have been viable. During any large opportunity like 2010, there are often many speculative pitches, so by knowing your business, you’ll avoid becoming a rip-off statistic. KNOW THY WEAKNESS: If however, you have a brilliant idea not in your field, then consider hiring specialists: create a new company and get it financed with private or institutional venture capital. Caution however should be taken as great ideas are everywhere, but great execution strategies are in serious demand. An example also is that if you may have a weakness which will compromise your venture. If, however, you are that weakness, you may create a plan that doesn’t involve you. For example, if you have no, self-control and a soft-spot for Choc-chip cookies and open a cake shop; you could eat your own stock and go bankrupt. That failing, the inner turmoil will land you in the psychiatry ER. So rather hire a toothless Gogo who has long lost her sweet-tooth to run your service. KNOW THY BUSINESS PROCESS: Understand your sector’s operational processes & chain of supply. Knowing how money flows in your sector is part of the key to determining where cash can be made. We can take leaf out of big business by noting how companies outsource the tedious parts of their process and retain the strategically valuable. For example Boeing aircraft manufactures outsourced almost all its production, cutting a workforce of well over the 150 000 to 30 000; but retained critical technology such as the wings & design. It thereby transformed from being a manufacturing company to an Intellectual Property concern, to yield higher profits & less overhead. Knowing what to keep in your own field is the difference between a windfall and a shortfall.
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A practical example of this was that we all know that about Billions were spent on stadiums alone. However the contractors’ were large, mainly multi-nationals companies which had to conform to FIFA’s international standards, never mind the local Economic Empowerment Codes. Therefore they was sub-contracting of many services, from scaffolding supply to portable toilets. Obviously as an SME, you stood little chance of nailing the big deal. Even getting secondary contracts was unlikely, unless well connected, but with so much simultaneous construction across the region, all normal supply chains were be maxed-out, so there was ample room for small contractors to supply goods & services. Let’s imagine construction site X, what did they need & when? Normal supplies may have been well factored in, but where would the construction people stay? What would they do for entertainment? Who was supplying medical assistance? What about laundry services? Would they run a night-shift construction schedule? If labour was drawn from the local township, were transport contracts available? If you didn’t know, then you’d have to do research: visit an average construction site during lunch, talk to the labour & managers & find out. Business to Customer is not the only way to do business – B2B or Business to business is one of the most lucrative areas. So for example a profitable business in construction may be supplying Styrofoam packing for meals; as all that involves is ordering the packets & delivery to the caterers. KNOW THY BOX: You may wonder how it’s possible to work out that profits can be made from food-packaging? A big building is built by lots of hard working people. Working people have to eat, food needs to be delivered warm regularly. They are in a hurry, so they need to be able to take the food away, and eat