© Tiisetso Maloma All Rights Reserved €¦ · entrepreneurship: The Anxious Entrepreneur, Forget...

© Tiisetso Maloma – All Rights Reserved

www.tiisetsomaloma.com

http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/



Free Tutorial by Tiisetso Maloma


Learn How to Start a Business Easy – Cutting Out 80% of the

Things You Thought You Needed

‘Finding Your Penetrative Advantages

To Starting A Business Given Limited

Resources

(Lessons Business Plans And School Do

Not Teach)’





I’ve been an

entrepreneur for

over ten years in

this beautiful

country of ours

(South Africa)

and had the

most fun – and

headaches.

I’ve written four

books on the

subject of

entrepreneurship: The Anxious Entrepreneur, Forget the Business Plan Use

this Short Model, Township Biz Fastrack and Tales of an African Entrepreneur.

I’ve started businesses in different industries such as clothing, publishing and

technology.

I created and run Business Me Young entrepreneurship workshops. I devised

EBC Business Model. My work has featured in platforms such as The

Huffington Post, Biz Community, Under 30 CEO and numerous podcasts

across the world.

Consequently out of having a multiple of interests, my key skills are:

Starting a business with limited resources.

Managing anxiety.


http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/anxiousbook

http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/forgetplan


http://buff.ly/1k9mB60

http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/africantales

http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/bmy

http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/EBCmodel



In this very short tutorial, I will show you how you can start a business

without certain things that you think you need, or you deem ideal to enable

you to start:

- It could be funding,

- It could be finding mentors

- Or anything else that you deem standing in your way to starting your

business venture

In this short-elaborate tutorial, you will be able to:

Come up with an easy and simple way to start your business venture

Cut out 80% of the things you thought you needed (offices, or

something as simple business cards)

Feel confident that you can start a business with the little that you

have

Lets’ Start... The Background Of This

Module

Before we pursue a cause or a venture we think need X Y Z.

We think we need money to get into a romantic relationship. To be a leader

in a community. To be respected by our families (OK, maybe we do here).




We think we need material things to be part of most things in life.

We don’t. Well, certainly not to start a business.

I’ve started many business ventures with no or little money. And these

businesses to an ordinary person required a lot of money.

I am not the smartest too. It is just things I’ve accidentally learned as I was

starting many business ventures.

This tutorial is inspired by a consultation I gave to a lady who thought she

needed a lot of money to start her business venture.

I showed her she doesn’t need over 80% of the money she thought she

needed.

I love this case because... well I’ve learned the lessons this module is teaching

in many different ways.... but this case is the best way to narrate it with

enough detail, colour and nuance (I love the word nuance, I take every chance

available to slot it into a conversation).

I call this lesson or trick ‘finding penetrative advantages of starting a

business.’ It’s not the most sexy title. I hope you realise the importance of

calling it this.

- -




Finding Penetrative Advantages To

Start A Business Given My Limited

Resources (A Lesson Business Plans

And School Don’t Teach)

Let’s call her Mbali (fictitious name of course).

She wants to start a kiddies clothing boutique where she designs all the

clothes.

This is a noble. I like her idea.

She has written a wonderful business plan, with good projections. She

studied accounting in university; it was easy for her to write it.

Her shop will be at Mall @ Reds in Centurion. A lot of families live there – the

middle class to upper middle class.

The business requires R300 000. She has good projections. Mall space isn’t

that cheap FYI.

She needs funding. She only has a startup capital of R5000.




She is demoralized at the thought that she might not get funding for her

awesome business idea.

Can she get funding? THIS IS THE BIG QUESTION.

This is her first business. She has no business experience whatsoever.

Sometimes she cries at night. She really wants to make this business

happen. Making clothes for kids is her passion.

She applied to the four banks for funding.

They all said no. It is her first businesses remember! And she has no collateral

at all. Banks require these two mentioned things: collateral and a bit of

experience.

She applied to two government funding agencies. It has been six months and

she has heard nothing from them.

She cries again. At least her boyfriend is there to encourage her. Maybe she

should date a richer boyfriend.

She is getting impatient. She realises she cannot leave her progress in the

hands of other people.

She tells Nthabi, her friend, of her challenges.

Nthabi refers her to Tiisetso (that is me). According to Nthabi, I am an expert

in starting businesses with little funds. Ok, I will take that – I can't refuse such

a compliment.




The reality is money isn’t cheap. It is only smart for investors to backup

projects which have some traction or leverage: Either the venture has

produced some directional progress or the entrepreneur has some

entrepreneurial experience.

No one is forced to finance anyone. I often hear aspiring entrepreneurs

complain that getting funding is hard. The entitlement mentality can hold a

person back.

What Should Be Of Worry To New Entrepreneurs?

For a new entrepreneur (Mbali), the worry should be about exploring

possible simple angles that will allow her to start however small the her steps

are, however little the funds she has, and whichever way possible even if it is

not pretty.

She should realize her priority goal is not necessarily to get funding but to

start her business.

**F Business Plans (They Won’t Teach You To Start A Business)

A business plan is a tool required by banks to evaluate the risk of financing a

business. It is like a questionnaire. Yes, it makes the entrepreneur aware of

important business concepts.

But, it doesn't help you to conceive an angle, or as I call it here ‘penetrative

advantage’ to start especially with very limited resources.

Just to digress a bit, I share the hate I have for business plans in my book

‘Forget the Business Plan Use this Short Model.’ I am kidding with the hate

part. The book explains a far better alternative to Business Plans.





It explains a model I devised called the ‘EBC Business Model.’ Check it out.

Business plans won’t teach you an angle to make a business work given what

you don’t have.

I showed my dear sister Mbali that she can start bit by bit.

Her business model is she will design the clothes herself. Buy fabric and take

it to a CMT (A CMT is clothing phrase for a manufacturer. You come with the

designs and fabric, they sew up the clothes. Usually it is small time

manufacturing).

So far Mbali is fine with her planning (remember I used to make clothes – if

you don’t then you didn’t read my bio haha).

The only problem is she doesn't have the funding she requires.

And that might and might not happen. She isn’t in control.

She can take control though. She must take control.

I asked her to do the following:


http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/ebcmodel



What products does she intend selling?

She intends selling jeans, t-shirts, caps and belts.

What is the ease and cost of making each item?

T-shirts

To make a t-shirt, 1 square metre of fabric is required (costs R25). To sew the

garment, the manufacturer (CMT) charges R30.

And ohh, a pattern of the t-shirt has to be drawn out. It costs a once of fee of

R500. The pattern can be used over and over again.

For each t-shirt style she designs, it needs to be made available in 3 sizes –

small, medium and large.

Therefore, it costs R55 to make a t-shirt; plus the once off fee of R500 for the

pattern.

Jean pants

It takes the same procedure as t-shirts. To make things simpler, let’s say it

costs the same.

To make jean pants, it costs R55 per pants (R25 fabric and R30

manufacturing), plus the once off fee of R500 for the pattern.

Caps

She found a cap supplier that makes an assortment of caps. Big retailers also

buy from this supplier and brand with their logos.

She has decided that at first she won’t design and manufacture the caps from

scratch. She will buy from this supplier and put her stylish/catchy/awesome

logo onto it.

The cap costs R20. The embroidery costs R15.




To have a cap, it costs her a total of R35.

And it is a one size fits all kids. Therefore no need to make other sizes.

Belts

She has found a canvass manufacturer to make the belts. She will get nice

belt buckles from a factory in downtown Johannesburg.

The canvas costs R20 and the buckle costs R10. A whole belt will cost her R30

to make.

She will attach (sew) the canvass to the buckle herself.

What is Mbali’s thinking right now?

The questions and break down above were to lead her to realise what she

can do with whatever she has. This is the taking control I was talking about.

She is thinking it would be easy and affordable if she were to start with caps

and belts. She thinks the process of making t-shirts and pants is a bit

complicated and expensive as opposed to making caps and belts.

Her R5000 is enough to enable her to start. She can start with either just caps

or plus-either with belts, t-shirts and jean pants.

She is thinking she can’t afford a store, and a store shouldn’t stop her from

starting her venture.

She can sell from the boot.

Why should renting a shop hold her back?

She just realized she doesn’t need a shop to start her business. She will start

without a shop.




What of her products would work in the market?

I asked her which of her products are?:

- Easy to make and sell

- Hold higher value in consumer’s eye than the others

- Easily strike attention to her brand

- Has a price her immediate buyers (co-workers, friends, family) are

willing to pay

Belts and caps are easy to make or source.

Caps strike easy attention. Sharply branded t-shirts do. Well crafted jeans do

also.

Her immediate buyers won’t mind paying R60 for a cap. She is uncertain

what the right price is for t-shirts and jeans.

- -

The idea is not to be fancy or wait until one has the PERFECT resources. The

idea is to find what is workable, get in the market with it and use the

proceeds to finance the fancy stuff.

The idea here was to find a penetrative advantage product or products, i.e.

one or two products which are easy for her to make, finance and sell. And

holds a higher value for the consumer and would easily cause a stir in the

market thus exposing her infant brand.

Caps, t-shirts and belts are products which might have that penetrative

advantage in her case.

So, from thereon is for her to make samples of the products. It could even be

2 items (cap and t-shirt). Dress her cute kid and take photos. Put on social

media (Facebook and Instagram). Then she is in business.




Then from thereon she markets the business and takes orders. The question

would be where to find parents whom might have interest in her clothes. It

would be more effective if she found them in places where they are in

bundles.

- The start is everyone she knows: friends, family, acquaintances etc.

- She can test her social media audience. If the clothes strike attention,

the business will take off.

- Negotiate exhibition space at school activities where parents are

invited.

- Depending how she feels about it, but if it were me – I would

convince (bribe/donate/pay) crèches to put the catalogs in the kids'

backpacks.

- Introduce her brand to kid’s blogs.

Nothing fancy. Interaction with the market will tell her where to improve and

how to proceed.

It is about testing baby, without much capital outlay.

The idea here is to help you understand that you have the power to start

your business.

You have to do the following:

List the products you want to sell.




Break each product down, i.e. the components and processes involved –

the makeup and the cost thereto.

Evaluate which products are easy to make. When you have dismantled

the products, you will then realise what products are easy and affordable

for you to start with.

Then analyze which of the products could bring easy attention to your

business and make quicker and easier sales.

Evaluate which other things you could do without

Then it becomes easier for your mind to decide which things you do not

to start with. In Mbali’s case it is renting a shop, and that she can start

with just caps, belts and t-shirts – with her little R5000.

If there is any part you do not understand in this tutorial, ask me questions.

I will answer all questions.

You can even ask me specific questions about the businesses you want to

start.

But please give detail.

The question cannot be ‘I want to start a laundry business, where do I start?’

You have to give me detailed insights: where are you in the business, what is

stopping you, etc.

Put your questions in the comments section on this page here

www.tiisetsomaloma.com/startbusinesseasy. Or email me on

[email protected].


http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/startbusinesseasy

mailto:[email protected]



Other ways you can get help from me to

start a business

Print books in South Africa | Amazon | iBookstore | Kobo | Barnes &

Noble

THE ANXIOUS ENTREPRENEUR

FORGET THE BUSINESS PLAN USE THIS SHORT MODEL

TOWNSHIP BIZ FASTRACK TALES OF AN AFRICAN

ENTREPRENEUR


http://www.tiisetsomaloma.com/shop

https://www.amazon.com/Tiisetso-Maloma/e/B00CELPOOK/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/tiisetso-maloma/id625327309?mt=11

https://www.kobo.com/za/en/search?query=Tiisetso%20Maloma&fcsearchfield=Author

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Tiisetso%20Maloma%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Tiisetso%20Maloma%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall



TOWNSHIP BIZ ADJACENT

AFRICAN B2C MILLIONS

N.B. I charge a minimal amount to startups and idea stage ventures.

Tiisetso Maloma

For more information on me, visit my website – www.tiisetsomaloma.com.





Email any queries to [email protected].


© Tiisetso Maloma All Rights Reserved €¦ · entrepreneurship: The Anxious Entrepreneur, Forget...

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