitability. You have to be ready to scale. CEO and Co-founder of Fracture, Abhi Lokesh, said they had to learn this in his company the hard way: “It’s a euphoric feeling to see orders flood in, but you have to make sure you’ve got an ironclad grasp on the unit economics of those orders and the efforts that led to those orders. How much did you pay for them? Are they actually profitable?”

Lokesh’ advice was not to be seduced by top-line numbers: “Along with rapid growth also comes additional overhead costs – more employees, more infrastructure, more everything. Are you truly prepared to handle it? We weren’t, and it cost us dearly.”

In any growth phase, dig deep to ensure that the growth is sustainable and you can actually keep it up. Otherwise, you’re not scaling at all – you’re just getting bigger and less efficient.

2. Lack of focus and alignment

When your company is gaining more traction, the decisions you need to make grow even more complex. This pressure can cause you to make poor decisions that can hurt your potential for success and even set you back.

More companies die for the excess of opportunity than for lack of it. To prevent overwhelm, (excessive) stress, and disorganized movement in all directions, it’s essential to know exactly what your focus is.

This means you’re deliberately choosing what to do, but also – and equally important – deliberately choosing what not to do.

Don’t go crazy trying to add new features or related products once you’ve achieved product-market-fit and started scaling up. It’s important that you can do one thing better than anyone else before you start building new stuff.

A great tool that you can use in your organization to gain more clarity on what your focus should be at any point in time, is the One-Page Strategic Plan or OPSP. This is a very concise plan that’s easy to communicate with your entire team. This one-page document will literally get your employees on one page and achieve team alignment.

You need to have the right goals and metrics in place and these need to be clear and transparent for everyone on your team. Because without alignment, focus, and commitment, fast growth isn’t sustainable.

Everyone makes mistakes but the key is being aware of them. This is the only way can discover what works and what doesn’t. It’s how we distinguish smart, well-informed decisions in your business from the opposite. What you don’t track and measure, you cannot improve.

The daily huddle is also an effective tool that helps you and your team(s) to remain flexible without losing alignment or focus. This is a 5-15 minute meeting to discuss tactical issues and provide updates. It’s part of a proven meeting rhythm that many of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world implemented in their organization to enable their major, rapid growth. You can read more about effective meetings in my article “How Weekly Meetings Can Accelerate Your Firm’s Growth, Keep Everyone Motivated, And Achieve Your #1 Priority”.

3. Hiring prematurely

Another common mistake startups tend to make in their first period of significant growth is to hire too fast. Jeremy Ong, the owner of HUSTLR and a chain of blogs and eCommerce stores, learned this the hard way: “One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made when my company was experiencing rapid growth was to hire people prematurely because we were just desperate for extra manpower just to cope with the demand.”

“As a result, I have hired employees that do not fit into the company culture at all, which hurt company morale in ways I didn’t imagine. Employees started sharing bad habits with each other and the productivity per employee dropped because of the distractions and the poor performance of other employees. We ended up being less productive as a company, even with more people.”

Jeremy was hoping things would improve over time but eventually had to dismiss the bad apples after a series of poor performances spanning over a year and a half. The company had to undergo a culture rehabilitation exercise to get the best employees back on track.“I now believe that it is better to push our best employees harder and treat them better, instead of using a duct-tape solution by hiring employees just because we’re in need of more manpower.”

Matthew Ross, Co-owner and COO of The Slumber Yard had a similar experience due to hiring too quickly without the proper interviews and screening: “After a couple of weeks, it was apparent that we had hired the wrong candidates. Whether they didn’t possess the skills necessary to succeed in the position or didn’t fit into the company’s culture from a personality standpoint, these hires actually hindered the company’s growth.”

His advice: “Take your time and really train up each new employee. If you’re constantly trying to rush, you may find yourself getting out over your skis.”

It’s also important to remember that you need to stay lean. Don’t hire too many people (middle managers or specialists) as this takes away from your core competencies and leave you prone to trying to scale other areas too quickly. A small, motivated, and highly productive team is better than a sluggish team with poor morale.

But don’t postpone hiring new employees too long either as failure to deliver is at the core of many business closures. Just make sure to hire efficient resources that believe in your vision. And don’t forget that especially amidst rapid growth, outsourcing can be a great solution for non-core tasks too.

4. Mistaking leadership for management

When your company is still in its initial startup phase you may be able to handle all of the functional roles, but it’s a fatal mistake to believe you can continue to do so.

To stay on the path toward achieving your BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal), stick with leading, don’t start managing. Shyam Krishna Iyer, the founder of SKI Charities, experienced the consequences of getting too managerial as a business leader. He said: “While an entrepreneur may drive early success, I have found successful entrepreneurship to be far more “bottom-up” as local level ownership and buy-in will determine the success of any project or enterprise.”

When Shyam started out, he decided that a high level of oversight and control would be necessary but he soon learned this was not scalable: “I quickly became stretched too thin and lost the connection with my staff on the ground. The entire enterprise began to lose focus and flounder.” He found that autonomy and control must devolve from the entrepreneur to the field in order to scale successfully.

Business leaders inspire others, have the vision, make connections, and secure funding for their companies’ continued growth. They’re idea machines. These are not necessarily the same qualities found in a good manager. It’s important to leave the execution to those who are great at that.

5. Not setting long-term goals

Goals give you direction and keep you on track during the day-to-day operations. By making sure your goals are SMART, you can identify where you want to go and outline the specific action steps needed to get there. This is something most business leaders understand and do well.

But although most startups and scale-ups do set short-term goals (monthly, quarterly, yearly, and perhaps also 2- to 5-year goals) to measure their progress, they often fail to define long-term ones too. If the long-term is not clearly defined, your short-term goals might end up being the wrong ones.

Long-term goals are often overlooked in startups for reasons (or excuses) of agility but if you want to move fast, you need to know where you are going. You have to be able to make quick but smart decisions. And this requires a clear sense of direction.

Coming up with a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (BHAG) that you’re striving towards the next 10 to 20 years can help you with that.

6. Saying yes to every customer request (“over-customizing”)

Another mistake that fast-growing companies often make when they start to scale-up, is that they say yes to every (feature) request made by their customers. In this case, you’re running the risk of over-promising and under-delivering.

This is also what the Co-founder of GreenPal (a company described as “Uber for lawn care”), Gene Caballero, experienced: “One mistake we made when trying to scale, was to give our customer too much power when it came to dictating their schedule. We allowed homeowners the chance to add one-at-a-time appointments whenever they wanted and didn’t give them the ability to easily schedule either weekly or biweekly appointments. This is a logistical nightmare for the lawn care pros that used our platform.”

They decided to implement a change that forced homeowners to opt for a regular routine. This ultimately provided them with better service from the vendors, who in their place were more engaged since, knowing that the homeowners they obtained via GreenPal were in it for the long haul. “This has helped us grow at over 100% YoY. Our projected revenue for 2019 is $20m,” said Caballero. The saying they have at their company is one that could be useful for many to remember in the scale-up phase: “We let the thousands decide what the millions will do.”

7. Focusing on marketing too little or too late

One of the biggest, most persistent mistakes startup founders make is assuming they don’t need to market and that their customers will find them. Many believe that marketing is a function they can do without for the longest time and they almost always use it as a last resort to gain traction. But thinking you can create a major, sustainable growth organically is very naïve. And word-of-mouth referrals and direct marketing do not scale.

Obviously, the best type of marketing for you depends on your business and your target audience. But whether it’s traditional advertising, online marketing or content marketing, you’ll need something to scale, and that something has to be a strategic choice with clear KPIs and ROIs that are well measured.

Too little strategic focus on marketing can also result in becoming dependent on one marketing channel only. And like Abi Lokesh from Fracture experienced, this is inadvisable too: “One mistake we made at Fracture while scaling was putting all of our growth eggs in one basket. We rode the wave of what helped us achieve scale, somewhat naively hoping that it would never end, without taking advantage of that opportunity to diversify our marketing efforts.”

Lokesh learned that “you’ve always got to have multiple irons in the fire”: “Sooner or later, a marketing channel will peak and begin to lose efficiency. Don’t wait until that happens, because by then it’s too late. Recognize that every scaling tactic has an expiration date and keep working to find the next growth hack.”

8. Postponing the next-round funding too long

Running out of money should be avoided at this stage, so have your action plan in place early on and get ready to impress investors earlier than you may have intended.

Venture Capital firms that invest in later-stage funding are more risk-averse than your early-stage or pre-revenue investors. It usually takes much longer to attract them and seal the deal. But you need fast cash to grow your facilities.

Hunting down funding almost becomes a CEOs full-time job if it’s not approached strategically and you don’t partner with investors for the long run. This is what Kim Saxton, MBA, PhD, and Clinical Professor of Marketing, found and described in the book she co-authored, The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups: “To grow means having enough cash on hand to make investments in sales, marketing, and people to support customers. Often early on, startups are interested in any source of funds. They don’t vet their investors. They need to partner with investors who can fund successive rounds of investment. Instead, they end up having to hunt down new sources of funds. That takes time and the process is slow. So, it’s hard to match up funding time with needs for cash to grow.”

Apart from the difficulties that business leaders may experience in their quest to impress investors, it also becomes more difficult to estimate your expenditure correctly in the scale-up phase. William Taylor, currently CDO (Career Development Officer) at MintResume, had this experience while running a previous company of his: “Initially, we thought that we wouldn’t be needing additional staff as we already had a well-trained team that was good at multitasking. But, we soon realized that we needed more people as our team was already overworked and struggling with time management issues. So, we hired a new team. To accommodate this cost, we compromised on the office renovation and our higher management had to pool in a few resources to meet our expenses.”

You never miss the water until the well runs dry, but if you wait until the last minute to seek funding this can lead to extremely tight and stressful situations that could threaten your company’s very existence.

9. Lacking a scalable infrastructure

As your company grows, nothing scales automatically, unless it is systematically set up for scale. You need to have the right infrastructure in place – systems, procedures, and physical space – in order to keep the pace and make optimal use of your company’s momentum.

To expect communication naturally evolves with growth, for instance, is a false assumption many startup founders make. It’s obviously a lot easier to communicate changes and progress to a few other people, versus 10, 50 or even 1000 other people.

Fracture founder Lokesh also learned that you shouldn’t take good communication at scale for granted; you’re going to have to work at it: “During rapid growth, it’s much easier for messaging to get misinterpreted, key points to get lost, and dangerous assumptions to be made. You have to invest in your company’s communication infrastructure to make sure everyone gets and stays on the same page.”

Your IT infrastructure has to be set up properly too. This does not only mean having the right systems in place for communication and execution; it also means investing in redundancy. As Deni Ivanov, CEO and CMO of Royal Services could illustrate from his experience. He admitted they didn’t invest heavily enough in their company’s online infrastructure “We didn’t think about the fact that you should make backups for almost everything you work on. Redundancy is of huge importance as we try to keep all of our information online and all of our communications are done in one form or another over the internet. You need to have backups for whenever a system crashes or an email gets deleted by accident – we learned the hard way.”

10. Not being agile

Strategic action plans are important to achieve your vision but they can’t be written in stone either. Unforeseen situations occur, market trends change and aggressive competitors can pop up out of nowhere. Consequently, you may need to change course quickly at one point or another.

Change is the only constant, especially in startups and scale-ups. Don’t to pivot for the sake of pivoting but if you become stubborn or paralyzed, you will stall out.

A strong IT infrastructure and communication system can help you iterate. Making small, daily, incremental changes that are aligned with your company’s long-term vision or BHAG and that contribute to your most important KPIs, is the best way to ensure agility.

If you’re experiencing hiccups on your road to major business success, know that you’re not the only one in battle (regardless of the type of product or service you provide or the industry you’re in).

Always remember that for every problem you encounter, another company has already faced something similar, and you can implement the tools and strategies that have proven to work.

Article by: www.growthinstitute.com

The Women in Waders is an all-female fly-fishing team who is set to make history this month by becoming the first ever female team to compete in the annual TOPS Corporate Trophy Challenge…

2019 has seen South Africa’s women breaking boundaries left, right and centre – from female pilots to DJs to seats of power in government to our national athletes.

Women are breaking into spaces and industries that were previously considered ‘boy’s clubs’ and this is just the beginning! The latest all-female troupe to break the mold in Mzansi is the Women in Waders. The fly-fishing quartet is sponsored by The Finance Team and the four incredible women who make up the team are ready to make waves (literally and figuratively!) at this year’s TOPS Corporate Trophy Challenge.

First all-women team to compete

The Challenge is entering its 18th year but 2019 will be the first time that a team made up entirely of women will compete in the finals which take place at the Wildfly Waters in the KZN Midlands. Even more fitting, the Women in Waders will be competing at the closing event which takes place on the last weekend of Women’s Month where they will be hoping to bring the trophy home.

They won’t have to travel too far – all four fisherwomen hail from KZN and the team’s captain, Roxanne Stegen, will be keen to make use of their homeground advantage. Revealing their tactics for the finals, Roxanne said, “At the finals, I’ll be more strategic around dam allocation. As opposed to the first leg of the competition which we left to lady luck, I will allocate dams based on knowledge and fishing style preference of each team member. Good knowledge of all the waters in the area is a unique challenge in its own right”.

Making history

The Finance Team also beamed with pride at the prospect of an all-female team making history at this year’s Corporate Trophy Challenge. Their director, Grant Robson, said “The TOPS @ Spar Corporate Trophy Challenge is arguably the most prestigious freshwater fly fishing festival held in South Africa and it has been dominated by male competitors since its inception.” He added, “We are so proud of our team for securing their place in the finals and we back them all the way,”.

We’ll be keeping up with the Women in Waders as they make history from the 22nd of August to the 25th of August in the KZN Midlands.

Which other women have inspired you to push the boundaries during Women’s Month 2019?

The Woman in Waders make Waves

Fly fishing is not for the faint hearted – early, chilly mornings is one of the easier aspects to this intricate sport. South Africa is an avid playing ground when it comes to freshwater fly fishing, with many individuals and teams having been selected to represent South Africa both internationally and locally. There are many competitions, both individual and team events, occurring across South Africa. One of the most well-known group competitions is that of the Tops Corporate Trophy Challenge.

The Tops Corporate Challenge has been the most prestigious Fly Fishing event in South Africa for the last 18 years, with each year becoming more thrilling and competitive than the prior. This year, over 240 anglers made their way to Wildfly Waters, Natal Midlands, where the qualifiers for this competition commences. Teams battle it out over three legs, with the top five teams of each leg progressing to the finals. This year The Women in Waders, proudly sponsored by The Finance Team, have been the first women-only fly fishing team to have made it to the corporate finals in its 18 years of existence. These four avid fly fishers did not let the fear of this male-dominated sport get in the way of their vision to be victorious.

Over the weekend of the 22^nd– 25^th August, the ladies gave it their all at the finals of the corporate challenge. Tough conditions were eminent and the ladies fished their hearts out. They went on to finish 9^th overall– an amazing achievement for the team and prestigious representation for all women in the sport.

The Women In Waders, proudly sponsored by The Finance Team, seen at the finals of the Tops Corporate Challenge. The WIW team: Roxanne Stegen (captain), Bridgette Stegen, Sindi-Leigh McBain and Lyndall Blaikie.

We asked team captain Roxanne to answer some questions around the challenge on behalf of the WIW:

• What would have done the same or different?

Hahaha I’m not one for regrets. I’d do it all over again… I’d prefer to look forward where our eye on the prize is top 5 next time!

• How has The Finance Team’s sponsorship helped the Women In Waders?

Through the buildup we’ve enjoyed enormous coverage as “The Finance Team – Woman in Waders”, as such propelling our brand in collaboration with The Finance Team and beliefs that we’ve inspired a few other woman to take up fly-fishing as a recreational past time and step out of one’s comfort zone. An excellent example is a recent comment from a woman on one of the Facebook promotions who wrote “#goals” – awe thank you – it’s what keeps us going. Perhaps more tangibly I believe the sponsorship allowed us ladies to simply go out have fun and fish without any “financial burden” or pressure.

• How many other women were there in the finals?

There was one other woman in the finals, legendary Louise Steenkamp who fished with her male counterparts as a team. Must be said she was the Top Dog in her team!

• Words of advice to aspiring women anglers?

If the outdoors and idea of fly-fishing appeals to you, there’s no need to know it all.  Simply start slowly, join our Facebook Page Woman in Waders SA, follow us on Instagram, come join in on a ladies clinic, join a fishing club, buy second hand gear and get out there… we look forward to joining you!

As we look back, The Finance Team is proud to have been backing The Women In Waders throughout the entirety of the Tops Corporate Challenge from the beginning. The ladies can be very proud of the amazing end results they received in this tough and enduring challenge!

Interview with Grant Robson of The Finance Team.

________________________________________________________________

Q: Grant. You’re an absolute legend for sponsoring an all-women’s team for one of the toughest still water fly-fishing festivals in SA, what inspired your decision to do so?

A: I have been a fisherman for as long as I can remember but only started fly fishing at the age of 28 which is just over 20 years ago. It was my girlfriend at the time who actually introduced me to Fly Fishing at Millstream. She was an accomplished fly fisher in her own right. Back then it was not that common to see woman fishing / fly fishing but that has certainly changed over the past 20 years. I still think a lot can and should be done to encourage and develop woman in this fantastic sport. Of all the different facets of fishing, fly fishing is probably the best suited to woman for a number of reasons. I would not be surprised if a woman was to become the overall world champion in years to come. Fishing is a fantastic sport that the whole family can participate in. The bonds that I have seen forged between fathers and children through fly fishing has been a joy to behold and I think its high time that mothers get in on the act. There is no better way to spend quality time with your children than on some beautiful lake or stream surrounded by scenery that takes your breath away.

While the Corporate Challenge is very competitive, we feel that the WIW team is equally competitive and as competent as any of their male counterparts and we are confident that they will make the finals of this prestigious event and hopefully place in the top 10. We hope that this team of ladies goes on to inspire a new generation of female fly fishers. For us, this was enough inspiration to sponsor WIW at this year’s Corporate Challenge and hopefully many more to come.

Q: I understand you fish yourself & your team did an (expected) impressive job of placing in your leg of the Tops Corporate Challenge last year. Where did the love for fishing begin with you?

A:  As mentioned above I have been in love with fishing generally for as long as I can remember. I fondly remember a 3 week Christmas holiday at the Clansthal caravan park on the south coast when I was 5, where I literally spent 12 hours a day on the rocks with my newly acquired Christmas present catching small fish and just absolutely loving life. I had to be dragged off those rocks every evening and was back on them the next day at first light. I still get those feelings today as I head out in the early morning and feel the adrenalin surging through my veins and hearing my heart beat thumping in my ears in the quiet of the early morning. It’s something that is difficult to explain to somebody who has no interest in fishing or has yet to feel the rush of that moment when a fish hits your fly. Priceless!!

Looking back further than that, I would say that I probably got the fishing bug from my Mother. At 79 she still takes every opportunity she can to watch me fish from the banks or on the boat and jumps at the chance to retrieve a fly that I have cast for her. She recently landed 7 beautiful rainbows from a lake at Trout Hideaway near Lydenburg. I have no doubt that given the opportunity to go back and do it all again she would have made a fantastic angler but things were different back then.

Q: We’re excited to add a little colour to our gear this year in the form of the TFT logo. Why the blue, pink & green?

A: Great Question. The simple answer is that we just wanted something that was a bit different that stood out from the pack. As a consultancy mainly consisting of Chartered Accountants I think most people were expecting a dull, boring, black and white, “professional” looking logo. We wanted colours that really stood out and grabbed ones attention.

Q: Can you tell us a little (a lot) more about what it is you do. What can The Finance Team do for us?

A: The Finance Team is a professional consultancy that specialises in the provision of part time and interim financial managers and CFO’s. We exclusively retain the services of highly trained and experienced individuals and supply these critical skills to clients that don’t want, need or can’t afford a similar resource on a full time basis. Our clients include SME’s that lack the above mentioned skills as well as larger listed companies that require these skills on an interim basis to complete ad hoc projects and to “hold the fort” during times of temporary absence. Our Associates all have no less than 15 years’ experience and are hand-picked by us to represent our brand and deliver the level of service our clients demand. The majority of our Associates are semi-retired individuals and individuals that are not primary bread winners that have made certain lifestyle choices that merge well with the unique solution that we provide.

Q: You are frequently travelling for work, but where is TFT situated and how can people best get a hold of you?

A: Our Head Office is in Bryanston (Johannesburg) but we also have offices in Durban (Umhlanga) and Cape Town (V+A Waterfront). We have a team of 35 Associates at present with the largest team obviously based in Johannesburg. I can be contacted directly on grant@thefinanceteam.co.za or you can obtain more information from our website at thefinanceteam.co.za.

Q: How many years have you been in the biz (business)? And what do you feel has been your greatest working achievement?

A: Richard (My Business Partner) and I are both qualified Chartered Accountants and we have both been in this industry for 10 years. We started The Finance Team in 2013 and are in our 7^th year of business as The Finance Team. I don’t think that either of us can pin point one specific achievement to date but I think I speak for both of us when I say that the one thing that we love about what we do is making such a big difference to the clients that we get involved with. Most Entrepreneurs are brilliant at conceptualising, strategizing and selling but fall short when it comes to the administration, financial control and details that comes with running a successful company. This is where we step in. We put the financial science behind the Entrepreneurs’ gut feel and support the business while he / she gets on with what they are good at.

Q: Give us the 411 on the year TFT won the TCC. We have pretty big shoes to fill 😉

A: The Finance Team has entered a team in the Tops Corporate Challenge since 2014 so this will be our 6^th event. What makes this one special is that this year it is an all-female team which we are just thrilled about. We have made the finals in all 5 previous events and have placed 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, 7^th and 9^th in previous tournaments. NO PRESSURE LADIES. We actually won the event on the very first attempt which was a massive surprise for all involved including the organisers from Wild Fly. To be honest we were lucky enough to have Wayne Stegen in our final team that year as one of our team members could not make the final. Wayne was instrumental in our win and his knowledge and experience of the local waters was a game changer for our team who were fishing the area for the first time. For those who don’t know this, Wayne’s Wife (Roxy) and Sister (Bridgitte) are 2 of the members of this WIW / TFT team. I hope that Wayne has been giving some pointers and tying some expert flies for the tournament.

Q: So, not only are you not fishing this year but you are also making a come-back as our ghillie 😉. Are you ready for the job?

A: Absolutely ready for the job. I am actually looking forward to taking a back seat this year and helping wherever I can. Hopefully get some more time to enjoy a few more beers in the pub without having to worry about getting up at 5AM in the Notties Winter. We are planning on bringing a drone, GoPro’s and Cameras so that we can document the whole event so that we can release a short video clip on social media on our return. Watch this space.

Q: What’s next for TFT in the fly-fishing world?

A: Well the hope is that our ladies team make it into the final of the tournament and then make it into the top 10 overall. I think this would be a fantastic achievement. We are looking forward to this year’s event and a long association with the WIW team into the future.

We cannot wait to for the 6^th of June, see you there and thank you once again for everything you have done for team WIW. We will do our best to make you proud!

Article by www.iol.co.za

In a country like South Africa, where job creation is critical, there is a great deal of emphasis being placed on the development of small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

Small businesses, in particular, provide opportunities where smart entrepreneurs can thrive, especially if they pay attention to the advice of experts who have already been down that road. David Seinker, chief executive of office and co-working space, The Business Exchange (TBE) in Johannesburg, has the following top tips for entrepreneurs about to embark on their own journey.

1. Offer a product that offers a solution

Many budding businesses believe in their idea or the products they envisage selling, but the key to success is in knowing, first and foremost, how that idea or product will offer a solution. “Before you even begin to do anything else to set up your business, you need to thoroughly investigate the market you plan to service,” says Seinker. “A product or service must fill a market need. It must go beyond just something that’s a nice idea. Know what problems your offering can solve, or what hole in the market it will fill. At TBE, for example, we recognised the need for serious entrepreneurs and business people to have a space that meets their requirements. They didn’t want a space that offers free drinks and foosball. Instead, they need a space that is as focused about business as they are”.

2. Understand the start-up costs and keep track of your cash flow

Once you know what you want to offer, the next step is to work out how much it is going to cost to set up the business. Apart from costs in terms of finding and kitting out premises and paying monthly rent, you also need to factor in everything from office supplies to staff members and the costs they will incur. This also includes your own personal expenses and how much money will be required to meet your own commitments. “From there,” notes Seinker, “it’s also crucial to keep a careful track of all cash flow. Most often, businesses fail not because of a bad idea, but because they simply didn’t manage their cash flow.”

3. Choose your working space wisely

A work environment conducive to doing business is critical for a new company, and many entrepreneurs start theirs working from home, but this may not necessarily be the best option for clients to take the business seriously. However, neither is splashing out from the start on expensive offices and incurring the many costs that such a set-up can entail. “Enter the rise of the co-working space,” notes Seinker. “This is an environment where new businesses can rent anything from a desk to an entire office, but where they literally just enter, plug and play. Co-working spaces such as The Business Exchange take the hassle and expense away from infrastructure costs such as capital equipment in terms of everything from office furniture to copiers, the provision of reception and maintenance staff, or the costs associated with technological requirements such as the setting up of  Wi-Fi or video conferencing facilities.”

Co-working options also offer new businesses enormous flexibility to enable them to grow when more space is required, or scale down if they need to tighten their belts. “Plus,” says Seinker “there are no obligations to sign leases and no FICA requirements to fulfil. But at the same time – because first impressions really do count – co-working spaces – especially those in prime business locations – provide a professional environment that says your new business really does mean business.”

4. Sort out your tax obligations and insurance from the start

Consult with experts beforehand to find out what tax obligations your new business is required to meet, as well as which insurance policies you may need. From a tax perspective, make provision to pay for the services of a qualified bookkeeper (even if it’s only a part-time agreement or one based on a few hours’ work per month to keep financial records in order), or an accountant who will look after your annual tax submissions. On the insurance front, make provision to protect yourself in terms of medical issues or loss of income, risks to your business such as theft or damage to your stock or items such as computers and cellphones, and even public liability insurance that protects you against claims made by members of the public resulting from accidents or damage to property. “Many new business owners make the mistake of thinking that their home insurance covers their business as well,” notes Seinker, “and this usually is not the case.”

5. Connect

Connectivity is about everything from investing in a digital online presence for your business from day one (whether it’s a website or even just a presence on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) to networking with like-minded or reciprocal business people. This is another area in which a co-working environment can assist, notes Seinker: “A co-working space worth its salt will offer excellent online connectivity from the moment you walk in the door, solving what could be a huge headache for many new businesses. Plus they are renowned for bringing people in similar or complementary industries together to exchange ideas as well as business opportunities. But outside of the work environment, it’s also about attending as many networking events as you possibly can and getting your name and that of your business ‘out there’ as quickly as possible. At TBE, we hold regular networking sessions for our members. This not only means that they are meeting the people who work next to them, but it also provides an opportunity to possibly meet someone who would be able to help with a particular service down the line.”

Article by www.iol.co.za

Article by www.entrepreneur.com

A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites two primary reasons why businesses fail — lack of proper planning and poor leadership. In a way, both these factors are tied to the decisions made by the business owner. Poor decisions, like too much debt or unviable investments, can dramatically alter your company’s fortunes. In this article, we’ll take a look at some ways business owners can keep their financial books in the black through smart planning and earnest leadership.

1. Equity vs. debt.

One of the perennial dilemmas that business owners face while raising funds for their business is the choice between equity and debt. Raising funds by giving up equity might seem attractive to a risk-averse startup businessman. However, giving up too much equity dilutes your own stake in the company and can be a bad choice over the long term. Debt, on the other hand, can be repaid and lets you retain your control over the business. In other words, although raising debt can be painful in the short term, it protects your stake in the long term and can thus reap larger dividends.

2. When to choose debt over equity.

A number of startups in the web and tech space today do not have a clear monetization policy during the launch phase. Companies like Twitter went through several rounds of fundraising before they started making money. It is a good idea to give up equity in such instances since these businesses do not have a clear revenue stream in place to start repaying their debt. However, if you are a startup or a small business with an established revenue stream and a steady cash flow, there is no reason why you should choose equity over debt.

3. How much debt is too much?

There is a limit to how much debt a business can take. It is worthwhile to note that business income is not always going to be consistent. Market forces outside your control can grow or dent the demand in your product or service. It is hence a good idea to only take debt that can be paid back even if you stop making money for a month or two. A good business owner knows to maintain a fair balance between money raised through debt and cash infused through the sale of equity.

4. Keep low working capital.

Working capital is the cash necessary to simply keep the business operating. It is essentially the value of your current assets minus your current liabilities. Building your product requires capital infusion and without a paying customer, your product is a liability waiting to be liquidated. Businesses that offer lengthy credit periods to their customers require high working capital. On the other hand, if you demand upfront payment for your product or service, then the liquid assets in your system are higher than liabilities. You would hence require low working capital. Tweak your business processes, including credit periods, to bring down the working capital required to run your business.

5. Insist on recurring invoices.

Modern invoicing software applications let customers set up automatic invoicing on their purchases. There are two big pros with using recurring invoices for your clients. Firstly, it brings down the accounts receivables of your organization. Although it is customary to mark accounts receivables as an asset in your accounting books, it can be a liability for small businesses that do not have the resources and the means to get paid on time for their rendered services. Secondly, automated payments establish a level of consistency in your income statements. This helps your business plan with better demand planning and logistics management.

The tips provided above can help your organization bring down the owed debt without compromising too much on your business ownership. Also, by tweaking your credit practices, it is possible to set up a healthy business process that is better suited to take on the vagaries and fickleness in the market and ensure survival for the long term.

Article by www.entrepreneur.com