ANITA DU TOIT

00:02
it’s important to not limit yourself as an entrepreneur. When I started out I said I can change lanes but I know where my highway is so as long as I don’t lose the highway I’m okay.

00:27
Welcome to another edition of Expedition Business, where we talk to inspiring South African entrepreneurs about the highs and lows of their business journey, and how on earth they manage to keep the flame of business adventure burning. Of course, facing your day with a smile is sometimes the toughest thing you have to do. My name is Christél  Rosslee-Venter, your host and the one

00:55
in the pound seat, because today I’m talking to Anita du Toit, founder and franchise development consultant at Franchising Fundi. But before I introduce Anita to you, I would like to remind you to subscribe, like, comment and share this podcast with as many of your friends and family as possible. Without your help, we cannot continue to share the amazing stories of our South African

01:26
But back to why we are here today. Anita du Toit is the founder and franchise development consultant at Franchise Fundi. She has more than 26 years of franchise consulting experience across the telecommunications, automotive, restaurant and retail industries. During these years, Anita has been involved in franchise consulting at Deloitte’s

01:53
Franchising Plus and FNB to name but a few, and has served on the board of the Franchising Association of South Africa for several years. Anita posts an impressive list of franchisees also enlisted to services, but what I find extremely interesting is her track record on social franchising.

02:18
Anita, I believe you have also led the world’s first social franchise accelerator project in partnership with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business and the International Centre for Social Franchising, a project that the Rockefeller Foundation funded. I found this pretty impressive, but do you want to expand a little bit on this?

02:45
Thanks, Christél, and thanks for the opportunity. Yes, that was an amazing project. I happened to start exploring social impact franchising, as it’s also known. In the early 2000s, when the DTI commissioned me to do a study on it, and I just started publishing articles on it, and people started contacting me about…

03:14
you know, to get more information, even quoting me without my knowledge. And then I was contacted by Dr. Franchot-Bernici, who headed up the Bertha Center at the University of Cape Town’s management school, business management school, and he was hosting a big event on social franchising. And they just got people from all over the world together. And we just.

03:43
spent two days talking and sharing and learning so much. And also in attendance was Dan Berylewicz from the, they were then known as the International Center for Social Franchising. And Dan through his connections heard about funding becoming available for an accelerator. He got the three of us together and we submitted our proposal and won the funding.

04:13
And what that really was about is we started with a wide invitation to social impact organizations, NGOs, as many people know them, or nonprofits, to participate in this project, to look at franchising as a way for nonprofits and social impact organizations to achieve. So they then came in and we put them through a rigorous course on what

04:43
franchising is about and social franchising specifically. And that acted as a filter because many of them then said, no, no, this isn’t for us. But then we still had quite a few people interested in going through the process and we had space for four to five organizations to undergo quite a rigorous mentoring program. So we then went through a selection process and ended up with a cohort of organizations that we then put through our methodology.

05:13
to help them think about their scaling and to help them identify what they would need to become ready to scale through using the mechanism of franchising. So it was very exciting. Well, but just quickly, why would one not just go and do a normal NPO like everyone knows it? You see, the problem is people keep reinventing the wheel. So there are so many…

05:42
social purpose organizations that all kind of try to do their own thing, like, you know, to solve a social problem. Let’s talk, for example, about early childhood development. We know that South Africa has many problems, and one of these problems are that not enough children are accessing quality early childhood development programs. And there are a multitude of

06:11
organizations that play in this space. And they all have different approaches and different solutions. But if you could get a program that really works, that shows potential scalability and you put more muscle behind that, if I can say that, if you can put funding to that and structures and systems, those mechanisms of franchising that makes franchising work, then the theory is that they could scale more effectively. And

06:41
Let’s say there’s a social purpose organization that adopts the brand name and the methodology that can have greater impact. So that is kind of the driving force behind the thinking of developing social impact franchises. Okay, but you don’t just work in the social franchising space, you also work with normal franchises, helping franchises to scale their businesses.

07:10
Absolutely. So in commercial franchising, I do a lot of work to help companies to franchise their businesses. So typically, let’s say you’ve got a coffee shop, Christel’s Coffee, and you get some inquiries, people want a franchise of that business, and you want to expand your footprint, but you don’t have the capital to do so. Franchising is a viable option. And I would then assist by developing strategy.

07:40
helping with the financial and business model creation and then helping the company to get franchise ready by getting all the correct documentation in place, the infrastructure and so forth. Sounds like a lot of work. It is a lot of work. I wish everybody would appreciate that.

08:05
Well, I’m in the strategic marketing business and I know that is a lot of work. So I can just imagine getting a franchise off the ground. But something that interests me is you’ve started franchising fully in October, 2020 when everyone else closed down their businesses, thanks to COVID and you opened yours. Looking back, would you do the same thing again?

08:34
You know, I actually would. And it’s, it’s part of my story. I was diagnosed in 2020 with breast cancer. And I was at a previous firm and going through all of this and then COVID happened. So as COVID started, I started treatment. And, you know, something like that, when it happens, you really just look at your life and you reevaluate. And I just realized that I no longer.

09:03
wanted to drive to some office in Johannesburg and, you know, be far away from my child. He was at that stage, he was two years old. And I just knew I had to make a change. So for me, the big driver was to be close to my family, to be close to my young son who needed me. And, you know, as stressful as it was at the time, it’s really given me a new lease on life.

09:33
And I’m very, very fortunate to be in remission. And yes, I’m enjoying what I’m doing. So I think it was the right move for me at the time. And my theory is if you can survive starting a business in COVID and all the other challenges, you should be okay.

10:01
Well, you know, it was and it wasn’t. I mean, on the one hand, I was petrified of getting COVID because you’re immune compromised and it’s really, it does weigh on you, but I was more focused absolutely on fighting this thing and getting through the treatments. Shame, and I suppose that explains your short hair  on the internet.

10:27
Yes, that picture you found. Yes, absolutely. And the funniest thing is that it grows back completely gray. And one lady in the waiting room actually said, you know what, better gray than dead. Oh, shame man. Okay, but now you are in remission and your business is going from strength to strength or so it looks like.

10:54
Just tell me quickly, what is your motivation for keeping on going? Well, you know, I think if I look at this country and the challenges we face, we really need more SMEs because SMEs are the centers of sustainable job creation. And I see, Christél, that you also referenced the GEM study.

11:21
the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. I was interviewed for that one year and I really became interested in the results. And it became very clear to me that we need sustainable SME growth, but we have a problem in South Africa. We don’t have an entrepreneurial culture as such. And people still are very much fixated on getting the trick, getting some qualification, getting a job.

11:51
Entrepreneurship is never seen as a go-to. It’s almost seen as a lost result. And so I think franchising really has a lot of potential to facilitate entrepreneurship, to help people get into business who perhaps are a bit, I want to say scared, who want that guidance, who want a recipe that can follow. And…

12:20
And we have so far to go. So yes, it’s my life mission to just help businesses grow and facilitate that growth. And I really enjoy dealing with all these different businesses and entrepreneurs and learning about new industries. So that all gets me up in the morning. Oh, I can imagine. But tell me something that’s quite interesting.

12:45
to me is obviously you get franchises and you get franchises and some are just a complete fail from the beginning. How do you, when people approach you, how do you differentiate between what will work and what will be a waste of time and money? Yeah, look, I mean, certain sectors have proven themselves in franchising, right? So if you look at

13:13
you know, fast food, for example, it’s such a natural business to franchise because there are systems, there are recipes, you know, there’s a very much a set format and a way of doing things. If it seems that, you know, a company is, you know, kind of on a knife edge, not sure if they want to franchise or there are questions about the viability of franchising, I do a franchise

13:42
where we look at the aspects that make franchising viable and measure them against that. And of course the financial model is a major influence because at the end of the day, both the franchisor and the franchisee must make enough money to be sustainable. And so we look at all these things when we’re not sure whether a company should carry on. Okay.

14:10
So if one buys a franchise that’s been consulted and assisted by you, it will be worth the money. Well, you still have to do your own homework, right? I mean, there’s no guarantee, but the idea is to create robust models and I try to help my clients to really

14:33
do as much research as possible, you know, not just on the potential franchisee, but also on the area. I have associates who specialize in geographic information systems where they do demographic studies and market research to prove whether an area is viable. And there’s so much technology out there these days to help franchisors make a success of it that, you know, you really need to see

15:03
whether the franchisor is going to that level of research and support. And then of course it’s up to you as an entrepreneur and I can’t believe sometimes how franchisees will invest all this money and then kind of manage the business on a hands-off basis. You know, franchising works on the owner-operator effect.

15:29
you know, the impact of having that entrepreneur in the business, knowing the clients going above and beyond to service them. That’s what makes franchising work. And if you’re just going to stick a manager in there with no interest, you know, such as profit sharing or anything like that, then you know, you’re on the way to financial ruin, I have to say, and I’ve seen it many times, especially, you know, businesses like Fast  Food and so forth.

15:58
There’s so much that can go wrong, from health and safety and hygiene to shrinkage and who knows what else. So the franchisee must understand that they themselves are a big factor in all of this. And it’s not just a case of working on top of your business instead of inside your business. As a lot of business coaches say you should be doing.

16:26
Yeah, I think, you know, and I suppose that can also happen that a franchisee becomes so bogged down with operations that they forget about marketing or they don’t even pay attention to financial indicators, you know, and I’ve seen that as well. Scary stuff where a franchisee said to me, oh, she hasn’t had an accountant for two years. And I’m like, how do you function? You know, that’s really scary. So yes.

16:55
You’ve got the recipe, you’ve got the framework in a franchise within which you can make a success. But it’s still very much about the individual effort. I can imagine. But tell me for yourself, Anita, what when it comes to business, what makes you feel on top of the world? Well, for me, I love it when a client says, wow, you really helped us to look at things differently.

17:25
And I think, you know, that’s the story with entrepreneurs is that we get so bogged down in operations that we don’t see, we don’t have a helicopter view anymore. And sometimes it takes a consultant coming in to help you to see what other opportunities there are and what you’re basically missing by not doing certain things. At the moment, I’m doing a lot of reviews, a franchise fundi review.

17:53
where I help existing franchises that are out there already, they’ve got franchisees to just recalibrate and relook their systems because perhaps they started and the first few branches were exceptional, but then it gets diluted because they run around, operationally, all sorts of things happen along the way and through no fault of their own, but simply not.

18:21
knowing what they don’t know, you know these franchisers can get themselves into sticky situations and then it just helps to get a pair of eyes from outside to look and to recalibrate your franchise to really pave the way for success going forward. The fact that you’ve been successful for a number of years does not guarantee success going forward.

18:47
Absolutely. I mean, sometimes it’s a bit of a fluke. You know, you’re in a great industry that everybody wants you. You know, interestingly, people are addicted to coffee. So there’s a lot of coffee franchises around at the moment. And sometimes, you know, you’re just in the right place at the right time and people will buy from you. But how do you keep your customers and how do you keep those franchisees motivated? So yes, I think

19:16
There are a number of factors that can contribute to success, especially starting out, you know, the world is your oyster. You basically can go anywhere, and your first few sites are usually no-brainers because, of course, you need to be where the people are. But then it becomes tricky, you know, once you’ve given away the sentence of the world, where do you go next? And that’s where you need, you know, a review and…

19:43
look at it and say do we have a strategy do we know where we’re going or are we simply being reactive and going to places where franchisees want us. I suppose sometimes if you look at the geographics certain places might surprise you where a far-off place like Sucunda might be much more worthwhile than investing right in the middle of Joburg.

20:11
CBD, well not CBD, Joburg time. No, I don’t think anyone wants to open in Joburg CBD anymore. Well it depends who your market is, Christél. I suppose so. Very much depends on it. But Anita, you sound so energized. Do you ever get days where you feel like you want to just run away and become a full-time house mom and just stop?

20:41
doing business because you’ve fed up? Or do you never ever get those days? Oh no, I do get those days for sure. You know, I think being an entrepreneur is super tough. As a consultant, you would notice you’re always filling the funnel. So, you know, you usually work with a client for a couple of months and then they’re on their way. So you have to keep…

21:07
prospecting and if you’re prospecting, it means you’re not billing. And if you’re billing, you’re not prospecting. So that can get a bit much, but I think it’s important that you recognize that you recognize that when you get to the stage of burnout and that you take a step back. And as you say, that’s the time that you need to, again, start working on the business. Go sit in a garden somewhere at a…

21:36
you know, nursery or something, have a coffee, take a piece of paper and just draw out what’s happening right now. What is working, what isn’t working and how can you change and adapt to make things easier? And oftentimes you’ll find that the answers come. And yeah, I suppose having your son with you also inspires you to some extent to keep on going.

22:05
Well, you know, we have to pay school fees. Yeah, I must say, having a five-year-old really energizes you in ways that you didn’t know was possible. You know, those 06:30 wake-ups on a Saturday morning. And, but you know, I mean, it’s, it’s amazing to see his energy and his interest and curiosity about life. And I think that’s something

22:34
that we can all have more of, curiosity to say, why is this happening? What can I do? What is in my control? What is not in my control? So, I think being a mother is very important role to me. And in having my own business, I have flexibility. I don’t have anyone relying on me. So I can be there for him when he needs me. Which is…

23:01
going to become even more important when he goes to school and you have to attend all those competitions and functions. Oh yes, I have to say he doesn’t play a sport like cricket where you have to sit there all day. I don’t think I’ll do well with that. Well, you just have to have an awesome battery for your laptop. And good wifi. But tell me on a day-to-day basis, what type of challenges

23:30
do you face? Yeah, I mean, I think, like I said, it’s generating leads most of the time, finding new ways to do marketing, although I find that networking is absolutely the best way. And then servicing clients and making time for marketing, I think it’s very typical that entrepreneurs are focused on their clients and they forget about their own business. So you’re so busy.

23:57
chasing deadlines and then one morning you wake up and all the projects are done and now what? You know, so I find that very challenging. The sales part on a continuous basis. Yeah, I would say not so much the sales but generating sales leads, you know, because I can’t force anyone to franchise their business. They’ve got to be ready for it, you know. So I often have conversations with entrepreneurs.

24:27
after a while they go, oh, I’m not so sure if I’m ready, but send me a proposal, but you just know that they still need to iron out some elements in their business before they’ll be ready to franchise. So I think that’s the tough part. And therefore, I’m also looking at ways of broadening my scope. I’ve done in conjunction with a marketing company, ThinkLiverage, I’ve done a lot of work.

24:56
with them helping clients with facilitation of business strategy and putting together training programs and so forth. And I think, yes, it’s important to not limit yourself as an entrepreneur. When I started out, I said, I can change lanes, but I know where my highway is. So as long as I don’t lose the highway, I’m okay. That is so important to remember.

25:26
I definitely have to write that one down. But tell me, Anita, you also, I assume, assist prospective franchisees to find the ideal franchise for them. So the way I help them is I have a website called fran There’s a dash franchise dash opportunities. It’s also known as franchise seek S-A.

25:53
And what we do there is we put a lot of content on that website to help franchisees find out more about franchising before they take the leap. So what should I expect from the franchisor? What are the legal requirements? How do I get finance? All of these kind of things. So we put a lot of content on there and people can subscribe to the newsletter. And then of course, we do feature some franchise brands so they can go and look at the website and…

26:22
be different franchise brands and inquire directly to a franchise that they’re interested in. So that’s mainly how I help franchisees. Okay, so if I’m interested in a franchise that’s a place that I need to go and have a look. Absolutely. Anita, tell me apart from business and clients that energizes you what

26:48
fun and exciting ways do you use to regroup, refocus and rejuvenate? Well, I have to say I’ve got a wonderful circle of friends and Hillary Clinton once said that I make sense of the world through speaking to my friends and that’s really true. So for me I love to hang out with my friends and just spend time and you know just…

27:14
talk to each other and learn from each other and this thing we call life. And then I’m part of the 5AM club, so I get up quite early, I use that time for quiet time and also for exercise. I’m also supposed to meditate, but I don’t quite get to that yet, but at least I’m up and I’m doing something. If you say you’re supposed to meditate? Well, I understand.

27:44
there’s been a lot written about meditation so I know that it helps us to handle stress better. You know but I’m the kind of person who really battles to sit still and think of nothing for 10 minutes so it’s quite tough. So I have a few apps that I use to help guide me and just try to quiet the mind so you can start the day with a good mindset. Sounds something to explore.

28:14
You’ve also mentioned exercise. What type of exercises do you do? Well, I must say, I’m not an adventure junkie at all. I like the quiet type of things. So I like to do yoga. I find it helps a lot to, you know, with flexibility. And, you know, as we get older, it’s important to stay flexible. And I also do some weights and sometimes go, I just go for a walk, but yes, I’m definitely not a runner or anything like that.

28:43
Well, you definitely don’t have to do all of that, as long as whatever exercise you do helps your mind, helps your body. Absolutely. Yeah. So, we’ve sort of spoken about it, but I’d like to get your take, because a lot of women battle with this. How do you juggle family life and business life? It is tough. I mean,

29:13
You know, like yesterday was my birthday and I was planning to take the day off and then I got sucked into emails and proposals and so forth. But I think importantly for me, it’s about setting boundaries. So once I fetch my son, that’s it for the workday. I don’t work in the evenings, not unless, you know, he’s gone to sleep already. But even then, I know that I need that time to recharge as well.

29:41
So my hours are from 8.30 to 16:00 and that’s it. Then I don’t respond to work communication after that. Okay, not even a WhatsApp. A WhatsApp I might do until five o’clock, but then after that you’re out of balance. That’s it. Wait till tomorrow. Yeah, I suppose if you don’t have boundaries, WhatsApp can overtake your life completely.

30:11
Oh yes, and it’s increasingly being used as a business tool, which I find so fascinating, you know. And there’s so much that you can actually do with WhatsApp. So I’m just starting to explore all of that. But I’m still sticking to my boundaries. Off to five o’clock, no more work WhatsApps. Well, I think apart from being off to five o’clock, WhatsApp also goes with you on holiday. Yes. And there you have to be extremely strict.

30:41
Well, I tell you this weekend we went to a chalet in the middle of Dinokin reserve just outside of Pretoria and there was no cellular reception whatsoever and I can highly recommend that. I was so much less agitated by just putting my phone away and not worrying about it. Okay, so you can only take pictures and share it later. Exactly.

31:10
Maybe that’s something for our hospitality industry to start doing. Advertise that there’s no cellular reception at all. Imagine that. I think that’s a new business opportunity. I think we all need that. Anita, we are going into election season in South Africa and relax. I don’t want to know who your political party that you support.

31:40
But what I want to know is would you ever consider leaving South Africa? You know, I mean, I think we all get fed up with loadshedding and all these challenges. And the news is super depressing, especially now. And I’ll always remember I went to a talk by Justice Malala. He’s a political analyst and I really appreciate his work.

32:08
And it was also a year before elections. And he said, please guys, just ignore the noise. It’s election year, don’t let it get to you. And Max Du Preez, I also follow him as a journalist. And he also says, all you can do is take care of yourself. Spend time with your family. Make sure you get relaxing time. Don’t wind yourself up about these things that you cannot.

32:37
control directly. And to come back to the question, no, I don’t think we’ll leave South Africa. I mean, I’ve traveled, my brother is in Canada. And, you know, it’s just everywhere you go, there’s something. I think the UK has got big issues right now. Australia is going to really struggle with climate change. It’s already, I mean, we can feel it here in Pretoria. It’s so hot.

33:03
Can you imagine living on the Gold Coast and it gets to 45 degrees in summer? I mean, what do you do with yourself? So I just think the whole world is in crisis at the moment. If you look at Europe and the USA, nowhere is perfect. So you might as well stay where you are and make the change that you can make with the resources that you have.

33:31
Because if you have to leave South Africa, you have to leave all your friends behind. That’s terrible. I don’t think people realize the impact of that. You know, I mean, it’s, I always say friends are the family you choose. So to leave all that behind, it’s not the same as sitting next to a bride or over a glass of wine and having a good old chat or going with a walk with a friend for a walk.

33:58
It’s just not the same and I think that’s the hardest part and even you know or especially as you get older Because I think the time to go if you want to go is in your 20s or early 30s when you’re not quite established yet but I mean I’m way beyond that and I just feel I can’t I mean I can’t even get it right to move to Cape Town. Okay? I’m still in Pretoria 20 odd years onward. So

34:24
I’m quite happy here actually and we’ve got a great lifestyle. It’s affordable to go out to eat and you know we’ve got so much great scenery. I’m really making it my business to take the family to different places. You know last year we went to Dinokeng for the first time and we had such a great time there. There’s so much beauty in this country. There’s so much biodiversity. I mean my brother’s wife can’t believe.

34:53
the amount of bird life that we have and how the birds make an absolute racket even here at our house. So I just I can’t I can’t imagine just living somewhere where all you see is snow and mountain goats. I must say while I’m listening to you going on about all our scenery and animal and bird life in South Africa it feels like

35:22
I want to make a podcast rather on that instead of business. I think we need that. Yes, we need that. There’s a, I don’t know if you know Mark Sham. Yes. He’s done a whole series now on tourism within South Africa. Yes, yes. And it’s amazing to follow and to just kind of rediscover our country from a tourist point of view. And I think we should all go out there and support our own tourist destinations more.

35:50
And I know it’s challenging, yes there are potholes and so on, but you know what? Drive around them. Just get there. That is a very good attitude. You’ve mentioned earlier that if you want to relocate to another country, you should do it in your 20s or 30s. But if you could be 20 years old again and you could change anything, what would it be?

36:18
Well, I think I would just say to that 20 year old, take life less seriously. You know, I’m an oldest child. I have a younger brother and I think, you know, as oldest children and specifically all these daughters, we just seem to be so serious and we have the world on our shoulders and we think we have to do everything right the first time and we have to have a plan.

36:46
planned for everything and I wish I had took more time to just go on adventures and be more key free. Okay. And that wouldn’t be business adventures necessarily? I know, I would have gone backpacking or something. And where would you have gone backpacking? Well, I do love Europe. I mean, there’s so much I love history, you know, all the cathedrals and churches.

37:15
monuments and interesting things over there. So yeah, I think that would have been fun. Okay, so do you think that youngest children have more fun than oldest children? I do think so. I mean, I can see it in my friends where the second children are always, you know, they tend to be more care free, they tend to take more risks. So I would be if you go and

37:43
explore some serious entrepreneurs that a lot of them are youngest children, that the oldest are just too scared to take that leap. Interesting. I’m child number six. Oh my goodness. Well, there you go. I don’t know if that’s made a major difference. Anyway, guys, we can talk about that for a very, very long time.

38:12
Hopefully we should get together with a glass of wine. You’ve mentioned a glass of wine earlier. I can just see that next to a brine. And we can have lots of conversations on who’s got it the best, the oldest or the youngest. Tell me quickly, what is your number one book that you would recommend for any entrepreneur out there?

38:40
You know, I read a lot, but the one book that really stuck with me is a book called Crucial Conversations. And I don’t know if you’ve come across that. No. But it’s an amazing book and it really is about the fact that humans battle to communicate, especially when the stakes are high. So when you’re about to have a very difficult conversation.

39:06
your cortisol spikes and it’s almost like you go in that fight or flight and your reptile brain takes over and you can blurt out a lot of nonsense or say something that is offensive or bring up you know old hurts from the past and there’s all sorts of stuff that goes into that and it’s like people are scared to just be forthright and honest with each other.

39:32
So this book talks about how you need to frame those conversations, how you need to approach them, what you need to think about. And I actually attended, the writer happened to be in South Africa and he did a seminar and that really stuck with me. So that’s something that I recommend to people. Okay, it’s definitely a first that I’ve heard of. I will definitely go and research that.

40:01
also been involved in writing or contributing to books in the past? Do you want to quickly tell us about that? Well this is again the social franchise angle. So I contributed a chapter to a book on social franchising that was like an introduction to social franchising written by an academic that’s well known in circles in franchising.

40:30
And then later on through the years I’ve attended some academic conferences and I was approached to contribute a chapter to the Handbook of Research on Franchising. And I’m quite proud of that one because it really is a fantastic book and all the major academics that work in franchising contributed to that book. Wow, wow.

40:54
Do you think that franchising would be a subject going forward that people would focus on more in academics? You know, I studied marketing and we literally spent one lecture on franchising and it was not inspiring by any means. And yes, I think it should be. In Australia, you can do a degree in franchising, you know.

41:23
And it’s because there are academics in Australia that, you know, it’s the field of research and they make a point of promoting it. So I do think, you know, you already get your entrepreneurship degrees, which I suppose some people say, but you can’t be taught to be an entrepreneur. But I do think that there needs to be more of a focus academically and in practice on franchising and on what it can do to stimulate.

41:51
job creation because I mean if you think of a small coffee shop even they’ll easily have five people working for them. So there you have five livelihoods coming out of one shop. Now imagine if we can just keep on replicating that. Sounds like there is an opportunity waiting to be taken. I think so. Tell me speaking of opportunities what would

42:20
be, and I know you said you’re not into adventuring, but what would be your metaphorical mountains that you still want to climb within the next three to five years? Yeah, I think, you know, as, as a consultant, you need to look at your business and say, what can you add to your basket constantly, and you have to reinvent yourself constantly. You can’t stay, you know, just

42:49
static and doing the same old same old and I hate that anyway. So I think it’s really a question of finding new consulting products, new ways of packaging things to help entrepreneurs, new revenue streams to make a business more sustainable. And yes, I basically want to get to a point where I can do more of what I love and spend more time with my family. Okay, so that’s

43:18
is sort of a contradiction if you say you want to do more of what you love and you love your business and what you’re doing and you want to spend more time with your family. That sounds like less sleeping time. No, you know what, I think all of us that work in this line of business, we’re selling our wares.

43:40
We’d just like to get to a point where you can be more selective about the products or the clients that you take on and the projects that you take on. You know, I mean, I’m sure you know what it’s like. Sometimes you have to say yes to a bunch of little projects that end up taking way more time than what you scoped. Whereas it would be nicer to go with one bigger project and maybe have some.

44:06
um, annuity income on, you know, that comes in regardless of the fact that you’re, um, you know, that doesn’t need your presence, so to speak. And that’s very difficult in this line of business. It is difficult, but at least you are your own boss and you can decide when you want to work, when you want to spend time with your darling son and for the rest of your family. I suppose that’s important too.

44:36
That’s very unfortunate. But Anita, just some parting wise words to entrepreneurs out there, people that are considering either going on their own or rather investing in a franchise. What would be your message to them? Yeah, I think, you know, South Africa really is the land of possibility.

45:05
I marvel at all the entrepreneurs that are out there and at new entrepreneurial ventures starting up. So I would say know that it is possible and you don’t have to be like this big conglomerate. You can make it happen. I think there’s enough for everybody. And I love this quote from Arthur Ashe, the tennis player. He said, start where you are.

45:34
Use what you have, do what you can. That is so profound. And I think that is for anyone that’s feeling down in the dumps. And they’re not making a big impact as they want to. That is a quote to remember. Yes, absolutely. I think, you know, we we always think that we need more outside of ourselves and and, you know, more sort of exotic.

46:03
stuff to work with, but often times what you can do is right in front of you. And we don’t have to earn a six figure salary to be happy? No we don’t. I think it’s more important to be time rich, you know, and really have flexibility.

46:27
And yeah, I mean that’s what being an entrepreneur, that’s one of the big payoffs, is that you just, you’re the boss of your own time.