General

“In business, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate,” Chester Karrass, Founder of Seminar group Karrass. At some point, around halfway through the pandemic, experts began to whisper that office space was dead. “No one will be using an office by 2023,” they said. And yet,…

“Pricing power is important in business. You want your business to have the ability to raise prices as needed, especially with regard to inflation.” (Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr) It is imperative that businesses increase their fees, rates or product prices annually by at least the rate of inflation, just to…

“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.” (American business speaker Brian Tracy) Successful communication can be the difference between a profitable business and…

“Metaverse isn’t a thing a company builds. It’s the next chapter of the internet overall” (Mark Zuckerberg, Meta) Among businesses, one of the most misunderstood aspects at the moment is ‘The Metaverse’. Businesses that do understand this new phase of the internet are currently seizing opportunities that their competition doesn’t…

“I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.” (Brad Schneider, American congressman) At some point it’s more likely than not that your small business will require a business loan. A 2021 study done by Fundera (a US financial resource business…

“In a way, fraud in business is no different from infidelity in marriage or plagiarism in scholarly work. Even people committed to high moral standards succumb” (Miroslav Volf, Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture) Fraud (in this context) is the act wherein an employee or trusted partner…

“The moment you make a mistake in pricing, you’re eating into your reputation or your profits.” (Katharine Paine, founder and CEO of KDPaine & Partners) It may seem a simple concept but getting your pricing right is an integral part of any business’s true sustainable success and can be a…

“If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion” (Elon Musk) The move to the gig economy has been in the works for years. Even before the pandemic people were leaving their jobs to “consult independently”…

“During recession greed dies, frugality survives.” (Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words) With yet another return of loadshedding in August, and major banks upgrading their forecasts to reflect an increased possibility of further economic downturns, recession feels inevitable in South Africa. A recession is simply where an economy stops growing and…

 “Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team.” (Lisa Masiello) Anyone who has started a business has had those meetings. The ones where you trade a dozen emails explaining what you do and how you do it, what your rates are and why you…