We received a long email from a listener who is considering going into his parent’s business. He has a career in a different industry but has worked in the family business before. His folks have an option to get external professional management into it, but they are reluctant because it’s part of the family heritage.

Pavlo Phitidis announced the launch of Aurik Capital, a S12J Fund to back the growth of established businesses with annual revenues between R15m to R150m.

Pricing sensitivity has driven innovation for years. Because the economy is a massive, complex ecosystem, everything in it is linked and poor growth drives pricing pressures on us all. Yet, the fundamentals of pricing are static. How then do you deal with pricing in this economy when you face the challenges stated in the message below?

This is a Twitter message from a listener “The pricing game is emotional…Suppliers raise prices and you are forced to decide:
1. Do you segment and risk alienating the very people you want to be serving or,
2. Run at a loss until economies of scale kick-in and you can negotiate better bulk cost price. HELP”

We hear the expression used so often by business people, advisors and consultants and in the media; “I want to get to the next level”, “this will get you to the next level” and so it goes. Yet so few people understand what the jargon truly means and how to get there. The term deser ves a good, solid technical treatment and discussion since in it lies another jargonised expression: “scale”. This word is also a catch all for growth, business beyond you, profitability and more. Let’s tackle them both.

The economy is in a terrible shape and its prospects are anybody’s guess. In this economy, we see some businesses growing at a blistering pace whilst others, in the same industry and sector, stall and struggle. Why?  We are seeing a consistent pattern of behaviour. In fact, there are three of them. When we look at the business owners that fall into one of the three behaviours, we notice a consistent line of logic that begins to make sense as to why they behave in the way they do.

Exhausted and alone, frustrated and fatigued with the uncertainty that jades every conversation you have with friends, family and colleagues. It wears on your psyche and that makes you vulnerable to white knights, silver bullets and false prophets. They assume many shapes and forms and they will see you spend a series of small fortunes. One to engage with them, one to implement and one to get rid of them. A great unseen fortune is the time you lost  in getting the job promised by them done properly yourself.

I have just completed a book about the ideas, thoughts and more valuably, the direct experience in building successful and a few failed businesses. The only thing standing in the way of the book’s release in September is a title. I’ve been nagging Bruce Whitfield to help me with a title. Tired of my nagging Bruce caught me off guard last week on #TheMoneyShow and put the challenge out to the listeners. The ideas flooded in. Good, bad, ugly, great there were so many ideas but unfortunately none to my publishers liking.  It is back to the drawing board for #NameTheBook.

So, I’m taking courage from Bruce’s idea to ask for your help to #NameTheBook that will ultimately result in the design of a cool and compelling cover. I've outlined some of the ideas contained in the book to fuel your thoughts and spark creativity. If your title is selected, I would love to have you at the October launch (physically or digitally), acknowledged, credited and gifted with a copy. Mostly, I’ll be very grateful for your help to satisfy the publisher, get the book on the shelves by September and into the hands of business owners.

Please share using #NameTheBook on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Some of the ideas you'll find in the book: 

Asset of Value –

The book is about an Asset of Value, what it is, how to build a business into one and why it should be the only purpose of a business owner. It’s also about real businesspeople that I’ve worked with and how, against so many odds, succeeded in building their businesses into an Asset of Value.  #NameTheBook.

People –

People issues will stall any business which makes finding the right people to do the right thing at the right time mission critical. In #NameTheBook you will meet Oren, a brilliant entrepreneur who built a R18m business in three years. Through Oren’s journey you will learn how to turn people issues into a growth path.

Time –

Time runs out and although we may wait to make things happen, time doesn’t! #NameTheBook clears the confusion between spending time and investing time and shows how time invested into the right actions turn a business into a wealth generating asset for you and your family.

Scale –

So many people advise “you need to scale to get to the next level”. #NameTheBook reveals the truth about scale, what it really means, how to ‘bake it into your business’, what works and doesn’t work in getting it right.

Accelerating Growth -

This is a key theme in #NameTheBook. What does getting to the next level mean? How do you do it and emerge with a business that has profoundly more value than it did before your efforts?

Buffet wants to buy a business –

Imagine Warren Buffet is in town to buy Jack’s business. How will business owner Jack win the negotiation? In #NameTheBook, Jack becomes the price maker using Asset of Value arguments to make Buffet pay more.

Resilience –

In #NameTheBook I write about resilience extensively. It’s found both in attitude and in how you design and build your business so that your team can share the heavy lifting of staying relevant and growing in a no-growth economy.

A secret sauce formula –

Yes, there is one and it’s in #NameTheBook. It’s a formula that emerged from 12 businesses we built and sold that yielded remarkable returns and is applied in all that we do to grow in a ‘dead’ economy.

Winning Mindset –

#NameTheBook, highlights the winning and loser mindsets of business owners. Awareness of current mindset, snapping out of the mindset that doesn’t serves you or your business is a technique. And yes, there is very definitely a universal wrong and right mindset.

Family business -

Family businesses can be the most humane place to work or utter hell with rampant misdirected energies. #NameTheBook explores the dark days and eventual light of my personal journey with my dad. I love family business because of this history.

Wealth through Business –

#NameTheBook talks about how, using your business, the three elements of wealth are created – making money, growing that money, protecting your money.

Entering into the retail market is fraught with challenges. If you have a product suited to consumers, you must get retail right. The current economic environment makes it especially difficult with even established retailers under pressure to simply survive. Yet, in this environment, the deals you can strike to enter retail are at a peak. Shopping malls are desperate for footfall, rentals are up for negotiation and landlords will do great deals to have you in their environment. Or so one would hope. 

 Listen to the podcast

It is vital to manage changing intentions and goals of #BusinessPartners without stalling the growth of the business.

Recently, we have experienced many conflicts between partners that were formerly solid. These may be due to changing family environments; sentiments towards staying or leaving South Africa and the constant assault a business owner faces from political stupidity, regulatory uncertainty and low to no growth. People are frayed. Resolving the impasse is vital for the business's survival.

You may wait, time does not!

LISTEN: podcast

The recent announcement that South Africa’s growth has fallen by more than 3% in this last quarter should spur the same action one would take when a ship springs a leak. Fix it fast or fail and sink. Last week, we spoke about the brain-drain through emigration. A lack of faith and confidence is driving South African talent out of our country and business. The economy and society in turn, is feeling the impact. We also spoke about how as a business owner you can create opportunities for yourself in this environment. Building simpler businesses, adopting automation, leveraging the weak currency, opening doors in foreign markets through staff that are emigrating were a few of the strategies. In this blog, we look at immigration and what opportunities that can drive for South Africa and you as a business owner.