Matsobanemetja Business Consulting Pty Ltd

VAT is another type of TAX of which anyone as the consumer living in SA pays. But in business you may only register for it when your business is making up to 50K per annum and over.

During my interactions with business owners through our Bookkeeping Fundamentals Workshops or Client Consulting, i have observed that many still do not understand what this type of tax means and it’s implications, to a point where some are VAT registered Vendors but do not comply with the rules set by the Receiver of Revenue and they find themselves indebted to SARS and labelled as Non-Compliant and even blocked from accessing some necessary legal documentations from SARS.

My plea is as a business owner please take your time to understand this type of tax before you become a VAT registered vendor. Let me explain below the meaning in basics before i tell you one of the scenarios i had to deal with.

VAT stands for Value Added Tax. Value Added Tax is levied on the supply of goods and services by vendors or it is a tax businesses charge when they supply their goods and services. We have to pay VAT on most of the things that we supply. The VAT standard rate is 14% in South Africa.

There are two types of VAT: VAT Input and VAT Output

VAT Input means when a company buys goods or services from another supplier, VAT is charged on the purchase price that is known as Input tax. This account will usually show a debit (the VAT SARS) “owe” you money for the VAT you have paid and you are entitled to receive from them.

VAT Input is VAT on sales and income and must be paid over to SARS. It is vat that you pay on all your business expenses and for which you have a tax invoice. It also relate to vat that is paid on other goods and services bought or rented for the business. If input tax is greater than output tax the company can claim back money from Customs and Excise department – SARS.

VAT Output means when the company sells its own goods or services it charges its customers VAT this is Output VAT.

VAT Output is VAT paid on items purchased and can be claimed back from SARS. It is VAT, which your company would charge on items, which it sells. Thus a company could wish to sell on item and added to the amount a standard rate tax would be charged.

In the Vat settlement you deduct input VAT from output Vat. The resulting amount must be reported to your regional tax office. As you can see, you only pay tax to the state on the ‘value your enterprise has added to the goods”.

If your purchases exceed your sales in any one period the difference naturally is refunded.

I have had an instance where a client thought the VAT amount increases their Profit and this is not the case. Any form of Tax is a Liability. If you are going to charge the 14% VAT on your invoices this means you are acting on behalf of SARS as their agent collecting the VAT from the consumers of goods as it will be done vise versa with you in your business dealings. I realised this during my client Consultation, i was analysing their prices in terms of Cost of Sales, Selling prices, and their Profit margin. As i was scrutinising this elements and their decisions towards their pricing because their prices did not make any business sense to me, a very low profit was made in their business and i had to advise them to increase their prices. They insisted that they rather not but instead register for VAT because the fear of being a bit expensive to their competition was getting to them, something i have realised that it is a fear to many but a topic for another day.Then i asked what has the VAT amount has to do with anything in your profit? “Because Sis Dee our profit will be a little bit more” . Please note: The Vat amount you charge on your invoices is not yours – Ever. Do not make that mistake. Yes it will affect or contribute on your selling price because your profit will seem to be a bit higher but the key is ANY FORM OF TAX IS A LIABILITY, you are temporarily in possession of the VAT amount. Therefore you need to always deduct it from your profit never ever mix or relate it with your Business Finances. Please make sure you are happy with your selling price before you add the VAT amount on any of your products or services otherwise you will be compromising your prices as you will have to still deduct the VAT amount to the Receiver of Revenue.

Advise /Tip: If you deal mostly with suppliers that are not VAT registered while you are you will forever be indebted to the Receiver of Revenue. The VAT amounts need to contra out with those of your suppliers but if that’s not the case you will always owe SARS the VAT amount you have charged out. Refer again to the above explanation on VAT Input and Output to understand this implication.

Please find an Accountant or Bookkeeper who will explain this implications and who will advise you accordingly before your decision to register for VAT.

Compiled by Dikeledi Seoloane “Miss Dee” – On behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting – Coaching Division.

www.matsobanemetja.co.za

I am sure by now you already know that the Funding Institutions or Investors do require either your Financial projections or the actual ones if you are trading already before they can assist you.

You might know the reason for this but i just wanted to share with you as to what exactly matter to them when they read your Cash Flow Statement.

Cash Flow is the most important part of your Financial Statement, as they use it to trace the flow of funds into and out of your business. The Primary purpose is to provide the information regarding the company’s cash receipts and cash payments. Those who want to work with or assist you in the business want to see the level of your responsibility towards the company’s finance. Your irresponsibility might cost them a lot of money they have invested into your ‘soon to die’ business something that could have been avoided. No one want to invest in such reckless spenders especially those that do not respect the monies of the company.

The pattern they use to trace the Company’s cash flow is simply that if they see there was a huge deposit of money from clients as a result of sales and in no time the money is gone. Theirs will be to evaluate the reason for the quick disappearance of the money. The three elements they use to see if the money was spend recklessly, they search if the money was used for either of the following: Operational activities, Investing activities or Financing activities. If the disappearing of money has nothing to do with this three criterias then they are sure that the money was wasted. See below what the three criterias include.

Operating Activities means if Sales and Services Revenue have been receipted and they are therefore used towards Cost of Sales, Selling Expenses, Administrative Expenses are paid, etc. Thus it will be understandable to anyone reading your Cashflow that the money went out towards Operational costs.

Investing Activities means you could have used the money either for Investing in other Companies, which this means you are interested in growing your brand or your company as the investments will be rewarded in the future.

Financing Activities could be that you used the money to repay the company debts, borrowing of funds or capital injections.

You therefore need to be careful of your spending habit. No one will want to buy into the company that will die with their money because of the irresponsible spending of the owner. You need to account for every cent coming in or going out of the business.

Compiled by Dikeledi Seoloane – On behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting.

http://www.matsobanemetja.co.za

It is understable that most of us start our businesses by acquiring debts in the name of Capital, Loans, Fundings, etc. But be careful not to fall in the trap of religiously acquiring this debts for your business to operate because it can’t be how wealth is built.

Capitals, Loans, etc are classified as Liabilities, so this means your business is obliged to pay the funds back which they charge you interests even.

Once you borrow money for your business you need to guarantee that your Sales profit will be able to pay back the borrowed money and still left with cash in your business to be able to continue with business operations, that way you are guaranteed that when finished paying the debt you will be the independent owner.

The unfortunate thing and injustice that you can do to yourself  and business is that when you are unable to pay back and the business is not trading well, you will opt to selling the business or portion of it.

As much as selling makes a lot of sense at that time but in actual fact it will mean that you will be losing some part of the business that you have worked really hard for.

When you have started your business with borrowed capital make sure paying down the incurred debt is the critical first step.

The main objective of business is to make PROFIT. The profit that we are going to use to pay the business debts and grow the company. Business has to be surviving on it’s own sometimes, it should not always depend on borrowings, especially for smaller things. For example: If you find yourself borrowing money to buy stock every time then know that there is some unhealthy discrepancy in your business, as that will simply mean if you are not given any credit there will be no business running for you. It is no Business sense.

It is advisable to do your homework before taking a business loan. Work out your Operational Cash Flow appropriately according to the nature of your business. The two most factors that you need to focus on when drawing your projections should be Sales and the Cash Flow because they will assist you in making the good decision.

Do not get into the habit of growing your business on debts.

Compiled by Dikeledi Seoloane – On behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting (Coaching Division)

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A Business exist for clients and because of them. Without them, we have no business. Otherwise who are we going to service? No one. 

But the problems don’t begin with customers. They start with you and your employees. When customers expect a fantastic experience but receive a third-rate one, you can lose them forever.

I personally as a Business Owner / Entrepreneur think this is the basic and an obvious known fact which means we shouldn’t even be discussing who is important here. Because i think when you first decide to employ people you need to employ people who are either qualified, have the experience and people who understand business in general.
But I choose to see that as only the foundation, meaning there is still something to be done and continuously so, just to avoid the risk of poor customer service and ending up losing business. As a Business Owner it is your responsibility to make sure that such happen in your organisation.

Here are ways that employees can assist in achieving perfect customer service:

1. Get on board with the fact that employees are your most important customers

Sure, they may not be your main target in terms of who is buying your products and services. And, yes, YOU are paying THEM. Minor details. The truth is that your employees are the audience for your strategy. They are the people, if treated right and armed correctly, who will authentically translate your message, your vision, and your brand to the paying customers you’re after. So you better make sure they understand it and are emotionally connected to it!

2. Explain to employees WHY it is most important

Before asking your employees to take on something new or deliver a certain kind of customer experience, you must explain WHY it is so important. Show them why it will help themselves, the customer, and the company, and why they are so instrumental in driving the business outcome you want to achieve. Too often leaders try to engage people from the point of view of the company. Instead, we must shift our thinking to center around the point of view of the employee. How can we communicate in ways that are relevant and motivating to them? If you engage your front line the right way, the experience they deliver to customers will shine. So, start with the WHY, and then follow with the WHAT and the HOW.

3. Make sure the Training is taken seriously

One of the biggest mistakes companies make when developing training to build employee knowledge and skills is not identifying what they actually need to be trained on, how they best receive information, or how the program impacts the customer  those employees serve.

Traditional classroom training is not the answer for front-line workers today. So, what it?. What you really need to do before designing training is to go into the field and literally observe what’s happening. Go watch your people in action. Talk to them.  Hear what they have to say! Where do they excel? Where is there room to improve? How do they interact with one another? User-centered training is designed with all of this data in mind, rather than what’s on the mind of the training developer or even of company leaders. Connecting training with the company strategy and designing it with the end-user and desired outcomes in mind is the most effective way to empower people to execute your brand promise at the front line. Investing time, effort, and money into this process will yield a much more effective training development effort, more engaged employees, and much better customer interactions.

Ultimately, many leaders’ biggest shortcoming is viewing the world from their perspective and their perspective, only. The shift that’s most crucial is the one where you change the lens through which you look at the company, the employees, the strategy, and the brand. If you start by thinking about how your people might think, feel, react, respond, or behave, you will find yourself way ahead of the winning customers for life game. The customer experience will never exceed the employee experience; employees are truly your most important customers. It’s time to start treating them that way.

So you see, when employees are taken care of and are equipped with the necessary skill and knowledge there will be no need for customer service complaints.

Compiled by Dikeledi Seoloane – On behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting (Coaching Division) 

Facebook Page: MATSOBANEMETJA BUSINESS CONSULTING 

http://www.matsobanemetja.co.za
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Personally i will always advise to start on your own first before you take the decision to share ownership with someone. My reasoning is also backed up by the experience. I witnessed so many conflicts between shareholders or partners ever since my practise. Companies have been dissolved as a result.

Business is not easy, whether you have partners or alone. There are many things that you learn along the way as you start being operational and some lessons are just painful to experience or even scarier before you start, this might be the reason you want to start with someone because your thinking will be that it is better when you share the pain or you thinking it is safe. But i think it is even more complex when you have partners. Therefore get experience first before you want to partner with anyone in your business. Learn how to manage your emotions first, learn independency, decision making, learn how to manage business relationships, learn the nature of your business in operation, learn the type of partners in business and choose the better one that will work for both of you.

LEARN BUSINESS FIRST.

Since my practise i have and still amend companies as a result of relationships gone bad between business partners. Some is even before the company start being operational.

The thing is, things always looks easier in theory than in practise.The planning does sound simple and accommodating but seem different in the execution and unfortunately this is learned during the business most of the times, this is where the conflict arises in most cases. I really think the most painful thing is having to realise that you and your partner do not share the same vision of the business or life in general and this could have be avoided if you had given yourself some chance to learn few things before you look for partners. Things like their characters, their spending habit, their interests, etc. Sharing the same passion does not automatically makes you good partners.

I always compare the shareholding or partnering in companies with marriage. It doesn’t matter how long you have known your partner for, because as soon as you get married to each other there are new things you will discover about one another now that you are closer to each other, i have heard this many times. Suddenly there are adjustments in your life, there is more you need to share, things like your whereabouts, financial decision about your ‘own money’, etc.This are things that you were never used to do before. You will always have to consult with your significant other before some decision making. Now to me for the marriage to succeed is you must be ready mentally, physically and  emotionally to be able to fulfill what is expected in the companionship. Get your mind ready because if not this will be the cause of the break-up (divorce), of which i never heard of a “beautiful break-up” so therefore this will always cost you many things.

In this i also advise that when you have started trading on your own and ready to partner please leave your principal business alone, it is better if you start a new entity that will accommodate the partnership. Protect your already existing business. This is in case the partnership does not work then you don’t loose the company that you have worked hard for on your own.

I am not saying you must anticipate partnering failure but what i am saying is this things happen, i see them at my disposal almost everyday. You can only use your existing company only if the factors around partnering forced you to but you will also have partnering terms in place.

And also not all new partnerships fails and the reason could be that there were more correct measures taken in consideration in the formation of the partnership. There are more technicalities in running a Business, do not form partnerships because we are just too excited.

By Dikeledi Seoloane on behalf of MATSOBANEMETJA BUSINESS CONSULTING – Coaching Division.

Facebook Page: MATSOBANEMETJA BUSINESS CONSULTING

www.matsobanemetja.co.za

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Common practice will be that you pay yourself the salary that you are worth based on either your talent, merit, market or experience you have in your chosen field. But in reality this is not the case because the new business does not afford you. So how do i calculate my salary?

A business owner must earn a salary from the business from day one. This is the basic principle of the business that many small business owner / start-ups fails to follow. When you are serious about your business you will fight to have the courage and discipline to do it. This is expected out of any business.  

Projecting Your Salary
My advice: The first is paying yourself enough to meet basic living requirements. Depending on your situation, that means enough income to cover your bills, food and other miscellaneous living expenses. Strike all other discretionary items from your life for a while and get used to just the bare necessities. You are almost forced to downgrade your usual lifestyle to at least accommodate the business operating needs until the business makes enough profit to afford the required salary.

To begin planning your pay, you need to put together your own personal financial statement that lists all your living expenses and any credit cards with outstanding balances as well as short-term and long-term loans. This may be one of the most difficult things you’ve ever had to do because you don’t want to leave anything out. You want to make sure that your income from the business will be enough to cover your expenses. Be honest and make correct calculations.

You will start by the listing of all common items that you will always need on a monthly basis and those are your living expenses. Generally, if you can pay-down any debts before going into business, you’ll not only decrease the amount of income you’ll require each month, but also improve your personal net worth, which is important when it comes to borrowing capital to fund your business. Whether the Business is funded by yourself or the outside parties that does not change the concept. A business will always need the next person / party to be funded anyway.

Once you’ve listed amounts for each of the items on your monthly budget, add them all together. This is the amount you will need to pay yourself in order to meet your basic requirements. Remember when putting together your list to include all your expenses. That doesn’t mean just monthly, but quarterly, semi-annual and annual expenses. You must provide yourself with complete information. After all, you will be living on this income for at least six months to a year.

I had two speaking engagements yesterday and i received two quetions each from this events that somehow relate to this topic. First question from an entrepreneur in Sandton. How does the transition happen that you still able to maintain the life you lived while you were still employed? My response: Please plan poperly while you are still employed. Pay all your debts (almost), use part of your monthly salary for basic neccessary business needs such as Branding (Logos, Websites, Banners,etc) so you don’t worry about them in your early stage of business as you would have taken care of them already. Have one or two people that will assist you with servicing the clients. You will train and supervise them and your core role in business will be to bring the work, sign new clients, attend meetings, attend networking seminars, etc. While you are doing this you are assured that production is taking place in your absence. As time goes on you are going to appoint a responsible  supervisor who is going to train your staff and oversee things while you out there looking for business. It is an known fact that as a new business owner you almost hold all the positions in your business. You become the CEO, the Operational Manager, Public Relations, etc. this will be so until the business makes enough pofit so you will be able to appoint people that are qualified and experience to hold this positions.

Second question from a Business owner in Benoni: After my talk the lady approached me and ask that she really want to grow her business but it becomes difficult as after paying all her bills she is left with nothing. And another lady also joined in and retaliated the same thing. Now this is where i realised that you know as small business owners we need to learn early to not work on the business but work for the business. The ladies further explained the complex of their family responsibilities to me to prove a point of how difficult it is for them. I then said to them, this means their businesses is not making enough revenue. I as well exlained to them that they need to plan and have projections in place as this will help them to push for more profit.

The ladies emphasised to me that it is difficult also to sign new clients. Which i agree but you always have to work on it every day. Then i asked them: You ladies knew that you are coming to a business seminar today did you bring your business cards or flyers to distribute? The answer came after a very long pause as No. I asked: Does the congregation knows about your services? And further asked: Seeing that you are in Events and Catering field why did you not volunteer to cook for the congregation today, showcasing your work with the assumptions or knowing that there were chances of visitors attending the seminar? Still no answer. But when i recommended them to advertise their businesses they said they have done them “all”. The technique about advertising in business is that you can’t say you are done, as long as you are in business you continue to do it over and over, because once you stop it is the dying of your business.

It is very important to have projections in your business because they will serve as a guideline or a roadmap in running a profitable business. The fact is a business must generate a profit that changes in growth from month to month. That is the nature of business.

One other thing i observed from the ladies is as much as they were asking questions with hope of seeking guidance they also tried to reject my suggestions as they were busy defending  with excuses why they cannot achieve what they want. You need to try almost everything and continuously so before you decide that they are not woking. We need to stop making excuses for not trying new things because that is exactly the reason we will remain stagnant. Because as much as word of mouth advertising shoud not be undermined but we really cannot rely only on it as the ladies did especially in this very competitive world.

Compiled by Dee The Coach.

Happy Trading!  

Starting a Business is never an easy thing, it is a very challenging and lonely journey simply because how our friends started does not mean if we follow suit we will be as lucky as them.

Getting clients, signing deals, getting capital, funding and getting some recognition has never been an easy exercise and unfortunately it is never an ending until you actually crack how to do things.

But also i have just three little things to mention that we need to be careful of in the name of business. Spending so much time doing this things might be a total waste of time instead  of concentrating on what matters most.

1. Chasing customers

We do this in many ways. It is basically our Marketing or Advertising strategies. It could be through Word of mouth, Websites, Flyers, Business cards and many more ways. But i say please do it in a way that your potential clients won’t get annoyed and want to run away from you when they see you. I agree Passion is too important but shape it nicely when selling your services or products to your clients.

Tell me once or twice about your product but please don’t be in my face all the time forcing me to buy. Do not remind me every chance you get, especially if i have shown interest. I do not discourage follow ups but do them in a very nice way where i wouldn’t even realise. The thing is i might show interest in your product but not ready to buy instantly, therefore you don’t want to be so pursuing that i loose the same interest.

Now that i know about your product, look for another creative way to convince me, even if you are not showing me directly believe me it might grab my attention and i end up giving in. Maybe do some Demonstrations. Chasing after same client over and over to purchase your product sort of remove the essence to need the product, it reveals so much that it is only the money you are looking for and shows too much of desperation. I would like to believe that you started the business because you wanted to solve our problems, now you don’t want to loose the meaning by being too pushy. I know this because i sure knows how it feels when it is done to me and i see how people react to it, it is not pleasing. I also do various things to attract potential clients, some they are referred to me by people i haven’t worked with but because they have seen something and somehow they believe in me. Don’t waste so much time following Dee for 6 months in hope of buying, more ready clients are passing by while you chasing one client for long. Be Creative.

2. Applying for Tenders / Funding

You might have with you a perfect Business idea and have a good plan for it but not able to move forward with because of limited resources. What do you do? Of course you don’t let good idea die but also do not spend so much time looking for capital, filling thousands of application forms and be so hopeless that it even feels like there is nothing you can do without. What if you start doing something achievable and that you can afford to assist in obtaining the capital for your big idea? I for example my initial Business idea was Property Business, i had registered the business and have the Business plan for it but i had some difficulty in getting capital to start because property requires so much money and it is not every institution that will be willing to help you from scratch so i decided to start the current business and not to say i am less passionate about but i could afford to start without being funded. I started it without a laptop or my own Computer by the way. I started knowing that the current business will help fund the property.

Very soon actually i will convert my private property into Business and be able to grow both my Accounting and property Businesses. We really can start small while we try obtain those funding. The thing is the Funding thing is not guaranteed because if it was i would not have a problem if we spend so much looking for them. Just don’t lose your focus.

3. Chasing Quotations

It’s no secret that a request for a quote give us so much hope that at least a client is buying and we are getting an Income but also let us not lose focus because it is a quote. A quote means a client is testing waters, comparing your prices with that of your competition. A quote is a dummy Invoice! So therefore a quote aint a guarantee that they are buying.

Also don’t waste so much of your time chasing after quotes because if they are ready and sold they will definitely come back. Like i said earlier while you are chasing one quote, many of potential clients whom would like to be invoiced are passing by. Because a quote is not a guaranteed purchase you cannot also hold the client responsible, under which law? Sometimes we as clients use this quotations to plan for the future.

When they request for a quote please submit but with an open mind that it might not convert into sales immediately or might never. Do follow ups but have a strict time limit.

Compiled by Dikeledi Seoloane – on behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting, Coaching Division.

http://www.matsobanemetja.co.za

The popularity of  startups being taken for a ride has pushed me to tackle the issue a bit.

Not a week goes by without me being called or e-mailed for an advise on some decisions to be made, and most of the time the start-ups are being put under a very compromising positions and unfairly so. I am not going to reveal all the details here but just bit of my advices.

Being the beginner of anything in life is scary and that’s natural.

Ever seen how toddlers become so fearful when they start walking or stand on their own? They are shaky and doubtful to continue after first step but always eager to repeat their moves. Because we can’t walk on their behalf, we cheer them up, sing for them in motivation to continue with their new found journey of growing up. While they are doing it they fall, but they do not stop, they try again with joy and laughter.Now the same applies with Business.

It is understandable that as a start up you will find it difficult to resume providing your services, sometimes it is because of scarcity of resources, which is the most challenging thing facing many entrepreneurs. To a point where they find themselves confinding their situations or sharing their ideas to those that have been in the field before them and seem succeeding at it in hope of some assistance. Though it is a very good idea and sometimes advisable it has its own disadvantages.

Not everybody will be willing to help without getting anything in return. Some request an equal share of a certain portion in your Company, a share in profit, or whatever they will find suitable and convenient for them, whereas at times it’s just a mere advice you are seeking for. Instead of receiving the advice or guidance you are looking for from our experienced brothers and sisters, it does happen that it is not what you will always get. They will want more.

Some of them they even get extreme and threaten you of the failures you will meet without them. My fellow start up,my advise to you is that you do not ever find yourself compromising so much of yourself and business. Don’t fall for their intimidations and threats of failure, because they will make you feel it will be impossible without them, therefore you will see the only option is tagging them along in your projects.

Do not find yourself desperate for assistance especially from such selfish people. Be wise enough to recognise them and reject their favours before it even gets far. Do not be scared to fail, you shouldn’t even get threatened by the thought of it. Do know failure is part of the process. We learn, mature, grow through our own failures and no one should be allowed to take that experience away from you. They should not deprive the experience of failure because it will be no fun to celebrate your achievements.

I find the sole intentions of the selfish people as that you must always be dependant on them because they will keep on quoting and sort of imposing their failures to you and discourage you to not even attempt to try doing it the other way, it is always their way over yours. And because your confidence is also not so strong as you are a startup you will fall into that trap. Your whole faith will be in them.

I see it as a selfish act because they choose to overlook the fact that we are not all the same, we are blessed with different gifts and talents. What have been a failure to them does not automatically qualify to be a failure to you. You are easily deprived from discovering your own unique talents or gifts as some of important major gifts are found through failures.

The other thing you need to be careful of is being rushed to do something especially when it involves money, you must be allowed enough time to think things through before you take any decisions. Please do realise Entrepreneurship is a journey, it is a process, you are meant to discover lots of valuable lessons,therefore you should never be promised to get to it quicker. According to my own understanding entrepreneurship is a non ending journey, it is forever continuing, it evolves, it moves from phase to phase, the reason I will never understand why you should be rushed.

Many unnecessary and costly decisions are because of rushing to success. And at times some of the decisions unfortunately will leave you depressed, discouraged  and demotivated.

And lastly get a Coach or a Mentor, those that are in business too.They will help you from making decisions and assist in planning. As a start up you are more likely to be clouded by too much information around you and that might end up confusing you, as not all information you hear is meant for you, the guidance of a Mentor or a Coach will help you.

Choose somebody who will work with you, someone who will be in support of your vision and is very clear of your goal. Not someone who is only looking for a paycheck from you.

Compiled by Dee, on behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting – Coaching Division.

I am a startup too *

Dear Entrepreneurs

Let’s talk about Time. In my two years in Business there is  nothing as precious  and valuable  as time.
I have learned that who you spend most of your time with, where and how shapes you and the business. The sucess of your business is determined by your time spending.

A true entrepreneur will value the importance of time all the time. Things like decision making for instance.
Some of our clients, suppliers or business associates they request for a meeting for  the  services that can be performed online without having to meet. We must remember a meeting is very costly – I count traveling expenses, food or drinks, as well as time consuming – as you need to allocate the time off from work for this meetings.

A client of ours had given us a phone call as they have received from our email distribution the promo that we were running, he was showing an interests on the  promo but was also requesting for a meeting. I then explained to them that it won’t be necessary to meet as they can just e-mail the documents and information needed and we proceed. The client said “I was hoping I can come to your offices so we can sit down and talk”. I found this very disturbing. What exactly are we going to talk about? The promo was very  straight forward, even if the client needed some clarity we were still  able to explain over the phone.

Look at this points:
~ We are running a promotion which means we have decreased the price of that specific service.
~ The service is an online service whereby you email the docs and information needed, we start the work and as soon as we have completed the work then we revert back with the final product if there is any.
I then explained to the client that the meeting is unnecessary, he was not impressed.

But honestly I stand by my terms because we don’t want to loose the essence of business, by creating expenses. How is a business to grow? A business must make profit. And we are not discouraging meetings but at least realise the need to meet, a business ‘s profit is not determined by how many meetings you have attended but by how many sales with less expenses. Once we reduce our business  time to more production then we will be able to be both productive and profitable.

I am aware of the need to socialise or develop working relationships as a business person but the time for that still needs to be allocated accordingly, there should be discipline and planning involved, let’s not do it recklessly.
A business leader should not plan or attend any meetings simply for the sake of routines or obligation—or fixing any appointments really just for the sake of courtesy—but  make sure any engagement which takes up his time should be somehow relevant, better yet, contributing to achieving his Key Result Areas in one way or another.

He should understand that time is the most precious kind of resources to be managed—since every single elapsed moment is gone forever.

By Miss Dee – On behalf of Matsobanemetja Business Consulting  (Coaching Division).

A friend posted a question on Facebook:
Will your skills and passion gives you a purposeful, fruitful and rewarding life?
I volunteered to respond with a Blog on this question.  However I had a blog post similar to this topic a while back: Talent is Overated in business. I allow you to visit the blog and read it too.

My view and understanding is that as far as business is concerned Passion is very important to an entrepreneur.

Passion is an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or desire for something. 
It is so unlikely for entrepreneurs or anyone for that matter to not succeed in their pursue of business or carreer in their chosen field that they are passionate about.

Skill is a learned ability to carry out a task.

Anyone can learn a skill about anything but will the skill learned with no passion last for long?

For example I can cook, and I can learn other and further type of dishes but I am just not passionate about cooking. People who gets to taste my food they are always happy with them but believe me it always a force for me to cook, if it was up to me I would love not to cook and only do it when I feel like it, this is regardless of how skillful I may be. Therefore I shouldn’t even be tempted to start a business that will want me to cook because I am just not passionate about it. What happens when I reach those difficult challenges in business? I will easily give up because passion was never the foundation of the cooking business.

But when I do things I am passionate about nobody reminds me, instead I want to learn more and more (obtaining skills) you know why?
Passion is a motivation, passion drives you, and you do your work with no complaints, you actually look forward to solving problems if any.

Unlike when you are depending on skills only. As much as this two goes together but I emphasise on Passion first. A person who is only skillful tend to be limited because they are relying mostly on what they know and when the going gets tough will need the urge to push them or even need the same passion because once they have it they will be able to want to learn further and be more skillful.

I remember when I finished school, Nursing was the “in” thing, the most popular career that was advertised, that was mostly open for jobs. You do training while they pay you for two years and on completion you were offered a permanent job. I was given the forms and lots of information on how to go about it, but I refused to join because I just didn’t see myself doing the job. I am a very sensitive person, I am really scared of dead people, I can never look at wounds unless maybe it’s me affected or people close to me needing help. I fear blood. So imagine if I had allowed myself to be pushed by the pressure of the availability of jobs in this sector where would I be by now? Miserable. I would be skillful yes, but happy?  Never. The reason there are  many  people that are stuck in jobs and careers that makes them miserable, because they have chosen skill over passion. You don’t want to be a miserable CEO.

Therefore my advice to my fellow Entrepreneurs is to choose to pursue business in fields that they are very passionate about because even if it said it won’t work but You will make it work.

Passion First.