Rival Pioneers

Hi guys

Time has simply flown by and August has come and gone. It has been a busy couple of weeks for our entrepreneurs and we’ve got a few giveaways in this mailer so let’s get rocking:

1. One of the big things about being part of a community is having people you can reach out to support you when times are tough. One of our community members is a single mom of two kids and her daughter is having her 13th birthday on the 18th of September. As parents we will always try and give more than we can to make a child’s birthday special – especially when it is a 13th! She approached me looking for some suggestions around somebody to provide a chocolate fountain and maybe some disco lights for the party but I want to reach out to our communities and see if we can perhaps barter off some online advertising with one of our community members to organise something like a mother / daughter spa day or something to make this day special. If you have some ideas / suggestions please bomb me a mail – marc@rival.co.za – or contact me on 082-561-1585 to see what we can do. 

2. Jonathan Miller and his team over at OfferForge have recently rolled out their new Pay Per Click ad network – EasyAds. For a limited number of our community he is offering that for community members who sign up and use their service, they will score an extra 20% in “free” clicks. In other words if you spend R1000 you will get an extra 20%. If you want to be considered for this offer please e-mail Chrizel on (c@rival.co.za) with the subject line – “I want EasyAds” and we will let you know if you are successful. If you want to try out EasyAds you can visit their website – http://www.offerforge.com/easyads

3. Colette Symanowitz from MBAConnect.Net dropped me a line yesterday. They are offering one of our community members a month of free advertising on their site (7,600+ MBA students and alumni from all business schools around SA and worldwide). Same story – send Chrizel a short e-mail telling us why you think your business should get this opportunity and we’ll pick somebody to score from this.

Last but not least:
A couple of community members have indicated that they would be keen for some networking opportunities with other entrepreneurs. We kicked it around a bit because we don’t just want to make ANOTHER networking shin-dig and we have decided we are going to do something akin to “entrepreneur speed-dating” Depending on the size of the audience entrepreneurs will get 3 to 5 minutes to introduce themselves and their business before moving around a table to the next person. A great way to meet a lot of interesting people in a short period of time and none of those awkward silences trying to make small-talk.

Date: Tuesday 21 September
Where: Sandton
Time: 6 for 6:30 and networking wrapped up by 7:30
Costs: R125 per person. Includes snacks and drinks
Bring your business cards!
RSVP: Chrizel (c@rival.co.za)
Supporting sponsors always welcome!

Banking details as below:
Rival Industrial cc
Standard Bank, Fourways Crossing
Acc: 422148636
Branch Code: 9953

Look forward to any suggestions our community might have.

Marc Ashton
082-561-1585
marc@rival.co.za

Hi Guys

I have met a gentleman that is interested in purchasing a small but stable business with a 10 to 15 year track record.

If you are interested in selling or know of anyone that is please drop me an email on adrian_bain@yahoo.com or give me a call on 072 368 3305

Otherwise I hope business is great!

Regards

Adrian

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Hi guys

Nishara from Sculpting Leaders Recruitment has the following positions which she is looking to fill:

MEMBERSHIP SALES CONSULTANTS
NORTHERN SUBURBS, WEST RAND, EAST RAND, PTA & CENTURION
LUCRATIVE REMUNERATION PACKAGE + EXCELLENT COMMISSION + COMPANY BENEFITS + FREE GOLF MEMBERSHIP

Leading golf company, Play More Golf SA in conjunction with More Golf, seeks dynamic, vibrant, driven individuals with a flair for sales and a passion for golf! If you have played golf or play golf, have a minimum of 2 years direct sales experience and have your own car and want to earn huge while you learn, call Nishara now on 011 563 5125 or email your CV to nisharas@playmoregolfsa.co.za.

Please note that if you have not been contacted within 14 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.

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Remember to tell them you heard about this opportunity through Sculpting Leaders Recruitment – a proud member of Rival Pioneers

Check out their website at – http://www.sculptingleaders.co.za/ – for these and other positions

We don’t normally send out this many mailers each week, but things have gotten quite busy in the last few days and seeing as our job is to try and stimulate economic activity, we think in this instance it is justified.

1. One of our community members is looking for somebody to do short write-ups on US stocks and shares for consumer education purposes. The writer would be paid per article and would suit somebody with an interest in the stockmarket and investing. For further information please e-mail Chrizel (c@rival.co.za) and she will put you in contact with the right person.

2. Charlize from Gentlemens Choice is looking for somebody to develop her a kick-ass website at an affordable rate. If you think you are up to the task then please make contact with her via the Facebook group.

3. A US materials handling firm is looking for a representative in South Africa for their goods and services. The enquiry has come in via ManufacturingHub.co.za.

4. A Dutch pharmaceutical firm is looking to source a number of chemicals from a local supplier.

Chrizel has the details for opportunities 3 and 4.

If you are on Facebook – don’t forget to join the Rival Pioneers Facebook group for leads like this straight to your inbox.

Rival Pioneers soccer team
We have decided to enter a team into the Y.A.P.S Charity Soccer Tournament to be held at the Randburg sports stadium on Sunday 29 August as a way of giving back to some of the community. We would be keen to try and put together a team out of the Rival Pioneers community. If there are guys within the community who would be keen to interact with other entrepreneurs please drop me a line (marc@rival.co.za) and we will get you on board.

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Hi guys

Great to see this group growing on an almost daily basis. Good to see the spirit of entrepreneurship alive and well!

Before I kick off with some of our new happenings I thought I would start off with a positive story. I had lunch earlier this week with Willem Smith, Chief Executive of iWYZE. Now normally I am pretty wary of insurance people at the best of times but I actually really enjoyed this lunch. More importantly his new venture www.iwyze.co.za has managed to get some early traction and they have created 50-odd jobs in 3 months so go and support them!

One of the things which Willem says which is very true is that there are no superstars in small business – it’s gritty and a lot of it is about luck and surrounding yourself with good people. Hence you surround yourself with the clever people who are part of the Rival Pioneers community!

Some entrepreneurial ventures to check out:

1. Try out the insurance offering from iWYZE and see whether they can give you better value for money thank your existing provider.

2. Enjoy peace, tranquility, warm hospitality and personal service at Acacia House Rivonia. They are situated within a boomed security area in an up market leafy suburb, with easy access to some of Joburg’s best restaurants and malls. All five of the stylishly decorated bedrooms are en-suite and have extra length beds with fine linen. DSTV, WiFi, stocked mini bar fridges, 36inch LCD flat screen TV’s and tea and coffee making facilities are standard in all of the rooms. One of the rooms has a wood burning fireplace. There is also a self catering suite available. Breakfast is served on the sunny patio or dining room over looking the sparkling pool set in a lush garden with an abundance of bird life. Candle lit dinners with antique silver cutlery and crystal glasses can be organized upon request by your host Sally who is a professional chef. Very shortly they will have a gallery of interior pictures posted on our web site.

Rates are from R650.00 p/p sharing and single from R800.00 per night inclusive of breakfast. Check out their website at – www.acaciaguesthousejhb.co.za

3. Urban Farmer – Grow fresh produce in your own back yard with the Urban Farmer. The product – a low cost greenhouse for self sustaining families – is designed and manufactured locally and can be produced faster and cheaper than any other imported product. Jaco – 082 928 8525

4.  South African Rates and Data – www.sarad.co.za – have recently come on board as a sponsor for Punk Your SME. They are a leading resource for media, marketing and advertising professionals in South Africa. Check out their website and see if their service can assist your business.

5. We are looking at some entrepreneur events for September – feel free to drop me a line on marc@rival.co.za for suggestions on events you’d like to see us offer.

Our goal is to get the Facebook group up over the 100 member mark by the end of August and we’re looking for your assistance in helping us grow it. If you know of other South African entrepreneurs then please invite them to check it out.

Raising money for a business venture can be an incredibly daunting task especially if you are having to go to banks or specialist lending businesses.

I saw it earlier this week where one lady had gotten herself into an absolute state about trying to prepare a business plan to take to the banks. She had taken out a whole lot of business books and downloaded some guides off of the internet and then ended up getting stressed out because she could not calculate certain ratios etc.

She had this vision of walking into a bank on her own and faced by an army of bankers who would rip into her plan because she wasn’t sure she had not gotten certain ratios right.

For this reason alone she had all but written off launching her venture, which to me is a little disapponting.

I think there are two roles that an initiative like Rival Pioneers can contribute to assist in a situation like the above.

1. We do have people who can help you put together plans and hold your hand at the bank or financier to try and cut out much of the “jargon” on all sides.

2. One of the problems for small businesses is their lack of resources and people support, which could count against them in the eyes of a potential lender. While it is not a full incubation service we do offer an annual support contract with access to our experts who will be able to conduct snap “health checks” on your business and make suggestions for moving forward or backward.

Starting and running a small business can be a lonely job at times and the thing which keeps its impetus and momentum going are the development of good systems and support base which will keep things ticking along.

If you are looking for some advice in either of these regards you are welcome to e-mail sales@rival.co.za or contact Adrian on 072-368-3305 and we can setup a consultation.

Hi guys

For entrepreneurs based in Cape Town there is a networking event coming up on the 28th of August organised by Colette Symanowitz and MBAConnect.net.

Speakers include:

Prof. André Roux
Prof. Barney Jordaan
Justin Cohen
Greg Durst
Dr. Gavin Symanowitz
Prof. Philip Spies

Topics:

The World and SA Economy in the Aftermath of the 2008/09 Global Recession: New Rules, New Paradigms, New Imperatives

Designing the Deal: A Critical Success Factor in Commercial Negotiations

WHAT’S YOUR STORY – Master a Leader’s Ultimate Form of Influence

Strategic Insights from High Growth Companies

TAKE OFF YOUR BLINKERS – Avoiding Corporate Blindspots and Spotting New Opportunities

Measuring and Making the Future – Applications of Futures Studies in Business Transformation
For further information please visit the Google event page here – https://sites.google.com/site/mbaconnectpages/home

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If you would like to target entrepreneurs for events or business services through Rival Pioneers please e-mail sales@rival.co.za or contact us on 082-561-1585 to discuss further.

Wow – it has been a crazy few weeks! Is it just me or have we seen a real shake-off of the holiday spirit which was around when the World Cup Soccer was on?

We’ve been very impressed with the initiatives we have seen through “Punk Your SME”. On top of this there are a number of high profile entrepreneurship competitions taking place at the moment and this keeps the innovation juices flowing.

As usual we like to highlight a couple of new ventures we have come across and true to form we go across the spectrum from financial services to exotic dancers in this weeks update:

1. The first business is not part of our Rival Pioneers community but with it being “National Savings Month” and being quite an innovative offering I’d like to point you to the etfSA.co.za website. This is a low-cost platform for buying, selling and investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and is run by some highly reputable investment experts. www.etfsa.co.za if you want a great tool for saving

2. Gentlemen’s Choice – http://www.wix.com/Charlise/Gentlemens-Choice – is a new entertainment company providing dancers for bachelor parties, corporate / private functions and private dining. They’re based in Johannesburg and their details are on their website or you can find them on Facebook. Come on – don’t be shy – try them out for something different!

3. Peter Flemmer operates a marketing consulting company. He has experience having previously worked at brewing giant SAB. Peter says: “I love it when there is no budget, very little cash flow and a whole heap of seemingly insurmountable challenges -then I really get to think deep and hard. My reward is mutual success -success of your business and success of my involvement in getting it up where you want it to be. My skills range from devious marketing tactics to goal-setting and performance targets  improving staff morale and drive to project management. I’ll help you think of it, plan it and execute it, and we’ll love every step of the journey -even the tough bits. If you feel your business needs an injection of something special, give me a shout -discussion is always free.” Contact him on 082-853-8386 or e-mail peter@flemmer.co.za

4. ADD coaching operator Ladd has their new website up and running – check out www.ladd.co.za

5. Rival Pioneers has partnered with a young entrepreneur who is based in Gauteng and is offering tuition in Maths, Science and Geography for kids in the Greenside, Parktown, Emmarentia, Linden and Johannesburg neck of the woods. If your child is in Grades 8 – 12 is looking for some extra tuition then give us a buzz on 082-561-1585 and we will see if we can secure you a discount as an early supporter

6. Lesley Potgieter has partnered with RemSpecED to deliver a fantastic range of audio books for kids from the ages of 4 to 10. We loved these – if you’d like to get some stories on CD or in MP3 format for your kids then give us a call or e-mail sales@rival.co.za and we will discuss further.

We have put together quite a formidable team of small business advisors who are really looking like they could add value for SME’s around strategy, business plan development, marketing, fund raising. If you would like to engage our guys for some strategy sessions please e-mail marc@rival.co.za or give Adrian Bain a call on 072-368-3305 and let’s chat.

Look forward to hearing more from you guys about new initiatives you are rolling out.

Regards,
Marc Ashton
082-561-1585

Entrepreneurship is not the solution to all the problems that countries experience, but it is the solution to most. Successful entrepreneurship is a major contributor to the alleviation of poverty and creation of employment opportunities. Economists believe that entrepreneurship has a positive impact on the growth of GDP and employment. Furthermore, the role of entrepreneurship is stressed in implementing innovations. In the White Paper on National Strategy for the Development and Promotion of Small Business in South Africa (1995), it is stated that small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMEs) assist hugely to address the challenges of job creation and economic growth in South Africa. SMEs play a vital role in absorbing labour, penetrating new markets and generally expanding economies.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report of 2007, entrepreneurship in low and middle income countries is mostly need driven, thus people are starting businesses despite little or no business experience. Only 3.6% of entrepreneurial businesses in South Africa show growth potential and most do not become employers, indicating that a low entrepreneurial success rate is a problem.

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There is lots of energy around the various entrepreneur competitions at the moment and it is fantastic to see. One of the competitions which we haven’t yet mentioned on this blog is the Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of The Year competition.

Initiated in 1989 by Business Partners, the annual Entrepreneur of the Year award aims to give recognition to the vision, innovation, perseverance, drive and commitment of the individuals who run successful small and medium enterprises.

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