Running a big established business can be compared to the 100m dash. Few variables, the course is completely predictable, and at the end of the day the strongest/fastest man wins. Start-ups are more like yachts in a sailing race. Many variables, the conditions are unpredictable, and unlike the 100m dash, you can make strategic choices….
Some businesses can be compared to the 100m dash. Very few variables, the course is completely predictable, and at the end of the day the strongest/fastest man wins.This is rare.Most businesses are more like yachts in a sailing race. Many variables, unpredictable conditions, and unlike the 100m dash, you can make strategic choices that affect the…
Step one: Don’t lose Rule one in Test cricket: Make sure you can’t lose.When you’re sure you can’t lose, then you go for the win.Startups are the same. First, ensure you can’t fail. Cover your overheads.When your overheads are covered then start looking around for opportunities to make a profit. You have to find the…
Malan Joubert once compared startup life to rock-climbing.One day you find yourself climbing a vertical sheer cliff face when, suddenly, you panic.You can’t move forward, you’re too scared. But you can’t go backwards either.So, you’re faced with two options: Grit your teeth, keep moving forward, and maybe die, or Don’t move, eventually tire, let go, fall…
Farmers know you should always put a red light in the chicken coop.But what do farmers know… I recently put our baby chickens in a coop with a white light. One morning I awoke up to find one of the chicks dead.It seemed to have been pecked to death. Savage chickens.So I googled “how to keep baby chickens…
You have two choices when you go down a hill at top speed. Be fearless and have a 50% chance of falling off your bike. Be fearful and have 100% chance of falling off your bike. The same applies to entrepreneurs. In business, if you become overly cautious or afraid, your odds of failure increase…
Never underestimate how many animals prey on chickens. Goshawks, mongooses (mongeese?), Cape otters, dogs, cats, caracals, snakes, badgers. They’re out there and they’re hungry for chicken protein. Don’t just bring the chickens home and expect them to run amok and survive. Have a coop. With a roof and a floor. The night is long. See…
Imagine you’re flying a plane and the engine stalls. You start slowly losing altitude, with no landing spot in sight and a mountain in the distance you know you are destined to crash. You have three options: Carry on as before, break out the champagne and try enjoy the last few hours of life. Eject….