{"id":997,"date":"2019-06-25T12:39:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T10:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xpand.eu\/sa\/?p=997"},"modified":"2019-06-25T12:39:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T10:39:57","slug":"courage-to-start-and-build","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xpand.one\/sa\/courage-to-start-and-build\/","title":{"rendered":"Courage to start and build"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Courage to start and build<\/h2>\n

Courage is the backbone of leadership<\/em>. – Gus Lee<\/p>\n

Last year I, Paul, saw a photo of a company that started only a week prior to the photo been taken and already had its first\u00a0success. In the picture you see a smiling man of around 45\u00a0years old. He wears a yellow safety vest over his jacket. On the\u00a0vest is a QR code and a name tag: \u201cMy Name is Jack. I am\u00a0happy to wash your car for 50 rand. Jack washes cars on the\u00a0spot and customers can pay him by scanning the QR code. The\u00a050 rand is deposited into the account number of Jack\u2019s\u00a0promoter Johan. The deal is that Johan keeps track of how\u00a0much money Jack earns, and pays Jack once a week. Last
\nweek, Jack was homeless, but he now has a job with a reliable\u00a0stable income.<\/p>\n

Johan started this business because he was frustrated because Jack was standing\u00a0at the traffic lights every week asking for money. Johan said to him: “If you\u00a0wash my car, you will get 50 Rand.” That was a nice first step, but it did not\u00a0really help Jack over the long term. Then, Johan came up with the idea of the\u00a0vest. Within a week Johan had made the vest, opened an account and gave Jack\u00a0the instructions. Jack, dressed in his new vest, went straight to work at his new\u00a0job. By the end of the second week, Johan paid Jack’s first salary. Thanks to\u00a0Johan\u2019s initiative the yo-yo lifestyle of homeless people – first make money, then
\nspend the money, then earn money again – has been broken.<\/p>\n

Within two weeks, Johan and Jack have launched this new business. No endless\u00a0planning, no procrastination, no lengthy consultation. Just: idea + realistic
\ntranslation + material + invoice + instruction, and then try. And Jack? He starts\u00a0his second week of work this week. You may think: “But that’s just a drop in a\u00a0bucket?” It may be, but that drop has a name and his name is Jack. The\u00a0foundation has been laid. Who knows, thousands of Jacks may be added, who\u00a0can also be helped by breaking the problematic yo-yo effect. Maybe there are\u00a0many Johans\u2019 around the country who want to make a difference with a decisive\u00a0idea.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/span><\/div>

Where do I start?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So at the end of this series of blogs, our advice for you is to dare and just do it!\u00a0Go on a voyage of discovery. Get your Design Your Business book today and
\nstart. You might start with the step of “I am the entrepreneur”. Discover your\u00a0talents, your passion, your mission, your dream, your resilience. Even if you\u2019re
\nnot starting a business yet, working out Chapter 1 is a good start in your\u00a0entrepreneurial discovery.<\/p>\n

Maybe you do not want to think about yourself at all, which is also fine. In that\u00a0case it is worthwhile to start with Chapter 2. Start discovering who your
\ncustomers are, what they need, and what they dream of. Even then you will be\u00a0working on building your own company.<\/p>\n

Or perhaps you would rather explore first. You might say: “I’m curious, I’m\u00a0going to see what’s going on around me, how the market works, what smart,
\nunique and inspiring companies actually look like.\u201d By starting with Chapter 3,\u00a0you may see a product, a gap in the market, a customer group with a need that
\nappeals to you, and perhaps this is the beginning of your entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Finally, you might be someone who is just satisfied with your own product.\u00a0Maybe you do not really want to think about yourself, the market, or even your
\ncustomers. This is also possible, so just start in Chapter 4. You will discover\u00a0that some of the other Chapters will also become of use in your path to
\nsuccessful entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Our advice is to start somewhere! Because once you start your journey, you will\u00a0gradually discover and develop all kinds of special ideas. If it suits you, find a
\ncompanion or team to travel with. Once you begin, you will notice that\u00a0opportunities begin to arise that will increase the chances of starting and
\nexpanding your own business in a sustainable way.<\/p>\n

Take courage, discover the entrepreneur in you, follow your dreams, and it will\u00a0be an exciting journey.\u00a0We, Paul and Cias, are looking forward to hear your story in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Please feel free to take a look on our website www.xpand.eu and find the\u00a0nearest office among the ones we now have in fifteen countries, if you\u2019re\u00a0looking for support and material to make yourself and your business or\u00a0organisation grow.<\/p>\n

And do not forget: enjoy your journey!<\/p>\n

Paul and Cias<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

This blog post contains an excerpt from our new book, Design Your Business<\/em>, by Paul Donders and Cias Ferreira<\/p>\n

Get your copy of Design your Business<\/em> today for R320<\/strong><\/p>\n

Send an email<\/a><\/span> to\u00a0info-sa@xpand.eu<\/a><\/span>\u00a0, contact the office at 079 434 9030<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or you can buy the e-book on Amazon https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B07RZWBTQH\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Giving a roadmap to unexpected entrepreneurs.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>
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