HR 101 - UIF (Unemployment Fund) – Part 2

HR 101 - UIF (Unemployment Fund) – Part 2

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Relations and Best Practice requirements.

Last time we looked at the “what can” be claimed from UIF and this week we will have a look at the “how to claim” in terms of the benefits.

So, how do you, as an employee claim benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)?

Firstly you would have to physically go to your nearest Labour office and there you will be required to sign the unemployment register.  Be warned though it is a slow, tedious procedure and I would suggest that you take a book along with you as you could be in the queue for several hours, just to get to the help desk.  You will need to sign the register again every four weeks to evidence that you are still in need  of the unemployment benefits and you will be told when the next date is that you are required to return.

If you are wanting to claim the ‘sick’ benefits you will need to take your doctors certificate with you each and every time that you go to sign.

You will be given a white card (or a card of some sort) that you need to take with you, each time you go to the Labour offices and the UIF officer that is dealing with you will sign the card evidencing that you have in fact been to the office.

If you have met all the requirements, you should start receiving your money after eight weeks (from the time that you originally signed) and thereafter every four weeks until such time as your benefits have been used up.

You will receive paperwork every time you receive a benefit which will have the amount that you have received recorded on it as well as what you can still expect to receive.

You will need to take the following documentation with you when you go to register for benefits:

- A copy of your 13 digit bar coded identity document – your drivers licence is insufficient as it often only records your initials and not your full names.
- Copies of your last 6 payslips
- Form UI19 – this you must get from your employers as it will confirm, amongst other things, the amount of time that you were employed as well as the rate of earnings etc.
- A certificate of service from your employer
- Proof of registration as a work seeker (so that means confirmation from where-ever you have registered i.e. employment agencies etc., showing that you are in fact trying to find work).
- A Fully completed registration form – which you can get off the Department of Labour’s website or that you will be issued with when you go to the Labour Office.

Be warned though, the UIF official may ask you to do some things that you will have to be prepared to do – these are (but not limited to):
- Go for training and/or career counselling
- Be available for work.  If the official offers you work, you have to be ready to accept it.
- Go to various companies to ask for work.  If you are requested to do this, you will be given a form that will have to be signed by a person at the company that you visited to evidence that you did apply for work but that there were no jobs available at that time.

You have to collect your unemployment benefits from the Labour Centre (or if possible they may decide to make the payments electronically into your bank account) and they can only be collected on the date that they tell you come to the offices and they can only be collected by yourself and you must take your white card and your ID document.

Next time we will have a look at the “how to” collect your illness benefits and maternity benefits and depending upon the availability of space, the death benefits too.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Leadership Tips – 9 Tips to Becoming a Great Leader – Part 1

Leadership Tips – 9 Tips to Becoming a Great Leader – Part 1

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Much has been debated and discussed about leadership and in view of the fact that it is common knowledge that economies rest on the shoulders of Entrepreneurs, it stands to reason that at some point, as  business owners, Entrepreneurs will have to lead in order to get the task completed.  So here is my take on some of the things that need to be in place in order for that leadership to be great.

1. Admit that you are a Leader

This is especially true as a start-up or SMME or an Entrepreneur.  The reality is that it is your brainchild, your baby and you know how you want things to happen, so you need to up and take the lead.

Have discussions and brainstorm by all means, but at the end of the day you are the one that is accountable and responsible so you are ultimately the one who should be making the final decision.

2. Clarity is Key

Before you can guide or direct or lead anyone anywhere, you have to be clear on  what it is that you want to achieve.  So defining your vision and intentions is of the utmost importance.

Questions such as ‘who is the target market’ and ‘what is the value to the clients’ need to be asked and answered by yourself before you get going.

Questions such as ‘how are we going to get there’ and ‘what is the process’ can be brainstormed later, although it would be a good idea to have some thoughts around this too.

3. Communication

Clear communications between Leaders and subordinates is extremely important. If you cannot communicate your intentions or explain the reason behind the action, your employees are going to be floundering.

You have to help people interpret what you are saying correctly so that they understand what it is that you want them to do.  Failure to get clarity here will result in skewered perceptions and un-met expectations!  Not a good place to be at all!

4. Be Direct

Don’t pussyfoot about!  Say what you mean and mean what you say.  Listen carefully to what is being said around you and to you and then be direct about what you see and hear or your understanding of what is being said.

Don’t forget though that you need to be quiet in order to listen and you need to listen carefully if you are to understand the communication and it’s only in the understanding that an informed decision can be made.

Next time we will have a look at some of the other tips around Leadership.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http.//www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Networking 101 - Networking is about Building Relationships

Networking 101 - Networking is about Building Relationships

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Networking is about building relationships – I am not sure how else to say it!

Perhaps I should paint another picture altogether. 

John and Jane meet each other on a blind date.  Those of us who have been on blind dates know just how intimidating and awkward those can be and how they often result in absolute disaster.

Anyway – I digress, John and Jane meet at a busy restaurant and after a while, engaging in conversation, they begin to relax as they talk with one another and slowly start to get to know one another.

They both begin to realize that in many ways they have the same values, enjoy the same things in life, such as going dancing and spending quality time with family, friends and loved ones.

About twenty minutes into the conversation, John suddenly grabs Jane and start kissing her passionately.  Stunned, Jane manages to pull away and savagely slaps John, hard across the face and without another word leaves.

John is both embarrassed by his behaviour and also by being slapped in public.

Now most of you reading this are probably thinking that John got exactly what he deserved – I know I am, but how and where did it go wrong?

Simple really – it’s all about relationships and timing.  Think about it for a moment.  Had the situation been that John and Jane been dating for several months, Jane would probably have been delighted to have John kiss her publically.  The reality is that they had just met, there was no relationship as such in place, Jane did not know whether she could trust John or even if she liked him enough to want to enter into any sort of relationship with him.  John’s action was therefore inappropriate and his timing was all wrong!

So what makes you think that networking is any different?  Going to a networking event is like going on a blind date – you are going to meet a number of strangers and after engaging in conversation with these people, may or may not result in a fruitful and mutually beneficial business relationship.

Asking for a second meeting (date) to discuss synergies and to explore mutually beneficial opportunities would be far more appropriate than demanding to do business and producing a contract that you want signed on the spot.

Think about it realistically – asking for a referral or wanting business before the relationship has been properly entered into could be the undoing of a potentially successful collaboration.

Getting your timing right and asking for what you want at a more appropriate time would probably result in an abundance of opportunity and more work that you can actually handle.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 7

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 7

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Legislation and Best Practice requirements.

So far we have looked at:-
1. The difference between being an employee and an employer;
2. Your Purpose:
3. The People around you and
4. Your Personal Footprint.
5. Knowledge & what you do with it
6. The Generosity of your Spirit
7. The Role of Technology in your Business
8. Self Confidence
9. Creativity
10. Focus
11. Vision
12. Result
13. Networking
14. Leadership
15. Management

Believe it or not there are a whole lot more – today we will explore a few more.

1. Problem Solving
I doubt that there is a single business owner or entrepreneur out there who can honestly say that there is a single day that they don’t have to solve some sort of problem or another.  You have to be able to think outside of the box, change your mindset or your perspective and even think laterally.  Remember each problem that you solve successfully brings you one step closer to your ultimate goal and your success in the long term.

2. Being Innovative
In keeping with the previous point, all small business owners are innovative in one way or another – yes all of them, even the bookkeepers and accountants.  They have to be in order to compete.  Each business owner or entrepreneur has to find a ‘different’ way to do things.  They each have to make what they offer different to what everyone else offers (and I am not suggesting that anyone does anything illegal here okay!) The more unusual your offering or product, the more likely your company will become valuable.

3. Teamwork
A task/problem shared is a task/problem halved . . .  There is nothing truer than that, provided of course that you have the right team in place. Even though every team has a leader, someone who carries the ultimate responsibility and accountability, the reality is that a team where everyone contributes to ‘ideas’ as well as the tasks, works better together.  A team where everybody is part of the decision process is stronger as they are all working towards a common goal. Make sure that you have such a team!

4. Strategy
Winning the Lotto is by chance (provided of course that you have bought yourself a ticket).  Winning in business is because you have planned properly and you have a strategy in place.  Beware that your strategy and planning don’t stay in that stage, remember you need ‘action’ to get the work done and succeed.

Next time we will continue to look at some of the other issues that you will need or be aware of to become a successful Entrepreneur.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Inspiration - Coming Alive

Inspiration – Coming Alive

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Today’s words come from Howard Thurman who says “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go and do that.  Because what the world needs, is people who have come alive.”

I am often fascinated by people.  Sometimes I can be found at the end of a meal or a cup of tea in a mall, just sitting and watching the people go by.

The expressions on their faces really intrigue me and I often wonder about whether some of them are actually alive.  Their faces are devoid of any expression and they are totally ‘blank’.  What goes through the mind of these people, or are they so damaged that they have retreated, so far inside of themselves that they are lost?

Then there are others who walk past who are clearly in love with life and all that it has to offer them.  Their eyes sparkle and their faces light up at the mere thought of where they are going, who they are going to see or what they will encounter.

Their energy cackles all around them and draws everyone in.  Everywhere around them people look to see what is happening or hope to engage in conversation with them or at the very least, make eye contact.

They walk on engrossed in their own thoughts, in love with life and totally oblivious to the stir that they have created.

But wait . . . .  there out of the corner of my eye, I see movement, a glimmer of recognition, a faint memory of what was, or what might have been – on the face of someone, who moments ago wore a face devoid of any emotion, and I sit back and watch to see what happens next.

The face that was devoid of any expression moments ago, avidly watches the face in love with life.  Slowly a hint of hope appears in the expression on the face that was devoid of any emotion, as the recollection of life and the memory of all it had to offer reaches the surface of the mind and miraculously, like the opening of the petals on a rose bud, so too does the wonderment of life and all of it’s possibilities, reflect on what was once the face devoid of any emotion.

Coming alive has taken place and the world is indeed a better place for it.

Are you one who is alive or do you need to experience the reformation that ‘coming alive’ brings with it?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

HR 101 - UIF (Unemployment Fund) – Part 1

HR 101 - UIF (Unemployment Fund) – Part 1

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Law and Best Practice requirements.

Of late, I have been inundated with questions around the issue of UIF (and remember this applies to your domestic worker and gardener who work for you for more than 24 hours a month too), so here are a bunch of ‘cans and cant’s).

In order for someone to be entitled to claim from UIF, they have to be registered as an employee with the UIF fund and both themselves and their employers will have had to pay the monthly contributions into the fund.

It is incumbent upon the employer to deduct the employees portion of the monthly contribution from their salary (currently 1% of their gross salary) and then pay their employer  portion of the contribution (currently also 1% of the gross salary) as well as the employees portion over to SARS by means of the EMP 201.

It is also incumbent upon the employer to register themselves as employers and then to register their staff (as and when they are employed) as employees.

Whilst it is the responsibility of the employer to register the employee and to pay the monies across, the employee also needs to understand that if the money is NOT paid across, they are not covered.  So if, as an employee, you get a pay slip that does not show a deduction for UIF – you are not covered and your employer is in direct contravention of the law.  It’s as simple as that!

UIF does not only cover people who are unemployed, you can also claim for:
- illness
- maternity
- adoption
- death

Remember though, if you have resigned from your job, you cannot claim.  You can only claim the unemployment benefits if you have been dismissed, retrenched or if your contract has expired and it has not been renewed.

If you have been contributing to the fund for four years or more, you can claim up to, but not more than 238 days.  If you have contributed or been employed for less than the 4 years, then you can claim 1 day for every 6  days that you were employed and that you were contributing to the fund.

You can claim if you have been sick for a period that is longer than two weeks.

You can only claim for maternity benefits if you are pregnant and you are only covered from four weeks before the expected date of delivery of the child and up to (but not more than) six weeks after you have delivered the child.  You can only claim for a maximum of 121 days.

You can claim for adoption benefits provided that you legally adopt a child under the age of two and you leave work in order to take care of that child.  Be warned though – only one parent per adopted child can claim for this benefit.

Death benefits can only be claimed by the surviving spouse or a minor child.  Again be warned – this benefit can only be claimed if the person who dies was contributing to the fund at the time of their death.

Next week we will look at the ‘how to’ of going about claiming these benefits.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Gender Diversity 101 – Looking Beyond the Board Pack

Gender Diversity 101 – Looking Beyond the Board Pack

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Having been to several “Gender Diversity – Women on Boards”  type seminars and workshops over the last few years, it was very clear and evident that the “Board Pack” is of the utmost importance and that the information contained therein is critical to the decisions that are taken and the strategies that are agreed upon in order for the company to grow in a positive way.

What was also evident though is that the Board Pack and its’ informational requirements is not the only thing that a Board member has to deal with and this side of the proceedings is often neglected when research is done to ascertain what a new Board member needs to know.

It is a recognized fact that as a country, businesses need to include more women onto the Boards.  The reality is that more than 52% of the workforce  in the world (not just in the country but in the world) are women.  That means that more than 52% of the skill set that a business requires resides in the female population.

In this age where there is a world-wide skill shortage, why would any business leader deliberately exclude himself from more than 52% of the skill sets that are so desperately needed?  It makes good business sense then to include women, not only in the workplace, but also in the decision making positions and of course at Board level.

I recently had the privilege of attending a Business Engage “Boardwalk” breakfast that was hosted by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), where the CEO James Formby stated that diversity is necessary in the Board room because it challenges opinions and creates a different perspective.

Many of the questions that were raised by enthusiastic aspiring to be female Board members, were in fact about issues other than the universally known Board pack.

I was fortunate enough to engage in an informal chat with James and asked him what some of the things, “beyond the Board pack” that we, as women also need to know about in order for us to make a significant difference on the Boards that we may choose to sit on.

“Technical ‘know how’ is not necessary to be a Board member” says James, “but common sense is and women have a huge amount of common sense.”

As women we often second guess ourselves and agonize about whether or not it is the correct thing to do or the right decision to make.  It’s time we got over ourselves and believed in ourselves and just “go” with our instincts.  That’s just another way of saying “use your common sense!”  Ladies, it is built into our DNA, just trust yourself.

Another thing that James was very clear about is the asking of questions.  It’s a good thing but just be aware of the manner in which those questions are asked.  Don’t be confrontational or aggressive and demanding.  Remember that as a ‘newbie’ on the Board, you don’t really have any frame of reference in terms of the history of what is happening.  In the interests of clarity you obviously need to ask the question, but use the right tone and the right words or alternatively try and get the answers before you go into the Boardroom.

It is always a good idea to find yourself a “mentor” on that Board.  Find someone who you respect and whose opinions you can relate to and ask them if they will ‘guide’ you in the correct protocols and processes that the Board follows.

“Establish a rapport with the CEO and make sure that you are ‘visible’ to the organization”, says James. Understand what the company does.  The only way that you truly get a “feel” for that as well the culture of the company, in my opinion, is to spend some time there.  Get someone to take you on a guided ‘walk through’.  Meet the HOD’s (Heads of Departments), talk to some of the staff and familiarize yourself with what is happening, how it happens and when it happens.  It will certainly give you a more thorough grounding and assist you with making more informed decisions when it comes time to vote.

Roll up your sleeves and get yourself involved! Get yourself interested in the welfare and progress of the Company. Remember that there are also a number of sub-committees that are set up for various projects.  Make sure that you get yourself onto some of these sub-committees.  This again will give you a better perspective on what is happening in the company.  The more you engage, the more information you get about how the company works and what the challenges are, the easier it will be to make informed decisions which of course means that you will make more of a difference and at the end of the day, isn’t that why you want to be on a Board – to make a difference?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za 

Networking 101 – Listen More Than You Speak

Networking 101 – Listen More Than You Speak

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Dr. Renate Volpe, in her nugget cards entitled “Networking Tips” says:

“Become an astute listener.  Listen more than you speak.”

From Renate’s pen to God’s ears!  Honestly folks, this doesn’t only pertain to Networking, but to just about any avenue in business, especially customer service.

Seriously though, one of the biggest reasons that Networking ‘fails’ for a lot of people is because they don’t listen!

Yes, I understand that you want to sell yourself, your product or your service.  Yes, I understand that you are in a difficult situation, where you have become quite desperate for sales or a deal.  That said, if you just talk all the time and don’t give the other person a chance to tell you what they need, or are looking for and are only concerned about what you can give them (irrespective of whether they need it or not), they will walk away and you will have lost the opportunity.

When you ask someone “how can I help you?” you open up the door to a whole host of possibilities.  Not only possibilities for yourself, but also for people in your database or your circle of influence.  You tell people that their needs are important to you and that you care about what it is that they need or want and not just about what you want to give them.  You tell them that you care enough to listen to them instead of talking ‘at’ them and that my friend is extremely important.

So ‘shut up’ for a few minutes.  Calm yourself so that you are not formulating anything in your head until such time as they have finished telling you what they need for you to hear – take down some notes, so that you can look back and understand what their needs are – chances are that even if you cannot help them yourself, you can refer them to someone who can.  At some point, you too will be referred.

Remember, Networking is about building relationships and relationships can only be built if there is a ‘give and take’ between two people.

For more information on Renate, please visit her website at http://www.drrentevolpe.co.za

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 6

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 6

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Legislation and Best Practice requirements.

So far we have looked at:-
1. The difference between being an employee and an employer;
2. Your Purpose:
3. The People around you and
4. Your Personal Footprint.
5. Knowledge & what you do with it
6. The Generosity of your Spirit
7. The Role of Technology in your Business
8. Self Confidence
9. Creativity and
10. Focus
11. Vision
12. Result

Believe it or not there are a whole lot more – today we will explore a few more.

1. Networking
One of the quickest ways to get to people who have more knowledge and more experience than you do is to network.  There are many SMME (small, medium, micro enterprises), entrepreneurial or start up networking groups out there for you to choose from.  Some leave you to your own devices, some are semi facilitated and some are fully facilitated – find one that suits your requirements and get networking.  Networking is also a great way to build relationships with like-minded people who often become suppliers and even customers and you will find people who will be willing to assist you by sharing their knowledge and experience.

2. Leadership
Every company needs a leader and as a business owner that is who you are – the leader.  Quite honestly, your business success (or failure for that matter) is intrinsically linked to and dependent upon your capability as a leader.  You will need to inspire your staff, you will need to gain the trust and respect of your staff and you will need to commit to them if you want commitment from them.  If you are not a natural leader or are unsure of your role as a leader, I would suggest that you get yourself off to some training as soon as possible as leaders are not necessarily born but they can also be made.

3. Management
Every business needs to be properly managed.  Whether you are on your own or you have staff, your business still needs to be managed and this is achieved by having some sort of plan in terms of the operation of the business.  What are you going to do with regard to sales, delivery etc. and how are you going to achieve that.  You have to know where you are going and how you are going to get there in order for you to succeed.

Next time we will continue to look at some of the other issues that you will need or be aware of to become a successful Entrepreneur.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Inspiration – Consulting Your Hopes & Your Dreams

Inspiration – Consulting Your Hopes & Your Dreams

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Pope John XXIII says “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.  Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.  Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

Ain’t that the truth!  It’s usually around the end of a year and the beginning of the following year that many of us struggle with what we haven’t achieved during the year or the previous year as we try, yet again to set ‘realistic’ goals for the coming year.  We beat ourselves up for our perceived failures and we berate ourselves for lost opportunities.  We chastise ourselves for not doing more and punish ourselves, often very unfairly, for not having done the right thing. How sad is that?

What we need to do is turn it around – face backwards and instead of seeing all the failures, perceived or real, look at all that you have achieved.  Look at what you did, that wasn’t even on the list, or the goal that you achieved without even planning it in advance.  Look at what you managed to get to despite the odds.  Look at who you have become because of what you have achieved and the things that you have accomplished.  Look at the new clients that you have found, not to mention the clients that you have retained, even though you have been in a tough market.

While you are still in the ‘glow’ of accomplishment and pride, look at what you can still achieve.  Look at the horizon and see your future.  Put your plan of action into first gear and take the first step.  Don’t worry if you fall down, just make sure that you get up again and take the next step.  Don’t worry if you want to cry with frustration, just make sure that you smile in anticipation of what you will feel when you take the next step.  Don’t worry if you are overwhelmed with a sense of failure, think about the sense of pride you will have when you succeed and take the next step.

Dare to dream!  Dare to hope! Dare to succeed! Dare to take the first step and then the next and then the next and pretty soon you will be sprinting towards the finish line and as you cross it, celebrate!  Celebrate each step, celebrate each goal achieved (whether they were set or planned or not). Celebrate the fact that despite the fear you were able to see the potential and the possibilities and that you acted in order to achieve.

Celebrate your life!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

HR 101 - Trapping and Entrapment – Part 2

HR 101 - Trapping and Entrapment – Part 2

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Legislation and Best Practice.

Last week we had a look at what is considered legal (trapping) and what is considered illegal (entrapment).

Just to make sure that you are really clear on the difference (because it is really easy to get confused between the two), I am going to tell a story, so let’s bring in the protagonists. Mike owns a small retail stand outlet in a busy square and George is one of the sales staff.  Mike’s store sells sweets and cold drinks as well as biltong and dry wors and some burgers and sandwiches type fast food.  Mike is experiencing a huge shrinkage problem that only started when George started working at the stand. Mike suspects that George is either giving stock to clients without ringing it up or helping himself to stock for his own consumption or taking it home.  Mike hires a new staff member, let’s call him Tim who is an ex-policeman.  Tim will pose as the new employee and who will ‘keep an eye’ on what George is doing and will ‘learn’ from him.

Tim watches what George is doing and thinks that he can see that stock is sold to clients without being rung up on the till.  Tim also watches to see if George consumes biltong, dry wors or sandwiches and burgers without paying for them.  Tim, still pretending to be ‘learning from George’ asks George to show him how to serve the customers without putting it through the till.  George refuses.  Tim then makes himself a burger and also one for George and does not pay.  Both men eat the burgers.  Tim then reports this to Mike and George is disciplined for theft and summarily dismissed.

In this case, Mike (through Tim’s actions) had set up a situation where George was pressured into eating a burger that was not paid for.  You see although George may have helped himself to a burger without paying for it, by himself – without Tim’s encouragement he may not have taken it at that time.  Mike would be found guilty of ‘entrapment’ in this case.

Trapping an employee is, however perfectly legal.  In the above case, if George had agreed to show Tim ‘how to’ serve a customer without putting the payment  through the till and even shown him how to do it with the next customer that came in – this would have been considered as legal trapping, but because Tim helped himself to the burgers and ate one himself that the line has been crossed.

Actually it reminds me of a TV program that I once watched where a policeman was under ‘deep cover’ in the mob and he was called upon to “kill” someone by the mob boss (as a token of his loyalty).  He was in a really bad space because if he did kill the person anything that he (or the police) tried to pin onto the mob boss would be considered ‘entrapment’.

So be clear on what it is that you are doing when you set the trap up for the employee as the lines can often be quite blurred and if you are in any kind of doubt, seek professional assistance.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Gender Diversity 101 – The Basic Truth

Gender Diversity 101 – The Basic Truth

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

A while ago now, I advertised a Gender Audit Workshop that was taking place and that I thought would be of interest to someone other than myself. A chap called me to get some additional information.  As I was trying to explain what the workshop was about and how it would benefit business, he abruptly interrupted stating “so this is just another ‘beep, beep’ thing for you ‘beep, beep’ women!”

I responded “actually my dear, you males are also a gender!”

As amusing as this is, it is also quite sad that many individuals, both male and female, feel so disempowered and that the fact is that they feel so disempowered because of their own skewered perceptions.

In the interests of clarity, let’s make sure that we all understand exactly what each of these terms mean before we go any further.

According to the google dictionary, gender is defined as “Either male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behavior.”

Gender Diversity on the other hand, according to Wikipedia is “A term referring to how different genders are represented in a relevant setting.  Primarily the term is often used to refer to females and males, though in some contexts and research the term may also refer to those who fall into the non-binary categories of gender.”

The reality of course, is that more than 50% of the population are women. The statistics show that more girl children than boy children are getting degrees at university and yet there are more men being employed in senior positions than women.  How does that even make any kind of sense?  Surely as a business owner who is employing someone in a senior position, you would want to employ the very best that a) your budget would allow for and b) the very best person who has the correct qualifications and skills that your budget would allow?  I know I would!  Yet statistics also show that men are still being employed in decision making positions over qualified and skilled women. How does that make any kind of good business sense? By doing this you are actually restricting your access to more than 50% of the qualified and skilled individuals that you need to employ – why on earth would you do that?

Part of the challenge of course in terms of the representation is getting the balance right.  The last thing that you want to do is make the pendulum swing too far in the opposite direction -  that too would not make any kind of business sense.

In my opinion, the other greatest challenge is not to” isolate” anyone.  It should be an inclusive process!

It’s about getting everyone involved. It’s about getting those who have the experience, the knowledge and the skills, sharing with those who do not – not to then exclude the ‘teachers’ from the workplace but rather to include the ‘students’ into the workplace.

It’s about levelling the playing field so that everybody contributes to the team and more specifically to a team that pulls in the same direction for the greater good of everyone in the company.

So if you decide to make the transition and include the whole gender diversity into your company culture, make sure that your intention is one of inclusion.

Make sure that your goals are one of inclusion!

Make sure that your action plan is one of inclusion!

Including women in every aspect of your business and getting the balance and equality right, is not only morally and ethically right, it is also quite possibly the best business decision that you will ever make.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Networking 101 - Some Great Collaborative Opportunities

Networking 101 - Some Great Collaborative Opportunities

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

I am seriously excited about what is happening at the moment!  Seriously excited. Uh huh, I can hear all of you sigh as you roll your eyes heavenwards.  Yip – I know that you have all heard me say these words at some point or another, but you know what – I really don’t care, I am still seriously excited.  This is why.

All these years that I have been networking is now starting to pay off in a huge way.  I have been contacted by, not one, but several institutions with thousands and thousands of members to collaborate.

What does this mean for me?  Quite simply this -  I am going to be running my workshops all over Africa, not just using my data base but also tapping into the data bases of the various institutions that I am now collaborating with.  How cool is that?

Not only am I going to be running my workshop all over the continent, but I have also done some really cool JV’s with some other institutions.  These are institutions that have software that is either free (with upgrades that cost a nominal fee) or free for a month and then cost a nominal fee.  The links to this data is on my website. The links to these institutions has been imbedded with a code that directly identifies me and I then get a residual income from it – now that is way cool!

So now do you understand my excitement?

How did I get all of this right?  Simple really, I Networked!  I didn’t try and make a sale at the first meeting, instead I strove to build a relationship slowly and carefully, one step at a time.

Here’s a real ‘kicker’.  One of the ladies who I am collaborating with is in Kenya and I have never met Kenya!  Yes that’s right, we have yet to meet!  On the strength of someone else’s ‘say so’, we have connected and now we all stand to make quite a bit of money and at the same time, we will all be touching the lives of many, many people who need help with starting their businesses.

So, do you still think that Networking is not for you?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 5

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 5

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Legislation and Best Practice requirements.

So far we have looked at:-
1. The difference between being an employee and an employer;
2. Your Purpose:
3. The People around you and
4. Your Personal Footprint.
5. Knowledge & what you do with it
6. The Generosity of your Spirit
7. The Role of Technology in your Business
8. Self Confidence
9. Creativity and
10. Focus

Believe it or not there are a whole lot more – and today we will explore a few more.

1. Vision.
One of the greatest strengths that many Entrepreneurs have when they start out is their ability to ‘think big’!  One of the biggest weaknesses that many Entrepreneurs have is to ‘start big’!  The first thing that they seem to do, once they have borrowed the finance to start the business is to rush out and buy the designer car, the designer clothes and live the designer life – the problem with that is, that it is never sustainable.

I was told the tale the other day of a chap who applied for and received financial assistance from the bank to purchase some much needed machinery that would assist him in automating much of his factory, which of course would increase his capacity because he could now produce his products a lot faster and a lot cheaper and this in turn would mean that his sales would increase too.  Now please understand the loan was for quite a considerable amount – it was in excess of R2m.  As soon as this chap had the money in his account he rushed out and bought . . . . no, not machinery – well I suppose technically a brand new sports car would be considered a machine!  The result . . .  as soon as the bank found out what he had done, they forced him to return the car and he immediately lost R100 000 on the deal.  Quite frankly, I have no sympathy at all.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with dreaming the big dream and thinking big, but when you start out, you need to ‘start small’ and grow big.

2. Result
Being able to achieve your dream and make a success of  the business that you are trying to build, is not just about your efforts.  It’s not just about ‘doing’!  Sure your actions are important and without them you will never get going or get to where you want to be.  The key here is ‘achieving’, it’s about getting the desired results. It’s about being able to measure what you are doing, so that you can manage your efforts to ensure that you achieve the results that you are looking for.

Let me explain . . I often find myself running around like a headless chicken.  This usually happens when I receive a panic call from a prospective client, who needs XYZ now and not a moment later.  Because I am always on the look out for new business and despite the fact that I have scheduled time for my current clients, I will drop everything to try and meet the requirements of the prospective client, who at the end of my running around, gathering information, putting a proposal together – then decides that they will ‘shelve’ the idea to another time when they have sufficient time/money/resources (insert what you want here) to implement what they were thinking about.  I on the other hand have run around like a mad possessed person, getting everything together so that I could meet their rushed deadlines and achieved . .  exactly nothing!

Now remember, I still have clients who have expectations and I have yet to meet my deliverables, so that usually means that I have to work through the night or over the weekend to ensure that I give them the results that they expect and that they pay for. My result here is that at the end of all of this, yes I have met my deliverables, but I am exhausted, frazzled and often angry with myself, the prospective client and the world in general – not a good place to be.

As you can see, my personal challenge (and I suspect that it is true of many Entrepreneurs), is that I have to learn to say ‘no’ to prospective clients who have unrealistic, last minute requirements.  In other words, My efforts need to harvest achievements.

Next time we will continue to look at some of the other issues that you will need or be aware of to become a successful Entrepreneur.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Inspiration - Changing Conditions

Inspiration – Changing Conditions

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Denis Waitley says “There are two primary choices in life:  To accept conditions as they exist, or to accept the responsibility for changing them.”

My blogs and the writing that I started doing some thirteen years ago, started purely because I absolutely, categorically, emphatically refused to accept conditions are they existed.  Uh-Uh – not in this life time!

I need to move forward, I need to grow, I need to evolve and in order for me to achieve this, I cannot live in an environment that is stagnant, that doesn’t move, that doesn’t grow, that doesn’t change and evolve.

The majority of people on the planet, seem to want to stay where they are – they are comfortable where they are or don’t like change.  Many don’t like the situation that they find themselves in but are reluctant to make their own changes, or even accept the changes that others make, preferring instead to moan and groan about any changes that are made by others.  I prefer to be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem.

That said, as an Internal Auditor, one of the first things I had to learn and acknowledge is that everything that you do (or even when you don’t do anything) has a consequence.

Now here’s the thing – it’s all very well to be a part of the solution or to make the changes yourself, but there is a consequence and you need to be sure within yourself that you are prepared to accept the responsibility of the consequences to the actions or inaction that you created.

Take a look at democracy – there are millions of people in South Africa, who are truly pleased at the fact that South Africa is now a democracy (and I am proudly one of those), but look at the cost!  Some of those costs are (but not limited to), several generations of people who have no education, no skills and have no opportunity to work for themselves, who’s sole purpose during the apartheid years, was to create dissention by violent protests and by burning their schools or bombing buildings – the cost is in the money that it takes to keep them clothed and fed and the replacements of such items that were damaged.

Our taxes go to that now – they go to providing low cost housing, food, shelter and even, on occasion to training through social enterprise to try and give those lost generations the life skills that they need to survive.

Yes indeed, the cost of democracy is huge amounts of cash, to make life livable for everyone, not even enjoyable, mind you – just livable.

Would I have elected not to be a part of the change to democracy if I knew beforehand, exactly that the cost would be?  Absolutely, definitely and without a doubt.

But then, I am always prepared to take responsibility for my actions and the changes that I make.  Question then is  . . . are you?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Early Warning – The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

Early Warning – The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd.

This article was posted on the Business Master’s website, and I thought that it is something that should be shared with all – what a great article!

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship by Jessica Bruder.

No one said building a company was easy. But it's time to be honest about how brutal it really is--and the price so many founders secretly pay.

By all counts and measures, Bradley Smith is an unequivocal business success. He's CEO of Rescue One Financial, an Irvine, California-based financial services company that had sales of nearly $32 million last year. Smith's company has grown some 1,400 percent in the last three years, landing it at No. 310 on this year's Inc. 500. So you might never guess that just five years ago, Smith was on the brink of financial ruin--and mental collapse.

Back in 2008, Smith was working long hours counselling nervous clients about getting out of debt. But his calm demeanour masked a secret: He shared their fears. Like them, Smith was sinking deeper and deeper into debt. He had driven himself far into the red starting--of all things--a debt-settlement company. "I was hearing how depressed and strung out my clients were, but in the back of my mind I was thinking to myself, I've got twice as much debt as you do," Smith recalls.

He had cashed in his 401(k) and maxed out a $60,000 line of credit. He had sold the Rolex he bought with his first-ever paycheck during an earlier career as a stockbroker. And he had humbled himself before his father--the man who raised him on maxims such as "money doesn't grow on trees" and "never do business with family"--by asking for $10,000, which he received at 5 percent interest after signing a promissory note.

Smith projected optimism to his co-founders and 10 employees, but his nerves were shot. "My wife and I would share a bottle of $5 wine for dinner and just kind of look at each other," Smith says. "We knew we were close to the edge." Then the pressure got worse: The couple learned they were expecting their first child. "There were sleepless nights, staring at the ceiling," Smith recalls. "I'd wake up at 4 in the morning with my mind racing, thinking about this and that, not being able to shut it off, wondering, when is this thing going to turn?" After eight months of constant anxiety, Smith's company finally began making money.

Successful entrepreneurs achieve hero status in our culture. We idolize the Mark Zuckerbergs and the Elon Musks. And we celebrate the blazingly fast growth of the Inc. 500 companies. But many of those entrepreneurs, like Smith, harbor secret demons: Before they made it big, they struggled through moments of near-debilitating anxiety and despair--times when it seemed everything might crumble.

Until recently, admitting such sentiments was taboo. Rather than showing vulnerability, business leaders have practiced what social psychiatrists call impression management--also known as "fake it till you make it." Toby Thomas, CEO of EnSite Solutions (No. 188 on the Inc. 500), explains the phenomenon with his favorite analogy: a man riding a lion. "People look at him and think, This guy's really got it together! He's brave!" says Thomas. "And the man riding the lion is thinking, How the hell did I get on a lion, and how do I keep from getting eaten?"

Not everyone who walks through darkness makes it out. In January, well-known founder Jody Sherman, 47, of the e-commerce site Ecomom took his own life. His death shook the start-up community. It also reignited a discussion about entrepreneurship and mental health that began two years earlier after the suicide of Ilya Zhitomirskiy, the 22-year-old co-founder of Diaspora, a social networking site.

Lately, more entrepreneurs have begun speaking out about their internal struggles in an attempt to combat the stigma on depression and anxiety that makes it hard for sufferers to seek help. In a deeply personal post called "When Death Feels Like a Good Option," Ben Huh, the CEO of the Cheezburger Network humor websites, wrote about his suicidal thoughts following a failed start-up in 2001. Sean Percival, a former MySpace vice president and co-founder of the children's clothing start-up Wittlebee, penned a piece called "When It's Not All Good, Ask for Help" on his website. "I was to the edge and back a few times this past year with my business and own depression," he wrote. "If you're about to lose it, please contact me."

Brad Feld, a managing director of the Foundry Group, started blogging in October about his latest episode of depression. The problem wasn't new--the prominent venture capitalist had struggled with mood disorders throughout his adult life--and he didn't expect much of a response. But then came the emails. Hundreds of them. Many were from entrepreneurs who had also wrestled with anxiety and despair. (For more of Feld's thoughts on depression, see his column, "Surviving the Dark Nights of the Soul," in Inc.'s July/August issue.)"If you saw the list of names, it would surprise you a great deal," says Feld. "They are very successful people, very visible, very charismatic-; yet they've struggled with this silently. There's a sense that they can't talk about it, that it's a weakness or a shame or something. They feel like they're hiding, which makes the whole thing worse."

If you run a business, that probably all sounds familiar. It's a stressful job that can create emotional turbulence. For starters, there's the high risk of failure. Three out of four venture-backed start-ups fail, according to research by Shikhar Ghosh, a Harvard Business School lecturer. Ghosh also found that more than 95 percent of start-ups fall short of their initial projections.

Entrepreneurs often juggle many roles and face countless setbacks--lost customers, disputes with partners, increased competition, staffing problems--all while struggling to make payroll. "There are traumatic events all the way along the line," says psychiatrist and former entrepreneur Michael A. Freeman, who is researching mental health and entrepreneurship.

Complicating matters, new entrepreneurs often make themselves less resilient by neglecting their health. They eat too much or too little. They don't get enough sleep. They fail to exercise. "You can get into a start-up mode, where you push yourself and abuse your body," Freeman says. "That can trigger mood vulnerability."

So it should come as little surprise that entrepreneurs experience more anxiety than employees. In the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 34 percent of entrepreneurs--4 percentage points more than other workers--reported they were worried. And 45 percent of entrepreneurs said they were stressed, 3 percentage points more than other workers.

But it may be more than a stressful job that pushes some founders over the edge. According to researchers, many entrepreneurs share innate character traits that make them more vulnerable to mood swings. "People who are on the energetic, motivated, and creative side are both more likely to be entrepreneurial and more likely to have strong emotional states," says Freeman. Those states may include depression, despair, hopelessness, worthlessness, loss of motivation, and suicidal thinking.

Call it the downside of being up. The same passionate dispositions that drive founders heedlessly toward success can sometimes consume them. Business owners are "vulnerable to the dark side of obsession," suggest researchers from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. They conducted interviews with founders for a study about entrepreneurial passion. The researchers found that many subjects displayed signs of clinical obsession, including strong feelings of distress and anxiety, which have "the potential to lead to impaired functioning," they wrote in a paper published in the Entrepreneurship Research Journal in April.

Reinforcing that message is John Gartner, a practicing psychologist who teaches at Johns Hopkins University Medical School. In his book The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (a Little) Craziness and (a Lot of) Success in America, Gartner argues that an often-overlooked temperament--hypomania--may be responsible for some entrepreneurs' strengths as well as their flaws.

A milder version of mania, hypomania often occurs in the relatives of manic-depressives and affects an estimated 5 percent to 10 percent of Americans. "If you're manic, you think you're Jesus," says Gartner. "If you're hypomanic, you think you're God's gift to technology investing. We're talking about different levels of grandiosity but the same symptoms."

Gartner theorizes that there are so many hypomanics--and so many entrepreneurs--in the U.S. because our country's national character rose on waves of immigration. "We're a self-selected population," he says. "Immigrants have unusual ambition, energy, drive, and risk tolerance, which lets them take a chance on moving for a better opportunity. These are biologically based temperament traits. If you seed an entire continent with them, you're going to get a nation of entrepreneurs."

Though driven and innovative, hypomanics are at much higher risk for depression than the general population, notes Gartner. Failure can spark these depressive episodes, of course, but so can anything that slows a hypomanic's momentum. "They're like border collies--they have to run," says Gartner. "If you keep them inside, they chew up the furniture. They go crazy; they just pace around. That's what hypomanics do. They need to be busy, active, overworking."

"Entrepreneurs have struggled silently. There's a sense that they can't talk about it, that it's a weakness."

No matter what your psychological makeup, big setbacks in your business can knock you flat. Even experienced entrepreneurs have had the rug pulled out from under them. Mark Woeppel launched Pinnacle Strategies, a management consulting firm, in 1992. In 2009, his phone stopped ringing.

Caught in the global financial crisis, his customers were suddenly more concerned with survival than with boosting their output. Sales plummeted 75 percent. Woeppel laid off his half-dozen employees. Before long, he had exhausted his assets: cars, jewelry, anything that could go. His supply of confidence was dwindling, too. "As CEO, you have this self-image--you're the master of the universe," he says. "Then all of a sudden, you are not."

Woeppel stopped leaving his house. Anxious and low on self-esteem, he started eating too much--and put on 50 pounds. Sometimes he sought temporary relief in an old addiction: playing the guitar. Locked in a room, he practiced solos by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Chet Atkins. "It was something I could do just for the love of doing it," he recalls. "Then there was nothing but me, the guitar, and the peace."

Through it all, he kept working to develop new services. He just hoped his company would hang on long enough to sell them. In 2010, customers started to return. Pinnacle scored its biggest-ever contract, with an aerospace manufacturer, on the basis of a white paper Woeppel had written during the downturn. Last year, Pinnacle's revenue hit $7 million. Sales are up more than 5,000 percent since 2009, earning the company a spot at No. 57 on this year's Inc. 500.

Woeppel says he's more resilient now, tempered by tough times. "I used to be like, 'My work is me,' " he says. "Then you fail. And you find out that your kids still love you. Your wife still loves you. Your dog still loves you."

But for many entrepreneurs, the battle wounds never fully heal. That was the case for John Pope, CEO of WellDog, a Laramie, Wyoming-based energy technology firm. On Dec. 11, 2002, Pope had exactly $8.42 in the bank. He was 90 days late on his car payment. He was 75 days behind on the mortgage. The IRS had filed a lien against him. His home phone, cell phone, and cable TV had all been turned off. In less than a week, the natural-gas company was scheduled to suspend service to the house he shared with his wife and daughters. Then there would be no heat. His company was expecting a wire transfer from the oil company Shell, a strategic investor, after months of negotiations had ended with a signed 380-page contract. So Pope waited.

The wire arrived the next day. Pope--along with his company--was saved. Afterward, he made a list of all the ways in which he had financially overreached. "I'm going to remember this," he recalls thinking. "It's the farthest I'm willing to go."

Since then, WellDog has taken off: In the past three years, sales grew more than 3,700 percent, to $8 million, making the company No. 89 on the Inc. 500. But emotional residue from the years of tumult still lingers. "There's always that feeling of being overextended, of never being able to relax," says Pope. "You end up with a serious confidence problem. You feel like every time you build up security, something happens to take it away."

Pope sometimes catches himself emotionally overreacting to small things. It's a behavior pattern that reminds him of posttraumatic stress disorder. "Something happens, and you freak out about it," he says. "But the scale of the problem is a lot less than the scale of your emotional reaction. That just comes with the scar tissue of going through these things."

"If you're manic, you think you're Jesus. If you're hypomanic, you think you're God's gift to technology investing." John Gartner

Though launching a company will always be a wild ride, full of ups and downs, there are things entrepreneurs can do to help keep their lives from spiralling out of control, say experts. Most important, make time for your loved ones, suggests Freeman. "Don't let your business squeeze out your connections with human beings," he says. When it comes to fighting off depression, relationships with friends and family can be powerful weapons. And don't be afraid to ask for help--see a mental health professional if you are experiencing symptoms of significant anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, or depression.

Freeman also advises that entrepreneurs limit their financial exposure. When it comes to assessing risk, entrepreneurs' blind spots are often big enough to drive a Mack truck through, he says. The consequences can rock not only your bank account but also your stress levels. So set a limit for how much of your own money you're prepared to invest. And don't let friends and family kick in more than they can afford to lose.

Cardiovascular exercise, a healthful diet, and adequate sleep all help, too. So does cultivating an identity apart from your company. "Build a life centred on the belief that self-worth is not the same as net worth," says Freeman. "Other dimensions of your life should be part of your identity." Whether you're raising a family, sitting on the board of a local charity, building model rockets in the backyard, or going swing dancing on weekends, it's important to feel successful in areas unrelated to work.

The ability to reframe failure and loss can also help leaders maintain good mental health. "Instead of telling yourself, 'I failed, the business failed, I'm a loser,' " says Freeman, "look at the data from a different perspective: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Life is a constant process of trial and error. Don't exaggerate the experience."

Last, be open about your feelings--don't mask your emotions, even at the office, suggests Brad Feld. When you are willing to be emotionally honest, he says, you can connect more deeply with the people around you. "When you deny yourself and you deny what you're about, people can see through that," says Feld. "Willingness to be vulnerable is very powerful for a leader."

FROM THE SEPTEMBER 2013 ISSUE OF INC. MAGAZINE

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Networking 101 - Be Prepared

Networking 101 – Be Prepared

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Dr. Renate Volpe, in her nugget cards entitled “Networking Tips” says:

“Be prepared, act confident and have your business cards at the ready.”

“Be Prepared” – not something that is hugely difficult, I am sure that you would agree, yet you cannot begin to believe the number of times that I go to a Networking event (not to even mention any other kind of event), where the whole idea of the event is to actually Network and people don’t have their cards with them.  I was at a ‘Networking’ breakfast the other morning and sat at a table with nine other people – only one had a business card on her.  I shook my head in absolute wonderment – there I was, dolling out bits of paper for people to write their contact details down on.

Ladies, I am sure that you wouldn’t leave home to go to any kind of event without ensuring that you have make up on, at the very least, and gents – I am sure that you wouldn’t leave home without your wallet – yet people to go Networking events, specifically put together, often at great expense for you to Network and build relationships and not a card in sight!  What a waste of a perfectly great opportunity!

Really, think about it – carefully.  If you want to make the most of every opportunity that could present itself to you and I am sure you would agree that you cannot presume where that may be, then you really do need to be prepared.  Being prepared doesn’t mean like being prepared for a boardroom presentation, it quite simply means always having a business card or two on you. Always, always, always – have your business cards on hand.  Keep a supply in your car, so that if you don’t perhaps have one in your handbag or wallet that you can, if necessary run out to the car and get one.

So ‘be prepared’ and by being prepared you can be confident and look around you – can you see that opportunity?  I can!

For more information on Renate, please visit her website at http://www.drrenatevolpe.co.za

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Business Tips – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 4

Business Tips  – From Employee to Entrepreneur – Part 4

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

Please note that this pertains to South African Legislation and Best Practice requirements.

So far we have looked at:-
1. The difference between being an employee and an employer;
2. Your Purpose:
3. The People around you and
4. Your Personal Footprint.
5. Knowledge & what you do with it
6. The Generosity of your Spirit and
7. The Role of Technology in your Business

Believe it or not there are a whole lot more – today we will explore a few more.

1. Self Confidence
As an entrepreneur you need a whole bunch of self-confidence.  There will be times when you will be the only person who believes in YOU and what you are capable of doing.

Understand yourself, understand who you are, understand what you are capable of and understand how far you are prepared to go to achieve your dream.

Understand that there will be occasions that you will walk on the road with someone, be they mentor or collaborator or partner or customer or supplier or friend, but there will also be times that you will walk alone – be prepared for it and deal with it.

There will be times when you celebrate your successes and there will be times when it will feel as though you are all alone in the world – in those times, will you still believe in yourself?  That is a question that you have to ask yourself and that is a question only you can answer and it will require a brutally honest answer.

2. Creativity
Understand that as an entrepreneur, even accountants or auditors, are creative.  Yes, you actually read that correctly.  ALL entrepreneurs are creative – they have ‘created’ something, they have breathed life into something that did not exist.  That’s huge!  We are creative when we ‘put the picture’ together in our minds of how we want our businesses to look, to feel and to work. That is also why it is of the utmost importance that entrepreneurs reserve time to dream.  If you cannot dream it, it will not happen and only having one dream is kind of defeating the object – we need to dream all the time.  Take time out to dream, book it in your diary if you need to, but make sure that you take the time to draw pictures in your mind of what you want to happen, to dream the future.  Remember though it will still require an action (well to be honest many actions) to turn that dream into a reality.

3. Focus
One of the quickest ways to lose you way is to lose your focus.  Whether you are working on a document or preparing a presentation or raising an invoice or indeed running an entire business, when you lose focus you veer off the road and all manner of disasters and conflict await you.

Here’s the thing, although women (and even some men) proudly profess to be effective and efficient at multi-tasking, the fact of the matter is that the brain is designed and wired to only hold one thought at a time.  You may think that you are holding two or more, but realistically you are ‘switching’ between thoughts or in effect losing focus, particularly if the two thoughts are on unrelated issues.

Make sure that you always have your ‘end goal’ clearly visible – mine are on ‘post it notes’ all over the office, so I can see them all the time.  That way you will have them in your thoughts constantly and it will make it that much easier to maintain your focus.

Next time we will continue to look at some of the other issues that you will need or be aware of to become a successful Entrepreneur.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Inspiration - Be True to Yourself

Inspiration – Be True to Yourself

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

It is said that until you respect yourself, you cannot respect others.

It is said that until you love yourself, you cannot love others.

It is said that until you are honest with yourself, you cannot be honest to others.

It is said that until you are true to yourself, you cannot be true to others.

You need to understand that you are the centre of your own universe.  It is your life and you are the only one that should be ‘living’ it.

My friend, colleague and mentor Vanessa, always tells me “This life of yours – it is your movie.  You have to write the script, you have the lead role, you are the director and the producer and you own the rights to the movie.”

How true is that?  So why on earth would I give the starring role to someone else?

The bottom line is that it is my life, I need to own it.  No-one else can live it for me and at the end of it, I am the only one that will be accountable for the manner in which I have lived it.

Here’s the thing though – many of us give up our own power, by allowing others to use and abuse us or live out the fantasies of their lives by dictating how we should live our lives.  That’s just crazy!  We need to take back what is ours – we need to own our power and we need to reclaim our lives.

We need to find our own passions.

We need to get excited about our own dreams.

Once we own our own power and we are passionate about our lives, we will begin to realize our dreams and in so doing, we will live our own lives with integrity and dignity.

Once we have learnt how to respect ourselves, we will recognize and respect the fact that everyone has the right to be doing the same in their lives.

Don’t be fooled though into thinking that you now have the right to be selfish and think only of yourself to the exclusion of all others.  That too is just crazy and it is also very destructive.

Yes we are all unique.

Yes we need to be true to ourselves

Yes we need to respect ourselves, but we also need to treat others with the same respect that we give ourselves and we also need to expect others to treat us with respect as well.

It’s a great big loop tape and grows ever wider and stronger the more we ‘buy into’ it.  So respect yourself and you will be true to yourself.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

HR 101 - Trapping and Entrapment – Part 1

HR 101 - Trapping and Entrapment – Part 1

By Nikki Viljoen - N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd 

Please note that this pertains to South African Labour Relations and Best Practice requirements.

Winning at the CCMA as an employer is extremely difficult, usually because the employer is always the accused and as the accused you are always ‘seen to be guilty until proven innocent’!  Is this fair?  Of course not, but that is the perception and it is therefore up to you, as the employer to prove your innocence.

The most important three factors that you, as the employer need to take into consideration when attempting to convince the CCMA that you dismissed your staff member fairly are:

- that your employee was guilty of the offence, be it misconduct or poor performance.  Having a case that is not ‘rock solid’ in this instance will just not cut the mustard!
- Trying to get rid of an employee because “you have too many”, does not help your case.  If you are in this situation, bite the bullet and go the retrenchment route, don’t try and use evidence that is really not strong enough and not worth the paper it is written on – it will cost you more in the long run.
- Make sure that you can ‘prove’ your evidence.  Many employers in a frustrated attempt to get rid of a ‘bad apple’ resort to illegal means to gather their evidence and make their cases stronger.  This is really not a good idea and will also cost you big time in the long run.

Here’s the difference between what is legitimate and not:

Legitimate:
- getting your facts together by conducting a proper and thorough investigation of the course of events.
- Using your policies, procedures, templates and any other documentation that were used, as proof to back up your facts.
- Using video footage or audio tapes (or any other electronic methods) or polygraph tests, stress tests, voice analysis, handwriting tests etc to back up your documentary evidence – remember the staff member will have had to give you written permission to perform these tests.
- Having witnesses who can corroborate your evidence and who will give testimony on the course of events as they occurred.
- Laying traps for the employee and supplying evidence of how those traps were laid and the course of events that employee followed and the result thereof.

Illegitimate:
- Using documentary evidence or video or audio evidence that has been falsified in any way.
- Using witnesses who lie in order to ‘prove’ your case.
- Forcing your employee to confess by using his family or his work etc. as the reason he should confess.
- Entrapment, which basically means that you lay a trap and then force the employee to fall into it.

Please don’t get confused between the two.

Next week I will give you a story example of exactly what entrapment is and highlight the difference between Trapping and Entrapment.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za

Early Warning – The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

Early Warning – The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

By Nikki Viljoen – N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd - August 2013.

This article was posted on the Business Master’s website, and I thought that it is something that should be shared with all – what a great article!

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship BY Jessica Bruder.

No one said building a company was easy. But it's time to be honest about how brutal it really is--and the price so many founders secretly pay.

By all counts and measures, Bradley Smith is an unequivocal business success. He's CEO of Rescue One Financial, an Irvine, California-based financial services company that had sales of nearly $32 million last year. Smith's company has grown some 1,400 percent in the last three years, landing it at No. 310 on this year's Inc. 500. So you might never guess that just five years ago, Smith was on the brink of financial ruin--and mental collapse.

Back in 2008, Smith was working long hours counselling nervous clients about getting out of debt. But his calm demeanour masked a secret: He shared their fears. Like them, Smith was sinking deeper and deeper into debt. He had driven himself far into the red starting--of all things--a debt-settlement company. "I was hearing how depressed and strung out my clients were, but in the back of my mind I was thinking to myself, I've got twice as much debt as you do," Smith recalls.

He had cashed in his 401(k) and maxed out a $60,000 line of credit. He had sold the Rolex he bought with his first-ever paycheck during an earlier career as a stockbroker. And he had humbled himself before his father--the man who raised him on maxims such as "money doesn't grow on trees" and "never do business with family"--by asking for $10,000, which he received at 5 percent interest after signing a promissory note.

Smith projected optimism to his co-founders and 10 employees, but his nerves were shot. "My wife and I would share a bottle of $5 wine for dinner and just kind of look at each other," Smith says. "We knew we were close to the edge." Then the pressure got worse: The couple learned they were expecting their first child. "There were sleepless nights, staring at the ceiling," Smith recalls. "I'd wake up at 4 in the morning with my mind racing, thinking about this and that, not being able to shut it off, wondering, when is this thing going to turn?" After eight months of constant anxiety, Smith's company finally began making money.

Successful entrepreneurs achieve hero status in our culture. We idolize the Mark Zuckerbergs and the Elon Musks. And we celebrate the blazingly fast growth of the Inc. 500 companies. But many of those entrepreneurs, like Smith, harbor secret demons: Before they made it big, they struggled through moments of near-debilitating anxiety and despair--times when it seemed everything might crumble.

Until recently, admitting such sentiments was taboo. Rather than showing vulnerability, business leaders have practiced what social psychiatrists call impression management--also known as "fake it till you make it." Toby Thomas, CEO of EnSite Solutions (No. 188 on the Inc. 500), explains the phenomenon with his favorite analogy: a man riding a lion. "People look at him and think, This guy's really got it together! He's brave!" says Thomas. "And the man riding the lion is thinking, How the hell did I get on a lion, and how do I keep from getting eaten?"

Not everyone who walks through darkness makes it out. In January, well-known founder Jody Sherman, 47, of the e-commerce site Ecomom took his own life. His death shook the start-up community. It also reignited a discussion about entrepreneurship and mental health that began two years earlier after the suicide of Ilya Zhitomirskiy, the 22-year-old co-founder of Diaspora, a social networking site.

Lately, more entrepreneurs have begun speaking out about their internal struggles in an attempt to combat the stigma on depression and anxiety that makes it hard for sufferers to seek help. In a deeply personal post called "When Death Feels Like a Good Option," Ben Huh, the CEO of the Cheezburger Network humor websites, wrote about his suicidal thoughts following a failed start-up in 2001. Sean Percival, a former MySpace vice president and co-founder of the children's clothing start-up Wittlebee, penned a piece called "When It's Not All Good, Ask for Help" on his website. "I was to the edge and back a few times this past year with my business and own depression," he wrote. "If you're about to lose it, please contact me."

Brad Feld, a managing director of the Foundry Group, started blogging in October about his latest episode of depression. The problem wasn't new--the prominent venture capitalist had struggled with mood disorders throughout his adult life--and he didn't expect much of a response. But then came the emails. Hundreds of them. Many were from entrepreneurs who had also wrestled with anxiety and despair. (For more of Feld's thoughts on depression, see his column, "Surviving the Dark Nights of the Soul," in Inc.'s July/August issue.)"If you saw the list of names, it would surprise you a great deal," says Feld. "They are very successful people, very visible, very charismatic-; yet they've struggled with this silently. There's a sense that they can't talk about it, that it's a weakness or a shame or something. They feel like they're hiding, which makes the whole thing worse."

If you run a business, that probably all sounds familiar. It's a stressful job that can create emotional turbulence. For starters, there's the high risk of failure. Three out of four venture-backed start-ups fail, according to research by Shikhar Ghosh, a Harvard Business School lecturer. Ghosh also found that more than 95 percent of start-ups fall short of their initial projections.

Entrepreneurs often juggle many roles and face countless setbacks--lost customers, disputes with partners, increased competition, staffing problems--all while struggling to make payroll. "There are traumatic events all the way along the line," says psychiatrist and former entrepreneur Michael A. Freeman, who is researching mental health and entrepreneurship.

Complicating matters, new entrepreneurs often make themselves less resilient by neglecting their health. They eat too much or too little. They don't get enough sleep. They fail to exercise. "You can get into a start-up mode, where you push yourself and abuse your body," Freeman says. "That can trigger mood vulnerability."

So it should come as little surprise that entrepreneurs experience more anxiety than employees. In the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 34 percent of entrepreneurs--4 percentage points more than other workers--reported they were worried. And 45 percent of entrepreneurs said they were stressed, 3 percentage points more than other workers.

But it may be more than a stressful job that pushes some founders over the edge. According to researchers, many entrepreneurs share innate character traits that make them more vulnerable to mood swings. "People who are on the energetic, motivated, and creative side are both more likely to be entrepreneurial and more likely to have strong emotional states," says Freeman. Those states may include depression, despair, hopelessness, worthlessness, loss of motivation, and suicidal thinking.

Call it the downside of being up. The same passionate dispositions that drive founders heedlessly toward success can sometimes consume them. Business owners are "vulnerable to the dark side of obsession," suggest researchers from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. They conducted interviews with founders for a study about entrepreneurial passion. The researchers found that many subjects displayed signs of clinical obsession, including strong feelings of distress and anxiety, which have "the potential to lead to impaired functioning," they wrote in a paper published in the Entrepreneurship Research Journal in April.

Reinforcing that message is John Gartner, a practicing psychologist who teaches at Johns Hopkins University Medical School. In his book The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (a Little) Craziness and (a Lot of) Success in America, Gartner argues that an often-overlooked temperament--hypomania--may be responsible for some entrepreneurs' strengths as well as their flaws.

A milder version of mania, hypomania often occurs in the relatives of manic-depressives and affects an estimated 5 percent to 10 percent of Americans. "If you're manic, you think you're Jesus," says Gartner. "If you're hypomanic, you think you're God's gift to technology investing. We're talking about different levels of grandiosity but the same symptoms."

Gartner theorizes that there are so many hypomanics--and so many entrepreneurs--in the U.S. because our country's national character rose on waves of immigration. "We're a self-selected population," he says. "Immigrants have unusual ambition, energy, drive, and risk tolerance, which lets them take a chance on moving for a better opportunity. These are biologically based temperament traits. If you seed an entire continent with them, you're going to get a nation of entrepreneurs."

Though driven and innovative, hypomanics are at much higher risk for depression than the general population, notes Gartner. Failure can spark these depressive episodes, of course, but so can anything that slows a hypomanic's momentum. "They're like border collies--they have to run," says Gartner. "If you keep them inside, they chew up the furniture. They go crazy; they just pace around. That's what hypomanics do. They need to be busy, active, overworking."

"Entrepreneurs have struggled silently. There's a sense that they can't talk about it, that it's a weakness."

No matter what your psychological makeup, big setbacks in your business can knock you flat. Even experienced entrepreneurs have had the rug pulled out from under them. Mark Woeppel launched Pinnacle Strategies, a management consulting firm, in 1992. In 2009, his phone stopped ringing.

Caught in the global financial crisis, his customers were suddenly more concerned with survival than with boosting their output. Sales plummeted 75 percent. Woeppel laid off his half-dozen employees. Before long, he had exhausted his assets: cars, jewelry, anything that could go. His supply of confidence was dwindling, too. "As CEO, you have this self-image--you're the master of the universe," he says. "Then all of a sudden, you are not."

Woeppel stopped leaving his house. Anxious and low on self-esteem, he started eating too much--and put on 50 pounds. Sometimes he sought temporary relief in an old addiction: playing the guitar. Locked in a room, he practiced solos by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Chet Atkins. "It was something I could do just for the love of doing it," he recalls. "Then there was nothing but me, the guitar, and the peace."

Through it all, he kept working to develop new services. He just hoped his company would hang on long enough to sell them. In 2010, customers started to return. Pinnacle scored its biggest-ever contract, with an aerospace manufacturer, on the basis of a white paper Woeppel had written during the downturn. Last year, Pinnacle's revenue hit $7 million. Sales are up more than 5,000 percent since 2009, earning the company a spot at No. 57 on this year's Inc. 500.

Woeppel says he's more resilient now, tempered by tough times. "I used to be like, 'My work is me,' " he says. "Then you fail. And you find out that your kids still love you. Your wife still loves you. Your dog still loves you."

But for many entrepreneurs, the battle wounds never fully heal. That was the case for John Pope, CEO of WellDog, a Laramie, Wyoming-based energy technology firm. On Dec. 11, 2002, Pope had exactly $8.42 in the bank. He was 90 days late on his car payment. He was 75 days behind on the mortgage. The IRS had filed a lien against him. His home phone, cell phone, and cable TV had all been turned off. In less than a week, the natural-gas company was scheduled to suspend service to the house he shared with his wife and daughters. Then there would be no heat. His company was expecting a wire transfer from the oil company Shell, a strategic investor, after months of negotiations had ended with a signed 380-page contract. So Pope waited.

The wire arrived the next day. Pope--along with his company--was saved. Afterward, he made a list of all the ways in which he had financially overreached. "I'm going to remember this," he recalls thinking. "It's the farthest I'm willing to go."

Since then, WellDog has taken off: In the past three years, sales grew more than 3,700 percent, to $8 million, making the company No. 89 on the Inc. 500. But emotional residue from the years of tumult still lingers. "There's always that feeling of being overextended, of never being able to relax," says Pope. "You end up with a serious confidence problem. You feel like every time you build up security, something happens to take it away."

Pope sometimes catches himself emotionally overreacting to small things. It's a behavior pattern that reminds him of posttraumatic stress disorder. "Something happens, and you freak out about it," he says. "But the scale of the problem is a lot less than the scale of your emotional reaction. That just comes with the scar tissue of going through these things."

"If you're manic, you think you're Jesus. If you're hypomanic, you think you're God's gift to technology investing." John Gartner

Though launching a company will always be a wild ride, full of ups and downs, there are things entrepreneurs can do to help keep their lives from spiralling out of control, say experts. Most important, make time for your loved ones, suggests Freeman. "Don't let your business squeeze out your connections with human beings," he says. When it comes to fighting off depression, relationships with friends and family can be powerful weapons. And don't be afraid to ask for help--see a mental health professional if you are experiencing symptoms of significant anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, or depression.

Freeman also advises that entrepreneurs limit their financial exposure. When it comes to assessing risk, entrepreneurs' blind spots are often big enough to drive a Mack truck through, he says. The consequences can rock not only your bank account but also your stress levels. So set a limit for how much of your own money you're prepared to invest. And don't let friends and family kick in more than they can afford to lose.

Cardiovascular exercise, a healthful diet, and adequate sleep all help, too. So does cultivating an identity apart from your company. "Build a life centred on the belief that self-worth is not the same as net worth," says Freeman. "Other dimensions of your life should be part of your identity." Whether you're raising a family, sitting on the board of a local charity, building model rockets in the backyard, or going swing dancing on weekends, it's important to feel successful in areas unrelated to work.

The ability to reframe failure and loss can also help leaders maintain good mental health. "Instead of telling yourself, 'I failed, the business failed, I'm a loser,' " says Freeman, "look at the data from a different perspective: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Life is a constant process of trial and error. Don't exaggerate the experience."

Last, be open about your feelings--don't mask your emotions, even at the office, suggests Brad Feld. When you are willing to be emotionally honest, he says, you can connect more deeply with the people around you. "When you deny yourself and you deny what you're about, people can see through that," says Feld. "Willingness to be vulnerable is very powerful for a leader."

FROM THE SEPTEMBER 2013 ISSUE OF INC. MAGAZINE

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za