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Until the 2014 winners are announced!

About the EOY competition

The Sanlam / Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® awards aims to honour, benefit and uplift South African SMEs. The competition celebrates excellence in entrepreneurship, serving as an inspiration to others to succeed in the world of business.
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Let your garden grow

Let your garden grow

For Justin Sam, Sanlam/ Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year® 2014 entrant, building a sustainable business means getting your hands dirty, writes Jane Steinacker-Keys. Even though Justin Sam knew little about plants when he started his vertical and rooftop landscaping business, what he did have was his training and experience as an aeronautical engineer – training which instilled in him a sense of systems, processes and planning, which allowed him to innovate and create self-contained gardens to add greenery and life in the most unexpected places. In essence, Vertical and Rooftop Landscapes gives homes, office parks and developments an opportunity more

Articles

  • Efficiency can lead to success

    Organisations that approach things with order, common sense, consistency and persistence will ultimately succeed. If you are going to deliver on your promise you have to learn to listen to what and how you may deliver on your promise. Businesses are often consumed in their actions and forget to take time to evaluate their service or product delivery. Customer’s needs and expectations may have changed and if the organisation is too set in its ways, the opportunity may be lost. Listening is a skill and like any other skill, the less attention you give to it, the more mistakes you make. One sure way of ensuring sustainability is by being efficient and the source of efficiency may be to listen to customers, motivate staff, having suitable technology, finding your niche etc. By being more efficient you can eliminate returns and re-doing the work, this can result in huge cost savings. Successful entrepreneurs know the importance of system and controls. They are prepared to invest time and money into this as they know that by getting the systems and controls in place; their business can thrive, thereby ensuring long term sustainability of the business. Getting an outsiders perspective of the entire operation may not be a bad idea. Sometimes an outsider in a form of a consultant may bring in new ideas and ways to improve the business processes. While small businesses often struggle to afford the consultants, one cannot overlook the value that experts can bring to the business.

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