by Margaret Hirsch
When one is starting a business, the word on everyone’s lips is FUNDING, “I need funding for this that and the next thing”, but what they forget about is not only MARKETING which is the most important thing of all but ACCESS TO MARKETS to ensure that their business is not only successful but more importantly sustainable.
The reason I say marketing is the most important thing is because you can have the best product at the best price but if you don’t market it well it’s like having a dinner party and cooking the best meal, having a beautiful table laden with food, but forgetting to invite the guests!
Access to markets is essential, especially for South Africans as we are right here at the tip of Africa and miles from the lucrative markets of London, New York, Paris, and Milan to mention but a few. How on earth do we crack these markets run by people who are third and fourth generation in their own countries?
I was shocked to find, while doing research for my PhD, that 42% of all businesses fail not because of lack of funding or bad management, but very simply since the wonderful product and/or service that the person has to offer, IS NOT REQUIRED BY THE MARKETPLACE. They do everything right, invent a fantastic product that they really believe in, get the funding, and set it all up, go to the marketplace and boom - no one wants it! So, no one buys it, and all the effort has been in vain.
Starting and running a sustainable business involves a massive amount of research and lots of homework before anyone goes into the marketplace. The attack must be niche and focused. You can’t just go in with a spray and pray approach and hope for the best because it doesn’t stick and if you don’t have a plan B backed by solid data, you end up with a great product but no money and no market.
The first and most important thing is, will it be wanted and is it needed by the masses? Who wants it and how do you get to them? If you have a product that everyone wants and/or needs, then the money will come in automatically because you are SELLING. Here again there is a conundrum because no one was ever taught selling at school, it’s something that you must be taught by a mentor. Much of it is a flair which you develop, often out of necessity, but you absolutely must be authentic. 80% of the world’s jobs are selling in one form or another.
Too many entrepreneurs give up too soon, I have just heard about one in Johannesburg who had a thriving company, employing many people but things just got too much for her. She survived and thrived through covid, but load shedding and water outages got the better of her and she just felt she couldn’t carry on. I always tell entrepreneurs you just must keep moving forward, yard by yard its hard but inch by inch it’s a cinch! If you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, crawl but whatever you do just keep moving forward because you just cannot stop. You don’t stand still because the world keeps moving forward and you end up going backwards. Starting up from the beginning again is just too difficult so just keep going. The difference between a winner and a looser is the winner is the one who just keeps going.
It’s important that the entrepreneurs of this country do keep going, as it is they who keep the country buoyant. During Covid it wasn’t the government who kept us going, it was the entrepreneurs! Even in America, it’s the entrepreneurs who keep the country going.
However, there are pitfalls, firstly the entrepreneur who does well, he makes a lot of money, buys a new house, car and has overseas trips and then gets bored. Decides to stop and thinks that the money will keep flowing, well it doesn’t! It slows down very quickly and before he knows it things are not going as well as they were, he keeps spending and enjoying life and leaves the business to managers who don’t work the same way as he did and the business collapses.
To whom much is given, much is expected, and entrepreneurs have a heavy burden to carry whilst running a successful and sustainable business. They must look after themselves, their family, their staff and their families, friends, hangers on and so many more. They must be able to look at the big picture. They need to equip themselves with the right fundamentals so that they have the best chance of building a successful and sustainable business that is built for the long term, no short cuts.
Marketing must be ongoing and much more than social media posts, entrepreneurs need access to resources, newsletters, magazines, podcasts. They need to know how to use online tools to help them as everything is being digitally transformed now. They need to learn how to network, how to form a mentoring program for themselves and others and connect with other entrepreneurs who can help them along in their journey. This is so much more necessary for women entrepreneurs who must talk through everything with a friend or colleague before deciding! Power outages have pushed prices up astronomically and this isn’t going to stop so they need to budget for diesel for the generator, JoJo tanks for when the water stops flowing. They need to speak to other entrepreneurs in their field who are getting it right and speak to someone who understands their business who can advise them on the myriad of different things that happen daily, most of which they never saw coming!
People want to speak to and deal with experts in their fields, they must have someone to turn to when things go wrong and someone to celebrate with when things go right.
It is my life’s mission to work with women entrepreneurs to ensure that they are financially independent, as a financially independent woman has choices. She can choose where she lives, who she lives with, where she goes and what she does, especially with her money. It is also my life’s ambition to change the patriarchal society in this country and to explain to women that you do not ever need the approval of a man and it’s not necessary to have a man in your life unless he is there to build you up and never ever tear you down.
Having a good man in your life is a “bonsella”, a special gift that you are grateful for, but it’s not essential. Birth control is also of prime importance. In the old days you got pregnant to “catch” a man, today it often drives him away! We could rid ourselves of gender-based violence overnight if women would become financially independent so that they can chose where to live, how to educate their children and live their best life, the life they were intended to live, and every woman can do it, I am living proof of that.
Much Love,
Margaret Hirsch