Ann Druce: Is your communications strategy clear & relevant?

Ann Druce, Octarine Communications

Ann Druce started KZN-based Octarine Communincations in April 2001 after the mid-size advertising agency where she was working underwent restructuring. She seized the opportunity to go on her own, and set up a home office with friends’ castoff furniture, a computer and a phone.

Have you always been entrepreneurial?

I started out in corporate marketing but, happily, working in organisations that encouraged entrepreneurial thinking. 

What were you doing before starting your business?

I had begun the process of cutting the apron-strings by moving from corporate to a mid-sized advertising agency. Then when things were tough and the agency restructured, it provided the impetus I needed to go on my own.

What kind of planning went into starting the venture?

I don’t think an elaborate document is essential, but a plan certainly is. However, before I’d even started thinking about writing a business strategy, my start-up plan was instigated by a client when I mentioned I might start an ad agency.  He committed to giving me his business if I started on my own, giving me the freedom to make the decision based on what I wanted to do, rather than a fear that it might be a while before I established a client base.

What was your big dream for this venture?

The good old-fashioned ideal of being a true business partner to my clients – learning their business and making a real strategic contribution: translating their marketing strategy into clear, relevant messages that reach their target markets.

How does a new entrepreneur find business leads and profit from them?

Not every entrepreneur is a born salesman. But we have to use what we have at our disposal – from working our existing networks and developing new ones, to the dreaded cold-calling. I recommend that new entrepreneurs join business groups, scan the employment section in the Sunday papers and see when new decision makers are being appointed, and call them up. And that they ask clients for referrals after every single sale, be it a product or a service.

How does a new entrepreneur figure out what makes them unique and leverage that difference?

Sometimes what makes you unique isn’t unique at all. All margarine is cholesterol-free, but Flora made this their point of difference, while others were talking about taste. So decide what your niche is and make your unique claim. Evaluating your target market and what they might need is a good place to start. What are their key stressors? Can you address that? What are the frustrations that people think they have to live with? Can you change that? Is it your hours of service? Is it a standard call-out fee? Is it a guarantee that is credible?

How does a new entrepreneur figure out what to charge for their service/product?

Pricing should reflect your value. Don’t assume that being the cheapest will get you more business – you might just look suspiciously cheap. Establish what your costs are and evaluate your competitors’ pricing, and take a view on what your market can stand. Then decide where you want to position your offering relative to these factors. You may want to be viewed as a luxury item, or you may want to be seen as accessible to all. You may need volumes for production economies of scale or you may prefer to limit volumes and earn a greater profit per item.

What was your most epic fail in the early days?

I was away and relied on a colleague to proofread an ad before it went to print. There was a typo in the headline. Bad enough for any client, but particularly so when the client is a university and it looks like they can’t spell! I discovered it too late to stop it going to print and there was nothing I could do. I phoned the client and told them before they found out elsewhere. Abject apologies and loads of humble-pie – and a relationship of trust and respect – got me past this.

What are the two biggest/most common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make?

Spending money they don’t yet have and focusing on an image of success instead of the work they produce.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

Get dressed and go to work. If you aren’t busy producing work for paying clients, you should be developing your marketing.

Do you have a mentor?

I never really had a mentor, but the single best piece of advice I was given was: When you don’t know where to start, just start. It’s funny how that questions that you need to ask and the research you need do become evident as you begin to structure your project.

How long does it take for a venture to get off the ground, in your experience?

I’m sure this varies by environment. In an area like advertising and graphic design, you are asking a client to trust you with his company image and reputation as well as his money, so it can take a lot longer to build a business than if you are selling low-price, low risk products, where if your product doesn’t live up to expectations they simply don’t have to re-order. You need to build a suitable time-frame into your plan.

What’s your life motto?

Life is too short to do a job you don’t love. 

If you could give yourself any advice back then, what are your top 5 wisdoms?

* Apologise when you mess up. And you will! Don’t make excuses.

* Don’t work with clients you don’t respect.

* Don’t work with clients who don’t respect you.

* Know where the money is.

* Don’t be embarrassed to chase clients who owe you money – they’re the ones who should be embarrassed.

Get in touch with Ann Druce from Octarine Communications via: www.octarine.co.za, on LinkedIn and on Twitter: @AnnDruce

Jonty Fisher: Bringing strategy back

Jonty Fisher, Bletchley Park

Jonty Fisher started Cape-based Bletchley Park with a workforce of three and no fixed address. His initial vision was to provide a fully integrated marketing solution for smaller clients but his ultimate goal was to become best known for bringing strategy back into executional marketing communications.

Have you always been entrepreneurial?

I grew up needing to make my own pocket money, so whether it was coaching sport or running a stand at the Greenmarket Square, I had ways and means in my early years. Myself and a business partner started an agency in my Honours year at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and we didn’t look back, so I guess that would qualify me as always having an entrepreneurial side. To be honest, I’ve never talked about myself as being entrepreneurial, I just took decisions at certain times that were the right ones for me at that stage.

What were you doing before starting your business?

I was studying Business Science at UCT and was never interested in the beauty parade rolled out with all the big marketing or consulting firms. Mark Shuttleworth gave a guest lecture in our business strategy class (before he sold Thawte) where he made the statement that South Africa was in a small window period where conditions were excellent for entrepreneurs. He said that if we had any consideration of doing something by ourselves, that now was the time to do it. That was my final nudge.

What kind of planning went into starting the venture?

To be honest, you learn the most by doing, especially when you’re starting from a young age with your own capital. When you’re older and wiser and certainly if you’re looking for external funding, then something like a business plan is critical, but when you’re young and just starting out, I’d certainly advocate planning a bit less and just being immensely action-orientated. That bias towards action and trying loads of different approaches (when you can take those risks) is a lot more valuable than a business plan on a piece of paper. Be clear on what outcomes you want, and what type of business you want – from enviroment to colleagues etc – but give yourself the freedom to explore. I know a lot of people that hide behind business plans of what they’re “going to do”. I’m more interested in those that don’t talk about it; they just go towards it and get started.

What was your start up capital?

Initially we had no capital and worked between my business partner’s flat and the Golden Spur in Newlands, depending on the time of day!

What was your big dream for this venture?

The focus when we started was on providing a fully integrated marketing solution for smaller budget clients. It was more client-side thinking focused than purely executionally focused. Our aim was to start at objectives and solve marketing problems in a one-stop-shop – thinking of broader objectives first, and then taking a channel neutral approach, rather than executing purely in terms of what channel specialty we offered. Our tagline was “On time. On budget. As agreed.” (Cringe!). The bigger dream was to become famous for bringing strategic thinking back to executional marketing communications.

How does a new entrepreneur find business leads and profit from them?

Initially, we tapped a lot of known networks – family, friends, school contacts etc, which carried us through the first few months, and then referral was our big driver for the first few years as we made our way up the client scale. The profit came from ensuring that we sat so close to the client on their challenges, really walked the walk with them, that we became indispensable. That’s where the profit was drawn from. We weren’t suppliers, we were true partners.

How does a new entrepreneur figure out what makes them unique and leverage that difference?

I think there are two sides to it. Naturally you’re going to have a position or thought on what makes you different. You need to express that in various forms and then just get in front of clients and test it out. Don’t wait until it’s perfect, just go and try it. You’ll very quickly learn what is turning the lights on and what’s not. The other side is always try to get close to your customer so that you can learn what is relevant about what you think is valuable to them and what is not. There are always shortcuts. Ask people for advice. People right at the top of companies that you will look to pitch to. In our experience, people are incredibly willing to help young entrepreneurs trying to get started. We learned the most in areas we knew nothing about by just picking up the phone to marketing managers, sales directors and MDs and just asking them to help us out for 30 minutes. Almost all of them obliged.

How does a new entrepreneur figure out what to charge for their service/product?

Various industries can offer broad benchmarks for billing, but ultimately you have to let the market advise you. Start at a median and keep increasing your pricing until your losing at least 15% of your proposals for price reasons. Then you know where you’re sitting. Underquoting is one of the biggest traps enterpreneurs fall into when starting a business and it can hold you back for years. You have to put a value to your belief, and have the confidence to stick to it.

What was your most epic fail in the early days?

In our first year we were running the closing event for the House & Leisure Young Designer’s Awards in Cape Town, which was probably our biggest client at the time. It was a very flashy affair with loads of celebrities and journalists there. We had this beaten up old IBM ThinkPad that we were running this Flash presentation off on a big screen, which carried the announcements and introductions to the winners. Halfway through, while all the guests were glued to it, the old ThinkPad gave up - “there is not enough disk space to run this application” - and it crashed, leaving the guests looking at the desktop with a hundred client files on it! Not much we could do but laugh it off!

What are the two biggest/most common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make?

Undervaluing what they do and trying to do grow too fast. Cashflow is king.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

Family naturally plays a big role, but I’m a big believer in building an entrepreneurial network too. There are challenges that you face as a young business owner that are so different to corporate environments and it really helps to share knowledge, learnings and commiserations with fellow entrepreneurs. Personally, you have to remind yourself why you started in the first place. If you’re being true to that, then it will get better and tough times will pass. If you’re not, change it.

Did you have a mentor?

I’ve been lucky to have various great mentors over my career, in various different spheres of business focus. They’re incredibly valuable and can fast-track your journey. The single most valuable piece of advice I have ever received is to give myself the freedom in my work to be absolutely true to myself. It sounds immensely simple, but it is something that very few people do, and especially given the pressures of running your own business, you often feel like you have to compromise. I’ve learned that each time you compromise, and try to chameleon your way to a piece of work, or a client relationship, or whatever, you subconsciously chip away at your own confidence and focus. Always be true to yourself and your own dreams; do what you need and want to do, not what you think people expect you to do, or how they expect you to act. That freedom can truly build category-breaking businesses.

How long does it take for a venture to get off the ground, in your experience?

That’s a very difficult question to answer. I think it’s very diverese in different industries, at different ages, and naturally with different funding platforms, and I don’t think there’s a standard benchmark here. However, I’d say it’s time to shut up shop when you’re not feeling the love anymore, which goes without saying. Building a business is often a thankless, highly stressful and demanding journey, and you have to build an armour of love for the business to handle it. If you fall out of love, you’ll be burnt out quickly.

Which three character traits do all entrepreneurs possess?

Belief, tenacity and self-awareness.

Do you believe in internships for your business?

I do, for both talent scouting and more philosophical reasons too. I think we work in a business environment where “work experience” is seen as a non-negotiable, which can be a huge barrier to entry for young people. Internships can help them to bridge this divide. I also think internships are really important for young people to really find their meaning in their work – is this really what I want to do? We encourage interns to explore different areas and will give very honest feedback as to whether we think this is their game or not. If someone would like to intern at Bletchley Park, they just need to email: cv@bletchleypark.co.za

If you could give yourself any advice back then, what are your top 5 wisdoms?

* Focus. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. The fastest growth comes from focus.

* Just try it. Don’t wait until you think something is perfect. Fail fast.

* Don’t be afraid of anyone, believe in yourself and back yourself. You’re good enough.

* Find mentors early

* Be true to yourself. Always.

Get in touch with Jonty Fisher from Bletchley Park via email:  jonty@bletchleypark.co.za, visit: www.bletchleypark.co.za, on Twitter: @jontyfisher and on LinkedIn.

Terri Brown: Get your brave on!

Terri Brown, Actuate

In 2002 and with zero capital, Terri Brown started Actuate, an internal marketing and communications agency that offers clients bespoke strategies to align their employees with their brand. She had three staff members and a few clients waiting for her to go it alone. Today, Actuate has won numerous industry awards and has some of South Africa’s biggest corporates as clients.

Have you always been entrepreneurial?I've always been very independent and I think that's part of being entrepreneurial – wanting to do it yourself.

What were you doing before starting your business?I was studying, and very briefly worked for a small marketing consultancy. The decision to start my own thing wasn’t a planned or considered one – it just happened in response to an opportunity that presented itself. One month I was a paid employee, the next I was paying employees.

What kind of planning went into starting the venture?
I didn’t have a plan; I just sort of stumbled along for the first year or two. I think those years were great learning years because a business plan can be a very hypothetical. Getting a few years experience allowed me to understand the realities of running a business and plan from there.

How does a new entrepreneur find business leads and profit from them?
Word of mouth – look after your clients very, very well. They’ll give you repeat business and send new business your way.

How does a new entrepreneur figure out what makes them unique and leverage that difference?
You have to know what everyone else is doing so that you’re aware of the gaps. You have to know what your clients want to know if the solution is viable and you have to know what you can do very well – better than the next guy.

How does a new entrepreneur figure out what to charge for their service/product?
Look at what it costs you to create or supply, and then add a reasonable margin. The offer must be sustainable – from a business perspective, a market perspective and a resource perspective. If any of these things are out of balance, the model isn’t sustainable.

What are the two biggest/most common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make?
Risking money they don’t have; rather grow slowly through self-funding. Taking on too much work and compromising on quality.

How do you keep yourself motivated to continue?
Put on your big girl pants and suck it up! You’ll go through shit times – everyone does – you just have to brave on.

Do you have a mentor?
I do. He told me it’s good to be a little bit scared. If you’re not a little fearful you’re complacent.

How long does it take for a venture to get off the ground, in your experience?
I think it’s different for every business, and every business needs to constantly tweak their offering – otherwise you’ll lose relevance and become outdated. But if you’ve done EVERYTHING and it’s still not working maybe it’s worth moving onto new challenges.

Is it ever alright to give up on a dream?
It’s alright to give up on a dream, but not dreaming. If it’s making you miserable and it’s not worth it, give up and find a new dream.

If you could give yourself any advice back then, what are your top 5 wisdoms?
* A lot of your problems will take care of themselves.
* It’s never as bad (or as good) as it seems.
* Work hard to keep good people.
* If you have a bad feeling about something walk away.
* If the worst thing imaginable happens – you’ll get through.

Get in touch with Terri Brown from Actuate via email: terri@actuate.co.za, visit: www.actuate.co.za or on LinkedIn.

Clare Appleyard: Shine in your niche

Clare Appleyard, Katannuta Diamonds

Clare Appleyard had a simple dream – to escape her cubicle-bound desk job. With this in mind, she took a leap into entrepreneurship in June 2007, starting Katannuta Diamonds from a spare room in her home, with a R20 000 investment, manufacturing bespoke wedding rings, engagement rings and diamond and gemstone jewellery to order.

Have you always been entrepreneurial?

It’s something that’s grown over time. While I’d always harboured the dream to own a sports shop, going into business wasn’t a family trait, nor was it something that my family encouraged. It was a case of go to school, go to university and get a corporate job. So I did, but always felt there was something more to be achieved. 

What were you doing before starting your business?

I was working as a geologist at Anglo American, having moved from De Beers a year before that. A culmination of job dissatisfaction combined with some major life challenges forced me to re-assess and take the plunge. It was a challenging time, but ultimately leaving a corporate job has set me free in the truest sense of the word.

What kind of planning went into starting the venture?

Very little planning went into starting Katannuta Diamonds! I was that desperate to quit my job that I jumped with absolutely no safety net. The initial Katannuta concept was confused and complicated, as was our website and we had way too many “divisions” focusing on servicing different market needs. We never applied for funding, so were never forced to write a proper business plan. We hacked out a couple of plans, but never stuck to them and never updated them as our concept evolved. Ultimately, for us, a business plan was not necessary at all, but, if you need to apply for funding, it’s probably a necessary evil. If you’re boot-strapping your way, don’t bother.

How does a new entrepreneur find business leads and profit from them?

We spent a lot of time connecting with people on small business websites and going to networking events and we discovered that people on these websites and at these events were not our customers. You can’t ignore the power of social media nowadays, and a “Google friendly” website is absolutely critical. Word-of-mouth is tremendously powerful, so make sure all your friends and family know what you do. Our business leads are split between referrals and Internet-generated enquiries. We’ve found that advertising is expensive, over-rated and provides little or no return on investment.

How did you figure out what makes you unique from everyone else in your market and how have you leveraged that difference?

We spent an inordinate amount of time trying to be everything to everybody, and we learnt that if you’re marketing to everybody, you’re marketing to nobody. It took me a long time to find my niche market for Katannuta Diamonds and it was a well-timed question from a marketing friend that helped me realise I was on the wrong track. Look at where your best profit for the least effort comes from, and make that your niche selling point. Focus on what you are truly good at and develop that market. If customers are complimenting you on a particular aspect of your product/service, that’s probably your best indication of your unique selling point (USP).

How did you figure out what to charge?

If your product is something concrete – as in the case of jewellery, for instance – logically, you want to take your expenses for that item and add a particular profit percentage, perhaps in accordance with industry standards. I received a lot of guidance from my wholesale suppliers regarding mark-ups, what is an “acceptable” profit margin and what average retail mark-ups are. This has allowed me to gauge a standard mark-up that still allows me to beat retail prices. If your product is a service, it’s a lot tougher – because you’re investing predominantly time and you need to figure out what your time is worth.  Again, look at competitors and colleagues and use their guidelines if necessary.

What was your most epic fail in the early days?

Perhaps I’ve got my rose-tinted glasses on, but I don’t remember an epic fail. The biggest mistake I’d say, which stemmed from ignorance on websites more than anything else, was forking out R20 000 for a website which looked great, but wasn’t search engine optimised (SEO) and generated no traffic. Two years later we completely overhauled the website, for a fraction of the cost, and haven’t looked back since.

What are the two biggest/most common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make in their first three years of business?

Procrastination or lack of action and not being clear on what problem their business will solve.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

Knowing that there’s no way I could ever return to the traffic jams, 9-to-5s, policies and procedures, red tape and corporate bull that rules most people’s lives – the thought of that is motivation enough!

Did you have a mentor?

I started off with a mentor in the diamond industry in my very early days and he taught me the value of honesty, integrity and loyalty in the industry. Diamonds can be a dirty business and you’ve got to build solid relationships. Mentors can provide invaluable guidance and assistance if you find the correct person.

How long does it take for a venture to get off the ground, in your experience?

It’s almost impossible to say how long it will take. Ventures that have little capital investment can provide a return early on. Ventures that required a massive capital injection may take years to turn a profit. If you’re growing steadily – not necessarily turning a profit – you know you’re on the right track. One of my current mentors uses the phrase: “Pay attention. Get excited. Never quit.” I refuse to quit.

In your opinion, is it ever alright to give up on a dream?

Not at all. The only people who have ever made a difference in the world are those that have refused to quit on their dream. If you do, you’ve joined the ranks of the 97% of the population who are just moving through life in a comatose state. Make sure your dream is big enough to fire you up that you won’t ever want to quit.

If you could give yourself any advice back then, what are your top 5 wisdoms?

* Don’t wait for everything to be perfect – any action is better than no action!

* Find a mentor or person you consider successful as early on as possible to guide you.

* Identify your niche as early as possible and focus on being great in that area.

* Ensure that your website uses a content management system (CMS) that you have full control of.

* Identify your “income producing activities” from your “non-income producing” and focus on what makes you money.

Get in touch with Clare Appleyard via email: clare@katannuta.com, visit: www.katannutadiamonds.co.za on Facebook on Twitter: @clareappleyard and @katannutadiamnd, and on LinkedIn.