Looking back to plan forward Part 2
It is always said that the best way to keep focused while driving forward and looking through the windscreen is to keep an eye on the rear view mirror for the lessons learned.
As the year winds down, this week we will take a short journey through a series of exercises that we use to cement the leanings from the past year and prepare for the quantum leap into 2016.
The first exercise is to rid yourself of any guilt that you may carry into the festive season and holidays.
Make a list of all outstanding issues, programmes and unaccomplished tasks that you have been meaning to get done with this year.
This could include simple things such as replacing the kettle to setting up your new website or carrying out office renovations. This list is your ‘Parked’ list. We are not throwing these items out, just parking them to identify them as not yet fully addressed.
Too often we set our sights on a task that is outside our main focus and when reviewed it just seems not urgent anymore. Now is a good time to kill these babies and get back on track. Go back over them and cross out any that are no longer relevant or required.
For the issues left, mark them with an A or C – A being those that are important and still needing to be done this year and C being those that can wait until next year.
Then take the afternoon off. Just by doing this simple exercise, you have already gained enough motivation to get cracking on any outstanding issues.
The Global Entrepreneurship Week
The Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) – which attracts high profile entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson and Michael Dell – is almost here.
For people who are planning to start their own businesses, the need for plenty of tips and advice to help them succeed in realising their dreams ranks high on their hierarchy of needs.
As a result, attending entrepreneurship workshops is an excellent way to get all of that.
The GEW is upon us in South Africa and is scheduled to start next week, with the first event taking place in Cape Town on Monday, 16 November. To be part of this incredible event, EI will also be having a range of workshops focusing on social media and marketing on 17 and 18 November 2015.
Launched eight years ago, the GEW is the world’s largest entrepreneurship event.
It takes place every November all over the world and its aim is to celebrate, educate, inspire and motivate all the innovators and job creators of this world.
The GEW inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators.
This not-to-be-missed event is run by people who have already successfully navigated their way through the business world – which is why it continues to attract and engage high-profile entrepreneurs such as Richard Branson, Michael Dell, Russell Simmons, Muhammad Yunus, Mark Cuban and others who are enthusiastic to share their personal experiences and insights.
Those who are among the privileged few attending these much sought-after events are equipped with valuable nuggets which could enable them to follow in the footsteps of these great global entrepreneurship icons in their own business ventures.
People who are planning to attend these insightful events that are taking place at various areas across the country can expect to benefit in a number of different ways – including but not limited to networking, connecting participants to potential collaborators, mentors and even investors and introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities.
– For more information please visit: http://za.gew.co/
Entrepreneur Formulas: Which one works?
Just like a jigsaw puzzle, the success of any small or medium-sized business is ultimately the product of a number of pieces falling perfectly into place. Successful businesses have some building blocks on which they hinge – and these include dedicated execution of numerous key factors.
These factors are not the be-all and the end-all of business success, but key among them are a distinctly enunciated clear mission, proper goal setting and measuring progress toward those goals, and then resolving the inevitable conflicts that arise.
Well, there isn’t really any definitive formula for the success of small businesses – this is a combination of various things that can bring you success. Some of them include experience twinned with hard work (Hard Work + Experience).
Below are the first three of our many not-really magical entrepreneur formulas that we’ve come up with:
Offering + Gap = Niche
Purpose + Clutter = Focus
Exercise + Attitude = Wellness
As time goes by, we are going to talk about these formulas one by one to see what they really mean and how they can be optimized for the success of a business.
Global Entrepreneurship Week hits Cape Town
Entrepreneurship week is upon us and we have some exciting workshops to add to the mix of other interesting events happening in and around Cape Town next week.
Snappy Workshops: We have a range of snappy (90 minutes) workshops focusing on social media and marketing on Tuesday 17th. You have a selection of one or more of the following titles:
09:30 How effective is your online profile Book Here
12:00 Online Strategies for your business Book Here
14:30 Cool Web tools to save you time and money Book Here
17:00 FaceBook and YouTube for business Book Here
These will be followed by two more in-depth workshops on Wednesday 18th for those wanting to get a more hands on approach to business:
09:00 Pimp Your Pitch Book Here
12:00 Creating a kick-ass business plan Book Here
All these workshops will be held at the Entrepreneur Academy in our Woodstock venue (directions here) Please register, rsvp and join us for a time of learning, sharing and development.
This could be the very thing you and your business needs.
B.O.B Episode 5 – How intentional is your business
How intentional is your business? This might sound like a weird question, but it is a question that will challenge you and make you introspect yourself about your business, why it is there and where it is going.
If you know the intentions of your business then you should be able to answer this question without grabbling with the answer first. If you find yourself finding it hard to answer this question, then you need to pause for a moment, think about this question, and ask yourself how intentional is your business.
We’ve been working with John Maxwell and his new programme called #IntentionalLiving that has started and spread all over the globe in the past few weeks. This programme is challenging us to think about how we live our lives intentionally on a daily basis. It challenges us to really go into introspection and ask ourselves what is it that we are doing intentionally as people, as staff, as businesses, etc?
Now, if your business is just waiting for something to happen in order for it to react, then you have a reactive business. That is a business that waits for opportunities to come for it to grow. That means it is the opposite of an intentional business. It is almost like waiting for an opportunity to hit you in the face for you to make a sale and to grow.
An intentional business is a business that does not wait for opportunities, but goes out there to look for them. . It sends out scarves to unknown territories, beyond comfortable and known territories. That involves networking, talking to people, selling your products or services to a whole lot of people out there.