Tag: BusinessGrowth

A practical guide to working on your business - helping founders and leaders build organisations that perform well, act with integrity and endure.‎ Many entrepreneurs, founders, executives and board members spend their days immersed in urgent business demands. They solve problems, manage teams and respond to constant operational pressures. However, the greatest challenge for any enterprise involves learning how to step back and work on the business, not only in it.

As more South African companies expand into African markets, one reality is becoming increasingly clear. Economic growth across the continent is accelerating. However, talent mobility faces significant constraints. Whether entering West, East or Central Africa, companies encounter two recurring challenges.

I speak to business owners every week. Many have been using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for marketing for months. However, they still cannot explain what it has done for their revenue. These businesses have content going out. They run ads. They stack subscriptions. Yet no system connects any of it. As a result, the AI stays busy. The business does not grow.

One of the single scariest challenges for a growth business is when they must make the calls to “level-up” on their talent within their organisation. The standard monthly cost for an experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is between R2m and R5m per annum. Gulp. For a growth business this represents a very significant investment. Not only are you bringing in an expensive resource, but this is also a person who will interrogate your business in a way that your current bookkeeper or accountant never has.

Let’s clear something up straight away. There is no such thing as overnight success. This is where the overnight success myth begins. It’s an impressive phrase. However, it belongs in the same category as “instant legacy” or “effortless empire”. In fact, the overnight success myth is catchy and marketable, but largely fiction.

Small retailers are not under-digitised. They are over-apped. POS, stock, payments, loyalty and marketing all sit on different systems, each with its own login, cost and learning curve.

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that sets in around the third unsolicited LinkedIn message of the morning. You know the one. “Hi [Whatever your name is], I came across your profile and thought you might be interested...” Delete. The irony is clear. LinkedIn was built to make professional connections easier. However, it has become a sophisticated cold-calling machine with a blue logo.

In the early days of any startup, growth often comes from sheer determination, boundless creativity and relentless hustle. Founders and their small teams wear multiple hats, juggling product development, marketing, customer service and operations all at once. However, as businesses scale, what got them to their current stage may no longer be sufficient or effective for the next phase.

In today’s South African corporate landscape, shaped by governance scrutiny, activist shareholders, geopolitical volatility, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) pressure and rapid technological disruption, the role of the CEO has changed fundamentally. Boards are no longer looking for steady operators. They are looking for strategic architects of resilience, growth and trust. Achieving CEO excellence is now essential.

We’ve all felt it - the quiet, heavy pause when we look back on our business journey and a wave of “if only” hits. Maybe it was a client who never approached. Perhaps it was a daring idea you hesitated on. Or maybe it was a moment with your team that went uncelebrated. That lingering feeling whispers, “I could have done more … I should have tried harder”.