Words of advice for enterprises

Businesses need to embrace change and innovate

Dr Paul Tai-Hing, lecturer at Nelson Mandela University and keynote speaker at a Santam business breakfast, shared five tips for small-to-medium enterprises.

● Entrepreneurs need to go back to the basics.

This was especially in terms of financial management, he said.

“In your early start-up phase, you really need to understand how every facet of your business works, particularly the finances.”

Tai-Hing said better business owners understood money matters, leaving them able to address cashflow conundrums and implement smart strategies.

● Get to grips with marketing. “This is essential. There’s no point in doing one marketing activation every few months,” he said.

“It needs to be a sustained effort, using all the tools at your disposal, like paid social media advertising and regular newsletters.”

● Businesses need to embrace change and innovate.

“Products have a limited lifecycle. Constantly reinvent your products and services based on market demand and feedback from your clients.”

● Make buying a product an experience.

This is one of the biggest things businesses owners need to do, Tai-Hing said.

“People don’t just want to buy a product, they want a complete experience.

“That means going the extra mile in terms of customer service and taking care of seemingly small details like sending a birthday discount voucher, greeting a client by name or implementing an easy returns policy.”

● Stay positive and fail forwards.

“Resilience is a trait successful entrepreneurs share – it takes grit to accept failure.

“And more importantly, it takes real self-awareness and savvy to learn from mistakes and not make them again,” TaiHing said.