Punk Your SME

Hi guys

One of the big themes we have spoken about this year when it has come to “Rival Pioneers” and “Punk Your SME” is the willingness of South African entrepreneurs to support other small businesses.

Well the guys from Springleap.com – who offer awesomely popular designer T-Shirts – have come to the party in a BIG way and they have given us 150 vouchers worth R60 each to our entrepreneur communities.

To make use of this voucher, go to their website and find a couple of shirts you like and then when you purchase it you can use the coupon code “rival2010″.

Important things to remember:
- The code is case sensitive – all lower-case
- There are 150 vouchers – 1 per person
- You need to use it before the 17th of December 2010
- If you are not part of the community then join the Facebook groups so we can keep you up to date with these and other developments
- By supporting these guys you are supporting local entrepreneurs

(Total aside – if you like what these guys did with Springleap then go and check out Evly.com)

Entrepreneur tip
Guys if you run a small business you will know how important it is to “box clever” around your marketing.

Very few of us can afford to just be thinking “brand building” – we actually need people using our products and services and being a reference to other people in their professional and social networks.

How many of you small business owners would kill for 150 people to be using AND talking about your product and service between now and then end of the year?

A campaign like this gives you mileage.

If you want to chat about innovative ways of using our Rival Pioneers and Punk Your SME communities to try and raise awareness of your product or service then please drop Adrian an e-mail (adrian@rivalmoney.co.za) or myself (marca@fin24.com) and we will chat about different options.

If you have any problems activating the voucher please drop Adrian an e-mail and we will investigate.

Now get shopping!

Kind regards,
Marc Ashton
082-561-1585
www.twitter.com/zamarcashton

Hi entrepreneurs

Sorry for the silence, things have been crazy busy for the last few weeks as we try and squeeze in the last bit of work and try and get ourselves ready for December.

One positive is that things have been super busy which means that at least the economy is still ticking over!

Speaking of busy – Scott Cundill and the team over at Majestic have done a great job with our legal survey and some very interesting feedback coming in from South African entrepreneurs. We are busy collecting all the responses but it has been a real eye-opener for us and I think we are starting to understand the pain small business owners are taking.

Thanks to everybody who took the time to respond and don’t forget to check out http://www.majesticway.net/ for more info on Scotts offering.

With many businesses starting to quieten down, December does provide an opportunity to take stock and evaluate and one of the things which should not be under-estimated is the value of an outside pair of eyes over your business.

To give you an example, I recently sat down with our tech guy Gordon Bishop for a beer and did a bit of brain-storming. A little tweak suggested by Gordon has brought in revenue on 70% of the days since he made the suggestion. The cost to me – a couple of beers – the pay-off was a totally new revenue stream.

Be brutally honest with yourself – what are your weaknesses?

Read the rest of this entry »

If there is one thing which can “Punk” your small business, it is an injection of new leads and a system which turns those leads into sales.

Earlier this week, we were at a presentation by leading entrepreneur Brad Sugars who provided us with a handful of handy and practical tips for generating new leads and sales.

Instant Leads: Create a Steady Stream of Customers and Keep Your Business Growing

Providing coverage of strategies and techniques of business basics for both beginners and the experienced, these books tackle an array of business topics using strategies developed by Sugars and the crack business coaches at Action International. They focuses on subjects like sales, advertising, management, leads, referrals, real estate, and more.

You can buy it online from Kalahari for R175 by clicking HERE or on the book cover below:

Instant Sales: Techniques to Improve Your Skills and Seal the Deal Every Time

Unleash the inner salesperson you never knew you had.

From financial advice to hairstyling, fitness training to auto parts, no matter what your product or service, you’ve got to sell to stay in business. A multimillionaire by age twenty-six, Brad Sugars delivers techniques for infusing your business with a powerful sales ethic and creating super sales success. Learn how to: Deliver sales quotes that instil prospects with trust Provide the kind of service that keeps customers coming back Master the first crucial minute of any sales call Set up a point-of-sale system they can’t ignore

You can buy the picture online from Kalahari for R175.95 by clicking HERE or on the cover below

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Don’t forget to support our first “Punk Your SME” winner – 2B Studio

An opportunity to win R10000 and to take a crack at lawyers first thing on a Tuesday morning – what more could you ask for in an e-mail?

First let’s deal with the lawyers
As some of you know I wrote a rather contentious column on Fin24.com last week which generated a phenomenal response. Basically my assertion was that it wasn’t appropriate for the Sandton skyline to be dominated by law firms.

While it was probably quite offensive to some lawyers there were two other purposes to the article:

1. Scott and one of his members – Johan Joubert – have been making some interesting noises about banks, mortgages and legal “promises” to pay. I’m still trying to get my head around it but do yourselves a favour and start doing some light reading about Section 25 of the Bills of Exchange Act.

2. We are a little tired of watching SME’s get bullied by law firms and seeing legal teams get rich while SME’s battle through the recession. We don’t argue that they have their place, but bullying behaviour will not be tolerated. With that in mind we have put together a short survey for entrepreneurs to complete about the impact that legal action is having on entrepreneurship in South Africa and I want to publish the results in my Fin24.com column. Please complete it here – http://micro2.majesticinteractive.co.za/bf.php?fid=804

Thanks to Majestic Interactive for helping me put it together and collecting the results.

On to the good stuff:
Eran from Springleap has alerted me to a VERY cool competition they are running in conjunction with Raizcorp and if you have even the slightest hint of design ability then you have to put yourself in the running for a R10000 prize.

Basically you get to submit a design in their “I am an Entrepreneur” design competition.

The winning design will be transformed into a t-shirt and will be sold across the world through Springleap.com’s online store.

Relevant dates:
Submissions for designs open: 08 November 2010
Submissions for designs close: 08 December 2010
Voting starts: 10 December 2011
Voting ends: 10 January 2011
Winner is announced: 18 January 2011

Guys – if you have competitions like these and you would like to engage SA entrepreneurs through the likes of Rival  Pioneers, RivalMoney.co.za, Punk Your SME or Bundublog then we are all ears. Feel free to pop Adrian a line (adrian@rivalmoney.co.za) and we’ll see what we can come up with.

More details of the competition here

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Don’t forget to support 2B Studio the winner of the first Punk Your SME competition.

This is still one of the best (and most relevant) small business and entrepreneurship books around. For those who don’t know, Scott is one of the partners involved in the Punk Your SME competition we put together.

Scott Cundill tears apart the fabric of the entrepreneurial world in his hilarious, yet chillingly realistic debut “mini-epic”. Part instruction manual, part life story, part spiritual journey, “How not to start and run your own business” is so far removed from anything in its genre that it simply cannot be ignored. You need only flip it open to an explanation of why the title is printed upside down and chuckle at the preamble, to realise that you’re in for one hell of a ride. But be warned, this is not what most readers will expect, because this debut mini epic flies directly in the face off the usual array of motivational business books on the shelf. It is honest, realistic and sometimes even shocking.

You can support an SA entrepreneur by buying the book from Kalahari for R120 by clicking HERE or on the book cover below:

Needing a bit of inspiration for your business venture? Want some insight from some of our most successful entrepreneurial brains?

“South Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneurs” comprises a series of fascinating profiles on 22 of the most successful and dynamic business visionaries who have built empires in South Africa. Compiled by Moky Makura, author of Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneurs (2008) and written by a selection of the country’s leading writers, South Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneurs provides an insight into the fascinating stories of the entrepreneurs who shaped South Africa.

This book is a must-have for anyone who has ever wanted to start their own business or simply wants to know how these individuals built sustainable businesses in South Africa. For the fi rst time ever, these inspiring stories are captured in one single book Read about Sol Kerzner, Alan Knott-Craig, Koos Bekker, Herman Mashaba, Mark Lamberti, Adrian Gore, Raymond Ackerman, Pam Golding, Nkhensani Nkosi, Jenna Clifford, Whitey Basson, Mark Shuttleworth, Donald Gordon, Eric Ellerine, Natie Kirsh, G.T Ferreira, Robbie Brozen, Carrol Boyes, Brian Joffe, Gary Morolo, Ndaba Ntsele and Anant Singh.

South Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneurs is as close as you could get to a one-on-one session with the leading entrepreneurial minds in the country without an appointment.

You can buy the book online from Kalahari for R147.50 by clicking HERE or on the book cover below:

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Support an entrepreneurial South African business: Buy designer T-Shirts Online Click Here

Hi entrepreneurs

E-MAIL

About 30 minutes after the interview with the 2B Studio (www.2bstudio.co.za) guys was played on ClassicFM on Monday our Internet Service Provider hadproblems with its mail servers and we’ve been offline mail-wise for most of the week. Its still very up and down so if you need to e-mail me please get me at marca@fin24.com or Chrizel on chrizel@rivalmoney.co.za.

SME TIPS

A big part of Punk Your SME is empowering SME’s with practical tips that can help them build their businesses so I’m going to be looking to put in some tipsfor small business owners. I’m kicking off with something that is close to my heart – communicating with the media. There is no question that you can get some fantastic exposure by becoming a “go-to guy” (or gal) for journalists seeking informed comment. You don’t need a PR agency to get this exposure for you.

Drop a short introduction to a journalist who covers your sector and if you see a potential story idea then punt it to them.

Don’t go over the top, but go out there with an intention of building a long-term relationship with the journalist which is mutually beneficial.

In alot of cases you don’t need fancy press releases. Just sum it up in a telephone call or e-mail in a couple of lines and let the journalist start finding you as a reliable source of comment. There is also a handy little news service called Media Alerts which you can also follow on Twitter which keeps you up to date with journalists looking to comment on a variety of topics.

VOUCHER WIN

Warren Dick from Investorcentre.co.za has won a R250 advertising voucher from OfferForge to promote his business through EasyAds. Investorcentre providesnews and information on Alt-X and JSE listed shares as well as exchange traded funds (ETFs)

Don’t forget you can sign up with EasyAds now and get 20% more visitors for your money on your first purchase. Click here to sign up -http://za.offerforge.com/z/19936/ZA4934

ENTREPRENEUR SPEED DATING
Its entrepreneur speed dating (networking) on Tuesday night again and Jonathan Miller from OfferForge has come to the party with R1500 worth of advertising

vouchers to give away. Its R125 for the evening and includes snacks and drinks sponsored by Old Mutual. We’re in the executive dining room at Old Mutuals

building in Sandton. Its a great opportunity to network and develop your contacts and talk about your small business. Its 6 for 6:30 and you should be out by8. To RSVP please e-mail either myself, Adrian Bain or Chrizel. Otherwise you can get us on 082-561-1585 (me), Adrian (072-368-3305) or 071-510-8108(Chrizel).

DON’T FORGET
We are continuing to take motivations for Punk Your SME. While we’re having mail issues please just send e-mail to Chrizel (chrizel@rivalmoney.co.za) with a subject line saying “I want to Punk My SME” and a full set of contact details. We’ll then contact you when we need the motivations.

Regards,
Marc Ashton
082-561-1585

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Hi guys

It has been brought to my attention that our mailboxes are reporting that they are over their size limit, but according to the support centre the limit has been set to zero on a number of accounts and they are trying to resolve.

In the interim you can e-mail mjash@yahoo.com until we are back up and running.

Marc Ashton
082-561-1585

Hi entrepreneurs

Well the team from 2B Studio had their radio interview with ClassicFM last week and apparently it went very well. ClassicFM has done some quite innovative things and I went to check out their listenership stats and was surprised to see they have a reach of more than 200000. If your SME can reach just 1% of that audience and find a customer in there, then being part of this competition makes it worthwhile!

The next round of the competition kicks off with a winner being announced at the end of December so keep the motivations coming in. All you need to do is send us an e-mail with the subject: “I want to Punk My SME” and we will let you know when we need your motivation.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the prizes that the 2B Studio guys have won / enjoyed since being part of the competition:
- Majestic profile and training (www.majesticway.net)
- Media exposure via blogs, Facebook groups, and radio
- Online advertising via AD Dynamo
- Mobile advertising via Advurt
- Online advertising voucher and training from Forge Media
- Marketing space on Bundublog.com and ManufacturingHub.co.za
- Data subscription via SA Rates & Data
- Back Office software from Aurik
- A financial consultation with one of the partners for Rival Money
- A mentoring session with a couple of our experts

It is not a bad prize to kick off the competition but we are always looking for more to be chucked into the pot. If you believe you have a product or service that could benefit an SME, you’re welcome to drop me a line and we’ll see what we can do for you.

Drop me a line on marc@rival.co.za or 082-561-1585 if you need more info.

We have a couple of events coming up in October that might be of interest to fellow entrepreneurs:

26 October 2010 – Gauteng – Entrepreneurs Speed Dating
3 November 2010 – Gauteng – Laying it bare: Sell like a stripper (confidence tricks for networking)

We also receive discounted rates on labour seminars through our Rival Pioneers initiative presented by Ivan Israelstam.

If you are interested in attending any of the above events please e-mail Chrizel (c@rival.co.za) with your enquiry and she will respond with further details.

Join the Rival Pioneers and Punk Your SME Facebook Groups to be kept up to date with new developments.

Thanks for all of your support

Marc Ashton

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Support an entrepreneurial South African business: South Africa’s only one-stop online shop for the urban man. Click Here

The first quarterly winner of the Punk Your SME competition is Gauteng-based Adobe training and consulting firm 2B Studio.

“In picking the winner there were a couple of factors we took into consideration. These included their motivation about what they would be putting back into the community, who would benefit most from the prizes that were on offer and sustainability,” said competition organiser Marc Ashton.

“Punk Your SME” is a local initiative which sees a collective prize “crowd-sourced” from other small businesses and thrown into a pot with a quarterly winner picking up the prize at the end of each quarter. Small business owners and entrepreneurs can motivate why they should be picked as a winner, with the next winner being announced at the end of December 2010.

“One of the things I have been really impressed with is the willingness of entrepreneurial South African businesses such as Aurik, SA Rates and Data, Advurt, AD Dynamo and others to get involved and support local entrepreneurs,” said Ashton.

Co-organiser and marketing expert Scott Cundill from Majestic Interactive agrees saying: “A competition for SME’s where the prizes are made up of products and services to help them grow is exactly what this country needs. What is deeply enouraging is the support that we have had from the prize givers themselves. There is a clear indication that the business community supports each other and I think this is fantastic!”

In motivating why they should win, 2B Studio founders Shelley Barnard and Heather Botha commented: “Adobe Photoshop elements has never been marketed before to the average consumer with no graphics industry background. There are thousands of people in this untapped market who take digital photographs and want to be able to digitally enhance them.

Another area that is in desperate need is our law enforcement sector. How they operate the docket system at present, is with a mountain of paperwork that often gets misplaced or goes missing.  By tapping into this sector, we can implement and train their police officers on how to use Adobe Acrobat to electronically capture data and information.”

Adrian Bain, business mentor at entrepreneur support initiative Rival Pioneers concludes: “The Punk your SME competition is a great showcase of the entrepreneurial spirit that is alive in South Africa and it gives winners a little boost that very few entrepreneurs expect or ever get. The competition is going to make a great impact as more entrepreneurs and businesses contribute to this great initiative.”