COVID-19 - Lock down

[Theodore]

Adrian has summed it up very well. Most small entrepreneurs are extremely good at what they do, but lack the necessary admin and management skills. They see an opportunity and they have the balls to go for it. Unfortunately, business, like farming, is much more complicated and that is where the value of a good mentor, business coach or accountant that has the ability to see the bigger picture, comes in.
The biggest problem of self employed people is that they often get so busy chasing after business, that they isolate themselves. They miss out on important new developments or legislation and even opportunities. I have found value in joining our Chamber of Commerce and also a small group (forum) of entrepreneurs and business people from diverse backgrounds to discuss and share issues. That has also taught me the value of networking. Funny that people who are always saying how busy they are, are the one's who get the least work done?

I agree with both you Blurock and Adrianh. It comes down to 3 keys things:
1. Identifying the right skills
2. Having a viable strategy acquire or develop those skills
3. Implementing/applying them as efficiently and effectively as possible

You've nailed it when you said that many business owners are so occupied with the running of the business, the daily operational and process issues, that they miss out on vital opportunities to develop themselves and, by implication, grow their business. The above 3 key factors are where working with a coach can provide much value. Sometimes it's not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it's just about having someone help you to get clarity on where you may need to tweak or add to the skills/expertise you already have, and how to do it as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

And it's an excellent idea to reach out and network with other entrepreneurs and business owners. Besides being a good forum to interact and share frustrations and challenges, networking in this way has two other benefits:
1. You can get access to information that you perhaps otherwise would not have learned about
2. They get to learn about you and your business, and could potentially market your business to their customers/clients

Avoiding the hamster wheel dilemma is key. It's all good and well to be working working working, but, in the end, you may just be spinning your wheels and not going anywhere.

[ians]

1. Identifying the right skills
2. Having a viable strategy acquire or develop those skills
3. Implementing/applying them as efficiently and effectively as possible

I dont agree.

[adrianh]

Ian, I need your help. How do I stop the annoying ads on the Forum? I do not get ads in any other site.

I run Firefox with Adblock Plus, PopupBlocker Ultimate, AdBlocker Ultimate, uBlockOrigin, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials and Enhancer For Youtube. I get NO ADS - EVER - on Facebook, YouTube, or any other site for that matter. If a site misbehaves all it takes is to look at what it is connecting to via uBlockOrigin and block the offending URL

I must ad that I also have a mass of blocked URLs in my hosts file to stop connections from known sources.

A computer on the internet today is like a huge septic tank with the sewer of advertising flowing into it. You have to block 95% of all incoming communications and just to get by. Android is 1000x worse and you need to use a good firewall lie NoRootFirewall to black a large percentage of the garbage.

This is my next electronics project:

Pi-hole® Network-wide Ad Blocking

https://pi-hole.net/

[ezeakonam]

Life has not been the same since lockdown, and I pray it becomes over soon, we can no longer go to our businesses as we used to and if you don't have enough cash and foodstuffs then it will be harder to stay home but it's all for our own good.

[ians]

Life has not been the same since lockdown, and I pray it becomes over soon, we can no longer go to our businesses as we used to and if you don't have enough cash and foodstuffs then it will be harder to stay home but it's all for our own good.

I asked myself this question ...if what we are doing is to protect the old and sick from getting the virus ...why did they not put all the old and sick into lockdown and protect them from the young and healthy ...introduce social distancing to the rest.. and setup the hospitals to assist anyone who gets sick.

I watch the news ...the people being interviewed and the ones in the background dont seem too concerned about the virus... the one minister walking with her team through the hospital like she is immune to the virus... all of them right next to each other.

Something is not right here in SA ...either they are not doing the tests like the rest of the world ... not disclosing the numbers or maybe our warm climate is not allowing the virus to kill as many people... or should i be a little more patient ...the shyte is still going to hit the fan?

If you compare the numbers to other countries ...only 7 in SA ?

I see there is a video doing the rounds (dont know if it is false news so i havent attached a link) about them wanting to start testing vaccines in Africa... I suppose they could offer food to desperate African countries and people would be willing to let them do anything.

[ians]

Something nobody thought of... the famers who supplied all the restaurants and stuff ...which are all shut down are sitting with tons of fruit and vegetables and no customers ...if the government was smart they would be buying up all this fruit and veg and distributing it to the people in need.

[Derlyn]

Something nobody thought of... the famers who supplied all the restaurants and stuff ...which are all shut down are sitting with tons of fruit and vegetables and no customers ...if the government was smart they would be buying up all this fruit and veg and distributing it to the people in need.

I disagree.

More fruit and vegetables are being consumed now than ever before.

With everyone on lockdown, their eating habits have changed. They are eating more ... not less.

It's only the venue that has changed.


Cheers and peace out ... Derek

[ians]

I disagree.

More fruit and vegetables are being consumed now than ever before.

With everyone on lockdown, their eating habits have changed. They are eating more ... not less.

It's only the venue that has changed.


Cheers and peace out ... Derek

I agree that some people are trying to eat healthier but R21.00 per kg for bananas ...eeeish who can afford that right now.


This is going to be the challenge -------- "It's only the venue that has changed."

[ians]

I have spent the morning going through footage of customers properties being robbed of copper piping... everyone is on shutdown and at home yet these %^&$#$% ers are still loading bags of copper ...what i would like to know is who is buying it during a lock down?

Working in teams of 2 ...one walks up and down the road like he is collecting scraps on the floor keeping an eye out for cops ...while the other hops the fence and rips the pipes off the side of the building... and off they go ...the neighbour across the road who is at home must have heard the water spraying into the air and comes out has a look up and down the road and goes back into his house

[ians]

Now the big question ...no thanks to Telkoms usual crappy service ...i cant download the footage from the DVR.

Is downloading footage from a DVR regarded as essential ...and 2 of the cameras have been tampered with ...they need to be checked readjusted and reset.

if i dont go to site tomorrow ...the data will be lost and we will have no evidence to prosecute.

[Derlyn]

This is all so unnecessary.

https://jermdraws.com/blog/does-social-distancing-work?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=5e89b1d05ef68c79d140ad85&ss_email_id=5e89bc6c91278b122fa2036f&ss_campaign_name=Some+lockdown+cartoons+for+you&ss_campaign_sent_date=2020-04-05T11%3A10%3A02Z&fbclid=IwAR18DOc2u-fF5PZkS52g6Vi3cAOLuEQOHm7onCHaZHlidr_3CbQbeFdh-U8#

Cheers and peace out ... Derek

[Theodore]

I dont agree.

Please elaborate.

[adrianh]

Something nobody thought of... the famers who supplied all the restaurants and stuff ...which are all shut down are sitting with tons of fruit and vegetables and no customers ...if the government was smart they would be buying up all this fruit and veg and distributing it to the people in need.

I work with 2 international food manufacturers. The problem internationally is that logistics is totally screwed - there is simply no transport going anywhere. Logistics is far bigger than one country.

[adrianh]

This was posted at 11:00 06/04/2020 by the group ADMIN on my daughter's English teaching FB group this morning. My daughter is about to start teaching on Tuesday!!!!!!!

....and people wonder why South Africa is going nowhere...

[ians]

Please elaborate.

got too much going on at the moment ...I will as soon as i get a gap.