Why experience counts

We small business owners are usually really bad at promoting ourselves. I see this every fortnight when I attend a local networking breakfast and watch folk stumble to explain what they do, and why.

I see the same thing in the complex and indirect ways we find to promote ourselves. It seems that almost anything is better than getting a direct NO. (I am beginning to think that the direct NO is a blessing: At least you know where you stand.)

This got me to thinking about my relaxed approach to talking about Business Warriors.

Imagine that I am your new neighbour. We both have one small child. You don’t know yet that I have already raised seven. This means that I see dangers where you don’t. After 25 years of kids in the house I know how creative kids can be at getting into trouble.

One day I see a ball bounce out of your drive into the street. I know just one thing: Kid following in a few seconds. Actually, I know something else: If I don’t get involved right now then somebody is going to get hurt. So I start running for the ball just as your kid flies out of the driveway. I do that because right now I am the only one around. Just as I am expecting that somebody will be not only be around, but will leap into action for mine.

Which brings me to Business Warriors. Over the past 50 months (exactly) we have accumulated the experience and wisdom of thousands of small business owners with diverse opinions about everything. The site houses more original knowledge about small business than any other site in South Africa. No theory, no fluff, just common sense answers to questions that most of us have yet to face. (And most of us hope never to have to face.)

Over the past 4 years I have let thousands of business startups fail. I did not rush out to show them how their tiny investment in us would stop them from signing sureties, would help them find the best resources in SA, would ensure they had lots of ammunition for every negotiation, and would answer questions they didn’t even know they had. In other words, I didn’t even see the ball go into the street! (And with one out of every two startups failing in their first year, I did not do what I should have)

That won’t happen again. If you’re starting out in business please join us. If you know somebody starting out in business, please copy this email to them.

Within seconds you can have 15,000 years of hard earned small business experience at your fingertips any hour of the day or night, on any subject remotely connected to opening, running, and closing a business in South Africa. With a full, unconditional, zero risk warranty that if you don’t think we’re worth it I won’t ask you to pay for it.

Over the past few weeks we’ve covered a bunch of topics that didn’t make the press because the Warriors reach into every aspect of business life in SA.

• Want to know what’s really happening at Eskom and why buying generator in the next month is such an astoundingly good idea? (From somebody who predicted that Eskom switching sites would soon break, just before the Kempton Park substation broke.)
• Want to know how to deal with fraudulent staff? (From somebody who does it for a living?)
• Want realistic and practical opinions on your new site? (From people who design and sell sites, as well as people who make a living online.)
• Want to know which banks are currently really bad, or good? (From hundreds of folk using them.)
• Want to know how to deal with a car accident when the other party isn’t insured and keeps harassing you? (From brokers, attorneys, and people who have been there.)
• Want to accept funds online and need experienced opinions on which of the 10 options to go for? (From folk doing it already who have tested a whole bunch of products and firms.)
• Want to know which web advertising firms are brutal scams? (From folk who have been burnt already. And from folk who were saved by this knowledge.)
• Want to know how to walk away from a business closure, no matter how bad it is, without your financial record getting hammered? (OK, that’s my speciality, but it’s always fun to share.)

This is a tiny subset of the questions asked and discussed in depth this past month. Please join us here. Please don’t wait until it is so late that we really cannot add value. The smaller your business, the more useful we are.