Many entrepreneurs dream about making their first million, followed by their first R100 million. The reality is that business is tough, and if you don’t follow your passion, you’ll never be happy. More importantly, passion is infectious. If you want people to love your brand, to buy from you, support you and even invest in you, you need to love what you do.
NicSocks was a side hustle for me. It stayed that way for nearly two years. I was building a consulting firm that was earning me significantly more money but was becoming increasingly more complicated with new partners.
The business began to grow nicely. I focused on expanding our subscriber base. Initially I wanted to meet our customers so I set up a pick-up point in Woodstock, Cape Town.
Every week between 10am and 2pm I would sit at a tea shop with customers’ orders and wait for them to come and pick them up. I’d meet the customers, get an understanding of exactly why they purchased a subscription, who it was for, how they heard about us, what they thought about our socks and so on. It was a fantastic way for me to gain insights into my customer base, but ultimately that kind of engagement is unsustainable as you scale. Our ecommerce sales were really starting to take off.
This was mostly driven by traditional media, if you can believe that. I discovered that the more exposure I received in magazines and on radio and TV shows, the better our website did. There was a direct correlation. So, I started to work my way into as many shows and publications as possible.
I was interviewed on 5FM, 702 and Cape Talk, tons of local radio stations; I appeared on Top Billing and did interviews for countless magazines (online and offline). The Top Billing feature just about made our sales numbers for that year. The incredible response was surprising because I honestly believed that TV was dead. It is not dead in South Africa.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2018-Ausgabe von Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2018-Ausgabe von Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Prepare For The Worst
The stronger your business is, the more you stand to lose. Here’s how to spot hidden weaknesses within your operation and steel yourself for unexpected battles.
Start Planning Today For Future Wealth
Q&A Budgeting is by far the biggest threat to wealth planning, says wealth coach Nelisiwe Masango. If you’re part of the majority of people who don’t have a monthly budget or who have one, but don’t adjust it regularly, you could be hindering your financial progress.
Beyond Banal Business Travel
Twenty-five-year-old South African automotive drivetrain repair company Rex Diff and Gearbox found a perfect match for its business travel needs when it joined kulula work’s client base, and never looked back. Dennis McLachlan of RDG’s Consumer Affairs and Marketing division explains why.
The Next Level Beckons
Rudolf Goosen is an ex-professional rugby player, entrepreneur, author, TV presenter and motivational speaker. Entrepreneur recently spoke to him about his new book, Taking Your Life to the Next Level.
Diversity Drives Board Performance
The composition of your board of directors can help you drive your company value and increase shareholder and other stakeholder returns.
Invest And Save 100% Of Your Tax Payable To SARS
Section 12J funds were created in response to the South African Government offering tax incentives for private investors to support funds that support SME growth in South Africa. Three experts unpack the benefits of investing in 12J funds — particularly for high net worth individuals.
Following Your Dreams? Nailed It!
Sorbet franchisee Kate Holahan went from corporate employee in 2015 to owning two franchise locations in just over two years. By September 2017, she had launched a new location, acquired new clients and was learning something new every day. It took a few learning curves and partnering with the right bank to lead her to successfully running her Sorbet and Sorbet Man stores at Benmore Shopping Centre in Sandton.
How To Build A Community Around Your Brand
There’s a way to build your market without spending a fortune on advertising and marketing — and it’s called community building. Here’s why this should be the cornerstone of your growth strategy.
Sealing The Deal
If you want to close more sales, you need to understand the three phases of the customer buying cycle.
No Limits
When Offlimit Communications faced its first downturn after ten profitable years in business, its leadership team didn’t even question that they would turn things around and make them better. With resilience and determination, they analysed the business, made some tough choices and took action. Within six months they took the business from massive losses back to profitability, and a year later doubled their pre-losses turnover — all in the middle of a recession.Here’s how Lisa Cohen, Jerome Cohen and Garon Bloom took lemons and made lemonade, building a R130-million sustainable business in the process.
