Episode 18: Back to Basics. What is business?

Hi everybody. Welcome to my podcast, Black Woman Business. We are now on episode 18. Yay. I'm so excited about that. This episode we'll be talking about back to basics. What is business really? So I just decided let's go back to the simple definitions so we can just understand what business is really all about. So in this episode I'll mostly be talking about the characteristics of a business person. So I'll be talking under the headings of profit, follow through, letting go, send the lift down, mentorship, decide, protect, move and focus. Okay, let's get cracking. We've got a few things to cover here. So the characteristics of what a business is is for me what I see a business being is just taking something, selling it and making a profit. I mean I went through a couple, a couple of few entrepreneurship courses and mentorship sessions where it is stated very boldly even on the textbook, the aim of a business is to make mentors profit. So whatever you do, that is the main and the basic thing that one must keep in mind. And guys, I know it's very easy to remember when you write at the beginning of the business, but then when you start act interacting with people and getting more and more involved in your business, it gets very easy to be lost in the conversation, lost in the transaction. And you never get back to the money that I'm putting in, the effort that I'm putting in, minus the cost of this, the expense of this, or even minus the purchase that is made by your customer, you must still be left with money. In essence, what I'm trying to say is if you've got a hundred rands and somebody also invests 50 rands into your business, you've got 150. Whatever that you are selling must be about above that 150 rands so that you are able to now have a profit. So you should be selling at about estimating 200 rand so that you can make your profit, which is 50 rand. People get excited when they get single, even a single transaction, but they forget to get back to the calculation of how much did I actually put into this thing and when I take away that amount, am I sticking left over with a profit? That is the fundamental wherever you go every time when you enter a business transaction, sometimes I've found that you need to make even the smallest margin if you're trying to impress your customer and you're really not trying to make a huge profit out of what you're doing. For me, breaking even is a loss for that transaction. Honestly, breaking even means if you put in 150Rands and then your customer is also buying at 150Rands, like, so what are we doing here? What was the aim of this whole process? Because it feels to me like we've wasted the energy by now putting in the same amount of money and getting out the same amount of money. So I'm very, very careful about that and always staying on the ball. Even when it's a recurring transaction. You know, sometimes the expense for this thing gets a little bit higher if, say, for instance, your supp buyer has moved location. Now you have to travel a bit further to go buy. And also you have to. If you're traveling with a taxi or even an Uber, you're paying a bit more for your Uber. Put that in those costs so that you can realize that, okay, I was paying 150, but now I'm paying 180 for this thing. Is, does it still make sense for me to still charge 200 rand and make 20 rand out of it? Then you can make your decision from there. But this thing of having lots of people lining up to buy your product, but at the end of the day, when you look at the numbers, it's like, gosh, I actually, I don't see the money. But you get excited from seeing people buying, buying, buying. But then at the end of the day, you're not making money out of this thing. I've seen lots of instances like that, and I've also seen a few customers of mine trying to get a shortcut. And when I get to the numbers, I'm like, listen, if we're gonna do it your way, I'm definitely not gonna make any money here. So, gu, really, really look out for that one profit. You must always make profit from your transaction, even if it's gonna be the smallest margin. Okay, second one. Follow through till the end. Guys, we know that it's very exciting to think of a business idea and to think of, you know, how we can make money out of this thing. Right at the beginning, it all seems so easy. It all seems so doable. And then you start. Engag is a perfect step, a very beautiful step. But then you will get obstacles along the way and find out maybe it won't work out hundred percent the same way that you thought it would. You know, you'll receive some stumbling blocks. Entry, entry obstacles. Like, say, for instance, you need to be registered for that. You need to have had two years in this industry. You need to have had, you know, contacts or cheaper suppliers and so forth. You Know, when it gets to that point, it's very important to stick it out and try. This is the time when you need to get really, really innovative in your ideas and really, really try to think of a way to overcome your obstacle. Partnerships are a good way of doing that. Partnering with somebody who's already done it. Guys, you're not gonna know all these people off by hand. Just reach out even to the most random people. Social media is the most beautiful tool you will find out. Reach out to five people. May one of them might be able to say, okay, you know what, let's do it together, or even all five of them. Because sometimes people realize even though they do have experience in their respective industries, sometimes they might not be able to reach out to the customers that you can reach out to. So partnership is also. But the main thing here is to follow through. You know, I remember when I was still trying to lobby one of my customers who are now one of my biggest customers, an international company. What happened is I just met these guys. Actually, I didn't even meet these guys randomly. I just decided, you know what, I would really like to work with this company. I googled the MD or the CEO of the company on LinkedIn. After googling that business person, I reached out to him and then he didn't respond for some time. And then I had a look at my profile. One time he went into my profile and he was checking out, like, my credentials. That gave me the opportunity to reach out to him. And then after I reached out to him, I said, I would really like to do business with your. With your business. And I would like to submit a proposal on how I can assist and so forth. And he said, no, that would be fine. I'll introduce you to some of the people that are in my marketing. That was in 20, I think 2011, 2012. And then he introduced me. And then the guy and I had been keeping in contact. One time he came to Cape Town. When he came to Cape Town, I asked for a meeting. That was like in 2014, in 2014, when they were having the meeting, I put together a proposal. I gave it to him. It took a while to answer. In 2015, I was traveling to Joburg. I asked to meet, and then we met again. He introduced me to some of the people. In 2016, quiet. 2017, I was calling the people that he had introduced me to. In 2020, these guys were having supplier development stints. So they were funding a few companies. So when they were funding those companies, I put in my application. We went through rigorous, what you call interviews and so forth. And after that in 2021, they awarded my company with one of their development funding which made a huge difference for my company. I was now able to set up my factory, I was able to buy equipment for my factory and basically they just put money into our bank accounts to make that happen. And if I calculate between 2012 and 2021, when that came into fruition, guys, you can see, I mean that is a lengthy time. But that's what I mean when you walk a deal right up to its end because it made huge changes and wonderful breakthrough for my company. So also guys, in the same breath, when you're trying to follow through till the end with your, with your business opportunity or business idea, it's also very important to know when to let go. I know a lot of people also that can be really, really stuck in, in the same idea and not knowing when to let go. And they being relentless. And they're being relentless. You know guys, there are times and there are what you call they are, there are, there are times when you just need to realize, okay, even the direction that you've been pursuing. For me, the value that I got out of that is realizing first earthly like okay, this, I've been attempting this type of, of approach for so many times with this customer. I remember I was trying to reach out to a customer in, in west coast when I still stayed in Cape Town. I would been putting proposal. And you know the funny thing about this customer, he's not showing rejection. He's not saying no, don't come. He's, he is always availing himself, he is always making sure he's there. But this customer, you can just see that when he reaches to his board members or the people that he makes decision with, obviously they're not too keen on the business. It was mostly a white dominated business, white males and elder males at that. So you know what, with these things we sometimes waste too much time trying to get the attention of the wrong people. Whereas there's lots of people out there in the world looking for your business, looking to work with an honest person like you, looking for exactly the type of person that you are in terms of your characteristics and what you have to offer in the meantime. You're spending so much time trying to bash down a door of somebody that is just not really not gonna budge and is not really interested. So I find it very important to spend my time with people that really will reciprocate the energy. Sometimes it's not on the go Immediately. But also you get to a time whereby am I gonna now all again, put in effort with this when I know and I can see that it's not really going anywhere. So there are times and there are like tick boxes that you can go through just to find out if this is really worth it. For me personally, I examine my approach and I see that, okay, proposals are not really working here. Let me try meeting this person face to face, okay? They're not budging when it comes. It's coming to meetings. Let me try speaking to this person's manager and see if they will take interest in what I have to say. Even that is not working. You know, once you've tried quite a few approaches and you're getting the same type of energy at all angles, I generally say it's okay, guys. Then it's, you're not looking for me, I'm not looking for you. And then we just need to leave it at that, really. And we need to let go also, especially of the idea. People love to stick with one idea. I don't know. It's not for me because for me, I just feel like if a certain industry is going down, it cannot go down with my company, guys. Hence, I've chosen to diversify. My company has three departments. I'm looking to have more departments so that if one industry is not doing well, we can always leverage on the other industry, which will be one of the other departments. So basically, that's my decision about letting go. Also heading number four, sending the lift down. What I mean is, you. It becomes very important to elevate others with you while you're doing the work that you're doing in any way possible by creating jobs, by mentoring, by doing speaking engagements, you know, just involving yourself with other people. It's very easy to stay secluded when you're a business person and just really trying to focus on your craft. But. But for me personally, I just feel like doing all of this and doing all this hard work, fine, and then you get to your successes. And then what now, okay, you've achieved your goals, you've got all, all that you've really wanted, but what have you given back? Like, what have you really done? Like, when people will remember you by when you are gone? You know, for me, things like that count. Otherwise all of this is pointless if we're not gonna do anything, anything good onto others, you know. So I think it's also very valuable to elevate others. That is a very important characteristic in business and for me personally, oh, my God. I've really enjoy the fruits of that, of that labor. Lots of women have come to my rescue, lots of men have come to my rescue, you know, so I mean it only makes perfect sense to do the same. And it's not even trying to pay homage. It's. It's a responsibility really that you can't run away from. So I just feel like though that is something that is very meaningful to have as a characteristic as a business person. Mentorship. Mentorship, like I said, is part of giving back. Mentorship now is under hidden five, part of giving back part. But also at the same time, it's very important to ask for mentorship. Always ask for advice, always ask for guidance. It's very important. When you don't know and you are stuck nowhere, you won't come up with all the answers. And also I've been able to enjoy the fruits of being open minded when it comes to certain things, you know, in business, when it comes to. And it's not like you will ask a whole thing about marketing. How should I for other people, yes, you would. But you get to a point whereby you need to make a decision and you need to make like a quick decision on how, which avenue am I going to choose now? You know, maybe the customer is missing me around in terms of their spec. They wanted this, now they are changing, they want this. And you get to a problem when it comes to pricing and the location and now you have to change that. And then that customer is also giving you a tough time when it comes to that. It's very important to have somebody to bounce off your thoughts and to ask, how do I navigate here? I still want to keep this customer, but I'm being sent for a run around. I've had lots, lots of conversations with different mentors where I just drop a voice note and say, what would you do? You know, I'm in this position that is also a form of mentorship. And I think that is something, something quite nice. Also, I receive a lot of voice notes myself of people asking Tuli, hey, I've got this, what should I do? You know, it's very important to get that. Also with that I've enjoyed, oh my word, just walking into somebody's train of thought that is completely different to what you're thinking. So they will show you a different way of analyzing your problem. It's not even a problem, it's. It's an opportunity, you know, so I've seen that happening quite a few times, guys. So it's very important because it Opens you up to other dimension. And for me, my biggest example about being open up to other dimensions is. And this is something that I was chatting about to my family yesterday when I thought to myself, you know, being a young girl growing up in a township, that's been very fun and very consistent. The type of life that you live. The neighbors are looking after you. Five o', clock, you want to watch Days of Our Lives. Six o', clock, you're watching Bold and the Beautiful, you know, and it just became consistent and, you know, your life kind of becomes predictable, but in a good and protected way. One day I just went. It was kind of different because my aunt usually hosts my birthdays every year, but this year she decided to take me for to her boss's house because they were having, like, staff party. And it was that time, I think it was just after. I think it was early 90s, just after, when black people were being offered government jobs and so forth. And her boss had happened to be a black man. And we were hosting this party or family, family and colleagues party in his house. And I was 8 years old at the time. And when I walked in there, I realized how big and luxurious this house is. I couldn't believe it. It had staircases. Literally, in my mind, this was like a house out of the Bold and the Beautiful. And you know how Stephanie Foster had such a big house and the Foster had such a luxurious life. And for me, a life like that only existed on tv, if not on tv, it was only for the white people. And I was 8 years old when it hit me. This life is actually meant also for black people. I mean, there's black people that are living a life like this. And that type of exposure open me in ways I can't even imagine even till this day. I always think, you know what? I also deserve a good kind of life. And, you know, when I had a chat with my aunt about this later, she was like, why not? You know? So I just feel like when you enter other people's lives through conversations, even with them, you see how they portray certain things that you see as an opportunity, obstacle, and they will bring about and make it almost like an opportunity. So I think it's very good to tap into other people's train of thoughts or the way that they see things. It can really open up your world. I mean, literally. And then moving on to heading number six, decide. I feel like making a decision and being decisive is. Is one of the very core factors. Guys, this is something I try to teach my kids all the time. Because while you are still dilly darling, not sure which business to do, somebody's starting that business. While you're still dilly darling, not sure when to start making up your mind, somebody is already grabbing onto that wagon and is on step two and step step three. So it becomes very important to decide about certain things and to be responsive. When you have a pro, a prospective customer, when they're looking for documents and they're looking for things from you, don't delete Dali. Don't wait. Don't wait until the due date. Don't wait until the due date. Guys. Submit the thing. If it's with in your reach, it's in your hands. Submit. The customer enjoys somebody who's responsive, somebody who's going to decide and then go for it. You know, even if you're gonna say no, even if you're going to reject them, decide and move on. Because this sitting on the fence, it's. It's not even like a no. It's worse than a no. You know, you just painting a picture of yourself to yourself that is just not going to be good for you. So being decisive always, always is an upper hand. Whether it's the right, whether it's the left, whether it's the middle ground, you need to decide and we need to move. And then the other aspect that I wanted to talk about, which is under heading number seven, is to protect. Protect yourself. Protect yourself. Your mind, self care. Guys, I know we've spoken about this. I've. You know, I think we've spoken about this a couple of times where I have mentioned that mental health is the key in all of this, you know, otherwise, what are we doing? What is the point if you're going to reach your wins and you're not mentally right? So. So also physically right. That's another one. Look after your physical aspect. Look after your mind. It's very important. Guys, I know, I know it's something that I've been preaching in the past because I've had family that has committed suicide, my dad being one of them. So I mean, I can't stress this enough. Guys. Protect the legacy. Protect your legacy. Protect your principles. There's customers that want you to take shortcuts. There's customers that will give you lots of money to do isindo that are underhanded. Do not Suvuma. Don't. It's very important to stand your ground and to protect your legacy. Protect your staff. Protect your staff. Look after your staff. Give them an open environment where they can come and Talk to you. Protect your company. Protect your company. If you see that whatever that even the staff member is doing is harming the company. Guys, no. I employed you so that we can build this thing, not for you to come and hurt this thing. So we need to be very, very frank about that one. Because sometimes the company will limp just because of one person who's just deciding to go the opposite direction and was deciding that they really not caring much about the brand, they've got other things on their mind. That person's not helping your purpose. The person's not contributing to your legacy. They are messing up your business. So there has to be lawful ways, ways to deal with that. You understand? Firstly, conversations talking to the person, finding alternatives to assist the person. If it's an addiction process, addiction problem, then you need to assist the person get, get through that. But otherwise the company is to be protected at all times. Remember guys, this thing is very important. Hey, it's supposed to last until. Until my children are able to make something out of it. It's supposed to last until my grandchildren are able to make something of it. So if now I'm just gonna allow a random customer, one random customer, one random staff member or staff members to come and destroy it. No. It's a no. No. So there are ways to protect it like I've just mentioned, where you can enter into some interventions to assist the person at first. But let's remember the letting go guys. If there's time to let go of the these avenues that you've tried to really resolve this, then you must let go and you must move on. Protect the legacy, protect the company, protect yourself, protect your stuff as well. And then we get on to heading number eight. Heading number eight says move. Move. So here I want to talk about. You need to focus on what will only advance the cause. Something that will take you through the next step. Focus on getting the numbers right when it comes to the profits of this thing so you can move forward with it. Focus on the well being of the people that you are also doing this thing with. But also what are the wins? How can I elevate the next person so that you can move? Lots of people are naysayers. Oh my God. Oh my God. How many times have I had even my own staff been naysayers? Oh Tuli, I'm sorry, this will take too long. Oh Tuli, I'm sorry, this cannot happen. Meanwhile the company, I mean, sorry, your customer is on your back about lead times. But they. Then your. Your staff is like this won't happen guys. If it's in your hands, it needs to happen and the customer needs to be pleased. At the end of the day, if your staff are coming up with all sorts of obstacles, Oba, it's not gonna happen because Ubani said, how about we try another avenue? How about which? We must get this thing moving, guys. No more being stuck at the same time. Same people enjoy being stuck at the same problem. They do. And they always find excuses to be stuck at the same problem. I'm that one that's like no ways, no waiting, no standing still. We're gonna have to move this ship and we're gonna have to move it now. And when you have to move the ship, it's not. You're not going to tame the same, same actions that you've been taking your trajectory. You're gonna shift the whole thing thing. You're gonna have to move around. You're gonna have to invest a lot more than you thought you were. Even of your time. Sometimes your travel, my. Nah. When, when things like that happen, it really touches me. That's why, that's why I'm even swallowing my words. It really touches me because I don't want to hear things like no movement and there's excuses, excuses. I book a flight right there and I go to the site and I make sure it's very important, guys. Cause yes, like if you look at your. The things that you are supposed to have done and they've been waiting and waiting until they dissolve, until you lose touch, until you've lost that opportunity, until that opportunity is dead. Firstly, when you remember that opportunity three months later, it's like, like where did that end up? Oh, we were waiting. Ah. For me, I. No, I don't, I don't like those type of rejects, what you call, what you call resentments. I don't like those types of, of resentments where I think back and then I regret those type of regrets. For me, no, we forgot about it and then it kind of fizzled out. No, I don't do those ones. So guys, that's what I mean when I say by heading number eight, move, let's get this thing moving. And then I want to get to the last but not least one to focus guys. It's very important to focus target be very selective. To me that means we as tanda, you're not just doing anything for the sake of anything. You are being. Being very selective of the type of opportunities that you are going for as a business. You see, you're not doing guando you are looking because hey, this thing of we are doing everything, so what is your business? Are we doing everything? No, guys, no. Then I don't know what to do, when to come to you when I need everything. Let's be serious about this one. You need to be very, very selective, even so selective about what you're actually doing within that the type of opportunities that you select. Because if I look back the contracts that we have currently, it's not, I find that our customers are okay, government, most of them, yes, government. But it's not the regular government departments like sassa, Department of Health. I mean we have been going for few opportunities from them but it's not usual that we will coin or win an opportunity from those type of departments. Because I feel like those departments are so saturated already, you know and I think we've had this talk, talk, we've had this talk of selecting the not so well known departments. You look through what their opportunities are and you show your presence. Usually they don't have a lot of suppliers but they usually very picky so their suppliers know exactly how to deliver to them and how to do things with them. So there you're gonna have to choose to really exclude Excel in what you're doing. Sometimes it's. It sounds like it's not too hard. If they're asking you to deliver what you call dry goods like milk or sugar, whatever, then it doesn't sound so good, so difficult. But when it comes to execution time, maybe their entrance points, they don't allow buckies like the one that you're driving. Whatever, whatever. There's always obstacles guys. So obviously that doesn't mean that we're going to keep give up because already they've got people that know what licenses are needed, what regulations have to be adhered to. Now where you are there to learn, you are there to learn what is actually needed. But this new very special customer and then what you're gonna do is try to make sure that you, you stay on par with what they want. Also my. It gets very easy to move away from the focus point and what type of customers and deals that we are going for. I don't, for me particularly one of my tick boxes is I don't like submitting for tenders. It's not something that I do. I don't really watch out for tenders because the tender space is so corrupt man. And it's just a waste of paper. I've done that a lot on my first year of business. Like really I think I, I used all of my pension payout out on those big documents and they want three copies and then they also wanted out a memory sticker. Oh. So I don't know, tenders for me, not too exciting. I, what I tend to do, which is my main thing, is to make sure that I'm on databases, databases of these very special, what you call businesses or government department. I fill in the paperwork, do everything, make sure I'm on the database and then I pester them with when are you sending me RFQs? I need to respond to RFQ. So usually I respond to RFQs. That is the one that I like and for those particular departments. And being invited is also a good one. But remember guys, the system is flooded with scams. You will be invited all the time by scammers to their tenders that are not even real, you know. So it's very important to, to stay focused and just have a tick box of exactly what opportunities that you'll be going for and not finding yourself all over the spot. Otherwise you lose a lot of time, a lot of money, lots of resources. And yeah, so focusing also speaks to finding what works if you eventually find your breakthrough, not if. Guys, when, when, when you eventually find your breakthrough, I think it becomes very important because so our gifts are very different and the universe does recognize that. And sometimes I advise some of my friends, like how I've made one of my biggest, what you call transactions and I find that, I find that they will attempt the same stuff, but for some strange reason, I don't know, maybe they're not going about it the same way or they just don't even have a sense of belief in what I'm saying. So you know, it's just like whatever. The way that I approach the opportunities is little bit too outrageous. I don't know, being on databases, I don't know. But they've got other ways that they are doing business and it's working well. I feel like if you found that particular way that is working for you and your business and that model is working for you, stick to it. But then you just need to refine it and be more targeted to opportunities that are like that. You know, I think it helps a lot. Like what I've mentioned, mentioned earlier with the supplier development stint. For me, finding those type of opportunities where your business can really be assisted into upscaling and providing worthy services and not being stuck in the situations of not being able to have money for your opportunities really, really helped my business. So I try to find opportunities like that. That will assist me to. To grow the business. And while I feel like, okay, this thing of lobbying an international company showcasing what I can offer, just being present and staying within their periphery throughout the years is the one that works. Because after 10 years, they will hit you with an opportunity that is just gonna take you through to exponential growth. So I. I think it's very important to focus, and it's very easy, guys to be derailed. There are new brilliant ideas every day. Every second of the day, somebody's coming up with a new brilliant idea, and this idea looks like it's gonna work. Don't be swayed. Don't be swayed too easily. You've got something here. You've got something on your plate. You know, obviously you're gonna use your, you know, your discernment to see if, okay, does this fall in line with what I'm trying to do? Is that what I'm ultimately trying to achieve? But there's new ideas all the time, and I find that there's lots of people that can get carried away. And I know one of them is actually my husband. My husband. Oh, my God. He also. He finds new ideas all the time and. And it drops them all the time. So I'm just like, you know what? We're good for each other. Because sometimes I'm able to discern whether this is something worth going for. And I'm the one who's always. Who will always be like, you know what? Let's stay with this one. Let's not leave it. And he always gives me a look like, ah, you know, you're just dragging this thing till forever. So. But for me, I will just stay with it, Stay with it until I see its fruits, like I said earlier, change to different approaches. Change and try to approach different people, you know, and just try to make this thing work. Because then I'm telling you, like I said, there's many ideas out there, and all of them are good, and all of them could work. But the only problem is, are you willing to withstand the storms that are gonna come in that way? And also, are you gonna be. Open this door. Closing that one, closing that one, opening that one, closing that one. You will. In grade one, I'll tell you, you will stay in the very first level of everything. It's kind of like being in varsity and you changing courses every year so you can stay seven years. Adversity. And you are a first year of every course of seven courses because you've been changing every year. So, guys, it's very important this one and it's very easy to get lost in the excitement of it all. So I think we've covered most of the important points when it comes to going back to the best basics, going back to what is business, going back to what are the characteristics of a business person. Guys, I really hope you enjoyed this one. It really, really kept me. You know what? I feel like I've been on a drive, driving lesson, first time driving lesson, even me reading these notes. I've got a few corrections to make in my own life just to follow these notes that I've spoken about. So guys, I hope you really enjoyed it. Have a wonderful evening day, wonderful time going forward. Thank you so much. Goodbye.