What is a new business?

A new business / company is... an opportunity

... to re-invent an industry

...... to design a new life for an individual

.......... to revolutionise your community and country


A new business is also

an exciting opportunity [EXCITEMENT, INC.]

and potentially a new lease on life.



For all the hardened veterans out there who have all the battle scars - you can stop laughing now. Even if you don't see it this way now, its the way it should be! If you don't believe it, perhaps you need to take a year off and reassess what's really important in life.

Okay, all you young, wide-eyed, uninitiated hopefuls out there - don't think that all these ideals and aspirations don't come with risk attached, either. We can't live in fantasy world, but if we can acknowledge the reality of the situation and still try to change the world ... yeah baby!

Real entrepreneurs aside, Western culture has seen a new breed of "entrepreneur" [I use the term loosely] rise up in the Venture Capitalist - something I admit I previously aspired to. For anyone who is even remotely interested in this, I highly recommend reading this article on the Venture Capital Aptitude Test by Guy Kawasaki. Then do the test. The questions drive home just what a mindshift some young aspiring entrepreneurs need.

Now my intention with this is not to put off yuong business hopefuls. In fact, its the opposite - I want us to see what's really important. Not sitting in a boardroom making decisions based on an Excel spreadsheet and some fancy business school model. Its about getting out there, getting your hands dirty and experiencing the reality of what we're living in. Some are made for it, some aren't. I intend finding out which category I fit into.


P.S. I scored a 6. Wonder if I should put that on my CV?


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Let's turn the world upside down!

A new job everyday

One aspect of our society which is now commonplace is to see people alongside the road [everywhere you go] advertising their services as painters, tilers, builders and a variety of other 'professions'. While this is considered by many to be a nuisance, I can't help but look at the flipside -

- everyday, each of these people effectively looks for a new job, with a different employer, a different location, and a different wage/salary.

When last did you change jobs? I recall seeing that changing jobs fell into four of the most stressful events of a person's life [along with getting married, death of a close relative and moving house]. The most difficult part of changing jobs is not necessarily once you know where you're going, but all the uncertainty when you're still looking.

Now imagine looking for a new job every single day.

Here's a thought - in a each neighbourhood, establish a central venue where all such skilled people can go daily, register as available, and possibly even receive a meal. Their details [name, ID number, skills, contact number, etc] would be recorded here. Any people looking for workers with these skills could go straight to this 'agency' and find a tradesman with the skills they are looking for.

It may take a while to become readily accepted, but could provide huge benefits to both sides, including:
For the tradesman: a central destination each day, possibly a meal, credibility through verification of their details, and keeping them away from potential danger at busy street corners and intersections.
For the public: a central source of skills when required, verified details of the individual you're employing and more safety in public areas that work-seekers currently frequent.

This kind of idea would probably require government initiative, but with a bit of creative flair, could also prove to be a profitable business. How? Sale of advertising to a captive market each day; visibility through sponsorship of food, tools, etc; commission on people placed; revenue from transport facilities going directly to/from the venue. These are just off the top of my head - I'm sure there are endless possibilities.

Perhaps it sounds a bit ridiculous. Perhaps it could work.

The new things that matter

1. Flexibility

Tom Peters said it so well in his confessions [Referring to his earlier book - "In search of excellence"]:
"'Search' was about people, customers, and action. Twenty years later, it's about ideas, liberation, and speed."

The world has changed - is changing. Can we keep up?

When I left school and started studies about 10 or so years ago, the business landscape was markedly different. Changes did not occur at light speed and information moved about as fast as a Fiat Uno in third gear on the highway.

In school and in university, we were taught how things were and how to deal with that. In fact, flexibility and adaptabliity were not the main focus of any formal education that I recall. And now, its a necessity. For big businesses, small businesses and everyone in between. Now, owning more, being bound by contracts/overheads/etc, carrying loads of baggage = less flexibility


Now, you can't assume that change means that slow is bad and fast is good - remember the old "Tortoise and the hare" story. Sometimes [often?] fast is good but slow is better, because if you're not correctly positioned, you may think you need to react fast but in fact rushing causes mistakes and ends up less effective.

Regardless, the rules have changed. How does your business ensure it is flexible? Is it flexible at all? I sure hope so. We'll find out soon enough.

Graphic designers in training

I've said that this should be a forum for sharing ideas, so here is the first one. [Please use the link alongside called "What's the big idea" which will link to blog posts marked as ideas.]





In considering how to get a logo designed for another company I deal with, I was challenged to find an alternative way to get a logo designed.

Consider this - a competition open to all interested students (and teachers too?) at selected high schools. Their challenge would be to design a logo for submission to the company, with details about the company, its business, target market, etc given to them. All designs are submitted to the company's directors to make the final decision. For the winner - prize money [eg R1,000] and the satisfaction of seeing your design in use as a company's logo. For the company - substantial visibility [particularly where the target market consists of school students], a spectacular [should be!] logo design, and access to a large number of possible future recruits [goodbye HR recruitment problems].

Simple. maybe. But still a win - win!

Subsequent to this, I came across a story about a very interesting company - Logoworks - which has really applied an incredible model to widening the sphere of design creativity available. Yuo should read the fascinating Inc.com "How I did it" story of the founder, Morgan Lynch.

New era. Great model. Amazing success. We could learn a thing or two here.

When £40,000 is just a drop in the ocean...

I was going through an old magazine and came across a fascinating story which really does prove the theory about hindsight. And about how wrong the 'experts' [aka cynics] can be.

Then - From '.net' magazine, December 1995 issue:
"Money made over the Net shocker - Cynics say that the only way to make money out of the Net is to run a seminar telling people how to make money out of the Net, but Virgin has proved them wrong. The Megastore shop on CompuServe has received orders for more than £40,000 of music CDs, games and videos in 23 weeks. It's not nearly in the same league as the high street, but it's getting there."

Now - From Google's Fiscal Year 2006 results:
Revenues for the year $ 10.6 billion
Net income for the year $ 3.1 billion

Well, I wonder what those cynics have to say now. Lesson learned - if you believe in something, don't let the experts, or anybody for that matter, tell you its impossible. You might just be right.