Kgadi on Strategy

Your hunches are a sneak peak into what could be, what can become of your life and your business. Learn to follow them.

As the year 2024 starts unfolding, this is what I hope for you...

This should be the last time you see yourself and business struggling because "I don't have clients" it's time to get your head in the game and play the game. It's time to get serious about making money.

Staying in business means having working capital. And in today's episode focuses on where to start in ensuring that you always have income by introducing you to 3 types of income you need.

As an accidental entrepreneur, here are my thoughts on whether or not entrepreneurship can be taught and whether or not entrepreneurs are made or born

Being part of the digital economy and leveraging on digital marketplaces such as Facebook requires that you learn the basics. In this episode I share basic pointers you need to get right to start making money on social media.

From my experience working in the startup community, and part of it being to help entrepreneurs and business owners raise and secure funding, I know with strong conviction that there's funding, and because there's competition (lots of people are looking for funding), those that ultimately access it on merit, are those that prepare thoroughly.

Here's one of the reasons why your business funding application was or will be rejected.

Don't make this mistake next time you apply for funding.

Injecting cash into your business can be a key to unlocking growth. In case of using external sources such as loans and grants, you need to get your business ready for funding. And having worked with funding acquisition and proposal writing space for over 5 years full-time, I am content to announce that there is funding out there, and those that access it are those who are ready. In this episode I'm taking you through a 6 step check-list process to help you access and secure funding for your business.

The South African entrepreneurial ecosystem can squeeze the life out of you - gatekeepers are corrupt and resources are limited. So, how does one make it without giving out a brown envelope? This episode was inspired by a conversation between entrepreneurs on what it takes to succeed in business. Listen in.

Sometimes the problem is not that your strategy is flawed, sometimes is underestimating what it takes to execute. Remember the performance targets you set for your business - they require a set of activities to be actioned out. And those activities require resources, be it time, money, physical resource, skills or people. Do you have the right resources required to execute your formulated strategy?

Now that you are aware of the external changes (from PESTEL Analysis) and how the affect you, as well as the level of competition you are faced with (from Competition Analysis), it is time to map the strengths and opportunities that those changes unearth for you, against the threats they pose. This will help you benchmark your competitive position in the market.

The greatest lie that most business owners say is "I have no competition" In this episode as we continue with the Market Analysis part of our Strategy Planning, I unpack the top 5 competitions that your business should look out for.

As a business leader, you must always bear in mind that your business operates in an ever changing market environment, and those changes that happen externally, be it political, economic, social,technological factors, affect you. They can pose threats on your business, and they can also introduce business opportunities. So you must be aware of them. In this episode introducing you to the top 5 external changes that can affect your business so you can start paying attention to them. - Kgadi Mmanakana, Professional Consultant, Speaker and Scholar on Entrepreneurship and Strategy.

The importance of settinh targets for your business goes back to this: if you don't know where you are going, you'll never get there or rather never know when you have arrived. To be known in the market, to get clients and to achieve a R1mil turnover, don't just happen - it requires intentional planning (setting targets) and execution. In this episode we are continuing with our strategic planning series and I'm providing guidance on how to set targets for your business. - Kgadi Mmanakana, Professional Consultant, Speaker and Scholar on Entrepreneurship and Strategy.

South Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem can squeeze the life out of you - gate keepers are corrupt and resources are limited. As we continue on the series of business strategy development, today I am providing guidance on how to decide on principles that govern how you do business, so you don't get swallowed by the often ruthless entrepreneurship ecosystem that can sometimes be unethical.

As we continue on the series of business strategy development, today I am building onto the key aspects of a strategic plan that I tackled in the previous episodes from what a business strategy is to how to gain competitive advantage over your competitors, and I will be diving into formulation of an organizational mission statement.

PS: You’ll notice that the subjects I am tackling are what you already heard of and probably know, what is different is the lens I am using to look at them and what they really mean. These are smallest parts of the business that are often overlooked and neglected to a point where you can just copy a mission statement of another company and use it.

Brief secret; the talented business strategist I find myself to be is a product of failing to articulate my then organizational mission and allowing myself to be teachable.

In building on my previous episode about the 5 strategic approaches you can use to gain competitive advantage, today I am introducing a business model and how it relates to business strategy. It is important to touch on a business model because a company’s business model sets forth the logic for how its strategy will create value for customers and at the same time generate revenues sufficient to cover costs and realize a profit. So, they have a direct relationship – they are co-dependent.

In building onto the previous episode that introduced the concept of Competitive Advantage, in this episode I am sharing 5 approaches you can use to gain Competitive Advantage over your competitors and be the go-to for your customers.

In building onto the previous episode on the importance of business strategy formulation which is essentially to help you gain competitive advantage over your rivals, in this episode I'm unpacking what Competitive Advantage refers to and what it looks like. I am using Starbucks as a case study to make this practical, on how it gained competitive advantage in the coffee shop market.

Competitive Advantage is the base of my work as a consultant. In my consulting work I reconcile Design Thinking, Business Model Innovation and Competitive Strategy concepts with Economic Theories to help businesses gain Competitive Advantage in ever changing market environments.

The number one reason I ventured into strategy consulting is was because I wanted to introduce the concept of strategic planning in startups and small businesses. I wanted them to understand that to be known in the market, to get clients and to have a turnover of R1Mil don't just happen - it requires a plan. A well thought out strategic plan. To stay in business one must be intentional about it. In this episode I'm unpacking what strategy is and why businesses formulate strategies. The goal is to inspire startup business owners to start formulating theirs.

The Covid19 pandemic presented a serious threat to people, businesses and economies around the world. For business leaders, on the agenda is a question of how they can best protect their employees, serve their customers and stabilize their businesses.

As someone who got into the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to keep businesses in business, I took time to observe and report the business disruption that Covid19 is creating. With this episode my intention is to draw the attention of business owners to the shifting happening, subtly or otherwise, in the market environment as a result of Covid19, and inspire action to find a way adapt to save their businesses.

Having worked for over 4 years full-time with South African entrepreneurs and business owners as a Business Strategy Consultant, and from my experience as an entrepreneur in South Africa, here's my take about what it will take for SA business leaders to unlock the potential of their businesses.

Keywords in this episode: Mindset. Entrepreneurship Culture. Unique Value Proposition.

I've come across aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners that asked, "I have a business idea. What's next?", "I have a business idea but I don't know where to start."

My answer is always, "Write it down"
The first thing to do is write your business idea down. Writing it down not only helps you make sense of the idea itself and test its viability, it also reward you with peace of mind. Having business ideas in your head can be overwhelming and frustrating. Over and above, sometimes it tends to remain just that - an idea.

In this episode I am taking you through 3 steps to help you write your business idea down in a way that helps you articulate your customer value proposition and unearth what your idea needs to transform into a business.

My intent here is to help kickstart your process of moving from an idea to business stage.