Building your business: Planning of Instinct?

Building your business: Planning of Instinct?

Nov 15, 2022 | My Blog

Building your business: Planning of Instinct?

11 November

I was watching a spider fixing its web the other day from our stoep.

I wondered how it knew which strand was the next it needed to build.

At first it appeared that the spider was moving about randomly without a plan. As I continued to watch I could see a pattern emerge. The spider was doing one strand at a time but in various directions, then occasionally reinforcing some strand again while all the time returning to, and working from, the centre of the web.

This busy little guy made me think about the challenges of being an entrepreneur.

Do most of us have a plan with the next steps once we’ve decided to build something? Or was it mostly instinct and we live and learn as we go on?

Some of us are lucky enough to have training or get some level of education but so much is learnt on the fly. We make mistakes. We get things wrong. We also get things right and learn what works best while always keeping our eyes open for new opportunities.

It has long been a gripe of mine that small business doesn’t have the support that bigger business has. Sadly, the reality of small business teaches you that when it’s just you, you’ve got to learn quick. You need to hustle as nobody is going to play fairy god mother or teach you what big business has spent many years and tons of money to develop.

The trouble is that the very attributes that makes you brave enough to start your own business, also potentially trips you up when you don’t take the time to plan your vision properly.

As a small business owner (regardless of how long you’ve been operating) ask yourself these questions:

  1. What is the problem that I am trying to solve?
  2. How might I solve the problem for the client?
  3. Who am I trying to solve the problem for?
  4. Why am I, as a person, doing this?
  5. What criteria is needed to make this solution direction work for me and my family?

These are high level questions and the deeper you dig into answers to these questions, the more solid your plan will be in the end. This is the centre of your web where you need to keep returning to when you bring all the strands together.

There are many different processes that can help you with unpacking and exploring the above.

Having instinct, passion, courage and yes, next level stubbornness will without a doubt be foundations of your business success.

But jumping in blindly without taking the time to process your thoughts, ideas and asking the tough questions is setting yourself up for a whole lot of tears and drama.

Don’t do it.

Set yourself up for success.

Being an entrepreneur is hard enough without starting on the back foot.

People say: “Trust the Process”

Different things work for different people in different situations, however.

So I’m saying: “Trust A process”

You don’t need to build this web by yourself. Find a process with people who will work for and with you.

Oh, and by the way… a process takes time. It isn’t a pill you drink, and your headache disappears.  You must invest the time and effort into the process to make it work. It’s uncomfortable, frustrating, and confusing before it brings clarity and actions.

So much more important to find people that will challenge you, guide you and build with you.

Building that web takes time, you build it one strand at a time, strengthening and iterating as you go but returning again and again to the centre to ensure the integrity of your structure.

With this stronger, better web you will be more likely to catch the opportunities when they come flying at high speed.

Need to bounce some ideas? Book a free explore session here.

Blog Moments

Blog Moments

Nov 7, 2022 | My Blog

Blog:  Blog Moments

This morning I had another blog moment.

For years I’ve been getting moments where something happens, and I think… this is something… I should write about it.  I never did.

During Covid I finally had no excuse. I had the space to let it happen and, mostly from the support of beloved husband Marius Swart, found the courage to write it down.

I’ll be going about my day and suddenly I get these moments where something happens, and I have an awareness. In that moment something suddenly clicks, and I feel like this is something I need to put out into the world.

This is an interesting (and fickle) process because as sharply as it happens it is also super easy to talk myself out of actually writing it down and posting the blog.

I tell myself things like:

  • “ The idea isn’t finished and I need to think about it some more”
  • “ Do I actually have something to say and if I do why would anyone read it?”
  • “What’s the point?”
  • “It’s so complicated because I not only have to get the story right but also design the correct picture for the website and get it posted… why bother?”

The funny part is that all the above are good questions. It could both discourage me so that I chicken out but could also challenge me to write a better story, it all depends where my head is at that moment and how strongly the message presses on me.

During my own Fulfilment coaching sessions my coach, Pieter de Villiers, constantly reminds us:

“Stop chewing bubblegum, get off the couch and do it”

It’s one of my most hated, favourite quotes.  It takes away all the fluff, excuses and noise and smacks you in the face.

So, I’ve said that I want to write a blog every 2 weeks.

And here is the beginning.

Expect more blog moments.

I’m still chewing bubblegum, this totally helps me process, but I’m definitely getting off the couch.

Are we trapped birds?

Are we trapped birds?

Oct 3, 2022 | My Blog

Are we Trapped birds? Marilda Wiegand

 The other day I noticed a tiny little Long Billed Crombec bird that was sitting in the top of the rafters of the thatch of the roof.

The room is large and open with doors on 2 sides that slide open completely.

And yet this little bird was stuck in the top of the roof.

My beloved husband is incapable of having windows closed and everything is always standing open “to let the fresh air in”.  Since we live in the African Bushveld right next to Kruger National Park, this means that all sorts of critters parade into our house on a regular basis.

And inevitable birds get in as well.  The situation with the little crombec reminded me of how some of the other birds react. Often the Crested Franklins walk in the one door and while they have a cautious eye out will casually walk right out the other side. Even the hornbills might hop onto the windowsill to come and check out if there is anything interesting happening inside.  There is a pretty Mocking Cliff chat that, every now and then, wanders in as if he owns the place and literally walks from room to room to see what he’s been missing.  He is quite a character as he gets quite irate if, on the odd occasion, “his” window is closed.

And every now and again a bird will fly in like this little crombec and will exhaust himself while frantically trying to get out.

I watched this poor little guy panic and it was hard, as there was no way I could get to him.  I, quietly, sat watching him while hoping that he would see the bigger picture.

It nearly broke my heart to watch as instinct drove him up further into the rafters where there is no way out, while the massive open windows are only a short distance from where he is trying to get out.

It made me wonder if this isn’t the kind of situation that we find ourselves in.  Are we in such a panic about what is happening in our lives right now that we are missing the opportunities? That we cannot see the big open windows that are letting the fresh air in because our instincts are to go “up”?

Is it not now, more than ever, the time to look at the bigger picture? To not only look for an open window but to get clarity of where we find ourselves within this bigger picture?

Maybe the way isn’t up at all but rather sideways or even down?

Eventually the Crombec managed to get himself out and I wonder if he went home to tell of his near death experience… will he remember for next time and know better?

Waiting for a sunrise

Waiting for a sunrise

Feb 5, 2022 | My Blog

I woke up before sunrise this morning.

At first, I was irritated to be awake as I was still tired.

Alas… I wasn’t going back to sleep as my head started running away with me as soon as my eyes popped open.

I already decided I’m going offline this weekend, so maybe some quiet hammock time would help my brain settle down.

As I walked into the kitchen, I saw that it was starting to get light. My first thought was that it wasn’t the spectacular sunrises that we normally get, and I was disappointed at how boring it looked.

Then I wondered if this was it…. And at what time sunrise really was?

Instead of reaching for my phone to check the exact time, I sat on the kitchen counter and waited.

Nothing much happened.

After a while I decided that I might as well get a cup of coffee.

As I got off the counter, I realised that I’d been looking in the wrong place and the sun was actually rising a bit further to my right… right behind some trees from where I had been sitting.

Coffee in hand I went back to sit on the counter… now paying closer attention to the wider picture.

Now I could see the definite signs of a beautiful sunrise!

As I was watching, I realised that although I could see the sun now, a cloud bank was just above the horizon and shortly after sunrise the sun would disappear behind the clouds again.

I was struck by the important lessons I learnt this morning.

I realised that sometimes you are disappointed by what you expect should happen and then it doesn’t.

You expect more… especially when you think you’ve done enough to prepare and are in the right place.

Then you change your point of view, and you wait a bit longer and you realise you were so focussed on the goal, you forgot to look at the bigger picture and you almost missed the big event!

At the same time things might not always be bright and somewhere along the line the sun will disappear behind the clouds.

But it won’t stay there.

You just need to be ready for when it comes out again.

And sometimes that means getting up before the sun, changing your position and being mindful of the lessons around you.

Turn the key.

Turn the key.

Jan 24, 2022 | My Blog

“I’m not sure if you realise, but every time you open your mouth a key comes out”

While sitting in her mother’s kitchen after a very successful food demonstration and Heritage Day celebration, Claudia Thage and her sister Cindy from @Sistaskitchenrescue and I were chatting about their vision.

When she made her statement towards me, I was momentarily stunned. Now that I’ve had a few days to process, I realise that this comment captures something that has been in my mind a long time.

I’m so grateful that Claudia would say something like this but also that she would realise that the chats we’ve had over the last few weeks is just that…

…a key

And the thing with a key is that it doesn’t work on its own, no matter how beautiful or fancy. For that door to be unlocked you must turn the key. 

You must take action.

If you don’t, that door stays closed.

I’ve met some interesting people in my life but have been particularly lucky the last few years to meet some truly unique individuals.  People who come from rural and impoverished backgrounds that have repeatedly taught me many life lessons.  Who have shown me that even with the little bit that they have, they are proud, hopeful and above all are not afraid to share their love.

They often have a dream and while most of them don’t have the resources, education, or networks to make it big time, they keep hustling. They work with what they’ve got, and they don’t give up.

I regularly find myself sitting on a plastic chair in the dirt outside a house with no electricity or running water and listen to people talk passionately about the big dreams they have but with no clue how or where to start.

And so, the keys…

Sadly, many people don’t know what they don’t know… who of us do? This is where the magic happens. It always starts with someone reaching out.  Someone picking up the phone and asking for help.

For me this is what makes all the difference. When you understand that you can’t sit and wait for someone to come and save you, that you will need to stand up on your own.

When you ask for one thing because you think it’s what you need but are still open to listen and learn and when you see that key to grab it with both hands.

Then it’s easy to help. My good friend Lisa Martus from Ribola Art route says: “Put energy where there is energy already”

That inner spark, that ability to not give up no matter what the circumstances are is something that money can’t buy, and nobody can create it for you.

You have to do it yourself.

Go ahead, turn the key.

Ready for the rain comes.

Ready for the rain comes.

Jan 21, 2022 | My Blog

Yesterday I met with the Ngunghunyani Dancers from Lulekani a village near Phalaborwa in South Africa.  I was asked to come as they needed some things very badly and didn’t know how to get them.

As we sat outside in the shade of Jeffrey’s house, we needed a translator to help us communicate. The group of Tsonga Boys have carried the legacy of Jeffrey’s father to great hights. Their traditional dance group is well known in the local area and are even invited to regional areas to participate in celebrations and to showcase the Traditional Tsonga Dance Style.

During our discussions someone said that it was sad how much time has been wasted and that they should have been much more successful by now as the group has been going for many years.

This is something I’m hearing quite a lot in the recent months. That you’ve wasted time and you could have been further if you’ve done this or that differently.

I respectfully disagree.

I’ve learnt this last year that you are exactly where you need to be right now. That what you’ve done in the past has brought you to where you are at this point in your life.

Trying to explain through a translator is an interesting thing, so you do it in a way that might make sense.

Sometimes, even when it rains, the soil is not ready.

That doesn’t mean that that the soil will never be ready, will never be fertile.  It means that at that moment, the soil might still need something to get ready. You might need to bring in compost or reseed. It might rain too much or not enough.

But when the time is right, the growth will come.

Our responsibility is to learn from what we’ve done, to prepare and to watch out for the right time.

So that when the rain comes, we are ready.