Imagine the scene. Itís a rugby field. Your family is in the stands, along with everyone you know. Itís a full crowd. The opposition team charges out ñ 15 humongously big and ugly men, rippling with muscle, loaded with steroids, and followed by their entourage ñ the coach, the under coaches, the team doctors, the team psychologist, the team strategists, the team manager, the entire management team of the sponsor, the team pom pom girls, the water boy[s], and a few others with no discernible role but looking very important.

Then the referee leads his team onto the field. Thatís himself, the two sideline judges, and the 3rd referee sitting in front of a TV to spot the tiniest transgression.

All of the opposition players have been briefed in the most intense detail. They know the rules, the law. They have team supporters in place to allow them to focus on just one thing: get the ball and put it on the ground behind your tryline. They have the time to practice. They use computers to analyse every individual aspect of their play to optimise it. Theyíve spent hours watching videos to analyse your past games ñ just so that they can develop strategies to thwart you.

The media is there in force to cover the opposition team ñ because theyíre so important. The entire country runs its life according to their play schedule and nobody is going to arrange any other event while theyíre on the field.

And then you charge onto the field, alone, in your T-Shirt and shorts, lugging your PC and 16 files of overdue work. Your pom pom girl is at home looking after your kids. You donít have a coach, let alone any assistants for him. Youíre not on steroids, but probably throwing back a few antidepressants because your doctor [shared with 40 other strangers yesterady] says youíre too stressed.

You donít have time for a team strategist, and donít want anyone to know youíre seeing a psychologist. You canít afford a manager ñ even if you knew how to delegate your workload. Looking for a sponsor is taking up way too much of your time. And the closest youíve ever been to the pom pom girls was when you last watched Fashion TV while you fell asleep into your beer late last Saturday night.

And we wonder why weíre getting killed out there!

Wonít you please help me to help you? I have devoted the past 12 years of my life to guiding small business owners through the perils of this fascinating entrepreneurial life. On the one hand it has been huge fun, while on the other it has been intensely frustrating because we are so diverse.

The biggest challenge we face as a group ñ and our group is very difficult to define because we each do such different things to make money ñ is that the rules of the business game are being defined by a government that does not remotely understand the needs of us little guys, and the rules are being written for large employers that have huge resources at their disposal. This means that they can lobby government, and it means they have the time to wait out the interminable delays and meetings ñ because the folk they send do not have to worry about making a living because theyíre on salaries.

Trying get any coherent response from us as small business owners is a little like herding cats. Impossible! And so we are simply ignored as a community.

If we were previously disadvantaged persons we would be able to find floods of government support ñ but almost all the folk who read Petes Weekly are white, middle aged, and fighting this entrepreneurial fight alone. And the rules are constantly changing ñ shifting beneath our feet ñ without us being able to do anything about it.

Of course, there are a few wild, angry folk amongst us ñ individuals who have stripped their moer, so to speak ñ but theyíre not making much difference because they too need to earn their daily crust. Of course, theyíre fun to watch!

Over the past 5 years of publishing Petes Weekly I have learnt many things ñ but the most important of these is the power of a community of people going in one direction. Each time I see an abuse, and I write an article about it, I find that the problem magically disappears before publication date. Big companies and government can get away with anything they want to when we allow them to fight us as individuals.

But they are afraid of the bad publicity when their behaviour is aired. As a group we wield immense power to make changes that benefit each of us. If I can quote the old SA maxim, never truer tha for us, 'United, we stand. Divided, we fall.' And 96% of us are falling right now.

Petes Weekly currently has about 14,000 readers ñ down from 40,000 last year when I pruned the list [and when my ex list manager managed to lose a whole bunch of readers]. Letís look at a few simple numbers. Letís assume we employ ñ on average ñ 4 people [including our household domestic assistant]. And lets assume we turn over ñ on average ñ R600,000 each year [about R50,000 each month]. Given the fact that we donít make much profit, and that most of us have to borrow money to finance our business efforts ñ then the following applies as a group.

We are responsible for 8.4 billion of turnover, generating over 1 billion in VAT alone. We employ 56000 individuals ñ which means we support more than 200,000 South Africans, and we pay more than another billion in PAYE, SDL, UIF, RSC, and related payments. Our 14,000 homes [about 8.4 billion worth] support our overdrafts [14,000 overdrafts averaging R50,000 (my thumbsuck) equals R700million] at 5 major banks.We generate about R60million in estate agents fees and transfer fees for the government each year as we buy and sell our properties.

We generate [at R200/month/account] over R33million in bank fees, as well as more than R100million in bank interest ñ excluding credit card debt. And thatís just the few folk who read this article each week!

Yet we allow ourselves to be persuaded that we are alone and unique and ëyouíre the only person who has ever asked not to sign suretiesí and ënobody has ever asked that beforeí, etc.

Our community structure is such that we canít do the mass protest thing on the spur of the moment. Weíre unlikely ever to blockade the N3 with our expensive cars because the insurance wonít pay if theyíre damaged. And weíre too responsible to do stupid stuff that might hurt us [and our families] ñ even if we had the time to laze around all day catching a tan while we make some point or other. But we do have oodles of technology, and we do have powerful direct marketing skills, and we can influence our environment  ñ by simply getting our voice heard en masse.

Iíd like to invite you to a party. Itís not going to take up much of your time, but the

mere fact that you are there will add immensely to the value of our joint efforts.

I am asking you to invest R100 [plus VAT] each month with me, and more than 1,000 other small business owners, so that I can start doing the Don Quixote thing and begin to fight for our rights as small entrepreneurs.

Currently we have laws protecting the government [and their income streams], big business, employees [and their income streams], investors [and their income streams], previously disdvantaged business owners ñ but almost nothing to help those of us who dare to try and support ourselves. In fact, we are penalised when we start out, penalised as we try to get off the gorund, and severely penalised when our business efforts fail. In the USA, a person who has been through a business failure is highly prized as an individual who has learnt a lot and is much more likely to succeed next time around. In SA, a person who has been through a business failure is prevented from trying again for almost 10 years! What a wonderful reason to emigrate!

Thatís why I am asking you to support the CrashProof Business Community.

Over the next 3 months the CrashProof website will house the following complete seminars:

CrashProof your Business [already there and already changing lives]

Trusts for Business Owners

Direct Email Marketing

Rivers of Money

As well as an active discussion forum around each of these issues

The goal is to rapidly share the skills you need, but donít have the time or the money to find. Each of these seminars would cost you R895 to attend live, as well as take you away from your business for hours. [If R100 []plus VAT]/month is too much to pay for this community then I have to suggest that you donít have a business ñ you have a charity.]

Your membership entitles you to a free consultation with the leading business structural specialists in the country. These are attorneys who do nothing else but focus on how to make you, your business, and your family impregnable to attack. These attorneys normally charge about R1,000 per consultation ñ but since I have referred so much business to them over the past few years, theyíre happy to share this load. As a member of this community you will have access to them via the online forum as well ñ for any matter relating to the law and business.

The membership database ñ currently being activated ñ will allow you to advertise your firm to all the other members, as well as to all the readers of Petes Weekly each week. Thatís 14,000 readers each week, as well as almost 2,000 hits on the Petes Weekly website each day.

If you feel that R100 [plus VAT] each month is too much to afford, how about if I guarantee that I can save more than that for you from the first month? If I havenít shown you how to do that within the first 4 weeks of your membership, then you simply have to tell me you want out ñ and I will even refund you your first monthís investment. Of course, your R100 [plus, of course, VAT] is tax deductible ñ which means the real cost to you is about R60 each month, for which you get:

R895 worth of CrashProof

strategies now

R895 worth of Trusts

information and strategies next month

R895 worth of Direct

Email Marketing strategies the month after that Guaranteed savings of

R100 month ñ personal and business - this month

A discussion forum for your business challenges immediately

A business structural consultation worth R1000 whenever it suits you

Online Advertising to the entire membership database - next week

Online Advertising to the entire readership of Petes Weekly - next week

A team of attorneys and accountants answering your questions on the forum

Peter Carruthers negotiating with banks to get the best possible group deal on fees

Peter Carruthers negotiating with insurance companies on your behalf

And Peter Carruthers sharing the problems we little guys have with everyone who will listen, and  a bunch of folk who donít want to!

As I said, I need you to help me help you. I hope that I have made it attractive enough for you to join immediately, and join me for a month as a test drive. At the end of this month the monthly investment ñ for new members ñ will rise to R150 [plus VAT]/month. Your fee, as an existing member, will remain at R100 [plus VAT].

To join us as we charge out onto the field to redefine the way small business operates in this wonderful country ñ while you get rich in the process ñ simply go to www.crashproof.co.za [which will tell you all about CrashProofing as well] or go direct to www.crashproof.co.za/join.htm and give us your vote. Please.

August 12th,  2004 - Taste Coffee Shoppe preparing to take on corporate Africa on your behalf