Interesting thread. Deja Vu.
Invested my pension into a quality product to replace imports. Could not get funding because people (Banks & Finance houses) did not believe that we could do what we said we would. Govt over the moon with the product but have not received one cent in spite of BEE. Got into bed with the wrong shareholders but in the end we have a business that is now well established and part of a listed entity (another mistake?).
Changed course and now have even more innovative products without the burden of shareholders, exploiters and crooks. I have a very good relationship with my suppliers which are giving the most amazing service. I am now collaborating with customers and suppliers to supply a variety of products and are signing up new customers on a regular basis. We are never too old to learn.
Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...![]()
The difficulty for banks and finance houses is that they make decisions based on math (by their very nature) - not faith. Another issue is that they are faced with hundreds of people all the time who have great, and not so great ideas.... so they get to pick n choose. Banks want to make money like everybody else so they are not going to put their money at risk.
The one thing that life has taught me is that you DO NOT want dependencies nor partners - Nobody gets stabbed in the back by their enemy....their friends maybe... but their business partners will look them in the eye while stabbing them in the neck....
That website I mentioned earlier ?
People had told me not to go in with friends, but as I knew the friend 35 years I thought I'd go ahead. Web site did well for 2 years but then all collapsed. So, I've decided that should I want to do anything, I rather do it myself than rely on others .
@adrianh Of interest, when you walk into Makro and see the products on their shelf - do you know how they got there ?
I'm curious as to your understanding of the real world?
When you go into the shops - do you know how products get onto shelves?
Going through your post history, you seem like one of the most vocal and opiniated members here - but your ideas on business leave me scratching my head :/
But as you said, they are views and no one can take that away from you![]()
@DaveA - Could you please ask this person to to refrain from person attacks.
I expected this to be an interesting thread. And it has not disappointed.
My comment in general to the thread topic, before I deal with the moderation request, is as follows:
It is hard to pick a quality signal from all the noise.
It is a lot easier to see opportunities after they are gone than to see them coming.
The reason why people say yes is ordinarily more consequential than the reason why they said no.
Probably also worthwhile to suggest doing some reading on the pareto principle.
Reality is the path to success is most often built on lots and lots of failure. I would be wary of becoming obsessive of any particular part of those failures - for most of us it is likely to be harmful to our state of mind.
The good news is fantastic success is often because of being exceptionally good at just one or two things - the balance being pretty average or even sub-par. It gives everyone hope - we just need to find our own one or two things that will make us "rich".
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Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services
Adrian is correct.
It has been an interesting and insightful engagement which has given many of us pause for thought. Let's not wreck it by "playing the man".
Shall we rephrase the question and ask "How do products get on the shelf at Makro?"
I suspect this might get some interesting responses.
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Alcocks Electrical Services | Alcocks Pest Control & Entomological Services | Alcocks Hygiene Services
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