Partner at your own peril

Lesson 2 - Don't go into partnership

From my own experience and from all the stories that I have heard, the positives unfortunately do not outweigh the negative experiences shared when it comes to forming partnerships in business.

My entrepreneurial path started off with a business partner, and yes there definitely are benefits to a partnership - sharing costs, someone to soundboard with and having someone to share the ups and downs with when you have decided to embark on a path of building your own business. However invariably, there is always going to be one party that feels that they are contributing more, be it financially, workload, time, resources, ideas, bringing in business etc.; at some point or another one of the parties is going start feeling that the other person is not sufficiently pulling their weight and the resentment starts.

If however you do decide that going the partnership-route is the way for you, my advice is that you have a very clear contract in place from the outset outlining the partner responsibilities in as much detail as possible. It is also important to determine up front what does happen the day when things don't work out - i.e. how will things be wrapped up, what happens to the assets, the employees, the finances, the sharing of profit, sharing of debt, clients, restraint of trade. Don't make the mistake I made of thinking "we'll be different and make it work | we have such a good understanding | we trust each other | we'll prove the world wrong..." - you won't.

A tremendous team

Our team is amazing! So proud of +Annette Jansen van Rensburg 's article in The New Age newspaper today. A great article on Reputation Matters' insights when it comes to measuring reputations.

Account for the Taxman

As indicated in one of my earlier posts I have learnt A LOT of lessons, which I am more than happy to share so that the same mistakes are avoided by others who want to venture into their own entrepreneurial venture. I have identified five key lessons, which will be delved into over the next five Fridays.

Lesson 1 - pay SARS 

The taxman is not going to go away.

You need to make sure that you pay your dues and set that % aside for tax | Vat | PAYE. I know that when you are starting up you need every single penny; bills come in, salaries need to be paid and paying that amount (which is usually not a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless) over to SARS seems near to impossible and crippling. But trust me it is a lot better than it all adding up and contending with late payment penalties and interest, which you will have to if you don't settle it.

This is where a good accountant comes into play (this in itself is a lesson - but I think it fits nicely with the SARS lesson).  I have invested in MANY accountants, both in Johannesburg and in Cape Town. An accounting lesson - there is no such thing as creative accounting - SARS will need to be paid whether you are creative or not, and I have found that the more creative the accountant tries to be - the more colourful your language will be in the long-run.

It has taken me eight painful years to find the right accountant-fit. Business Accounting Network (BAN) (www.ban.co.za) has been my beacon of hope in the accounting world. They specialise in small business accounting and are the first accountants who have taken a real interest in the business' finances, not only doing the figures, but also helping with budgeting and financial planning so that there are no 'surprises' from SARS. They also value building a rapport with the business owners that they work with; we have monthly meetings where we discuss the finances and what the financial health is of the business.

The finance part of the business is so crucial, the best is to make peace with SARS and to find that accountant-fit as soon as possible in your new business venture, so that you can spend your time on the actual purpose of your business.

Inspiration from Daddy

Over the past couple of weeks, I have found myself on an interesting journey. One of the goals that I have set myself is to align myself with positive, inspirational people. So when Nicole Rollings (@NicoleKRollings) invited me to Daddy's Dragons' C(R)ash Course, I was intrigued firstly as it was going to focus on cash flow - something that can really make or break any business; and I am always keen to learn how to do new things that will help in this area, and secondly, thinking- who knows, there could be interesting people to meet.

I returned from the two day course hosted at the Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park in Elign (www.oldmacdaddy.co.za), on such a natural high from interacting with amazingly, inspirational people. Albeit the course not focussing on cash flow in the accounting sense per se, it focussed on seeking different opportunities to get your business flowing, which in the bigger scheme of things will ultimately help with the flow of cash. 

The people that I have met, the stories shared and lessons learnt is humbling. It was incredible to be in a space where ideas and thoughts were shared across industries and personalities with no right or wrong, no judgement- just what can we do to think even bigger and better to take the businesses and business ideas to the next level.

I am very grateful for the Daddy-brand for creating this space to help entrepreneurs to channel their energy and to think big. 

They are already sold out for their July course, but I think there are still a couple of spots available in August

www.daddysdragons.co.za/daddys-crash-course. A highly recommendable investment! (and an added bonus is getting to experience their wonderful air-stream trailers!)

All Entrepreneurs have this

Great article - thanks Steven Goh (via @crazygrape)  http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/all-great-entrepreneurs-have-this.html

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. ~ Joseph Addison

"...if you've got time to Facebook ... you've got time to read for a half hour each day ... guess which one will make your dreams a reality ..." is (ironically) something I saw on Brad Sugars' Facebook page some time ago.  Robin Sharma also says, "Commit yourself to reading for 30 minutes a day." 

I'm slowly but surely instilling a culture of the importance of reading with the team, and as of the beginning of the year set everyone a goal of reading at least one (business-related | relevant) book a month.

Proudly I have personally kept up with this challenge, (can't not practice what you preach). Initially it was really easy to make excuses to not read, but I am always up for a challenge, so reading has now become a part of the day's routine, admittedly 30 minutes is not always possible, but I try and read at least three pages a day.

A book that I highly recommend, especially for people who have been running their own business and feel that there is a discrepancy between the time invested in the company and the outcomes, and also a really important read for people considering to start their own business to know what (potentially) awaits you, is "The E-Myth Revised," by Michael E. Gerber.

What book is on your top recommendation reading list for businesses?

Wise words to start off your Wednesday

International relations

I am so super happy that Reputation Matters is associated with the ECCO International PR Network (www.ecco-network.com) and representing them in South Africa. We recently participated in an international survey pertaining to journalists' use of social media.

Yesterday I did a dance of joy when I saw the results published in the July 2013 ADvantage Magazine - (what a pity this publication is no longer carrying on - a real blow for the industry).

Being a part of this network helps us to leverage off international best practices and share knowledge; something that I have become quite passionate about and what I say in the article as well, is that all too often we as South African's sell ourselves short; in reality we are very competitive and right up there when it comes to international trends and providing world class service -  we have so much to be proud of!

It's all about balance

I believe that a big part of striving towards success is to have a balance in life - mind | body | soul; work & play, as well as then setting goals accordingly. One of the 'body | play' goals I have set is to complete the Old Mutual TwoOceans 1/2 Marathon next year, so am slowly but surely building up my stamina towards this.

This morning I participated in the Tigger Trail Run; after a dismal performance the last time I participated in a  trail run (for those not familiar with what a trail run is, it means running up and down a mountain); and promising to never do that to myself again, I found myself in a very dark and wet Newlands Forest early this morning - for the 10km Tigger Trail run (using the term "run" very loosely). There was an eerie peacefulness of running in the rain and mist. The camaraderie was incredible, everyone helping each other across rivers and up very steep muddy embankments. At just over the halfway point,  everyone had a photo taken with Tigger, given a Chomp and motivation for the next stretch. What a marvelous way to start the day. The ladies organising these trails do it for the love of it and all entry fees are donated to the Tygervalley Children's Hospital; they are doing this with no other funding (www.facebook.com/TiggerTrails). Although I was so tempted to not go this morning, and then to turn around when we started, the lesson for the day was that what goes up must come down - the only way to enjoy the downhills and fun parts is to go through trials and uphills.

A responsibility

It is the responsibility of all business owners to ensure that their businesses are successful. Ultimately you are contributing to improving the lives of everyone associated with the business, so in the bigger scheme of things positively contributing to the country's economy.

I have been running my own business for almost eight years and have learnt A LOT of lessons during that time, but also realise that I still have A LOT to learn.

Through these posts I will share my experiences and would love to hear and learn from other business owners who are willing to share their knowledge and experience.