E-Bulletin

MIND YOUR BUSINESS

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Many a successful business and famous brand has had its origins in recessionary times.

Recession drives innovation. If you have great passion and belief in what you are doing, knowledge of the business and a plan, and an unwavering conviction in Allah Ta’ala’s will for whatever you receive, then you will be successful despite times of financial crisis. An eighteenth century poet wrote “oars alone can never prevail to reach the distant coast, the breath of heaven must swell the sail or all the toil is lost”.

For the talented people who are stuck in a one way job, gifted graduates struggling to find meaningful employment or students unable to afford fees or stay home parents, entrepreneurship is an honest and dignified way of being a provider to one’s family. Businesses are started with high hopes and glorious dreams. Whilst it is relatively easy to start a business, it is much more difficult to build it, to make it succeed, to avoid the traps and pitfalls and frustrations, and enjoy the fruits of success over the years. Here is an edited summary of 10 Stumbling Blocks that Limit Business Growth taken from leading coach and mentor Philip Humbert.

1. Fear and Confusion. There is either a sense of being over-whelmed by the size of the tasks or a refusal to master the work of being an entrepreneur and business owner.

2. Lack of Capital. Capital comes in three forms: Time, money and energy. Some people have one or two but not all three, and they fail because they simply cannot sustain the growth phase of their business.

3. Lack of Courage or Commitment. Building a business is always risky. Some people perceive the risk as frightening, others see it as an exciting challenge, but there is always risk. Manage it. Understand the risks and enjoy the process. You will make mistakes but learn from them.

4. Refusal to select and target and audience. No one can sell their services to “everyone” – a message that goes to everyone is unlikely to create a sense of urgency in anyone in particular.

5. Choosing the wrong audience. A market that cannot or will not pay or an audience that is too small or dispersed is a recipe for disaster. The same problem exists when trying to reach an audience that is dispersed over a large geographic area and not easily identified.

6. Fuzzy or unfocused message. What exact benefits do you provide? To whom? Under what circumstances and at what cost? How can people contact you? Be precise, be clear, be specific.

7. Lack of planning – too many random efforts. Many entrepreneurs try a little radio, a direct mailing, join a service organization, offer free samples, and then report that they have “tried everything and nothing worked”. Pick one, and stay the course!

8. Too much advertising, too little relationship building. Advertising works best for tangible products because customers can see the results. Intangible services are very difficult to advertise and are almost always purchased based on the quality of the relationship.

9. Laziness and/or Greed. Your business ONLY exists to serve the customer! You must make a profit in order to continue serving the customer, but service is the key to success. Everything must be focused on that.

10. Having a product or service that fails to produce adequate benefits, or fails to serve as promised. Do your best – every time!

Many home industries offering Halaal catering have sprung up.Some have approached SANHA for Certification and those who meet our stringent requirements have acquired the coveted SANHA mark of approval.

SANHA applauds the efforts of the people to uplift themselves and offers its support and encouragement to these entrepreneurs and also subsidizes the cost of certification where deemed appropriate.

For a list of SANHA certified Halaal caterers click here

Contact SANHA for guidelines and requirements for Halaal certification of your business.

Editor