Investors are much better at negotiations than you are; after all, this is what they do, and they do it daily. You on the other hand, rarely do it. When you approach potential investors to invest in your new company, you should avoid certain expressions. They are traps that make you look weak or dig
These days, your website can get lost in a jungle of Social Media Influencers and Brand Ambassadors. We see individuals and companies on various social media channels with a hundred thousand followers and wonder, how will my social media efforts ever compare? Gone are the days of cold calling, leaving brochures or company profiles at
Getting clients and prospects to engage with your start-up business is like learning a new language. It doesn’t simply just happen over a weekend. It takes time and practice to truly become fluent in speaking the “marketing language” of your clients. So what different dialects should you include in your start-up company’s marketing language to
Creating great new business ideas is not a very difficult task to overcome, but what if you do not have a creative bone in your body? The next time you are struggling to come up with a new idea, try the following: 1.) Shopping: Next time you go shopping, examine some of the products in
Let’s face it. Running a new business is extremely challenging and competitive. You need every opportunity to attract potential customers to your business. But for some unknown reason, customers are just not buying from you. Why? Here are the ten most likely reason potential customer are not buying your products or services: 1. Potential customers
The ways that buyers access and purchase art have changed significantly over the last 20 years. In 2016, the most recent year for audited results, global art sales were between US$45 and US$57 billion. Art fairs alone generated US$13.3 billion in sales in 2016, up 5% year-on-year and 57% since 2010, according to the 2017 Art
Not everyone is going to pitch their Business Plan to investors. There are many great businesses to be built without ever raising a Rand from external investors, and many types of businesses shouldn’t pitch to external investors to begin with. With this said, I wanted to present some insight on pitching because I know that:
Short and simple answer… To tell the story about your business with math. A great financial model isn’t just a spreadsheet: it’s an outline of your fundamental business model that can be used to understand your business. A lot of stakeholders tend to say that financial models are irrelevant for start-up companies. I agree that financial
Entrepreneurs need to be prepared when pitching their start-up companies to investors by anticipating the questions they will receive. Presenting to potential investors will involve as little as 10 questions and as much as 100 questions. We have focused on the Top 10 Most Common and Most Difficult Questions that entrepreneurs can expect when presenting
Uncertainty, especially economic uncertainty remains at the top of mind for most South African businesses. Perhaps now is an ideal time to look at ways you can successfully manage your business through these uncertain times. When times are good and product is moving, companies can run a little blind. It is not unusual to discover
New restaurants are popping up with every new shopping mall and suburban ‘trendy’ hangout spots and are all contending for the same customers. How do you then ensure that the customers are walking into your dining establishment and not the competitors? We have all seen empty restaurants while another one on the same street is
Customer service is a term that most companies reflect in their mission statements, yet, exceptional customer service is arguably one of the concepts that is seldom experienced by customers. Customer service – to thousands of employees and employers in South Africa – is as foreign a term as trying to read and understand hieroglyphics. From receiving