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If I am being brutally honest with myself I would have to admit that my MBA did not prepare me for running my own small businesses financials. I learned how to do a discounted cash flow for the valuation of a company, I could interpret annual financial statements and I can pull together a project based cost accounting model. BUT over the last 18 months as a Solopreneur, I have found myself falling into every single one of these pits at one time or another. Because the lecture theatre does not prepare you to get down and dirty with start-up…

Strategic Goal Setting Series: Week2 Align & Connect: “Why doesn’t anyone get it?” Hello again, Reader 👋 Once upon a time, I managed my first software project… I had a complicated diagram on a whiteboard, a meeting with the sales team of the delivery partner, where I waved my hands and described my exciting vision. They got excited about my vision and made promises on behalf of their technical team. I hired a project manager and defined project milestones who worked with the technical lead worked towards delivering a list of criteria against which the platform could deliver. But it…

Strategic Goal Setting Series: Week 1 – Focus & Commit: “I’m doing all the things… so why do I feel stuck?” Hello again,👋 Ever feel like you’re juggling 10 things at once… and still making no real progress? That was me. Last Month… Five projects in the air. 2 coaching clients, launching a read-along and a course… A colour coded outlook calendar that made me look productive. But the truth? I was exhausted and missing my goals. I was doing everything… and not at all sure any more what really mattered. Until I listened to the new book on brand…

Quick gut check… “This quarter, I’m going to simplify…” “This year, we’re getting serious about sales.” “I just want to feel less reactive and more… on purpose.” “We need to postpone the strategy session, I have to focus in this client deliverable.” Sound familiar? You set the goal — and then life happens. Inbox. Firefighting. Other people’s priorities. And that goal? It quietly drifts to the edges of your calendar. Most goal setting fails. But not because you’re lazy. It fails because most systems don’t actually work in real business life. That’s what we’re fixing — together in my next…

I once worked with a lady who used to say: “If you give people options, they will choose.” In my years of product and service design I have found this to be absolutely true. And the more choice you give the more chaos you introduce into the business. Like the I.T. service provider who has tailored packages to suit each and every different kind of customer (probably relates to the talent business owner profile). All of a sudden finds the business having to operate ✅ 12 different service packages ✅ 3 pricing tiers ✅ 2 discount options for each one…

Have you ever felt like this: “I’m showing up everywhere,” – “I’m posting, emailing, running ads… but it’s like I’m invisible. No one’s paying attention.” This is me… People often stop me and tell me they love my content and my feed full of tips. You know, my emails were consistent. My product is solid. But something is missing. I know this, because the sales are not pouring in this time round… When I look at my social medial posting for my last course that I ran – it all blended in. No edge. No spark. No reason to stop…

If you own a business I am fairly certain that you would be able to answer this question: “How much was your sales revenue last month?” If that number rolls off your tongue without you having to log into Xero (or Sage / Zoho / QuickBooks…) that’s to be expected. But what if I asked you these follow-up questions: ❓ “What’s your customer acquisition cost?” ❓ “How many of your clients stick around for more than 6 months?” ❓ “Could you take 2 weeks off without everything falling apart?” Those questions are less likely to get a fast and certain…

A while back, I worked with a brilliant healthcare practice owner. She had a full-time receptionist, several clinicians, and an admin assistant. On paper, she had support. In practice? She was still the one answering client WhatsApps at night, checking on invoices, and chasing after overdue clinical notes. Sound familiar? She said to me: “I’ve hired people to help… so why am I still the one doing everything?” It’s a question I hear all the time. And here’s the tough-love answer: You may have hired help… But if you’re still managing tasks instead of setting clear expectations, ​you’ll always be the…

Last year, the title at the bottom of my email read: ​CEO – Chief Everything Officer. At the time, I thought it was a cool. A way to tell people I was a solopreneur. A one-woman powerhouse running the show. But then something shifted. I started speaking with Allon Raiz, who invited me to become his first Flowcode Partner Coach. As we exchanged emails, I noticed something unusual in his signature. It read: ​CEO – Chief Excitement Officer. It stopped me in my tracks. Here was someone whose leadership was defined not by doing everything, but by energizing others. By…

What Type of Business Owner Are You? (And What Might Be Holding You Back?) Not checking your blind spot can kill you… and your business. We’ve all heard the phrase when it comes to driving, but in business, it’s just as deadly. The things we don’t see—the areas we unintentionally neglect—are often the ones that quietly sabotage our success. As a business owner, you might be laser-focused on getting things done, building your brand, or managing your team. But are you focusing on the right things? Are you spending too much time in the weeds, while the strategic work falls…

Growing Your Healthcare Practice: Taking Back Control in a Challenging System “She looked defeated.” That’s what Phumla and I said to each other after getting off a call with a physiotherapist working in private practice. She was done. So demotivated. The excitement she had when she started her practice two years ago had completely faded. Her earnings were tied to what the medical aids were willing to pay, eating into her profitability. The work was constant, but the financial reward? Hardly worth it. She felt trapped, stuck in a cycle that was draining her energy and enthusiasm. “We’ve had no training…

I’m still working hard in December 2024 and I can hardly believe it! The last 6 weeks have been a game-changer—I’ve just had my best sales month yet, bringing on three new 1:1 coaching clients since mid-November! Every single one came through word-of-mouth referrals from my incredible clients. Each of these new clients are eager to make 2025 different. They’ve all booked strategy mornings with me to lock in their plans before the year wraps up. I know the Beach / Bush / Pool is calling your name, but its the last push — there’s still work to be done.…

In today’s world, high-stakes conversations are everywhere. From parliaments, to boardrooms and clinics to kitchens and living rooms, there’s a conversation waiting to happen that could make or break relationships, careers, or lives. Yet, one of the biggest obstacles many people face is the simple fact that they don’t know how to initiate or navigate these crucial moments. I found it particularly interesting that Crucial Conversations, the latest book we’re featuring in the Leaders Library, has recently been translated into Hebrew and Arabic. The significance of that choice of languages reinforces how crucial these skills are across all cultural and…

Hello Reader Is your business starting to feel chaotic? As businesses grow, things often become harder to manage, with processes becoming more complex and disjointed. Whether you’re managing a healthcare practice or running a different type of business, the increasing complexity can feel overwhelming. When operations aren’t streamlined, you spend more time fixing issues than focusing on growth. Small inefficiencies multiply, leaving you and your team constantly putting out fires rather than delivering value to your customers. In The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber highlights the importance of simplifying operations to achieve scale. By creating repeatable systems that anyone in your team…

It’s great to be back. A warm welcome to our new readers who joined us from The Leaders’ Library, where we host enriching read-alongs on must-read business books. This is the third post in our series on “The E Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. We’ve been uncovering strategies for building a business that operates independently, and I’m thrilled to share these powerful concepts with you in this ongoing series. Creating a Business That Runs Itself: The Franchise Model Approach Lauren Dallas once said in a masterclass I attended, “If you can’t step away from your business for 4 weeks, and it keeps…

This is the second post in our series based on “The E Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. The book’s lessons on avoiding common business pitfalls have sparked engaging discussions. I’m excited to bring these valuable insights to you over the next few weeks right here on the blog. In the latest read-along session hosted by The Leader’s Library, we discussed two significant pitfalls that many business owners face: the entrepreneurial seizure and the fatal assumption. Understanding these can help you avoid the common traps that cause many businesses to fail. The Entrepreneurial Seizure and The Fatal Assumption. The Entrepreneurial Seizure is that…

Over the past 18 months, Solutioneers has been journey that my faithful blog readers will have witnessed, exploring various facets of business transformation, leadership, and growth. I realise that the variety of topics, ranging from digital transformation; customer journey mapping; the importance of organisational values and even leadership book reviews may have left my audience wondering “What is going on here?” 🙏Thanks for sticking with me! The list has grown a lot in the last six months, and so I wanted to take a moment to just reintroduce myself, because I have been on a bit of a journey of…

Recently, I attended a networking event that provided an unexpected moment of reflection. Needing a break from standing in heels I haven’t worn for months, I chose a seat next to a lady employed by a state-owned enterprise currently failing miserably at delivering on its mandate—a situation that often casts a shadow on its employees. When I saw her name badge, my initial reaction was an involuntary, expressive “Oh,” accompanied by raised eyebrows. Did my face show contempt or compassion? Her disappointed expression suggested the former, sparking a realization of my unintended slight. We engaged in a poignant conversation about…

There is a major problem with the way that reading is traditionally taught in school – it is not designed for retention. Reading, taught as a solitary process, results in reduced retention, around 10% of what is read (this figure is slightly higher for audio books). However, if you engage with the content experientially you retain 70% of what you have read. If you start applying what you have been reading immediately this jumps up to 90%! How do you read experientially? Read or Listen to the book and make some notes, highlight and jot down your thoughts. Talk about…

Are the humans that work for you the problem, or the solution? With the right leadership I would bet 95% of them are the solution (there’s always one in the group…) It all boils down to perspective. In every obstacle lies an opportunity waiting to be seized. Here are some nuggets that I have gleaned from the books that we cover in our Leaders’ Library read alongs. Four keys to getting people to aim their potential in the right direction: Crystal-clear goals and a reverse engineered roadmap to reach them (How To Grow Your Small Business, Donald Miller). Communication is paramount—inspire…

My all time favorite books on Leadership is Brene Brown’s book Dare to Lead. It speaks to all three of my core values: Truth, Connection and Impact. Brene Brown is clear about her mission to build braver, bolder and more self aware leaders. Do you need to be any of those things? I know I do. I asked myself the question “how could I influence more people to be these kinds of leaders when I work on my own?” The answer was in this book – to quote Brene’ “The way we move information from our head to our heart…