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|BUSINESSLINK NEWSLETTER |

|From the BusinessLink Team |

|Issue No.30 |July 08-15, 2012 |

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|Main topic |

|Are you running |

|in top gear? |

|Contents |

|section 1 Readers Comments 2 |

|Section 2 Are You Running In Top Gear? 3 |

|Section 3 Learning Business From Makandiwa 4 |

|Section 4 Seven Reasons You Might Fail To Become The Best In The World 5 |

|Section 5 Entrepreneurs Report 6 |

|Section 6 Supervision Training Courses 8 |

|Section 7 How Well Do You Know Your Customers? 10 |

|Section 8 Factor Reality Into Your Strategy 11 |

|Section 9 5 Traps To Avoid When Growing Your Business 13 |

|Section 7 Businesslink Community Market Place 15 |

|Section 8 Vacancies / Student Attachments Wanted And Available 18 |

|Section 9 Training And Development 18 |

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|SECTION 1 READERS COMMENTS |

|Can a married couple run a business successfully together? |

|Last week’s main article, entitled generated some interesting comments. Here are just two of them. |

|Dear Philip |

|I have worked with my wife to run our flea-market and tuck shop. She is very good especially on follow up of credits. She does most of the book work while I am at work and |

|then I do the auditing. I like it. I am however afraid we are bringing business stresses home. We would try the tips in the Newsletter. |

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|Regards |

|MM |

|Hie Phillip |

|I enjoyed your article about working as a husband and wife team. Brendan and I have been working together now for the past 7 years and we have had our fair share of |

|challenges ϑ.  We are both very strong characters so have many heated discussions on a daily basis!! One of the most important things that have improved our working |

|relationship is to very clearly split our roles and responsibilities!! |

|Sally Palmer |

|************************************************************************************************************************************** |

|Hello Phillip |

|Although I'm a street vendor on the streets of Harare I've found your articles educative. I've moved from selling what everybody is selling to be innovative. |

|Thanx PC . |

|[pic][pic] |

|Section 2 are you running in top gear? |

|By Phillip Chichoni |

|A friend asked me to join him for a ride in his new car the other day. He was going to Chitungwiza to see his mother as he was in the country for just two days. |

|“I hope there are no police speed traps along the way,” he said. |

|“Why, are you planning on over speeding?” I asked him. |

|“No! It’s just this car. On the way from Bulawayo, local police did not believe me when I told them it’s very difficult to keep it below 180,” he said, seriously. I laughed.|

|But when he started the engine, I thought maybe he was right. As you rev, it purrs and growls like an animal and you can feel the tension like a coiled spring ready to |

|unleash if you just ease the clutch. The V12 SL65 AMG accelerates from 0 to 100km/hr in 4 seconds! At slow speeds you can feel it struggling to contain its energy- sheer |

|brutality. |

|The human mind is a powerful organ. Its power is incomprehensible. Imagine what it has done: sent man to the moon, flew faster than the speed of sound, split the atom, |

|created ultrafast computers, tamed elephants- the list is endless. The only limit to what you can achieve in your life is what you can dream. |

|There is a sad fact though. The brain is not like a machine which releases its full potential at the push of a button and can refuse to operate below a certain optimum |

|speed. The brain’s capability increase the harder you push it. The bigger the task you give it, the more resources it harnesses to accomplish it. Give it small tasks and it |

|becomes lazy; actually it reduces its capacity- in other words it atrophies! |

|So if you find yourself in a dead-end job, running a slow business, struggling to get ahead and moaning about how unkind life is, it’s because you decided to lower the power|

|and speed of your mind. You have told your brain not to worry about solving your problems. Life is challenging enough without our making it even harder by limiting |

|ourselves. So open up your mind and think. |

|Brian Tracy said it aptly, “The biggest obstacle to creating a wonderful life is self-limiting beliefs. A self-limiting belief is an idea that you’re limited in some way in |

|terms of time, talent, intelligence, money, ability or opportunity.” |

|Interact with people who believe there are no limits and you will soon find your mind thinking of solutions beyond your wildest dreams. Every day when you get up, choose who|

|and what you want you want to be. Ask yourself, “Do I want to live today as a person with a poor context or a rich context?” |

|A person with a poor context will say something like, “I will never be rich.” A person with a rich context will say, “I need to increase my business and financial acumen so |

|I can work less and make more money.” |

|It’s all within your reach. Tell your mind and it will purr and growl to propel you forward. Live you life to the full- move at the top gear! |

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|Feedback to chichonip@ |

|Section 3 learning business from makandiwa |

|By Max Soutter |

|Church leaders like Emmanuel Makandiwa and Urbert Angel who have massive followings in Zimbabwe can teach you a little something about business. I’m not talking about the |

|controversial stories of flamboyance and so on – that’s a debate for another day (maybe another website), I’m talking about the way they move people. |

|See if instead of seeing clients as just buyers of your product, you saw them as actual people, with beliefs, values and a world view that shapes how they live; you may |

|actually become empowered to lead them. You might shape your marketing material so that it answers the questions they’re really asking, meeting the needs that really nag |

|them. |

|You would build your brand, your message and your whole business around a powerful and exciting Gospel (good news) that matches the world view of the people you need to |

|influence. |

|Maybe you would see that a nice looking logo and great signage is really just a very small part of what it takes to build a brand. It’s about reaching the market on a deep, |

|emotional almost spiritual level. It’s about positioning yourself as not just another solution, but the only viable option, THEE man of God, so to speak. |

|Makandiwa has done this masterfully (yes by the power of the Lord, I hear), but the principles stands. And in a religious country like Zimbabwe with a pastor just around |

|every corner, the value of being seen as thee man of God, thee solution, thee best option has never been higher. |

|Max Soutter Max Soutter is the founder of the Business Setup Group (BizSetup Group). An organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs start-up and grow businesses the |

|smart way. |

|Email Max directly on max.soutter@ for help with your business setup, internet marketing strategy or corporate marketing efforts or visit |

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|SECTION 4 Seven Reasons You Might Fail to Become the Best in the World |

|By Max Soutter |

|You run out of time (and quit). |

|You run out of money (and quit). |

|You get scared (and quit). |

|You’re not serious about it (and quit). |

|You lose interest or enthusiasm or settle for being mediocre (and quit). |

|You focus on the short-term instead of the long (and quit when the short-term gets too hard). |

|You pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world (because you don’t have the talent). |

|Seth Godin - The Dip. |

|Need company registration, a shelf company or Tax Clearance fast? |

|Call Phil Chichoni |

|0777 774 007 |

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|Section 5 Entrepreneurs Report |

|By the BusinessLink team |

|In this new column we bring you what entrepreneurs have to say about themselves and their businesses. If you want to be featured, please contact the editor by email to |

|chichonip@. |

|This week’s Entrepreneurs |

|4 years |

|Phillip Chichoni |

|Admiral Business Systems (Pvt) Ltd |

|How did your company come about? |

|The idea of starting a business always appealed to me. In 2008 I could see that I’d never be happy continuing to work for someone else, especially as the firm I was working |

|for was struggling to survive in those hyperinflation days. I registered Admiral Business Systems whilst still working, providing part-time consultancy services. I was also |

|busy completing my first book, Business Planning Simplified. A few months later I left run my own business full time. |

|What business do you do? |

|We provide strategic business planning, accounting, financial management and business systems development services. Our services are targeted at SMEs that want to accelerate|

|their growth, move up to the next level and build sustainable businesses. We also provide training in entrepreneurship and business management skills. |

|What challenges did you face during the start up phase? |

|It was a challenge starting up in the midst of Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis. Those days, it was difficult to get customers who could afford our long-term and high value |

|services. Each month we had to find new customers who wanted once off services like writing a business plan, or preparing a set of annual financial accounts. |

|When did you get your biggest break? |

|In 2011 we noticed that we were getting more enquiries from the bigger SMEs rather than the very small ones. So we decided to focus on their needs, which included business |

|systems development, business training workshops and seminars and strategy coaching. Other organizations began to want to partner with us and we started getting some |

|significant contracts. We now have partners we subcontract on those jobs our teams are not specialists in, so that we are able to provide a full set of services needed by |

|fast growing SMEs. |

|What ambitions do you have for the company? |

|I’d like Admiral Business Systems to become “the guys to find” when entrepreneurs want to set up business systems and accelerate their growth. We want to become a global |

|brand, starting with branching into Africa later this year. I would also like to see BusinessLink magazine which we are working on become a global brand, along the lines of |

|Entrepreneur and Inc magazines, but running out of Africa. |

|What success tips would you offer aspiring entrepreneurs? |

|Believe in yourself and have a passion for your business and your clients. Self confidence is the single most important trait that will attract high value clients. And |

|spread the word about yourself and your business, through blogging, newsletters, the press and social networks. Become known as an expert in your industry. |

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|SEVEN YEARS |

|LUVUYO RANI, FOUNDER OF SILULO ULUTHO TECHNOLOGIES |

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|How did your company come about? |

|Silulo Ulutho Technologies was started in 200 when I was a teacher and realized that many of my colleagues couldn’t use computers. So I resigned to start my own company, |

|with the aim of imparting basic computer skills to teachers. I started by selling refurbished |

|computers from the boot of my car at about the same time the |

|Department of Education was introducing a curriculum called Outcomes- based Education, which required teachers to use computers as learning tool. That, coupled with huge |

|lack of computer resources and basic operational skills, made me realize there was a need for Internet cafés and computer training in townships. |

|What does your business do? |

|Silulo Ulutho offers a combination of IT-related products and business services, including Internet access, printing services, basic computer training, and hardware and |

|software sales. We know there’s a hunger for technology in townships and we want to feed that demand. By opening up communities to the world of computers, we’re offering |

|people the power of education and information. |

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|What challenges did you face during the start-up phase? |

|Most people thought I was mad. Some even spread rumours that the computers I was selling were stolen! The fact that I was trading from the boot of my car didn’t help, as |

|no-one would trust me with their money. Such doubts from the public hampered the growth of the company and resulted in lack of capital. So I had to take a loan to fiancé the|

|business. |

|When did you get your biggest break? |

|In 2006, when my partners and I decided to start an Internet café at Khayelitsha Mall. Having business premises helped us grow and now we have 18 branches. We’ve recently |

|partnered with Vodacom to include mobile services in our portfolio. |

|What ambitions do you have for the company? |

|We’d like to grow beyond townships and expand across all the country’s provinces. We’d also like to be a one stop IT shop that caters for both individuals and organizations |

|and to eventually offer franchises. |

|What success tips would you offer aspiring entrepreneurs? |

|Hard work, determination and believing in your dreams are the best recipes for success. Work on one idea at a time, in order not to lose focus- it’s easy to get sidetracked.|

|It’s also important to do what you love, regardless of the money. |

|Source: Destiny Magazine |

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|section 6 Supervision Training Courses |

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|All About People HR Consultants in conjunction with SME BUSINESS LINK will be holding a two day Effective Supervision workshop. If you need to find out how you can improve |

|your supervisory skills, this is the workshop for you! |

|Contact us for bookings.  |

|SUPERVISOR TRAINING- ALL ABOUT PEOPLE IN CONJUNCTION WITH SME BUSINESS LINK |

|VENUE: AMBASSADOR HOTEL, HARARE |

|TIME: 0830-1630 |

|DATES |

|COURSE CONTENT |

|COST per person (incl. of course material, lunches and teas, certificates of attendance) |

|WHO SHOULD ATTEND? |

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|Thursday 19th & Friday 20th July 2012 |

|EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION |

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|-           Defining and Understanding the role of a supervisor. |

|-           Traits of a good supervisor |

|-           10 keys to effective supervision |

|-           How to be a good supervisor |

|-           How to manage performance |

|-           Developing assertiveness |

|-           Dealing with pressure |

|-           What not to do |

|$160.00 for the two days |

|Supervisors |

|Prospective supervisors |

|Senior staff with supervisory roles |

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|EFFECTIVE PLANNING |

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|-  Effective planning- importance of planning |

|-   S.M.A.R.T. Planning |

|-   Goal setting: characteristics and steps of     goal setting |

|-  PDCA Cycle- Plan, Do, Check, Act  |

|- Time Management |

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|COMMUNICATION IN LEADERSHIP |

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|-           The Communication Process |

|-           Barriers to communication and how to overcome them |

|-           How to manage the grapevine in an organization |

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|MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES |

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|-           What do people want from their jobs? |

|-           Understanding what motivates employees |

|-           Motivation Theories |

|-           Inspiring employees, rewarding good behavior and stopping bad behavior |

|-           Basic reasons why employees do not perform well |

|-           Effective team building |

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|PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT |

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|-           Definition of and importance of performance management |

|-           Difference between performance appraisals and performance management |

|-           Types and Frequency of performance appraisals |

|-           Defining and clarifying role expectations |

|-           Managing employee performance |

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|Please note that the above mentioned dates are flexible. We can book you on any other date that is suitable for your staff. |

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|For bookings and information, please contact |

|Buhle- 0773 974 669 or aapconsultant.hr@       |

|Phillip 0777 774 007 chichonip@                   |

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|Section 7 how well do you know your customers? |

|By Sally and Brendan Palmer |

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|Most people in business think that their customer is a random person in the public that buys their products.  However, to really succeed with selling your products to |

|customers, you have to know your customer inside out.  The depth to which you know them can determine whether or not they buy from you rather than from your competitors and |

|whether or not they KEEP buying from you. |

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|The more you learn about your customer, the easier it becomes to speak to them, to market to them, to fulfill their needs, to satisfy them and to build a long lasting |

|relationship with them.  Your customer should be your business's best friend.  Remember that without customers, you have no business. |

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|You should spend some time researching and defining your customers so that you know all of the following information... |

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|- Who is your ideal customer? |

|  - Are they Male or Female? |

|  - What is their age? |

|  - What is their job or work status? |

|- What does your customer like to buy? |

|- Why they like to buy those products? |

|- What price are they willing to comfortably pay for products? |

|- What do they not like about your products? |

|- What other similar products do they buy? |

|- What challenges do they face in their day to day life? |

|- What makes them excited about life? |

|- What frustrates them in life? |

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|Once you know the answers to the above questions, you will be better able to meet your customers' needs and really start making them happy!! |

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|What can you do to strengthen your relationship with your customers? |

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|- Ensure their experience with you is enjoyable |

|- Ensure that you satisfy their needs and that they leave happy |

|- Surprise them every once in a while |

|- Ensure they "feel" like they get a good deal from you and do NOT feel ripped off |

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|Remember that your customers are your best marketers and agents for your business so make sure they love you and your products so much that they say great things to their |

|friends!! |

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|Here are some of our favourite quotes about customers.  We hope you enjoy them... |

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|“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” |

|PETER DRUCKER |

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|“If we don't take care of our customers, someone else will.” |

|UNKNOWN |

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|The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary. |

|SAM WALTON |

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|In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want. |

|ALICE MACDOUGALL |

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|Until next week... |

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|"Brendan and Sally Palmer, Sabre Business World.  Sign up for free weekly business tips at " |

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|Section 8 factor reality into your strategy |

|By Milton Kamwendo |

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|"The game of business used to be like football: size mattered. Then it changed to basketball: speed and agility. Today, business is more like chess. Customer priorities |

|change continually, and the signals given by these changes are vital clues to the next cycle of growth... |

|-Adrian Slywotzky |

|Strategy is more than just a weekend retreat with a few flip charts, a SWOT analysis and then some scorecard or action plan at the end. The two most important questions that|

|any strategy must answer are: |

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|1. Where are we and where do we want go? |

|2. How will we get there and know when we have arrived? |

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|These questions look almost pedestrian in nature but we should never be fooled by their simplicity. Getting strategic clarity is hard leadership work it is not a mere |

|democratic process. In and around most businesses there is so much complexity, so many changes such that plans that are crafted simply out of bravado and shallow consensus |

|without realism are faltering. |

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|Allow for questioning space |

|The highway to the failure of any organisation is to sanctify some sacred cows and hobby horses that are insulated from strategic scrutiny. To move forward turn your sacred |

|cows into buggers or minced meat. Subject them to intense questioning for reality, performance and execution. While questions can make people uncomfortable, lack of |

|questions is only a false comfort and a time bomb. Realities never go away because they have been ignored. No amount of pretending that you are okay could atone for a lack |

|of strategic examination and treatment. |

|Create a faith factor |

|Most people look to the past to inform them of the future. In a world that is changing as fast as ours, the past is a poor reflection of the future. We will never go back to|

|the so called good old days because those days do not exist and they can never be retrieved from the ever-evolving continuum of life. It is important to look at the facts. |

|However it is also important to factor faith into our strategic plans. The future is waiting to be created and it is only eyes tempered with faith that see what does not yet|

|exist and create it. Without faith, it is impossible to do anything that is impressive. Strategies without a faith and stretch factor just set up an organisation to recreate|

|a poor and dusty version of its present form. Vision operates through faith. |

|Look through the right eyes |

|It is easy to be so internally focused that we forget who the real boss is. The customer is the real boss. The customer can fire everyone in an organisation including |

|suppliers, consultants and everyone else who is a stakeholder to that business. |

|A story is told of a company that wanted to revolutionize its industry. It developed a strategy for a line of dog food. The company executives looked through the best menus |

|and delicacies and came up with exciting tasty lines, that any sane human being would be impressed with. It subsequently develops a marketing strategy to support this |

|inspiring strategy. The finance people also came up with robust budget books. All was set and the company had a big, hairy audacious goal: to be the undisputed market leader|

|in dog food. There was only one problem. The dogs did not like the food! |

|Processes, systems, strategies that ignore the customer are blind sighted and will only lead to frustration. A business without customers is a simple old boys club and it |

|will not last for long. To factor reality into the business factor in the voice of the customer. The louder the voice of the customer, the more real the strategies are |

|likely to be. |

|Knowing what we now know |

|One of the most powerful and reality inducing question to ask is: “Knowing what we now know would we be in this business? Producing or selling this product in this way?” If |

|the answer is no, it is time for change. Repetition never made anyone wiser if they are repeating the same old thing that no longer works. |

|Josef Stalin once said that if a lie is repeated often enough the people will believe it. Well, perhaps that applies in politics but in strategy, repeating a lie often |

|enough only leads to doom and gloom. Ignoring what you know is reality in the name of making corporate peace is betrayal of the organizational mission and the future. |

|Popularity based on self-deception is stupidity of the worst kind. |

|Factor reality into your strategies and strategic conversations and you will have clearer direction, better motivation and greater chances of strategic success. |

|Innov8 Strategy Services offers balanced, innovative and fresh and interactive approaches and models to strategy, change management, teaming and workshopping and uses |

|cutting edge facilitation methodologies and approaches to help clients mine value, create cohesion and power their value and customer innovation and organizational |

|processes. If you would like us to discuss your next strategy workshop please send me an email: milton@innov8.co.zw |

|Committed to your greatness. |

|Milton Kamwendo |

|Section 9 5 traps to avoid when growing your business |

|In between "lean-and-nimble" and "huge and powerful?" You're at the most perilous time for a company. I learned firsthand. There's a natural danger zone that occurs in the |

|growth of most businesses. When starting out, you are extremely nimble, with low overhead and little complexity. Once you become larger and more successful, you have |

|plentiful resources, an established brand, and deep bench strength. |

|Now, those phases each have their challenges, but it's the in-between phases that are the most dangerous. |

|It is a time where you lack the resources of a large company and the simplicity of a small one. Most companies that survive start-up mode go on to die a tragic death during |

|this perilous transitional growth |

|phase. |

|I've seen this first hand. As I grew my own start-up, I ended one year with 88 employees and 265 the next.  Managing through hyper-growth makes cage-fighting look like |

|child's play.  Personally, I made just |

|about every mistake possible, yet somehow managed to see the company through this difficult period, emerging stronger, larger, and more profitable. |

|Here are the top five traps that caused me great pain along my journey, and that you can easily avoid: |

|1. The Overcorrect |

|Inevitably, growing a business involves solving a series of problems. You'll have your share of moments where you proclaim "Doh!" (think Homer Simpson) at how stupid you |

|were for doing something a certain |

|way. The natural instinct is to sprint in the exact opposite direction.  If you had zero client sign offs, now you'll want 78 of them. If you lost a team member because you |

|provided no ongoing training, you decide to offer three-day-a-week development sessions. |

|By overcorrecting, you run the risk of creating a new problem while solving the old one.  Resist this temptation, even if the original problem fills you with distain. |

|Life--and business--is all about |

|striking balance, and the land of unintended consequences is no way to get there. |

|2. The Money Trap |

|Now that your company has real customers and real revenue, it's easy to just throw money at every problem.  R&D slow? Add more bodies. Sales are light? Buy more ads. The |

|challenge here is that you might |

|not be solving the fundamental issue, which will only become exacerbated with time. As businesses grow, they become more challenging and more challenged with every step of |

|the journey. This requires you to throw creativity and insight at issues as opposed to kicking the can down the road by throwing cash at every roadblock. If the underlying |

|issue isn't solved, it will come back to bite you later on with significantly more sting. |

|3. Putting Religion Ahead of Science |

|When you were a start-up, all you had was your vision and belief (aka "religion"). Your burning desire fueled you and the company to break through start-up gravity and get |

|your business off the ground. As you |

|grow, however, religion alone won't be enough to sustain your trajectory. My business partner, Dan Gilbert, often says, "What got you here won't get you there." In most |

|companies' evolution, there comes a point where systems have to be documented, training materials established, and processes architected (aka "science"). Without this |

|foundation, a company fueled only by passion derails, since your 126th |

|employee won't possess the same fire as team member No. 6. |

| |

|4. Complicating the Process |

|My company started out with a lean, simple workflow. Then we screwed something up, and added an extra step to ensure that never happened again. With each subsequent issue, |

|we added another step to the |

|process. How much could one little extra step impact the process, right? Unfortunately, adding 10 minutes here or an extra person there added up.  We eventually realized |

|we'd built a clunky, bureaucratic, slow-moving, unresponsive mess. As a growth leader, you should be vigilant about eradicating complexity wherever possible. This applies to|

|your products, processes, and communications. In the words of legendary jazz musician Charles Mingus, "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated |

|simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." |

| |

|5. Gorging Opportunities |

|As your business grows, you will be seduced by a growing number of new opportunities. You could add to your product line, expand internationally, or film a documentary. |

|There will be no shortage of shiny opportunities luring you away from your focus. Flip-flopping leaders who embrace the flavor-of-the-week strategy rarely build sustainable |

|companies. |

|Remember this: More companies die of indigestion than starvation. When you look back five years from now, your success will based much more on the times you said "no" rather|

|than the times you said "yes." As |

|the old Chinese proverb states wisely, "Chase two rabbits and both will escape." |

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|As a leader, seeing your company through the treacherous waters of this transitional growth phase is overwhelming. Stay focused on the rewards awaiting you on the other side|

|of the chasm, and fight to |

|reach dry land as quickly as possible. If you can navigate through this challenging stage, you'll end up in the rarified territory reserved only for the champions. |

|From |

|[pic][pic] |

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|section 7 BusinessLink community market place |

|Business publications available |

|The following publications have been developed by the BusinessLink team to help you start and grow your business. |

|[pic] [pic][pic] |

|Business Planning Simplified The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting |

|(82 pages plus templates software CD) a Business in Zimbabwe (40 pages) |

|Print edition $18.00 Print edition $7.00 |

|E-version PDF on CD $6.00 E-version PDF on CD $3.00 |

|[pic] [pic] |

| |

|Low Cost High Impact Marketing Strategies Developing a Three Step Strategic Plan |

|for SME (40 pages) to grow Your Business (40 pages) |

|Print edition $7.00 Print edition $12.00 |

|E-version PDF on CD $4.00 E-version PDF on CD $4.00 |

| |

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|underground, is one of the most impressive MacBook Air lookalikes we've seen -- and one of the cheapest. This is a lovely 13.3-inch bundle of almost-Mac goodness, which |

|comes out to you just at $495.00 apiece. The THD (Thread Technology Co.)-made clamshell comes complete with an LED-backlit 1366 x 768 LCD, 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 1|

|gig of DDR3 RAM and 8 gigs of SSD storage. There's also built-in 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (we're a bit devastated about the lack of 803.11 ac), and the option to add a 3G dongle or|

|Ethernet adapter via the pair of USB 2.0 ports. As you may have gathered from the image, there's a full-size QWERTY keyboard and a familiar track pad, along with a 2-cell |

|4200 mAh battery (rated to 8 hours), an SD card slot, a MagSafe 110-240-volt AC adapter, a headphone out, mic in and an HDMI port. |

|In typical MacBook Air fashion, the N2-A is very thin and quite light (1.55 kilograms or 3.4 pounds) -- it's not as svelte as a top-of-the-line ICS tablet, but it's |

|manageable for sure. While it may look perfectly fine on camera, the device's build quality certainly isn't up to Apple's standards -- but then again, it doesn't cost |

|$1,000+. After a few busy trade show days, the track pad wasn’t noticeably scratched up, with no other blemishes around the silver case to boot. The N2-A wasn't hideous by |

|any stretch, even upon close inspection, but any Apple newbie would be able to recognize that this didn't come out of Cupertino, even before noticing the missing Apple logo |

|and the added Windows key (it's there to support the nearly identical N2-C, which adds a dual-core Atom processor and Windows 7 support). |

|ICS felt quite snappy, though without a touch screen you're forced to use the unimpressive track pad, which wasn't responsive enough for regular use. (You can always |

|sacrifice portability and use a USB mouse instead.) Overall, the N2-A is a pretty slick device -- not to mention quite a bit of fun. Don't expect to see this KIRF in any |

|stores in the US -- you'll need to order 500 units or more directly from THD to take advantage of that suppliers reduced bulk price tag, though we may see the Android laptop|

|make its way to the public through third-party channels, perhaps with a retail price of about $550.00. |

|7inch Capacitive Tablet PC with 3G + GSM Call + Bluetooth + Android 4.0 + 512MB/4GB HDD  |

|    |

|Price :  350.00USD |

|  |

|Main Specifications: |

|*ARM Cortex A10 Dual Core 1.5GHz |

|*Android 4.0 with 3G + GSM Phone Call + Bluetooth |

|*512MB Memory / 8GB Flash HDD |

|*7'' Capacitive Touch Screen |

|*2.0MP Camera |

|*Wi-Fi 802.11B/G/N |

|  |

|· CPU: A10 1.5GHz |

|    · Operating System: Android 4.0 OS     · Built-in 3G     · Supports GSM Phone Call     · Supports Bluetooth  |

|    · Memory: 512M     · Storage Device: 8GB Flash HDD(standard; optional up to 32GB) |

|    · LCD Screen:7" Capacitive Touch Screen     · LAN:10/100M Ethernet Access     · WiFi:802.11b/g     · 2.0MP Dual Camera     · Keyboard: soft keyboard     · Touch |

|Operation: Full-size touch operation, sliding menus, icons |

|    · Sound Effect: Build-in stereo speaker, microphone Jacks MIC in & Headphone out |

|    · Working time:3hours(standby time 7 hours) |

|    · Accessory:AC adapter,user's manual,extrenal USB port, packing box     · Other function:G sensor |

|    · Softwares:Fring,QQ,MSN,Youtube,Google Map, Document to go, |

| Douglas Mkhize |

|+263 712 421 943 |

|+263 772 111 256 email douglasmkhize@ |

|section 8 Vacancies / Student Attachments Wanted and Available |

|We have several requests for attachment places by students at universities and colleges in a variety of fields. |

|If you have places for attachments, please let us know which fields you are looking by email to chichonip@ and we will send you suitable CVs. |

| |

|WANTED URGENTLY! |

| |

|1. EXPERIENCED FEMALE ACCOUNTS CLERK WITH PASTEL KNOWLEDGE. Salary- $350.00 |

| |

|2. EXPERIENCED AND MOTIVATED FEMALE SALES REPRESENTATIVE. MUST HAVE DRIVER'S LICENCE. Salary- $300 basic |

|If interested in any of these positions, please email your CV's to aapconsultant.hr@ or drop it off at 25 Bishop Gaul Avenue. Kopje by Wednesday 11th of July 2012. |

| |

|Buhle Taodzera- Managing Consultant |

|All About People HR & Recruitment Consultants |

|25 Bishop Gaul Avenue, Kopje Harare |

|section 9 training and development |

|Business Plan Writing Classes |

|Are you struggling to put your idea into a bankable business plan? Do you want to start a business but don’t know where and how to start? |

|Then you need to attend one of the BusinessLink business plan writing classes designed to equip you with knowledge and practical application to help you develop a business |

|plan that works. |

|Classes are scheduled for the following dates: |

|Saturday 21 July 2012: 0830-1230, Wednesday 25 July 2012: 1400-1700, Saturday 28 July 2012: 0830-1230 |

|Classes are held subject to the minimum number of participants signing up. Please book early so we can plan adequately by calling Christine on 0772 854 301. |

|Cost is $20 which covers the course, training materials, handouts, light meals and refreshments as well as the Business Planning Simplified CD. |

|Business Strategy Planning Sessions |

|Is your business lacking direction or not performing to your satisfaction? Do you need to develop a strategic plan for the rest of the year and beyond? Was your last |

|strategic plan not the best you could have done? |

|The BusinessLink Team is arranging off-site, intensive strategic planning sessions to help high performance entrepreneurs and their teams develop working plans that will |

|take their business to the next level. |

|If you wish to take part in these two-day sessions, please send me an email with your preferred dates during the month of July. (Weekdays or weekends). |

|Each session will ideally consist of three firms with teams of between one to four people. We can also structure sessions to meet your particular requirements. Please send |

|your email to me on chichonip@. |

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Produced and published by Admiral Business Systems (Pvt) Ltd

©2012 Phillip Chichoni

Gold Club subscribers Discount

Please note that all current BusinessLink Gold Club subscribers enjoy 40% discount on all publications

To make an order, please call Christine on 0772 854 301. Publications are also available at Innov8 Bookshop, 23 G. Silundika Street Harare (and at Insignia Joina City from 1 July) and at Grayseal Trading, 5th Floor Hungwe House, Jason Moyo Avenue btwn 1st and 2nd Street$0457@BCHMSUaqrˆ‰ ¡¢ïáÚÏÚÈÁȺ. Note that subscribers discounts only apply to publications ordered direct from BusinessLink.

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