Building Your Business

If you are a veteran in the SME sector, are running a very successful business or just feel you have something to offer a budding entrepreneur, you may consider becoming a mentor. Let's look at the characteristics of a good business mentor. Mentorship is all about giving back and contributing to the growth of someone who may be where you were as a would-be business mogul. Use your experience and expertise to help other small business owners

Every business is designed to earn money: for profit and survival. By definition, it’s an attempt to obtain compensation for services so that we can continue or begin living comfortably. But sometimes we need to find a way to make money quickly to help the business survive: anything can happen and that means being prepared. So with that in mind, we should consider interventions that can help us succeed through a difficult patch.

When starting and running a business, planning for the future (and multiple eventualities) is necessary to ensure the initial and continued success of your business. Continuous business planning therefore is advisable and widely-considered to be non-negotiable. This article focuses on navigating resource allocation in particular.

It's no secret that women often think and behave differently to their male counterparts and it's no different when it comes to business. It's one reason why you may want to consider finding for a female mentor. With so many successful women entrepreneurs out there and industries becoming more progressive in this regard, there is an abundance of women with experience in a range of industries. To keep these numbers growing, many women's organisations and associations provide mentorship programmes to help fellow women in business.

In and of itself, good service is a “hygiene” factor. Put differently, it is what a prospective client expects of business. In South Africa, however, it can be a distinctive benefit, as the overall level of service delivery is not up to standard. Your level of service delivery can actually determine whether the client will clinch a transaction with you or not. Here are a few practical ways to market good service without making it “cheap”.

We live in a society where so much emphasis is placed on developing our minds and our intellect.

What makes a family business different to any other? Some of the world's most famous and successful businesses were started by families, including Wal-Mart, Toyota, Ford and De Beers. Many of the businesses that are now listed on stock exchanges globally, started out as family businesses. No doubt many other ventures were started, but failed to reach such heights of success. What makes them different, and do they face the same challenges as any other business?

Most small business owners facing a business crisis are caught in a classic Catch-22 situation. On the one hand, they require specialised business turnaround expertise to save their business. On the other hand, their financial crisis prohibits them from hiring the expensive turnaround specialists who offer the expertise. Typically owners have three choices: walk away, hope for help, or keep struggling. Well, no more. Sanlam's Business Turnaround Book will help you lead your business away from trouble, to success.

Having the ability to make sound and sometimes quick decisions is crucial for running your own business successfully.

Networking is about relationships. It’s about, not only meeting new people and creating new relationships – it’s also about nurturing and maintaining current relationships. That said, not everyone is equally as good at networking.  In fact, if the truth be told, not many people actually even like to network. Yet, networking is a crucial part of running a successful business. Find out how best to approach networking through this article.

No one can question the immensely positive impact technology has had on business and our lives. Communication is faster and easier. We can access information quicker. We can reach others more easily, etc. There are amazing advantages for all of us. Relationships are being affected both positively and negatively. We can quite easily identify how relationships are benefiting, so this article rather explores some of the areas we need to focus on more closely.

Many people leave formal employment for the flexibility of being a freelance professional or consultant. One of your first challenges will be to set a fee for your services. What should you consider when putting a price to your skills and knowledge? Most consultants find that they are facing increasingly tough competition and a dwindling client base in the face of companies tightening their belts. This makes naming a fair price for your services even more crucial to making a living and retaining your client base. Here's how to go about charging for your services.

Regardless of where you are in your career, a mentor can help guide you through your entrepreneurial journey. From providing information and knowledge to finding ways to stimulate your personal and professional growth, and everything in between. It is therefore important to find someone you can trust and feel comfortable enough with to ask questions and learn from.

Women in IT was originally established as a separate non-profit organisation focused on addressing the gender imbalance within the IT industry in South Africa. Today, it is a Chapter of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA), creating greater access and networking opportunities for women in the ICT space.

The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) is a non-profit law centre that seeks to achieve equality for women, particularly black women through impact based litigation, the provision of free legal advice, legal support to advocacy campaigns run by other organizations (which fall within the Center’s objectives) and training that ensures people know and understand the impact of judgements of the courts on the subject of women’s rights. The WLC also provides legal advice to the other non-governmental women’s organizations nationally and in Africa.