Business & life lessons from my month in South Africa

Hey all, it's Rob here. Welcome to another episode of the Agency Accelerator. Now, if you've been following previous episodes of the podcast, you know that I have been fortunate enough to be able to spend the last month in South Africa. And in fact, I'm recording this podcast in my last week in Cape Town. So I wanted to share with you some thoughts about Cape Town and South Africa in general and how they can relate to the way that we run our agency and the way that we run our life as well. So I hope you find this episode useful. Accelerate your agency's profitable growth with tools, tips and value added interviews with your host agency owner and coach, Rob DaCosta. So, as I was saying, I've been really lucky to see spend a month in beautiful South Africa, and if you've never been here before, I can't recommend it enough to you. We spent the first two weeks traveling down the garden route, going to visit beautiful cities, spending some time in the forest and some time at the beach, and I was super determined not to work, so I avoided anything but urgent emails and just did really manage to switch off from work. And then I arrived in Cape Town, my other half went home, and I have an Airbnb in the center of town where I'm recording this podcast. And I have been able to work. And so far the WI fi has been good and we haven't had too many power cuts. And I just thought that it would be good to talk about my time here because when I told people that I was coming to South Africa and I was spending two weeks here on my own, the immediate question everybody asked me is, yes, but Rob, is it safe? And it strikes me that, well, quite honestly, South Africa is as safe as anybody. Big city. And you know, if you're not stupid, you're not going to get yourself into trouble, just like the same would be true in London or New York or anywhere else. So I think the first business lesson that I can take away from this is that brand is so important, and if you are known for one thing, it can be really difficult to shake that off. So clearly, people who don't know South Africa assume that it's a dangerous place to be, and yet it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, especially Cape Town. It's got, you know, a great city. It's right by the beach, it's right by the mountains. There's not many other places in the world that are like that. And yet clearly it needs to do some work on its branding. As I said, A number of UK people ask me, is it safe? And the reality, as I said, is you take the same precautions as you do in any big city. But by and large, I felt really safe in Cape Town on my own, just as I would do in London, Brighton or anybody else. So South Africa needs to shake off its past reputation and paint a more positive image for of the mother city. As an agency, when you get known as one thing, it can be very difficult to transition from that one thing to something else. So, for example, if a client buys graphic design services from you, but they don't realise that you have a big bank of copywriters as well, then they may see you as an expert in brand design, but not in copywriting, and then go somewhere else to buy that copywriting, which can be super frustrating. So we've got to constantly be consciously working at communicating the full breadth of services that we offer. Now, of course, if you then transition from one area of your business into a new area, you diversify or broaden or even niche, you've got to work even harder to communicate the full breadth of services. Never assume I don't know, because it's on your website, that your client base will understand the full breadth of what you do. You've got to be super proactive at constantly communicating so that you can cross fertilize and win additional business. Let's face it, it's much easier to win additional business from existing clients than it is to win new business from new clients. So we want to make sure that if a client is only buying one particular thing from us, they're aware of the other services that we can offer, so that when they have a need, they know to come to us. And of course, if we have a bad reputation, as I'm kind of implying that South Africa does, we've got to work even harder to do a really good PR campaign and a good communications campaign to kind of break off the shackles of the old reputation and really build a strong new reputation. And that means building credibility, using case studies and testimonials, demonstrating that we can truly do what we say we can do, rather than just putting sales messages out there. So South Africa clearly has some work, and I hope that they keep pushing that. I was with a South African client yesterday and she was telling me that over the last two years, tourism, tourism has been down. Now, it's partly led by the drought that they had a few years ago, but it is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world. And whilst I'm not here to, you know, do an advert for Cape Town or South Africa. It really should do better at rebranding itself. So that's one of the first key lessons that I have learned in my month in South Africa. Lesson two is all about living in the present. And this is something that I am really passionate about. When I see people on social media on a Monday morning going, oh, blimey, where did the weekend go? I can't believe I've got to go back to work again, I always feel like responding and saying, well, why don't you change your job and do something that makes you happier? Or they say, oh, it's Wednesday. Roll on Friday. I kind of want to say to them, you know, stop wishing time away. If you don't like your job, then change your career. Which is a whole different podcast altogether. But I think the feeling I got when I was on holiday was that we are much more present because we're doing different things. And I think, you know, one of the tips I always say to people is if you want to be more present, you need to be using your senses more. So you need to be opening your eyes, seeing things, smelling things, hearing things, touching things, because when you do that, you're much more present. When we're lost in our earphones or on social media, we're so far from being present. And actually, a lot of the time on my trip, I didn't even have any kind of phone signal at all. So I was having a complete detox from my mobile, which was amazing and scary and stressful, but actually really healthy for me and something that I want to try and do more of when I am back in the uk, I think it is so much healthier for us to be present and be living in the moment. And yet, when I am back home, I'm as guilty as anybody of having that routine that results in me living in my head and being less present. And this isn't good. So it's like I say something I really want to work on and continue when I'm at home, but we should all try and live in the present a lot more. And that kind of leads me on to the next point as well, which is about not wishing time away. It's funny, isn't it? When we are having a really stressful week, time seems to go really slowly. And yet when we come away on vacation, time flies by. And I think that's partly because we are out of our routine. But I also think that when you are present, you're able to just enjoy everything. A lot more and be in the moment. Because you know that is the only real thing, right? You know, the past is just history, the future is just a story we tell ourselves. The present is truly the only thing that we really have. So let's try and live in the present a bit more. And that means don't wish time away when it's Wednesday and you want it to get to Friday, but rather question why is it you feel like that? Do you need to change your career? Do you need to change your routine? Do you need to make some changes in your life? Because don't wish time away, basically, because we never know how long we've got on this planet and I don't want this podcast to be full of a bunch of cliches, but it's true. So two key messages here. One is try and be present a lot more. We always are on holiday to take that back when you get back. And the second thing that goes hand in hand with that is that don't wish time away. The next big lesson I want to share with you is about being efficient with your time in the Airbnb. I'm staying in. I have a desk and an office area so I set up my studio. I've got my autocue, my microphone, my computer, my lighting so I could shoot videos as well as podcasts and do some other stuff. But I also wanted to make sure that I wasn't just stuck within these four walls all day long, that I actually got to enjoy the sunshine and got to enjoy everything that Cape Town has to offer. That made me super efficient. So I planned every day to work from 7am to 3pm and then spend 3pm to the evening exploring the area in the afternoons. And I had two major goals whilst here as well as doing my normal client work and those two goals were to develop more of my online content, shooting some new videos for my agency accelerator program. I also shot a bunch of videos to use in social media as well as recording a whole number of podcasts and just reviewing a lot of my content and writing and rewriting some of my emails. I also had a bunch of client work while I was here doing online coaching obviously rather than face to face, but it just meant I needed to get super efficient. I knew what my goals were. I organized my time over the two weeks while I was working, but also making sure that I was able to finish by 3pm so that I could go and actually enjoy being here rather than thinking well I might as well have been back in cold UK at the Time. So if kind of that those constraints or those desires I suppose forced me to get really efficient with my time. And that meant I didn't waste time, I didn't get distracted by shiny new objects and emails and goodness knows what else. Facebook, social media. I got really efficient because the reward at the end of that time was to get out into the sunshine, go to the beach, go shopping, go into the mountains, go meet friends, whatever I did. And that worked really well. And I tell you what, I have achieved more in my 7 to 3pm time than I normally do in a longer day back in the uk. I think the moral of the story here is get really efficient, know what your goals are. You know, I'm a fan of Michael Hyatt and free to focus and I set my goals for the week and I set my goals for the day always, whether I'm back home or here. But I was even more efficient with that here and I had less distractions. So I think that helped me get efficient. And then the other point about that is if you have a reward for yourself, sometimes it can be as simple as going make a cup of tea. But for me it was a reward of getting out into the sunshine that makes you even more focused. So get really efficient with your time. Michael Hyatt talks about having morning and evening rituals. I'm a massive fan of these. They help me get really organized. So the first thing I do every morning is exactly the same thing. Starts with making up a coffee, which I've been doing here as well as back in the uk, cleaning my emails and then sorting out my day by looking at my weekly priorities and identifying which ones of those I'm going to do today and planning my day accordingly. So that's my morning ritual and at the end of the day I have an evening ritual which is my wind down process to separate my working day from my evening. And I clean my emails, I look at my priorities for the day and work out what I've done and what I might need to transfer and then look at my priorities for the next day based on my weekly priorities. So big fan of Free to focus from Michael Hyatt and the concept of morning and evening rituals. And they have helped me get super organized both back home and here in Cape Town. The next learning I've got from my time here is the fact that, that we all have choices. Some people have told me how lucky I am to be able to spend time away from the chilly winter in the uk and to be quite honest, it's got Nothing to do with luck. Yes, I am really fortunate to be able to do this, but it is all in the planning. We started planning this trip a year ago. I sowed the seed with my clients so that some would agree to do online sessions whilst scheduling others to catch up when I get back home. And I appreciate that because I'm self employed, I can do this. But it also made me think about the fact that many of us constrain ourselves by telling ourselves stories that we believe to be facts. And these stories keep us in our comfort zone and stop us taking any kind of calculated risks. If you listen to episode three of the Agency Accelerator podcast on Mindset, you can learn a lot more about comfort zones. Because when we step outside our comfort zone, into our learning zone, this is where we have the best experiences. And if you keep saying oh yes, but you're fortunate or yes, but I can't do this, then it stops you taking risks in life or experiencing new things that challenge yourself and take yourself into your learning zone, which ultimately increases your comfort zone. So I always challenge people to say, when you're constraining yourself and telling yourself stories, are they really facts or are they stories? Because if they're stories you can change them. If they're facts, you can't change them. So I appreciate that. I am very fortunate to be able to do this. But it's all about choice and it's all about planning. And if you want to do something different or something like this, then all you need to do is plan it and make sure you step outside your comfort zone and remove all the excuses and, and the stories that we tell ourselves that stop us doing amazing things like this. And of course, if you take this concept to an even bigger space, which is I work in an agency, but I've always aspired to start my own agency or I'm freelancing and I really want to grow my agency, but I'm really scared of this. Then if you do some planning and if you're willing to step outside your comfort zone, that's when you're going to be able to start your own business or grow your own agency beyond just you. My next reminder or learning is that sun is good for the soul. It's no doubt about it that when you can see blue skies and sunny weather, it makes you feel much better. Even though much of the day I am actually stuck inside, I can still see that it's blue sky outside and there's nothing like that feeling of warmth on your skin. I know back home it's icy and cold and snowing. So it is really great to be here. It's funny, I was meeting with a South African client yesterday and she was saying to me how in the summer in South Africa, which it is at the moment in February, lots of the issues that the South Africans have seem to dissipate away a bit. Lots of the, the gripes and upsets, lots of the issues kind of disappear when it's summer. And then they rear their ugly heads again once winter comes in sort of July, August time. So there's nothing like having winter sun on your skin. And that is really one of the reasons, as much as I love Cape Town and South Africa and all that it has going for it in terms of great food, wine, the price, the friendliness and all the rest of it, what I really love is that feeling of having sun on my skin and how that vitamin D makes us all feel so much better and behave in a more positive way as well. The next thing I want to talk about is the fact that it's a really small world. So I told a few colleagues and obviously my clients what my plan was. And before I knew, they were making introductions for me to meet people out here. It also turned out that one of my old clients was here that I discovered through Facebook. So we ended up catching up and talking about a couple of other mutual clients and a mutual contact out here. And so even though I am 6,000 miles away from the UK, it is a small world. And it reminds me that business operates on a who, you know, basis and the networking connections are so important. The last point I wanted to make is to make sure that we practice gratitude. It is true that the poverty in South Africa is much more evident and in your face than it is back home in the uk, Although of course it's evident there as well. And when we are moaning and complaining about things, they really are first world problems. And it does make me think that in some eyes, you know, we are really wealthy in so many respects and we really should make sure that we are grateful every day for the things that we have, our health and so on, and of course for me, the ability to be able to do this and to be able to afford to do it. So I think practicing gratitude is something that's important and that it's been a good reminder for me here because we can all take it for granted, granted. And sometimes we can wallow in our misery when something isn't going so well. But we need to put that into perspective and get a little bit of context. And certainly when you drive through the townships and you see young people begging and so on, then it does make you grateful for what you have. And we should remind ourselves of that every single day. Okay, so those are my key learnings from a month in South Africa. I hope you didn't finish. Feel this episode was too self indulgent. I genuinely felt like there were some of the things that I've learned worth sharing with you, and I'm sure that you can relate to some of these things as well. So I hope that was useful. And apologies for all the background noise. I am right in the middle of the city and I can hear cars honking their horns. Done my best to block it out, but anyway, I hope you found this useful, and please join me on the next episode of the Agent's Accelerator Podcast.