Business the South African Way :)

I sometimes write about pitching for new business. Well pitching for new business in South Africa can sometimes have subtle unexpected challenges (especially for me -- the poor guy from Benoni):

Three contractors - one from Lenasia , another from Pretoria , and the third from Benoni - are bidding to fix a broken fence at the Union Buildings in Pretoria .

They go with a Union Buildings official to examine the fence.

The Pretoria contractor takes out a tape measure, does some measuring, and then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about R900: R400 for materials, R400 for my crew, and R100 profit for me."

The Benoni contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, "I can do this job for R700: R300 for materials, R300 for my crew, and R100 profit for me."

The Lenasia contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the Union Buildings brother and whispers, "R2,700."

The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?"

The Lenasia contractor whispers back, "R1000 for me, R1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Benoni to fix the fence."

"Done!" replies the government official.

Thanks to William McIlree for passing this on (it made me laugh)

Principles of High Perfomance

The other day I was reading Triathlete Magazine and I came across
11 PRINCIPLES that high performing athletes tend to live by. The more I read through them the more I thought that they are even more relevant for an entrepreneur than a triathlete -- so whether you are a triathlete or and entrepreneur -- I reckon that these principles are valuable and important:

1. Learning over ignorance
2. Simplicity over complexity
3. Proficiency over incompetence
4. Excellence over mediocrity
5. Process over results
6. Progress over deterioration
7. Decisiveness over vacillation
8. Balance over extremism
9. Efficiency over wastefulness
10. Confidence over self doubt
11. Humility over arrogance