Author Archives: rudiernst

About rudiernst

I practiced as a qualified attorney for a number of years before leaving the legal profession in search of avenues to explore my great passion - business! I'm now part-owner and MD/CEO/general dogsbody of a small ecommerce business. We own and operate a number of online stores selling a huge array of products in South Africa, SADC region and Europe. My business? Your success! is about sharing business experiences with aspiring, young, South African entrepreneurs - to give them access to insights of numerous successful entrepreneurs familiar with the unique operating environment of the South African businessperson. The purpose of the website is to make information available to entrepreneurs in a series of easily understandable articles, each focusing on a different business lesson and highlighted with everyday experiences.

Control Your Business and get into the driver’s seat

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Control your Business

This article is about encouraging you to control your business affirmatively. It rejects the concept of passivism in business success and embraces positive, if unorthodox, steps.

Get into the driver’s seat

A common complaint amongst small business owners is that they have no control over a situation and feel like they are just a passenger to a lousy destination. This can happen in a variety of situations, whether it is large customers pushing for extended credit terms and stretching your cash flow or staff pushing unreasonable demands upon the employer. Most of you will have felt pushed at some stage and wondered Why is this happening to me?  Beware of feeling a victim of your circumstances, as this is tremendously disempowering regardless of the challenge.  It might be more useful to think How is this happening and how do I stop it? Let me use a quick example. Continue reading →

Bad Business Systems Cost Pizza

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“Don’t worry, head. The computer will do all the thinking from now on.” Homer Simpson

Bad business systems are expensive

I’m a control freak and admit that quite freely. That is not to say that I’m unaware of the value of delegating tasks to others, but simply that I delegate reluctantly.

Quite apart from my other limitations, this reluctance is a reality that I constantly negotiate to negate any adverse effect on business ventures. If you, too, are reluctant to hand over the reins of control in various departments of your business, I have found that it is easier to do so when you have effective control and business systems in place. These systems will give you the ability to manage aspects of your business with less direct involvement, by isolating and summarising important information, with various red flags that can pop up and alert you of danger ahead. Continue reading →

Waiting for Sales? Don’t hold your breath…

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Waiting for Sales?

“I’ve placed advertisements in all my local papers, got a website, printed awesome business cards and told everyone I know about my new business. For weeks now, I’ve been waiting and waiting and nothing has happened.”

Sound familiar? If it does, you need to keep on reading.

There is no such thing as waiting and waiting for sales. Your business will thrive if you have the correct attitude and approach to sales – but no successful salesperson worth their salt will advise you to wait patiently for your sales to happen. Selling requires action! It requires planning and a cycle of persistent, intelligent contact. Selling is one of those many aspects of your business that is a journey and not a destination. No business, regardless of how established it might be, can afford to take the view: There! Our sales are done! Your sales are never done. Continue reading →

Low Carbohydrate Business Success

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Lower carbohydrates can mean higher productivity

This article is about a self-experienced low carbohydrate business success. Lowered carbohydrates in the evenings impacted positively on personal and business life and affirmed the correlation between a healthy diet, sound sleeping habits, weight management and a clear mind.

I have always had enormous difficulty sleeping and know many others in the business world who also struggle to disengage gears and switch off at night. In fact, you are truly blessed if you have the ability to sleep well at night. Although I say “ability” as if the whole issue is one purely of genes and you either “have it or you don’t”, it is often a matter of teaching yourself better sleep habits. Many of these habits involve becoming aware of your lifestyle and they will not guarantee sound sleep in and of themselves; but at the very least, you can give yourself a good shot at it. Here, I’ll discuss just one, small, but critical adjustment you can make to your lifestyle which I hope makes a huge difference. Continue reading →