Two years after releasing his autobiography titled Footprints Of A Legend (self-published), business mogul Charles Ngobeni is set to launch a new book, Unlocking the Success Code
In this new book, Ngobeni reveals the hidden code that unlocks the world of success. He further shares traits of successful people and uses the life truths that he has learnt from the word of God.
He believes the problem of many people that society refers to as “poor” is not a lack of money, but ignorance.
This entrepreneur, international business coach and pastor says he wanted to impart the knowledge gained from his wealth of experience to others.
“I could not keep the wealth of experience within me. I had to share with the world and impact them. I have to depart this world leaving it a better place,” he says.
Ngobeni is also a philanthropist and has over the years built his business empire across several industries, which include transportation, seven Wimpy restaurants, fuel stations, a cosmetics company, a lodge and mining interests. He is also a shareholder in a number of companies listed on the JSE.
He told DESTINY MAN that realising that he couldn’t have all his eggs in one basket led him to diversify his business interests.
“Don’t underestimate the power of small beginnings and when you are big, don’t look down at your small beginnings, but keep your small business. With a spaza shop, you may make thousands, with an SME, you make may make millions but need to move on to big business for your billions,” he says.
He hosts the MarketPlace with Charles Ngobeni, a weekly TV talk show that features men and women from all walks of life in a bid to inculcate an entrepreneurial spirit in audiences across Africa and the world.
His entrepreneurial journey started when he was in high school and an avid cameraman.
He says he has been learning since he embarked on it. “It has been a learning curve up to this day. I have highly successful businesses, but others closed their doors,” he says.
Ngobeni recalls how difficult it was at the beginning, when did not have good books or mentorship.
“You need excellency to stay on top of your game. In my restaurants, I sell speed and service,” he says.
Ngobeni’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs:
• Tough times never last, but tough people do.
• It is a dream for some people to eat at my restaurants. Make the customer’s experience a memorable one.
• Don’t go for the money, but for people. Find a need and meet it. Money will just be your reward.
You came here just to make sure you don’t have any of those bad habits. Didn’t you?
But, to be honest with you, it doesn’t matter whether you have them or not. Most entrepreneurs do have them. But the good news is they’re extremely easy to fix.
Here are 7 bad habits that need to be fixed if you’re an Entrepreneur:
1. Not being patient
A lot of bad things can happen from being impatient. Here are a few examples:
Miss something important because you don’t have time to double check
Make stupid mistakes because you’re always in a hurry
Make bad decisions because you want to get it over with
Ruin your relationships with people because you speak without thinking
Those are just a few consequences. Hopefully I won’t need to mention anymore to convince you being impatient is bad.
Solution: Slow down, take a deep breath, think, then act. Remember that working too fast is actually counterproductive and will waste more time in the long run.
“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” – Napoleon Hill
2. Not listening
You’ll get more value from listening than talking. If you want to stay on top of your game you need to keep learning. And a great way to keep learning is to start listening. Not listening to what others say can cause you to miss out on a lot of important ideas and lessons.
Another advantage of listening is being able to solve customers problems. You can’t solve customers problems and create good products if you don’t listen to what your customers are saying. Most of the time they won’t tell you what they want. You’ll have to figure that out based on their deeper desires. And you can’t figure out anything if you don’t listen.
Solution: Listen to what people have to say. You never know, the next big idea could come from an 8 year old kid.
3. Lack of sleep because you’re busy
Sleeping is one of those things that you have to have time for. You can’t choose not to sleep. Personally, whenever I get my 8 hours of sleep, I perform much better than a night I sleep 7 hours on. In reality, staying awake that extra hour is a total waste of time.
Solution: Go to sleep. Sleep 8 hours. Schedule an 8 hour sleep slot in your calendar.
4. Thinking short term
This one results from impatience too. You want to make a quick buck. You just can’t wait. You want everything to happen now. So you work for now and forget the future. Instead of investing into something that pays you x100 in 10 years. You’re satisfied with the quick x2 ROI.
But here’s the thing, if you think short term, you’ll be in business for a really short term. Because while your competitors are working towards the future and with a potential of making millions or even billions of dollars, you’re sitting there worrying about a few thousand dollars that won’t last you another year.
Solution: Always look at things in the long term. Look ahead. What would the future look like?
5. Working without a direction
Working without a goal and plan is like shooting then aiming. You need to know your target, aim, then shoot. That means you need to know your goal, have a plan, then execute. There’s no need to write a massive 30 page plan. 1 page is enough, sometimes even less. When you work with no direction, you get nowhere. Eventually you’ll run out of fuel because you ended up in the middle of the desert with no map.
Solution: Identify your goal, create a plan, execute the plan. What do you want to achieve in the next 3 months? What steps will you take to achieve your goal? Now go and execute your plan in that time frame.
6. Taking unnecessary risks
Taking risks is good. It’s essential. Starting a business is full of risks. So you have no choice but to go through risks. However, taking risks that you don’t need to at all is plain stupid. I remember back in the day when I thought taking crazy risks was cool and everybody else were just cowards. Result? I failed badly, they didn’t.
While they spent a few days on research and setting things up. I’d just jump right in. Is that really what successful entrepreneurs do? No, all of them launch an MVP, test the market, do their homework, and are careful. The “go and take risks” advice is for people who are really scared to take risks. People scared to leave the 5-9 job. Not for adrenaline junkies. Adrenaline junkies will just translate that advice into “go and make a few suicidal moves.”
Solution: Take calculated risks. Test the market bit by bit.
7. Not Creating a Scalable System
Are you really an entrepreneur or a freelancer?
The difference is, entrepreneurs build businesses that can thrive without them physically being present. On the other hand, freelancers build businesses that can’t survive without them. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being a freelancer. But, if you really want to call yourself an entrepreneur you need to build something that doesn’t need you.
Solution: Create a system that doesn’t depend on you. You can present yourself as the founder & CEO of a brand, but never become the brand itself. Unless you want to be a freelancer of course, then that’s fine. But, if you don’t then please separate your personal brand and your business brand – don’t mix them up.
“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” – Peter Drucker
Don’t just hit the back button now. It’s time to take action. You’ve already shown interest in improving yourself. Now go do it. Get your notepad out and create a plan for change. It’s either now or never.
Do you remember the blog post you read last week? Did you act upon what it taught you? If you’re going to do the same thing with this one, then don’t expect your life to change either.
No matter if you are a self-employed individual or apart of a team, there are always a few defining points to becoming successful.
More often than not, successful entrepreneurs will share similar characteristics, regardless of their trade or their role. While you might think there are a few secrets to becoming successful, you will find that the facts that successful people are actually more common than you think.
Here are 10 common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs:
1. Properly managing your money
It will take time to become profitable and while you are striving for financial success, any money you utilize should be closely monitored. Remember that your capital is limited and you should ensure that every penny is used wisely. Keep track of your spending and stick to your allocated budget. Proper money management will help prevent financial mistakes as well as ensure you keep (or wisely spend) any profits made.
2. Planning ahead
Creating a business plan will help you maintain an active list of goals and achievements. Not only that, business planning will help ensure that you build healthy habits that you will develop, implement, as well as maintain along the way. With the assistance of a proper business plan, you can easily highlight your goals and how you will reach them.
“To any entrepreneur: if you want to do it, do it now. If you don’t, you’re going to regret it.” – Catherine Cook
3. Learning to adapt and be flexible
While it is a great trait to be passionate and even stubborn about something you are working hard for, the lack of flexibility will hinder you in the long run. Successful entrepreneurs need to learn how to adapt and be flexible for the current market trends.
4. Taking risks
Entrepreneurs are often times considered to be risk takers. Yet, not every risk taker is considered a successful entrepreneur. The difference is simple – know when to take a risk and what the risks involve. Ask yourself is this risk worth my time, my money, or the cost of my career? You should also ask yourself what you will do if a certain venture does not pay off.
5. Get to know your customers
Getting to know your customer on a personal level is one of the most competitive aspects you can offer your clients as well as the market. People are always looking to make a connection and if you can provide this service you will not only stand out, but will also create a long lasting client base.
6. Stay organized
Organization is key. Lacking proper organizational skills will leave you cleaning up unnecessary messes. Keep track of your daily tasks in one place, whether it is a calendar or journal and make sure that you keep a close eye on what happens each day. Staying organized is absolutely necessary to run and manage a successful business.
7. Create relationships by networking
One of the greatest aspects of running a business is learning how to network. Meeting people and getting to know those in your community or reaching out to mentors can only help you improve within yourself and therefore your business. Besides, putting yourself out there will help others remember who you are and if you can create positive business relationships, you will find that your business will thrive.
8. Do what you love
When you are passionate about your business, you will be motivated to keep moving forward to meeting your goals. When you do something you love to do, work will not seem mundane. In fact, you will find that day in and day out, you are enjoying what you do and that alone makes all the difference. Make sure you love what you do and working hard will not seem like hardly working at all.
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” – Steve Jobs
9. Understand what you offer
One common factor amongst all entrepreneurs is this: they know their product inside and out. In addition, those successful individuals are also very familiar with the market dynamics. Remaining aware of market trends, changing market needs, your competitors movements, as well as other external factors will only help you remain in that successful side of the market.
10. Be prepared and know when to take your exit
Unfortunately, not every attempt you make will end in success. The defining point of successful entrepreneurs is to know when to take a graceful exit and how you can learn and grow from that experience. Several famous entrepreneurs have had their failures but they have also had the foresight as well as the serenity to know when they should cut their losses.
Post Credit | Veronika Kavanova | Addicted2Success
Everything starts from your mind. Your thinking will determine your decision and your decision will determine your action. And your action will get you the result, whether you want it or not.
Therefore, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, first you have to adopt the right mindset. When you have the right mindset, you will make the right decision, which will lead you to take the right action. And if you take the right action, you will be able to produce the right result.
Here are 7 actions that will help you become a successful entrepreneur:
1. Be proactive
A successful entrepreneur is someone who is proactive and gets things done rather than someone who waits for things to happen and then respond. Your reactive mindset is not going to help you in your business.
This is exactly how Richard Branson started his Virgin Airline business. Instead of being stranded in the airport due to flight cancellation, he leveraged on his proactive mindset and solved the problem. He chartered an airplane and sold tickets to the stranded passengers. And the rest is history.
Everyone has dreams. Are you going to act on your dreams or are you just going to let it be a dream?
2. Be innovative
Just like Apple’s tagline, you need to “Think Different” to create outstanding success as an entrepreneur. This world is full of ordinary people who take orders, work without thinking and never question anything. That is why they are just ordinary.
Being an entrepreneur is different. You have to think differently than ordinary people and be innovative. Look at how Steve Jobs transformed the personal computer industry with Mac. He did it again with iPod in the music industry and then conquered the mobile phone industry with iPhone.
You have to think into the future and dream big enough to create change to the industry.
“Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way.” – Tom Freston
3. Trust yourself
Trust your ability, trust that you can do it and believe in your dreams. You have to be the first person to believe in yourself. There will be a lot of rejections, a lot of setbacks and a lot of mistakes waiting for you to get through.
Every successful entrepreneur trusts himself or herself that he or she can build something extraordinary. This is what allows ordinary people to tap into their maximum potential and create amazing results in life.
If you don’t trust yourself and your dreams, you would give up sooner than you think. People can produce outstanding success in their lives because they believe and persist with their dreams.
4. Never give up
The world as you know it would be very different if Henry Ford gave up his dream to mass produce cars. And can you imagine, there will be no Disneyland if Walt Disney gives up as well?
All the great successes are a result of someone’s tenacity and their mindset of never quitting. If you quit, you lose. As long as you did not quit, you stand a chance to win the game. So never give up.
5. Have fun
As an entrepreneur, you need to have fun as well. Regardless of whether it is in your life or business, you need to have fun to create great work.
Richard Branson said, “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.” If it is not fun, you’d rather look for something else to do.
Having fun is one of the most underrated things in business that most people don’t take into consideration. Remember, your work is going to fill up a large part of your life. You want to have fun and have the passion when doing it.
6. Dare to take risk
Are you a risk taker? When I mention taking a risk, I don’t refer to taking a risk like gambling. I’m talking about taking calculated risk. Successful entrepreneurs study the situation, do the research and calculate the risk before they jump in.
There’s no point going into the game if you know you are going to lose. You go into the game because you know that you have a higher percentage to win the game. The same goes in business. Don’t jump into a business opportunity blindly. Study the situation and do the research.
Understand that you will go in only when you have a higher chance of winning. If you don’t have that competitive advantage of winning, it is not taking the risk; it is gambling.
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” – Mark Zuckerberg
7. Be extraordinary
Dare to be different. If you cannot differentiate your business from others, you are in trouble. Everyone else has been taken; you just need to be yourself. It is the time when you stay true to your authentic self; you will be able to create the breakthrough because you are shining as yourself, and not others.
Another thing about being extraordinary is that you need to do the additional and go the extra mile. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the little extra that you put in.
Every successful entrepreneur goes the extra mile, does something more, puts in more time, pour in more effort and take more action than ordinary people. That is why they are successful.
Some of these may not be your strength but you have to adopt them, practice them and live them. It may not be easy, and it will be challenging to practice them, but the reward will be well worth it. Keep these seven things in mind when becoming and entrepreneur.
“Vision is the spectacular that inspires us to carry out the mundane.” —Chris Widener
Can achievement be broken down into steps? It isn’t always that clean and easy, but those who achieve great things usually go through much of the same process, with many of the items listed below as part of that process. So if you have been struggling with achievement, look through the following. Begin to apply them and you will be on the road to achieving your dream.
Step 1: Dream it. Everything begins in the heart and mind. Every great achievement began in the mind of one person. They dared to dream, to believe that it was possible. Take some time to allow yourself to ask “What if?” Think big. Don’t let negative thinking discourage you. You want to be a “dreamer.” Dream of the possibilities for yourself, your family and for others. If you had a dream that you let grow cold, re-ignite the dream! Fan the flames. Life is too short to let it go.
Step 2: Believe it. Yes, your dream needs to be big. It needs to be something that is seemingly beyond your capabilities. But it also must be believable. You must be able to say that if certain things take place, if others help, if you work hard enough, though it is a big dream, it can still be done. Good example: A person with no college education can dream that he will build a $50 million-a-year company. That is big, but believable. Bad example: That a 90-year-old woman with arthritis will someday run a marathon in under three hours. It is big all right, but also impossible. She should instead focus on building a $50 million-a-year business! And she better get a move on!
Step 3: See it. The great achievers have a habit. They “see” things. They picture themselves walking around their CEO office in their new $25 million corporate headquarters, even while they are sitting on a folding chair in their garage “headquarters.” Great free-throw shooters in the NBA picture the ball going through the basket. PGA golfers picture the ball going straight down the fairway. World-class speakers picture themselves speaking with energy and emotion. All of this grooms the mind to control the body to carry out the dream.
Step 4: Tell it. One reason many dreams never go anywhere is because the dreamer keeps it all to himself. It is a quiet dream that only lives inside of his mind. The one who wants to achieve their dream must tell that dream to many people. One reason: As we continually say it, we begin to believe it more and more. If we are talking about it then it must be possible. Another reason: It holds us accountable. When we have told others, it spurs us on to actually doing it so we don’t look foolish.
Step 5: Plan it. Every dream must take the form of a plan. The old saying that you “get what you plan for” is so true. Your dream won’t just happen. You need to sit down, on a regular basis, and plan out your strategy for achieving the dream. Think through all of the details. Break the whole plan down into small, workable parts. Then set a time frame for accomplishing each task on your “dream plan.”
Step 6: Work it. Boy, wouldn’t life be grand if we could quit before this one! Unfortunately the successful are usually the hardest workers. While the rest of the world is sitting on their sofas watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island, achievers are working on their goal—achieving their dream. I have an equation that I work with: Your short-term tasks, multiplied by time, equal your long-term accomplishments. If you work on it each day, eventually you will achieve your dream. War and Peace was written, in longhand, page by page.
Step 7: Enjoy it. When you have reached your goal and you are living your dream, be sure to enjoy it. In fact, enjoy the trip, too. Give yourself some rewards along the way. Give yourself a huge reward when you get there. Help others enjoy it. Be gracious and generous. Use your dream to better others. Then go back to No. 1. And dream a little bigger this time!
