The truth about South Africa

[adrianh]

98% of people are at least one of...and many more of the following: useless, lazy, stupid, egotistical, complacent and many other nasty words.

I agree with HR, there is plenty of work but it is terribly difficult to find good people. Some people are dedicated and work their asses off, why, because it is their nature. Unfortunately those people are few and far between. Most people see work as the bull$ht they have to put up with to finance their leisure time. The reality of the matter is that the single biggest expense in many small businesses is staff salaries. The staff need to be productive enough that they are able to pay their own salaries, overhead costs and still make a profit. I've found that staff are simply oblivious to the fact that their salaries are directly related to their productivity. They seem to think that they get paid a fixed salary no matter what they do.

I have become extremely negative towards the idea of employing more people. I would far rather automate what I can and scale the rest down. I am tired of people coming to work late, f*ck1ng work up, being lazy and general complacency. Small business is a team sport...if the sport is soccer and the team is such that they always lose then it is better to get rid of the team and take up boxing. That way the ex-employer is free to fight whomever agrees to fight him and he takes full responsibility for the outcome.

[tec0]

98% of people are at least one of...and many more of the following: useless, lazy, stupid, egotistical, complacent and many other nasty words.

I agree with HR, there is plenty of work but it is terribly difficult to find good people. Some people are dedicated and work their asses off, why, because it is their nature. Unfortunately those people are few and far between. Most people see work as the bull$ht they have to put up with to finance their leisure time. The reality of the matter is that the single biggest expense in many small businesses is staff salaries. The staff need to be productive enough that they are able to pay their own salaries, overhead costs and still make a profit. I've found that staff are simply oblivious to the fact that their salaries are directly related to their productivity. They seem to think that they get paid a fixed salary no matter what they do.

I have become extremely negative towards the idea of employing more people. I would far rather automate what I can and scale the rest down. I am tired of people coming to work late, f*ck1ng work up, being lazy and general complacency. Small business is a team sport...if the sport is soccer and the team is such that they always lose then it is better to get rid of the team and take up boxing. That way the ex-employer is free to fight whomever agrees to fight him and he takes full responsibility for the outcome.

And yet... Today I met a friend of mine for coffee like me see has problems and we share a support group. She spoke to me about the concern she had where she work. Her words "My boss isn't doing enough and the business will fail" She is a talented programmer and is teaching me the skill as we speak. Just saying all the nasty things you can say about the employee you can say the same about to the employer.

[Blurock]

Her words "My boss isn't doing enough and the business will fail" She is a talented programmer and is teaching me the skill as we speak. Just saying all the nasty things you can say about the employee you can say the same about to the employer.

Small business is a team sport...if the sport is soccer and the team is such that they always lose then it is better to get rid of the team and take up boxing. That way the ex-employer is free to fight whomever agrees to fight him and he takes full responsibility for the outcome.

Any successful business is run as a team. The captain (manager) cannot just sit on his arse and give orders. he has to set an example. The team members are equally responsible for keeping the business afloat. After all, it is their livelihood. You have all the right to challenge your supervisor or boss if you do not agree with his/her decisions, e.g. breaking safety regulations, abusing authority etc, but you have no right to criticize or sabotage the company while it is still paying your salary. That would put your own salary in jeopardy. If you do not like it, you have the right to take your skills elsewhere.

Successful people build each other up. They motivate, inspire and push each other. Unsuccessful people just hate, blame and complain.

[BusFact]

To get a little philosophical on the matter, I have a problem with the employer/employee relationship full stop. It should either be a partnership or a customer/supplier relationship. Our current labour law complicates the employer/employee arrangement, but even if it didn't the whole concept still seems to lead to employers who treat staff as servants or employees who settle into a bog of complacency or even incompetence.

My personal opinion is that there should not be employers or employees. If someone requires their orders to be delivered they should hire a delivery service. If they require that delivery service to be on stand by for when they need it, they must pay. Its a supplier - customer relationship.

To expect a person to become a parent to their staff is unreasonable.
To expect a person to be indefinitely subservient to another is unreasonable.

Scrap it altogether I say, but then yes I am aware that first pigs will have to fly.

[Blurock]

To get a little philosophical on the matter, I have a problem with the employer/employee relationship full stop. It should either be a partnership or a customer/supplier relationship. Our current labour law complicates the employer/employee arrangement, but even if it didn't the whole concept still seems to lead to employers who treat staff as servants or employees who settle into a bog of complacency or even incompetence.

My personal opinion is that there should not be employers or employees. If someone requires their orders to be delivered they should hire a delivery service. If they require that delivery service to be on stand by for when they need it, they must pay. Its a supplier - customer relationship.

To expect a person to become a parent to their staff is unreasonable.
To expect a person to be indefinitely subservient to another is unreasonable.

Scrap it altogether I say, but then yes I am aware that first pigs will have to fly.

That is where the team concept comes to its full. It is not easy and one should select your team carefully and on merit (not on entitlement because of your skin colour). Once every member of the team understand their function, responsibility and place in the team, things start getting a little easier.

I dealt with a transport company years ago who gave their staff excellent training that made it clear how the system works. They had training interventions which entailed playing a very realistic business game. The staff member was given a virtual business which he had to run. He had to buy trucks, obtain finance and then have a budget to operate the business. He had to buy fuel, tyres and have the trucks serviced. He was given the option to spend money on insuring the trucks or running the risk of not insuring. The game included labour relations, strikes and the lot. He also had to obtain business by putting in a quote and then to complete the job on time.

This game had an easy, entry level version, as well as as a more advanced version for more experienced employees. Everyone, from the lowest to the highest ranked employee had to complete the game as part of their internal training and points were scored on progress.

I have always had a dream of developing a similar business game that could be adapted to different business types, but never got that far.

[adrianh]

This is all good and well in theory but the reality is that the small business owner doesn't have all the answers, nor cash to put the perfect team together. And yes, all people have flaws, employers and employees alike. Most businesses try to make the most of available resources, be it money, staff, time, whatever. The fact of the matter is that just as an employer knows that he is not able to hire perfect staff the employee should know that he doesn't work for a perfect employer. Either party should have the right to fire one another should they be unhappy with the relationship. The problem in this country is that the labour law protect employees to such a degree that it is near impossible to get rig of people who do not meet expectations. Employees know that the law is on their side and that the employer has to go through a long and arduous process to get rid of them. Look, I have no problem with working with good people who pull their weight and understand their responsibilities but I do have a problem with the fact that the employer is forced to put up with a lot of nonsense for a long time.

I think that the biggest problem in actual fact is not employers vs employees or lack of money, I think that the problem is lack of business systems and management skills. If businesses were set up in the first place with clearly thought out business systems and documented management systems were put in place from the outset then a lot of the issues would not exist. I deal with many small businesses on a daily basis and it is striking that none have them have even the most rudimentary systems in place. I am not just referring to accounting systems but rather to broader business systems. I believe that most businesses could be structurally blueprinted using lets say 100 blueprints. That blueprint could be provided as an off the shelf business superstructure having the specific details tweaked where needed.

Lets take 5 small furniture manufacturing companies. They are 99% the same in all fundamental business principles and structure and as such could use the same basic business blueprint. That blueprint should cover every aspect of the business. I think that a bright CA with the help of a good legal person and an IT person could put a system like that together that is mostly web based. Lets say a small business buys into it, they have to use the IT system (financial management \ inventory management....and and and) they are given the appropriate local IT system, manuals, books etc and also access to good business minds. Imagine a little company running into a cashflow problem..the CA could look at the books online, figure out what is going wrong based on the information and advise him accordingly. I would be more that happy to spend a couple of hundred rand a month knowing that the web based system not only handles the bookkeeping but also the staff leave, irp5's, guides me to taking action against bad employess or whatever. The bottom line is that 90% of small businesses spend 80% of their time running after cash because they simply don't have the skills nor access to the knowhow to actually run a proper business. BTW: they spend the other 20% of the time stressing about everything because they don't actually know what they should know about business.

Maybe my rant was a bit off topic but I have come to realize that a business is primarily centred around information management. If the information management is correct then the specifics of the business falls into place fairly easily. When I speak of information I am not just referring to the stuff in PASTEL, I am referring to every single bit of information floating around in a company.

If I could start my silly little business over again I would start by learning proper financial management and find or developing a sound business management tool...then only, and only if the numbers make sense and the business looks viable on paper would I even consider getting into it.

Entrepreneurship does not mean that one should f*k voort because if you try hard enough you will succeed. It means that you should develop the skills to orchestrate a business from cradle to handing over the keys to a the company that buys you out for a huge profit. We make the mistake of become self employed rather than creators of fully functional stand alone entities that could be sold for profit.

[BusFact]

I can't fault you on your main point, which seems to be that having good management systems in place makes for a much better business.

I also like your point on the financial, management, IT and whatever else infrastructure being available online. Most companies have a heck of a lot in common when it comes to the admin and I think it drowns a lot of smaller startups. Having a specialist file 100 EMP201s for 100 businesses is a much quicker process that 100 novices each trying to figure out how to file their own return. Its a tough sale though, because small businesses try and keep costs low and one inefficient way of doing this is to try and do everything yourself.

Not sure I agree with the learning proper stuff before you start - unless its something we can get taught in high schools. I reckon developing systems and learning financial management before one has even made your first sale, is just adding another barrier to entry. Its different if you are going to be starting up with a couple mil of seed capital, but for most people boot strapping their venture .... nah just jump in and learn as you go.

One further minor issue is you saying that becoming self employed is a mistake - I on the other hand reckon everyone should be self employed. Stuff this employer-employee nonsense. I suspect though that you meant that the mistake is entrepreneurs creating a job for themselves. One which requires their skills and expertise in order for it to run. Rather they should be creating self sufficient entities.

[tec0]

Funny enough, a few months ago i got involved in something similar.
Problems;
> No money in company
> No structure or planning
> No proper monitoring of expenses and payment.

Result company was on the verge of collapse.

First few steps i took was as follow:

> Created a Quotation form
> Created a Order form
> Created a Job card system
> Implemented a deposit system
> Implemented a stock form
> Implemented final payment or COD "cash on delivery"

In detail the Quotation system was designed on product cost, time taken to make product and other cost THEN only the markup and based on the amount and cost before markup a deposit was calculated to cover ALL cost... This ensured that there was always money for the job at hand.

The Job card and Order form take effect once the Quotation is accepted and deposit is paid in full. That way the supplier could be contacted and the materials could be collected KNOWING all is paid in full and NO money was owed. When Stock is delivered the stock form is completed and a stock take is done to insure everything was in order AND that the job can continue without any nasty worries about "do we have enough"

Once the job is completed the customer is contacted "ahead of time" so that shipment and final payment can take effect. Once the money is paid in full we deliver ON TIME every time without any excuse or anything like that.

Right now this business is doing 100% better then what it was. There is money in the bank STOCK taking is a joy and employees know how much time they have that everything they need is provided for "to do the job" and they have more time to do proper quality control.

Other stuff i must mention is a log book, "when stock goes in and out" all of it was done using good old Excel... and because of the deposit system and COD system we had ZERO losses for 2015... Also money don't get wasted.

[Blurock]

I agree with adrian that good systems are essential in businesses. Once a system is in place, everyone should understand how the system works. That saves the manager a lot of "nuisance" time like authorising someone to go to the toilet. If you know the rules and understand the system, you can work alone and not have to wait for the manager's instruction all the time.

Unfortunately most South African workers have been spoilt by useless unions who are more interested in their own politics and power plays than the worker or the economy. As an example, a worker will refuse to clean a workshop because the union tells him "it is not his job". Our workers have little work ethics and have one of the lowest productivity figures in the developed world.

Compared to the Japanese and the Germans, we do not even feature. That is why it took less than 20 years to rebuild Hiroshima and Germany after the 2nd World War. In 20 years of "democracy" we have not rebuilt the country, but have gone backward with higher unemployment and an economy teetering on the brink of junk status. The next downgrade is just another strike or power shed away...!!

[Butch Hannan]

Is not everyone a manager to a greater or lesser degree of his own little dirt heap within the firm? I have been in sales most of my life and I believe that the biggest motivating factor is the setting of specific targets. There must be an incentive reward for going over the set targets. Each and every person in the firm needs to be rewarded if the set target is exceeded. People who are target driven generally perform a lot better.

I have a great dislike for trade unions and, with government, I consider them to be big wankers. It would be a joyous day in South Africa if trade unions started negotiations with an offer of more productivity. Just imagine if the unions opened the negotiations with these words, " our workers are going to extract an extra 2000 tons of ore a day for you. What will you do for us?" Unfortunately the "modus operandi" for unions is "more pay for less work".

[wynn]

I believe that we pay just enough to keep an employee and they do just enough to keep their job.

If we introduced a system of paying the employees a decent share of the profits as and when they occur, the group of them will ensure that greater profits occur more often and regularly.

Sure there will be problems setting this system up but once it starts working properly the entire staff will police each other to ensure efficiency, productivity and profit are maintained at the highest level, a slacker will be chased up or out and theft or shrinkage whether of stock, time, facilities or transport will be almost eliminated, even down to the 'tea girl' who will be hovering around a client offering tea or coffee.

As a business owner one would be better off taking say 50% of a greater profit than 100% of a much lesser amount and the bonus is you would probably personally do a lot less to achieve that.

[HR Solutions]

Is not everyone a manager to a greater or lesser degree of his own little dirt heap within the firm? I have been in sales most of my life and I believe that the biggest motivating factor is the setting of specific targets. There must be an incentive reward for going over the set targets. Each and every person in the firm needs to be rewarded if the set target is exceeded. People who are target driven generally perform a lot better.

Butch you are 100% correct. I work with young people (ladies) and they are all target driven. They are also people that enjoy instant gratification (I think this is the new generation way) . Most of them can work without a manager, except obviously the new ones. They know that their salary + commission is totally dependant on how they work. Some of them have their desk totally under control that they can come in half an hour late and leave half an hour early. They reap the rewards at the end of the month when they get good commission. And as wynn says above, business owners should not be greedy - they should employ the correct staff, pay them better via profit share or commission structure and everybody benefits at the end of the day.

In the same aspect - those days of employees working for a company expecting a huge salary for basic minimal work is far between. Only large corporates can afford this.

[adrianh]

The problem with target driving a department or even an individual is that they become so fixated on meeting "their" target that they start to serve only their own pockets. Salesmen steal one another's clients, departments screw one another for the numbers, etc. I agree that being target driven is a good thing but the targets should be company wide and everybody should benefit equally. The admin girl will never be in a position to make huge commission on sales yet the sale is dependent on her doing her job.

BUSFACT - with regard to my own feelings towards me entering the business market - I really think that if I had learned all about systems and financial management that I would have done things differently. I'm not against being self employed or having a small business - to the contrary, I think that each and every person should do so... all that I am saying is given where I am now, I could have accomplished a hell of a lot more in the same time had I known then what I know now. Of course we all say that but I do think though that we don't always need to learn through our own mistakes, many people made mistakes before us and that we should be open to learning fro those mistakes (which of course I never was...and my youngest daughter unfortunately is the same...we have to learn by bumping our own heads - the problem with doing things this way is that you may just die in the process)

I think that a large part of the problem with entrepreneurs is that they are technicians and not business oriented. Being a technician means that I want to be able to do everything myself and I want to show everybody how to do everything. I love what I do and as such will do it for free just to be able to do what I love....this is a recipe for disaster. I eventually learned that my responsibility from a technical point of view is to enable my staff to do what is expected of them as efficiently as possible.

[HR Solutions]

The problem with target driving a department or even an individual is that they become so fixated on meeting "their" target that they start to serve only their own pockets. Salesmen steal one another's clients, departments screw one another for the numbers, etc. I agree that being target driven is a good thing but the targets should be company wide and everybody should benefit equally. The admin girl will never be in a position to make huge commission on sales yet the sale is dependent on her doing her job.

Yes this is true. We all hope and strive to ensure that the targets do not affect anything. We have tried to structure our targets/commissions that it benefits the company, colleagues and themselves - it forces them to work together, even between the two branches. We spend a fortune on recruitment/data packages every month which is their tool to make it work. They have to work together in some cases - teamwork is of the utmost importance.

salesmen steal one another's clients,

In their case this cannot be done - with the package we have, once a consultant has obtained a client due to various stages - they are allocated this client on the data base. They cannot then just change it. Its basically their client.

[adrianh]

My employees and I had a long chat and we are on track again.