Having recently returned from a trip to the UK, I reflected on the comments leading up to it, from people that I was scheduled to meet. “Don’t come now, rather delay to November or next year,” they said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because the Pound has been pounded and our politicians are making a real mess of things and our country is socially divided and our business confidence indexes are at an all time low,” they said.
“That’s everyday life in South Africa,” I responded “and, in that environment, our clients enjoyed an average annual revenue growth of 28.9%.”
After a brief pause… “Come they said, come and let’s understand how to grow a business in choppy waters.”

Wing Chun Kung Fu, a style of martial arts, requires that you have a secure footing on the ground in all its defensive and offensive actions. This footing “anchors” you to the ground. It translates the force of your strike or block from your foot to your knees to your hips and torso to your strike or block. It lends integrity, strength and power to your action be it a kick or a punch.

Building and growing a business is no different. It all begins with positioning and leads all the effort and activity based on that positioning. Weak positioning or poorly articulated positioning will lead to misguided actions, investments, hires and decisions. It fragments and crumbles the businesses platform, leads to a life of chaos and frustrations as a #businessowner and will almost assure you a future where what you have built will never be saleable.

Firstly, this only matters for 5.4% of all #businessowners since 94.6% of all business  started  fail to sell. They close at great cost to the business owner, their family, employees, the sector and industry they are in, customers and suppliers and the economy of the country they operate from .

The  second part of the answer is “not nearly what I thought or hoped it would be worth” or “not enough in terms of what I need”.

Start now to prevent these fateful outcomes by taking control of two things. Understand how  valuation  of  a business  works and start building your business differently today to secure the valuation you want in the future. It can be done, and this is how.

Every business only has two destinations: it closes, or you successfully sell it. Globally, however, 94.6% of all businesses that begin, never get sold. This is tragic for business owners, because they pour their life, energy, and attention into a building a business that should serve them and offer them financial security. But why would you sell your business, and when is the right time to do so? On The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, Pavlo Phitidis outlined a plan for how to sell your business:

Listen to the podcast HERE.

As a small business owner, your biggest investment will be your staff. How you hire, who you hire, and when you hire, will have the biggest – positive or negative - effect on getting your business to the next level or not. On The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, Pavlo Phitidis outlined his approach to getting recruitment right:

Listen to the podcast HERE.

Effectively growing your business revenue needs a lot more than just a regular sales effort. Developing and implementing sales channels is a key strategy to get to the next level, and build your business into an Asset of Value. But, before you begin utilising specific sales channels, consider how effective they will be for building your business. You must first understand where, why, and how, your customers want to buy your products and services. On The Money Show with Bruce Whitfield, Pavlo Phitidis showcased different types of sales channels, and how you can use them to grow your revenue:

Listen to the podcast HERE.

We live in unstable times, and a brief look at the news headlines is almost always disheartening. Constant exposure to the news, along with a teetering economy, can make you feel deflated, frustrated, and ready to give up as a business owner. Here we look at what to do when you’re feeling despondent, by examining seven traits of successful business owners. 

Analogies are very useful to simplify thinking and action. As a business owner, building a business in a challenging environment creates noise and chaos. Gaining clarity, certainty and confidence helps manage the noise and emotion to provide right action and timing in your journey of building your business. A good analogy helps you get this right .

Listen to the podcast HERE 

You might have noticed that it takes longer to get deals done in today’s economy. What took 6 weeks is taking 12 to 16 weeks; what took 3 months is now taking 9 months if not a year. There are many reasons for it, but the reality is that to get deals done, you have sell across three domains.

Today, you need product value propositions, mindset value propositions and economic value propositions. Missing out one of them will double up on the time it usually takes you to do your deals.

Listen to the podcast HERE

Beware who you tie your fortunes to – they may inspire your start and hinder your end.

Why and how you start your business is deeply personal and specific to your circumstances and opportunities at that time. There are many right ways which often turn out to be wrong ways simply because plans seldom work out. Just start. But, always do so with the end in mind.

Listen to the podcast HERE