Newsletter #12
Hello
Newsletter #12! That suggests a year has passed since the first newsletter. A year today I completed my last day at my previous employer and 1 March will mark the first day of year 2. Time truly flies.
Some lessons learned:
- There are more people that believe in you and want you to succeed than you think- it’s not just your family and those dependent on you. Lesson – cultivate a large network. Not just of potential clients, but people who are prepared to help you and mentor you. You will be surprised at the goodwill you have.
- Keep that goodwill. People buy people first – make sure you are dependable. If you don’t know – say so. You will earn more respect for admitting you do not know the answer than if they get the wrong one and you will keep the goodwill. Once you admit hat you don’t know – find out what the answer is. That will increase the goodwill.
- Do not burn bridges. We count among our best clients some former employers and among our best sounding boards former colleagues. If you decide to leave anything behind, behave like you would want the other person to behave – do what you say you will do, do not become arrogant, do not become aggressive. Give a little to get a lot.
- Have fun. It is work yes, but if you can keep looking forward to doing it then you are on the right track.
SONA was a tragedy. Not just because private electricity generation was the only positive point, but due to the reaction SONA had on people outside of SA. In a meeting with a client last week he said he was visiting suppliers and customers in Europe when SONA was delivered, and they were not impressed with the news clips their news agencies decided to air. Unfortunately, foreign investment will not just happen if you ask nicely, you must also show that you can manage your affairs.
Three pigeons sat on a ledge. The three pigeons decided to fly away. How many pigeons were left on the ledge? Three – because deciding to fly away and actually flying away are two vastly different things. It is long past decisions being taken. Action is now necessary.
The good news from the National Budget is that NO taxes have increased with tax savings for individuals being in excess of inflation. Treasury recognises that collections remain low due to a stagnant economy and higher tax rates will in fact hurt whatever growth there may be. On the business front some tax incentives may be repealed/reduced and there is also planned amendment to interest deductions and the use of tax losses from one year to the next. It also appears that there are planned relaxation of exchange control. The budget is however only an overview and the devil will be in the detail once published.
Now it is time to implement the savings to Government costs by fixing SOE’s (fixing = terminating?), reduce the Government wage bill and employee incentives. It is now time for those pigeons to fly!