Coaching

I want to share a few strategic start-up tips with you. But, unlike most ‘what-to-do’ lists, this is just the opposite.

This is a list of what to be cautious of and, ideally, what to avoid when you’re preparing to start your new business venture.

Anyone who has worked in a call centre will tell you that the adage “the customer is always right” is definitely not universally applicable.

But that’s no reason to start an argument with your client at the expense of customer service. They may not always be right, but they are ALWAYS important.

In fact, second to your employees, they are by far the most important part of your business,

FACT: The way you treat your customers will determine whether you succeed or fail in the long run.

Customer experience really is king.

This week I’m going to take a bit of a detour from my usual content – please bear with me, it’s important.

I’m devoting this article to highlighting the career challenges faced by the youth in Southern Africa.

As an entrepreneur myself, as well as a business mentor and coach, my focus is on helping career-oriented folks like yourself to get their businesses off the ground. As such, I generally direct my attention to individuals already established in the working environment; either as employees or employers. My target audience is between 25 and 55.

As entrepreneurs, we don’t have somebody looking over our shoulders urging us to stay focused on our priorities. We have to rely on ourselves and our own internal drive to keep us going. It’s not always that easy; especially when we lose motivation.

And sometimes, for whatever obscure physical or emotional reasons, we just don’t feel motivated to do anything!

I’m sure we’ve all suffered from it. A sudden, seemingly inexplicable loss of motivation. We feel dejected, tired, and hollow. We procrastinate on our tasks and our projects. Just getting out of bed is a struggle, and nothing seems to inspire us. Even though we recognise it and feel guilty about it, we can’t get ourselves to do anything about it.

I’ve been thinking about failure a lot this week. So much so that I decided to share my thoughts with you.

Let me start by asking you . . Are you afraid to fail?

I was.
When I started down my entrepreneurial path in the early ’90s, my first two ventures failed spectacularly. It devastated me, and my confidence took a huge knock. I guess I could’ve given up then, but something inside me kept pushing me forward.

This week I’m not sharing any insights or industry news with you – sorry.

Instead, I would like to share some personal news and, at the same time, ask for your advice and input.

 As this is a community of entrepreneurs and business owners, you may already be running your own successful business, or you may be itching to start one soon.

 So . . .

 If you haven’t gotten your business off the ground yet, or you are looking to start a new business from scratch, maybe we can help each other . . .

In the past, it was easy to look ahead. To create our goals; to plan for a better future for ourselves and our families; and to envision our future desires – like a new house, a better car, or a new job.

But the future doesn’t feel so certain anymore, does it?

So what we tend to do instead, is focus more on the past and the present. During this very unsettling time of lockdown, our attention has shifted from planning our future, to dealing with the repercussions of our past.

Are you guilty of delaying work that needs to be completed until the last minute?
Maybe it’s a task you need to complete, a proposal you need to submit to a client, or an errand your spouse asked you to do.

I’m sure we’ve all gone through some extent of procrastination over the years – I certainly have. Studies show that over 20% of adults put off or avoid doing certain tasks by allowing themselves to be overtaken by distractions.