Tim Holmes By Tim Holmes Even with the greatest ideas from the greatest minds, businesses face a startlingly high risk of failure to survive for more than three years. “Locally, the Department of Trade and Industry records that currently only two out of every seven new businesses survive their first year of trading and only one out of five make it past year three,” says Tim Holmes, Managing Director and Governance Manager of Sirdar South Africa . “Often people think their great idea is enough on its own merit, and fail to seek sound advice from the experts that complements their business strategy and enables them to implement a robust process and structure from the word go.” The stats do not bode well for prospective new business owners. Holmes iterates that if the vast majority of failed start-ups in South Africa had started life on day one with a board meeting, either they wouldn’t have started at all, or they would have survived for a lot longer.  Most businesses, in fact, s...

Know the rules and play to win By Carl Bates Your favourite team has just come back onto the field after half time. All you feel is dread. They look tired and downcast, their communication is poor and they are just all over the place. Their opponents, on the other hand, look excited and energised; they are smiling yet incredibly focused. What is the difference? The opponents are playing to win as a team and are having fun in doing so. Being in business is just like a sports game. When you and your team are focused and clear on what you need to do, anything is possible. While you may lose a match, there is always the bigger championship at play. In my book, The Laws of Extreme Business Success, I explore the similarity between business and sport in the Law of Business as a Game through three key elements. The first element is having a winner’s mentality. This means that you are confident about your ability to succeed and are motivated to push that little bit further every day...