Herman Bezuidenhout

Christél: Herman, welcome to Expedition Business.

Herman: Thank you so much. It’s a great privilege for me to be here.

Christél: The privilege is all ours. I can’t believe we finally have you in our studio to chat to you about all your successes throughout all the years and everything that’s on the way of transpiring. There’s a lot of big things happening in your life, but we’ll get to that a little bit later. Something that I want to know is…

00:31

It seems that the end of your successes  is just  not anywhere near.  Everything you touch seems to be turning to gold. How do you manage that?

Herman: You know, it’s simple. It’s a mindset. So from an early age when you start developing and you get into a career and you find a job and you  sit in the back of the queue because you don’t have  academic qualifications and all of that.

01:01

And then as you build self-confidence and you move forward, you develop these things. And the shockers in your life, like in my case, I had many shockers. The shockers in your life also mold you for the future. So in my case, I have no vision of retiring. I have no plans of a little holodome somewhere. I don’t have that anywhere in my framework. So if you continue working,

01:31

and you are  innovative and you have a scorecard that measures what you do, then it just keeps on rolling  and you cannot stop.  It’s as simple as that.  

Christél: Absolutely impressive and I want to go back to everything that you have achieved  and the list just goes on and on and on and I need to go through your

01:57

biography because  it is just so impressive and you’ve mentioned that you’ve had no academic  qualifications. Coming straight out of school you went into FNB and you started pretty much at the bottom but you ended up I think  as a Chief Executive Officer of FNB International Banking.

Herman: Absolutely.

Christél: How on earth is that possible?

02:24

Yes, and I try and encapsulate that in my book. And again,  it’s all about getting in the moment. Remember, I  worked in the first rank group for 33 years. So when I joined and eventually got my first job there, my hair was on my shoulders.  I had no ambition.  And that accountant in my branch decided to give me a job. And my first job was to collect the mail at the post office.

02:54

And then I worked in the waste department, which is a discussion for another day. then it’s all about staying in the moment. As I said,  get to work first. Because how do you, what is the opposite of getting all these qualifications? The opposite of that is to make yourself competitive. How do you become competitive? Is you work hard, you learn more than others, you…

03:23

and you perform.  It’s  actually a very simple model. People think it’s difficult, but it’s not.  

Christél: Do think that  having all the massive qualifications that a lot of people start their careers with  make them more complacent?

03:42

Well, you know what?  I don’t think you can say that in all cases. mean, if you look at all the professional people, doctors, charter accountants, lawyers and all of that, it really opens the door. So if you if you have the ability to do that and get that, think  so. will never talk bad about qualifications.  It opens the doors.  But.

04:04

Yes, you could maybe have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder if you just walk out with all those qualifications, you’ve just passed the board exams or whatever the case may be. So where someone like myself came from the back door. So I ended up when I was the CEO of International Banking with advocates that reported to me, guys with big degrees, chartered accountants and all of that. So  none of them actually knew what my qualifications were.

04:33

Yeah, so I think you’re right. It makes you a little bit complacent, but that depends on the individual.

Christél: But you didn’t stop there. You did do all sorts of short courses and mini MBAs and a whole range of courses in between.

Herman: Yes, so I like to read and not necessarily a big book reader, even though I’ve written one,  but I like to take snippets of learnings. So…

04:59

In fact, this book was motivated by a massive global leadership church conference and the conference was for three days. And after my first session with one pastor that motivated me, inspired me to write the book, I left because that was me. got my message  and I left. So I will not stay for three days.  So, yes, I do a lot of shorter things that makes you learn quicker.

05:27

bolster your self-confidence because at the end of the day it’s all about confidence.  And how do you become confident? It’s about developing yourself. It’s about making yourself irresistible to people to employ you or to  use you  or buy you for that matter.

Christél: And having the  skills and not necessarily book knowledge.

Herman: Yes, so I also made a call, again  not by design,

05:56

I was dumped into a department in the bank called the Foreign Exchange Department.  And those years it was all manual. But what a fantastic, because I started there and I stayed there. I eventually became the CEO of Foreign Exchange for the whole bank. So for me, it’s about specialization. So  you cannot be good at everything.  So pick something that you’re passionate about and then go for it and learn everything about it and become…

06:24

that subject matter expert because that nobody can take away from you.  

Christél: And I think on the front of international banking and trading you are the expert so it seems.  

Herman: Yes,  this is my  47th year indirectly and directly involved in international banking  and  very few people knows this but globally the world’s economy

06:52

is 80 % driven by cross border investments and trade. And even in South Africa,  we have an 80 % reliance on cross border investments and trade. So I chose by default to be in the most exciting industry on earth,  because it’s not linked to a specific industry. It’s everything and everything, imports and exports of goods and services, investments. you know, people, it’s easy to in South Africa to understand the local

07:22

dynamics and local business rules. But as soon as you venture and trade in 200 countries,  the complexities becomes a lot different.  So it’s an awesome skill to have.

Christél: Very, very interesting. But I want to talk to you about  your transformation from F &B into being an entrepreneur.  But before we get to that, I want to ask you about your book that you’ve written. Is this place too small for me?

07:51

Tell me a little bit about it. Why should I read it?

Herman: So for me, it’s all about life. It’s about thinking. And people often in the talk use these fancy words of strategy and all these things. And it really just means start thinking about what you do. So as I said, I was inspired by that global church leadership and this part of a pastor from Colombia in South America.

08:21

His title of his talk was, this place too small for me? And it simply means that,  in fact, it’s the most strategic question you can ever ask yourself, personally or in business. Because  as  soon as there’s a realization that the place, now place can mean your work, your finances, your relationships, your job, your business. As soon as the place becomes too small for you, unfortunately, most people on earth  don’t know how to move from that place.

08:51

And it’s as simple as to say, if your place is too small, move and make it bigger.  that’s the,  so the book is a, has got 21 chapters and it  encapsulates my  life learnings,  my learnings about strategy.  And I believe we are all born as salespeople. A lot of people disagree with that, but  we are all salespeople.

Christél: Okay. How would, why would you say that?

09:19

Herman: From the day that we were born, you become a salesperson. Just think of a little baby,  the attention they seek from their parents.  And when they get a little bit bigger, it’s mine  and the whole thing. And now you position yourself to get attention from anywhere. Then you get a bit older, the way you position yourself to a partner or to,  you know, so your whole life journey is about sales. And yet people are saying, I’m not a salesperson, or I’m not a people’s person.  And that is so wrong.

09:49

Because people just think through that. It’s  a very incorrect thing to say because we are all salespeople.  

Christél: And I know  the fact that people say, oh, I’m not a salesperson. I get that all the time. But isn’t it also coming back to your belief system that you believe you’re not good enough or you’re scared to go out?  

Herman: Absolutely. So sales and self-confidence are so intertwined.

10:19

because how can you be a salesperson? So on the one hand, you can be a salesperson to position yourself to attract someone’s attention or build  relationships with friends. But then when you have to come and sell a product, then because you lack that ability or to understand and to sit in front of the client  to get their attention. So it’s all about, again, being a subject matter expert,  having something that you’re so good at that…

10:48

that you have the ability to position it and sell. And with that comes the whole thing about how do you build a value proposition? How do you do it concise? How do you do your elevator pitch? So that you don’t waste time when you portray your message.

11:07

Christél: Coming back to your book and the whole concept of Is this place too small for me,  that was also  your journey from FNB into entrepreneurship. Yes. It’s also very much in this book.

Herman: So I’m very honest in the book because you saw my lifetime line. There are some bad things in there. You know,  I’ll say to you, all our lives are made up of three elements. The good, the bad and the ugly.

11:35

So all of that in here because you learn from the the the bad and the ugly  and that will make  that makes you good  So the book is a is a combination of that. It’s got 21 chapters It’s it’s it’s it’s a very spiritual book not that it’s designed to be like that but two of the chapters for example is Our mental DNA. Do you understand your mental DNA because people think that the mental DNA

12:32

not big businesses, small businesses, using the same methodology and recipe that works to make things happen.

Christél: And I suppose in the end it’s all about that recipe. If you have a recipe, how much everyone can follow it?

Herman: It is, mean, baking a cake. Yes. If you have the perfect, I look at my mom that’s 88 years old, that…

13:00

that does these unbelievable things, whether it’s Malfa pudding or this or that. And remember, they don’t even look at the recipe anymore, but there’s a recipe and it works every time.  So in business and in your life, forget about business, because remember, we are all entities.  If you have an ID number, you’re an entity, you have legal recourse.  And so each of us should operate like a corporation.  So  irrespective…

13:29

If you’re in business or you work for someone, you have to have a recipe, firstly for your life and secondly for your work. And then if you become an entrepreneur, where’s your recipe? So, I mean, we are both involved in the public speaking association and I see a new entrance without no recipe. It’s just that I’m going to do this business and if we can just help people with a recipe.

13:58

So you hit the nail on the head, it’s about the recipe.

Christél: Absolutely. Herman, you are on top of your game in FNB.  Why on earth would you leave such an incredible position?  

Herman: So sometimes in life, and at the time  it’s very bad, life  ends as shockers. So  I defer to it.

14:27

Like a cold shower, if you take a very nice warm shower and you turn it to ice cold water and you go, so in life we all get shockers and I’ve had quite a few. So in 2010, a big shocker was I got fired from an executive position at the bank. So I was never really an entrepreneur, I was a corporate man, doing all the right things. So at the age of 52, you find yourself out in the streets, no income, no money.

14:56

Yeah, so I was forced into it  by a shocker. That’s why if  you are handed a shocker, you should actually thank  whoever gives you a shocker for that because it will propel you in a new direction.  So in my case,  I was forced to go into a new direction. I mean, what do do at the age of 52? You  really, you your life’s over because where do you start from scratch? Yes. Yeah.

15:27

Christél: You compared being fired or a shocker with a cold shower, but a cold shower is healthy for you.

Herman: You’re supposed to do it. Exactly, but that’s the point. But a shocker can also be healthy for you because it helps you change direction. Because you know, some of us have the ability to change direction and come up with new things, but others, you only will change direction if you are shocked into a different direction. So I love shocks.

15:56

So instead of going into a mode of despair, when I get shocks, I immediately go into discipline mode. How do I solve this? What do I do now? Yeah, it’s a mindset.

Christél: Yes, absolutely. Something that I want to know is, you’ve mentioned that at the age of 52, you thought that

16:25

This is it. And looking back, if you think back to when you were 52 years old, do you still see it as being old?

Herman: Well, now looking back, now I’m 67 and I think I’ve just started. So now, I mean, you know, if God saves me till I live till 85, there’s a lot of runway left. So I mean, 52, you’re actually in spring.

16:52

still a spring chicken. Yes. You know compared to  my age right now. age is just a number. It’s mindset. It’s your mental DNA.  

Christél: Because a lot of people think if you’re over 50 that’s it.

Herman: Yeah because you know  that’s the way that the world

17:13

teaches us if you go into a job and you work and your target is to get to 60 or 65 and you build that pension and yet if you look at the statistics people that retire when they’re look how many of them actually survive beyond three years. So if you don’t have a retirement vision my view is you prolong your life because you have to work, you have that purpose to get up

17:42

and remain hungry.  Not that you need the money,  remember, if you empower yourself, it gives you the ability to empower others, which is another big thing in the book about  empowerment. Sounds like we have to read the book.

Christél: Absolutely.  Herman, just tell me quickly, best forex, what is it all about  and  why should we  find out more about it?

18:12

Herman: So as I said earlier on, if  you develop a certain skill in a specialist field,  that’s my field was always been international banking and I became  the CEO of international banking in a bank. So when I leave the bank,  in a lot of other instances, people will start a business in a totally different  line of things, which is fine. I mean, that’s also wonderful,  but that’s all I knew.  So

18:41

You know, after the initial shock, it took me two years to get through the antidepressants and  depression and all that stuff.  When  I woke up  from that ordeal, I went to go and set up an international banking business.  And  I didn’t even know at the time that you could set up your own international banking business. I went to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. I got a license.

19:08

I registered the business of the Reserve Bank with the Financial Intelligence Center, one man band.  so my passionate role that I had in the bank, I replicated in my own life, in my own business.  And so I do, that’s why I said I’ve been doing this for 47 years  and I’m good at it.  I’m a specialist.  

Christél: But it didn’t happen immediately. You mentioned two years of depression.

19:35

Herman: Yes, and remember when I started the company, now how do you start a company at the age of 52 or 54 then,  and with no real skill on how to sell? Because remember, if you’re in a big bank, your support structure is enormous.  You have an IT team, you have marketing team, you have a big brand, you have a balance sheet behind you. So  you don’t even take the time to pitch to a client, because when  you walk into a client, you expect the client just to give you the business.

20:05

which is so big and you’ve got this wonderful thing. So how do you start a business now with no brand, no capital, no balance sheet? So it was very hard. So in the beginning, I had to acquire clients one by one. I had to design a value proposition that could compete with an F &B. And how do you do that? You create credibility, you create the license, and you partner with another bank that would give you access to their products.

20:34

And then it just,  so just myself and then I employed one,  my nephew and then slowly it took 10 years to get to a point where it’s now established and  we can, you know, go to the next level. So it’s not easy, but it needs to be done.  

Christél: But now you’re on a roll.

Herman: Yes.

Christél: And everything looks as if it just happened.

Herman: Yes, absolutely.

21:04

And you know the thing is a big corporate does help to  teach you  critical skills. So for example, and it’s also a chapter in my book,  and it’s a very complex process. It’s called the balance scorecard. You know scorecard, when you have sports, you need a scorecard. need a scorecard.  So I’ve perfected the art of simplifying a balance scorecard. So  I  help people to come up with a personal scorecard.

21:31

If you don’t have a balanced scorecard, then you’re doomed. Because a balanced scorecard is the story of your strategy and it aligns to your vision.  And it’s a scorecard that says, I need to do this from a people perspective. I need to do this from an internal process perspective. I need to do this, what am I offering my clients and what are my financial targets? So it’s very simple, but it needs to be articulated.

22:00

again the recipe that you spoke about.

Christél: Do you do training on this?

Herman: Because it sounds like you should I’ve done it so many times and in the bank, it’s in the book, so… Remember, I’m not a trainer, but I love to empower people, so wherever I have a chance, I do this. Even with the Public Speaking Association, I introduced him to some of these concepts and…

22:29

Christél: You mentioned that you’re not a trainer, but…  

Herman: By profession.

Christél: By profession.

Herman: So my income doesn’t come from training.

Christél: Yes.

Herman: Yeah.

Christél: Okay. But,  from what  I get from you, it’s all a case  of having the self-confidence that you can do it. And if you don’t know yet, you fake it till you make it.

Herman: Fake it till you make it.  Absolutely.

Christél: Herman, in all these years that you’ve…

22:58

been  busy setting up best Forex? Has there ever been a morning when you woke up and thought,  oh, shibbit, I don’t know how to continue?

Herman: No, because of  my mindset.  Because remember, you may be tired at night and you feel down in the dumps, but in the next morning when you wake up, then,  so I’m luckily, I’m a mornings person. So my energy starts  four o’clock in the morning.

23:28

And then it dwindles. So by four five o’clock, I want to sit and watch TV with my wife and watch Netflix and all that stuff. But so, yes, I don’t  because you have to overcome obstacles.  if  and remember the whole thing about. Not riding a dead horse is also  a big learning for me, so  people continue to ride or  to ride on the horse that that’s dead.

23:57

So the sooner you get off the horse. So if it’s so dire that that horse is dead, if I can use that analogy, get off the horse and find something else to do.

Christél: But how do you know it’s a dead horse and that you shouldn’t just keep…

Herman: Because your balance scorecard will tell you. Because if you have, remember your balance scorecard say I’ve got an objective from a people perspective, internal process, client and so on, and each one has a measurement. Remember you can, in our business,

24:26

Guess how many times  do we do management accounts? Every day.  So we count the money every single day.  So you don’t need to wait for a month to see something is not working, or three months, or six months.  So  it should be a live process to say what  we are doing is working.  And the results is  evidence in your scorecard.  Because your scorecard said, listen, you don’t have…

24:54

from a people perspective, no one has got  job descriptions.  So what is the objective? Get operational structure in place and by three months, everybody should have a job description.  Then do it. And if you miss your deadline, then someone needs to take ownership.  So it’s all that recipe.  You have an objective, how do you measure it? It’s easy to have an objective to say, I’m going to have 20 new branches.

25:24

What’s the measurement?  Do you actually set up the branches?  It’s all about measurements. A recipe and then you measure it.

Christél: Sounds extremely simple.

Herman: Very simple. Everyone can do that.

Christél: Okay. You’ve mentioned energy that dwindles by the end of the day and  you go and watch Netflix with your wife. What other actions do you do to just regroup?

25:54

and recuperate your energy?

Herman: Yes, so I’m fortunate and everybody can be fortunate. I chose something by default. It was never by design. I chose something that I absolutely I love every minute of it.  So how do you blur the lines between  what you love and  then to recoup? I don’t have that. I  recoup all the time.

26:22

When I go on holiday, so I recruit by traveling. So I love to travel. So in my career in the bank, one of the roles I held was to look after 2,000 banking relationships in 198 countries. So you can imagine how I traveled the world with a whole team of specialists. So I traveled a lot, but my poor wife and family never went overseas. So at a point I started taking them.

26:50

And then unfortunately I created a monster with my wife, because now that’s all she wants to do. I recoup by traveling locally, you know, going on road trips to the Western Cape or to wherever. Yes. But the wonderful thing is  I’m  able to work all the time.  With my iPad, I would get off the road and for my clients, I would just quickly do a big deal, get on the road.

27:17

So it’s a comp- and I know it’s not perfect for everybody. I can see around people want to switch off and they want to put their phones off over the weekend. I sit and wait for that email, that WhatsApp,  because it creates opportunity.  So I have a perfect balance between work and  regrouping and  if you get five hours sleep at night, then why shouldn’t you be regrouped?

Christél: Interesting. There’s a lot of people that reckon you should have at least seven to eight hours.

27:47

Herman: Not if  you have psychological problems. No, I’m  joking. So, remember with my history of all of that stuff, I…  Yeah, I mean, five to six hours is what I get in. But that’s enough.  

Christél: Okay. You’ve also mentioned at some point that you are involved in a bit of running park runs.  I’ve heard some rumors about that.

Herman: Yeah, so,  you know…

28:15

And if you look at my personal call card, which is in this book,  under self, it’s all about self-preservation,  healthy living. Because if you get to my age and you don’t have energy, so you need to  self-preserve  and have some form of exercises, whether it’s  one day when  you visit me at my house,  my office on the third floor of my house.

28:40

So you can imagine all the exercises we do up and down with her.  So it’s just self preservation and I used to be a runner so I already had two  knee replacements and a hip replacement.  So I cannot run anymore but when I get an opportunity to walk  a 5k or a 10k or the park runs  I do it.  It’s all about self preservation and healthy living.

29:09

Christél: You mentioned you were a runner?

Herman: Yes, I can’t run because of the… It’s not advisable once you’ve replaced your knees and your hips to continue running. or walking the stairs is a very good alternative.

Christél: So what did you do prior to that?

Herman: Do what?

Christél: To your… Sorry. What did you do prior to your hip replacements and your knee replacements?

Herman: So I was running. So I started running at the age of about 36. Okay. And then I did my first…

29:38

10k and then a 21k and then my first 42k. And I qualified for Comrades but I never actually ran a com rate because my feet are designed, I’m a pronator. long distance is not for me. That’s why both my, all my knees have been replaced and so on. So I should have stayed with a 21 maximum and a 10 but I mean that’s what’s under the bridge.

30:06

Christél: But I think that is a very typical thing. I don’t know if it’s just in South Africa where you start with a 10k and then you feel you have to do a 21.

Herman: You have to go to the 50k on the dam at Los Corp and all those things.

Christél: And then you have to do comrades. Then you have to do comrades. Yeah.

Or if you’re 12 run, you have to do a hundred mile.

Herman: Absolutely.

Christél: You keep on pushing yourself, which is not always a good thing.

Herman: It’s really just about keeping fit and

30:35

your only competition is yourself. So get up, go and do that 5K or 10K or  I set up a small gym  outside on my deck. Yes. With the basic stuff just for some nothing serious, but just self-preservation.

Christél: Yeah. Very, very important. Do you ever do any of these exercises with your family? Do you involve them or is it a solo?

Herman: No, it’s a solo. So I mean,

31:05

Over all these years some of my big mates try and go with you to the gym and then  they don’t.  For many years now I know that I  need to go.  It’s nice to have a friend or a family member but at the end of the day you must just  know it’s what you need to do. So whether you do it alone or with friends immaterial you just need to get it to do it.  

Christél: Speaking of family…

31:34

You work fairly close with your family in business.

Herman: Yes, that was  also by default. So when I started my business, and it’s very interesting, I actually laid down some rules to say I will work, but these are the rules. I don’t want to lay out any capital, which is how strange is that? You want to start a business, but you’re not willing to put capital.  I also said I don’t want any staff.

32:04

I don’t want any bricks and mortar,  no filing cabinets, no building, no offices and all of that.  So,  and we’ve achieved that.  But as I started growing,  I employed my brother’s  son, who’s now the CEO of our company.  And then  we just continued. So, my middle daughter works for me.

32:29

Well, I actually work for them now because I handed all the shares, mostly the shares have been handed to them.  I’m the mentor.  So it’s good to have… Look, I know that  in business, family, they don’t always work together.  But it’s a gain if you have a balanced core card. And you know what drives the behavior in the company, you would know that very well, is the culture.

32:58

So the ethos of the business is so important because if you have the right ethos, things, the way we,  and a simple way to explain what ethos or culture, all those things is just simple word is the way we do things.  And remember we have our own individual cultures in our lives and in our business and the places where we work.  And as we know, a lot of companies have got a toxic culture.

33:22

But if you control your own destiny and your own life, then how do you do things? If you can explain  the way I do things, you need to articulate it and put it down.  This is how I operate my life.  So in our case,  our culture between  personal  and business is blurred.  It’s one culture.  So the five S’s I speak about in my book as my business culture is also my personal culture.  

Christél: Okay. But you also…

33:52

Best Forex  was sort of started with a family already and your children became involved very quickly or your daughter.  So it’s not really a second generation  of entrepreneurship trying to continue. Because that seems to always be a problem moving from a first to a second generation.

Herman: Yes and

34:17

So remember if you start a business and the family is not interested,  and remember we see it all over and the  founder wants the children to take over and want their own ideas on their children,  it’s not working. So in my case, it’s only  my daughter that works for me and she’s as passionate  about international banking as I am. She’s also a software engineer.

34:44

So our new business that’s going to go global is she’s the CEO of that business. So yeah, and you know what? The thing is, unlike myself that don’t really have hobbies, my hobbies is to work.  You have to allow people to live out their  hobbies. So our CEO,  Rudy Bissetta, he  still plays rugby. He plays with the legends with all these.

35:10

and he’s 40 years old, he loves rugby, he plays touch rugby and he does all the stuff. My daughter is a singer, she’s a performer. So people need to have a balance between their two passions of work and other passions.

Christél: Just quickly, in one or two lines, your new business is launching in April, I believe. Yes. What is that all about?

35:39

Herman: So know in the world there’s a term that says content or knowledge  is the new gold  or the new oil.  you’ve heard me saying that you’ve got to specialise in something. So in 2016 I thought how do I commercialise what’s in my head? Because most of us at the age of 60 or 65 retire and  the work chases away and all that knowledge is lost.

36:08

So the idea was how do you  commercialize what’s in your head?  And in our team, I have 10 guys like me as partners that work in the business  as entrepreneurs.  it’s potentially hundreds of years of  IP that we have.  So the new business is to commercialize that.  Now why it took so long is because in 2016 we didn’t have things like artificial intelligence.

36:38

So, but now with the new tools that are available, we, yeah, so we simply created a new artificial intelligence tool that will empower everybody and anybody that wants to learn about international trade, imports, exports, foreign exchange, markets,  and all of that.

Christél: And how to become involved. Now to start making money from it.  

Herman: Yeah, so remember if you want to,  as I said to you, growth  in South Africa,

37:07

And  I wrote an article about it in the Sunday Times  two weeks ago.  Growth will come from expanding. So if you’ve reached your growth in South Africa,  where to next? So you need to have the ability to see how can you venture outside the borders of South Africa.  So this tool will help anybody that are currently  in  imports and exports or investments to…

37:35

expand their horizons, cross border.

Christél: And you don’t even have to go to America full time to get it done.

Herman: Exactly. Yeah. So we’re going to launch our product here in South Africa, then onto the African continent  and then into the world.  even went  the subscription  model for this product. We went to a global company to do the payment platform. So we already from day one are positioning it, know, faking it till you make it.

38:05

So  to  enable us to collect money from anywhere in the world through this global payment engine.  

Christél: Herman, if you could be 20 years old again,  what would you do different?

38:24

Herman: What I will do different is because you know I was brought up fatherless so although I had wonderful women in my life, my grandmother and my mother and so on, I never really had a mentor from life and a business perspective and so on and that’s why I’m so passionate about using this book to give it to younger people 16, 17, 18 because if you can teach people that recipe.

38:53

about how to do these things. Now, can you imagine if, so what I want to do different, why,  if I can get at the age of 20 to get the recipe on how to be an entrepreneur and how to build your own business.  Or if you work with someone, how do you consistently work on improving yourself? How do you consistently create that unique value proposition?  Yesterday in,  on LinkedIn, Bruce Whitfield, which is a very,

39:23

famous  person just ask a quick question about how important is job security these days, something like that.  And job security is no longer a guarantee. So the only guarantee  that you will have is yourself.  So if you continuously uplift yourself, upscale yourself, then  you create your own security because  you’ll be in demand.

39:51

people would want to give you a job, people would want you as part of their team.  So if the one door closes, you are so powerful because you are this  person that are skilled and you you you specialize. So you’ll find your next job or you, or you go and create your own space.  So jobs,  you know, the days,  remember we were brought up in the old days, you, you, you go from school into a post office or a bank job or whatever. And it was all nice and guaranteed forever.

40:21

Those days are gone. There’s no such thing  as dark security. should be your own security.  If you don’t develop, if you stay behind, mean, look how people are not embracing AI  or all the new things.  You stay away from it because it’s too complicated.

40:49

We’re  now with all the PSA members with the new  paying the  membership fees.  It’s frightening to see how many people don’t know how to on an email click a button to pay and all those things.  So  we need to stay abreast of changes.  

Christél: But I think it comes back to mindset. Yes. And  I often  share the story of my mum who is…

41:17

super intelligent, but somehow she has put it in her mind that she can’t use WhatsApp. Absolutely. And that is it. That’s it. Nothing is going to convince her that she can use WhatsApp.

Herman: And I’m joking now, but maybe it’s your fault. So my mom lives with me. She’s 88. So from the beginning, I gave her a Samsung phone. I’ve got an iPhone, but she…

41:44

we actually just naturally taught her how to do WhatsApp. She reads all the newspapers,  the Bild, when we still had one, Heidsgenoot,  all those things, and News24, and she does a banking on her app, everything, because it was entrenched. It was part of  the process.  Now she gets very upset with  her friends that are the same age.

42:12

that have the attitude of we’re not touching this, we can’t do this. So there’s some SMSing and you can’t, you know. So yeah, it’s a mindset.

Christél: I think, but yeah, everything comes back to mindset because like my mum believes that you’re not intelligent enough if you can’t remember somebody’s phone number. And if she puts it in, she knows exactly if a number comes in, she knows it’s calling and she doesn’t want to put it in their phone because she won’t remember it anymore.

42:41

But it’s all mindset. It’s mindset. Everything is mindset. But I think the entire life, what we think we can do and can’t do is mindset.

Herman: We are hampered by ourselves, by our mindset, by our thinking.

Christél: And in the end, you just need to fake it till you make

Herman: Yes, fake it till you make it. Because remember, it sounds like a negative statement, fake it till you make it. But it’s also an attitude of,

43:10

I’ll go and find out how to do it. absolutely.

Christél: Herman, advice for people leaving school,  want to start something, want to build a significance in their life,  what would be your advice apart from reading your book?

Herman: Yeah, so

43:37

You know that  most people on earth don’t have a vision. And I know it sounds like motherhood and apple pie and NBA talk, but…

43:47

I would advise people to sit down and just articulate  a vision. And remember, it’s your vision. You don’t have to share it with anybody.  Because if you don’t have some idea where you’re going to, how will you align yourself  to do that?  So  for me,  it’s linked to vision and a scorecard. So whatever your vision is, you need to develop a little scorecard. And it can be very simplistic to say what will I do  and how will I measure it.

44:18

And it’s really as simple as that,  is to decide where do you want to go to. And remember, part of that, you need to find out what your passions are.  I why choose a career? I’ve seen it with so many people where they live, where they work in an environment for 40 years and they eat every single day.  So find something that you love. So find something that you feel like you’re on holiday every day.  That’s how I feel. I feel like I’m on holiday every day.

44:48

Christél: But that doesn’t mean that it’s fun all the time. I think it is.  So never having a bad time when things get rough. And you feel like going to watch Netflix rather than continuing working.

Herman: No, because remember I told you, once you’ve gone through a few shockers,  you then become  a person that says, listen, okay, this has happened.

45:16

Like remember, in our case, every day there are issues.  Our banking partners, the bad service, things go wrong, payments go wrong. So there are crises every day. But  it’s the way that you  work through it. And it becomes fun when  you resolve it and you find a solution.  And remember, your whole team thinks like that. So no one sits and think about, oh, goodness, how bad it is. It’s all about solution mode. How  do we fix this?

45:46

And  from time to time when you lose a client because of whatever happened, even if it’s not your fault,  try and solve it, but move on. I know  it sounds like  an  idyllic situation, but it’s mindset again. So you can have a mindset to say, okay, today I’m going to see obstacles all day long. As I said to you, your life, you can…

46:14

The only thing that’s guaranteed apart from that you are going to die is that your life will be riddled with challenges.  And people, have you seen people that are trying to hide from that? They stop living  because they don’t take risks, they don’t go out, they just sit  and try and put themselves in a vacuum  of not being hurt or not being,  or not seeing obstacles. But what life is that?

46:43

Christél: Absolutely. It reminds me of that old vision of stepping out of your comfort zone. Exactly. That’s where the magic happens. A shocker moves you out your comfort zone. And be thankful for those shockers.

Christél: Yes, be thankful.

Herman: Don’t go and say, why me? Why me? No. And I did say that. I mean, how do you get, how do you get, your job at 8 or 52 with the Holodome?

47:10

jet skis, sports cars, and then from one month to the next, no income. It’s a big shocker. And at the time, it feels like you’re dying.  

Christél: But the question is, you need to work through that.  

Herman: Yeah. But nothing in life, no success comes easy. Exactly. It’s a comfort zone thing. If you stay in the comfort zone.  So remember, this title is as place as more for me.

47:39

means you’ve got to move out.  So if you don’t like your relationship that you’re in,  if you don’t like the car that you’re driving, if you don’t, if you hate your job, what do do?  Move. You’re not a tree.  

Christél: And even trees can be moved.

Herman: Exactly.

Christél: With the right equipment.

Herman: Yes. And the right attitude and  nourishment and whatever.

Christél: Absolutely.

48:07

Herman, in the next 5 to 10 years, what would you still like to achieve?

Herman: Yeah, so as I said, I’d like  to still work in the business. So I’m not one of those guys that wants to keep all the power. I am down, everything, bank to bank accounts, everything.  Because it’s only when you empower someone that they can run. So I’m really just sitting on the side.

48:33

as a mentor, store giving advice, because that’s how people  learn.  this new business of ours, I’ve said from the beginning, it will be a global business. and but, you’ve heard about the  skateboard analogy?

Christél: No.

Herman: Yeah, no? So, we’re building  this business on a skateboard approach.

49:02

So you can either have this vision of having a Rolls Royce that’s going to be sold globally, but you have that vision, but you build it by doing a skateboard. So we’ve built it on a skateboard approach. So what is a skateboard? What’s the big thing a skateboard can do? It’s got a plank and it’s got wheels. So what can it do? It can move forward. So you start your business, whatever business.

49:30

on a skateboard approach, low capital, low cost, low resources, but the idea is there. So it starts moving. And as the income comes in, you start adding the handles,  the brakes. You put an engine in and then later on you add more wheels and then you put a body on. But  it runs all the time.  And as you build it, it creates more revenue.

49:57

until you get to that end stage, wherever that may be.

Christél: Ah, the Rolls Royce.

Herman: Yeah.

Christél: Pretty impressive. Pretty impressive. I was just imagining the skateboard in the skate park going in circles and doing all sorts of things.

Herman: But it’s fast. Yeah. It can move. Remember, that’s what a skateboard does. It moves. Yes. And in business, you need to move forward. And what moving forward means, you’re offering a product that clients are buying from you.

50:27

and then you add layers of product and more and more.

Christél: Sounds like something that I need to read up on more and I can’t wait to read more about your book. Is this place too small for me? It sounds like this is the ultimate business book.

Herman: I think so. And I mean, the fact that when I launched it in 2022, it hit

50:55

Amazon best-selling status in five business categories.

Christél: Yeah. Absolutely impressive. So just testimony that everything you touch has turns to gold.  

Herman: Fake it till you make it.  

Christél: Herman, thank you so much for your time.  I really, really do appreciate it. And yeah, it’s been an absolute privilege.  

Herman: It’s a great privilege from my side. I just want to leave one quote.

51:24

for this session.  It is not the strongest that survived, nor the most intelligent,  but the ones most responsive to change.

51:39

Thank you.