This book is about the journey of an over-achiever, a corporate leader who had to overcome being the only black person in places that his achievements have taken him. Being the only Darkie [black person] in senior positions in apartheid South Africa was hard. You had to prove yourself twice, being as good as anyone…

Just went back to re-visit one of my favourite books I read recently by Trevor Noah. Born a Crime is South African stand-up comedian [and The Daily Show host] Trevor Noah’s autobiography. Trevor Noah manages to be fascinating, funny, poignant and insightful all at once. The book resonated very deeply as he touched so many topics…

As fan of Malcolm Gladwell's work, it is not a surprise that when this book came out a few weeks ago, I just had to get my hands on it. What is Malcolm on about in this book? Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know is book about meeting and…

If, when working with you, you let them take as much credit as they want…They will always come back to you and work with you because you are the source of credit and they want more. No one is walking around thinking: ‘Ya know what, I have been given enough credit for my work.’ So…

There are two strategies to apply when setting your prices: Price skimming vs. Price Penetration Price penetration is when you charge a low price, in the beginning, to derive maximum sales volume from the price-sensitive customers. Price skimming is when you set high price to attract buyers with a strong desire for the product and then gradually…

One over-looked factor when discussing finances is setting your selling price. How do you set your selling price? When doing an event, what informs your ticket prices? When sewing a custom-made dress, why sell it at that price? When writing a book, producing music, painting artwork, why that selling price? When drafting a proposal for…

Once we have acquired the discipline to manage our personal finances, we can replicate that discipline to our business finances. Let's use a painfully simple example. Your business is to buy and sell juices. Let's say you buy one juice at R30, and sell it at say R50. So you make a profit of R20…

There is a leadership principle by John Maxwell called the Law of the Lid. This principle talks about your capacity to lead people. If your capacity to lead is low, the lower your lid, the few or no person you can lead. If your capacity to lead is high, the higher your lid, the more…

Business finances are a reflection of the personal finances of the founder. If you are unable to manage your personal finances, it is going to be a challenge to manage your business finances. Just like Lotto winners, entrepreneurs believe that their personal financial problems will be go away once their businesses thrive. Unfortunately, it is…

When Hungarian scientist Ignaz Semmelweiss noticed that maternity ward doctors were killing more women when they came straight after working with cadavers, he suggested that they should wash their hands, ideally with antiseptics. Sadly, he was endlessly ridiculed for this preposterous idea and died in an insane asylum. Thanks to research on epidemics like cholera…

Has it ever crossed your mind what makes up a good and successful gathering? We spend a large part of our lives gathering with others, from Monday morning team catch-ups to Friday night cocktails, book groups, and board meetings. However, it is rare that we actually take a step back and consider what goes into…

We are facing what might be the greatest threat ever to the future of mankind. It took a very long time for people to take to the streets to protest against slow inaction on this matter. Until thus far, the outrage has largely been intellectual and slow action. [If you want to argue about the science, please…