ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH : APRIL

As Chairperson of the Gordon's Bay Business Forum, I am proud to announce that our chosen Entrepreneur of the month for April 2011 are Cyril and Lynn Brown, owners of the Gordon's Bay Reviews.

Cyril and Lynn produced the first three editions of the Gordon’s Bay Reviews in May, June and July 2010 in conjunction with the Elgin Grabouwer. They took a break in August and have been producing and publishing the paper independently since September 2010. 

According to Cyril and Lynn, their aim is not to produce a ‘news’ paper as such; rather a monthly review of people, places, history, environment and events happening in and around Gordon’s Bay. They have been constantly amazed at how many interesting, talented and enterprising people there are in our Gordon's Bay  community and enjoy sharing these discoveries. 

In the words of Marcel Proust ‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes’, so with that in mind we thought it would be interesting to provide a space for local people to tell their stories, share their interests and experiences, promote events, publish information about community associations, sports clubs and school news and advertise their businesses. 

Their focus remains firmly on positive, motivating and interesting - even quirky – information, (interspersed from time to time with one or two other items that is not specifically related to the town).  Along with their regular contributors, each producing a column in their own fields, they are fortunate to have the services of an excellent copy editor as well as a printing service, all based in Gordon’s Bay. 

The target market of the Gordon's Bay Reviews consists of residents and visitors to Gordon’s Bay who enjoy reading about our town, its people – whether residents or ‘swallows’ - along with articles from enthusiasts who enjoy sharing their passions, e.g. local history, birding, photography, psychology, coin collecting, book reviews etc. and businesses who want to advertise. Lynn says 'It has been surprising to note the number of people that are unaware of the range of services we have available in Gordon’s Bay and we are firm advocates of an interactive and locally supportive community'.

Working from home, they don’t have an office in the strictest sense of the word, as all information, editorial, photographs or advertising can be sent to either lynnhb@mweb.co.za or cyrilb@mweb.co.za. They can be contacted on 021 856 3792 or Cyril can be contacted on his cell phone 082 735 9998.

The Gordon’s Bay Reviews is a monthly publication and is obtainable at: Gordon's Bay BP Garage, GBay Internet Café, Mountain Streams Nursery, Ooksus Fisheries, Solveig, The Gordon's Bay Spar, Talking Books, Vanity and Village Plastics. Please support this wonderful couple in our town as they are making wonderful contribution.

Wish we them continued great success and look forward to reading the Gordon's Bay Reviews each month!

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH : FEBRUARY

As Chairman of the Gordon's Bay Business Association I am proud to announce that our chosen Entrepreneur of the month for February 2011 is Okkie van der Merwe from Gordon's Bay Security.

Gordon’s Bay Security opened its doors under the leadership of Okkie van der Merwe on the first of August 2001, with a total of thirteen employees and two alarms to monitor. As they have entered their 10th year in the Helderberg area, they have become a force to be reckoned with. 

Their team of armed response officers are a formidable force, trained and equipped to attend any type of situation that presents itself to the fullest. They inspect the premises when alarm activation is received in their  high tech, fully equipped control room, and make sure that all is in order before leaving the premises. Should there be an incident, the SAPS will be contacted and together they will inspect the premises further.

Gordon's Bay Security offers our town an invaluable service and I feel we should definitely support them. Besides offerring Armed Response Service to our community they also cover the following areas :

1) Short Term Insurance (for your belongings and your property)

2) Wireless Internet Service Provider (Their aim is to supply internet and e-mail with the competitive prices to your doorstep)

3) Indoor shooting range facilities

4) Private Ambulance Services

In Okkie van der Merwe's words “People phone us when they are in need of medical assistance or if they need ambulance service, but we could never dispatch these because they are either privately owned or part of the state”, and it is because of this reason that we decided to purchase our own fully equipped, state of the art ambulance. This make us one of a very few companies with its very own ambulance service which is available to our clients at the press of a button. Highly trained and skilled paramedics are standing ready to provide you with the best medical assistance. This service is not only limited to our clients premises, but should anything happen to them within the Helderberg Basin, they will still have the service available to them.

Should you wish to contact Okkie, please do so on accounts@gbsec.co.za or please see their Website on www.gbsec.co.za Their Head Office is situated at 2 Link Road, Mansfield Industrial, Gordon's Bay. 

We wish them continued success in the service that they are offering our community in Gordon's Bay.

SUCCESS POINTERS FOR OUR LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS

As an Entrepreneur myself, and owner of Danmil Attorneys in Gordon's Bay.

I have often wondered what holds the keys to success for my fellow Entrepreneurs.

After much browsing I came across an interesting article from Nokia. I decided to

share it with you with the hope of encouraging you to grow in success with your own

businesses.

WE CAN LEARN FROM NOKIA

• “Do not underestimate your competitors,

• Understand the internal and external risk factors that may affect your business growth and survival;

• Understand market changes and dynamics;

• Ensure that you understand the requirements of your target market;

• Keep up with technology;

• Create a culture of continued improvement;

•  Approach innovation as an asset and apply the principles to all areas of your business;

• Properly segment your target market;

• Cheaper is not always a better alternative;

• Protect your brand perception and reputation;

• Involve your employees at all levels as part of your business approach to excellence; and

• Your past successes do not guarantee future success or growth.”

(Taken from an article by Stephen Elop)

Nokia started as a small business and today has grown to be a successful economic giant. We may not all want our businesses to grow to that size, but I think we can learn from them. It is my wish at Danmil Attorneys, in Gordon’s Bay that my fellow Entrepreneurs in Gordons Bay continue to expand and grow in success. I hope that I have shared something of value with each of you today.

DECEMBER ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

One of my great privileges is to select one Entrepreneur each month for their outstanding work and contribution to our town, Gordon's Bay. This month I am so proud to announce that our chosen entrepreneurs for the month of December are André and Margot Paulsen owners of the BP Service Station.

They took over the BP Service Station in Gordon’s Bay in September 2002. It is situated on the fork as you drive into Gordon’s Bay by Beach Road and Faure Marine Drive. After chatting with them here is the story as quoted by Andre and Margot.

''Our motto is to always provide fast, friendly and excellent service and products. We are open 24/7 and do not have a key to the front door. Our main reason why we have this business, is to provide fast, friendly and efficient service to our customers. We aim for our customers to always have a pleasant shopping experience with us. Many customers become our friends and many we see more than once a day.

We often ask people why they are in business. Most of the times the reply is “to make money”. For us that is not so. If your main aim in business is to make money, it will always keep running away from you. Obviously you have to make a profit, but the main aim is to provide a service. If that service you provide is excellent, the money will come by itself.

We obviously sell fuel, oil, do emergency tyre repairs, have a car wash and sell gas, wood, charcoal and briquettes as well as bait. In the shop we sell electricity; cell phone air time. Our ice is the best price anywhere! From time to time we sell bread; milk at cost price (would like to do it the whole year and are busy with negotiations with BP Head office to be able to do that). Our shop has the basic emergency requirements like toothpaste and toothbrush (for those who do not want to drive home late at night), light bulbs, cereal, nappies, dog and cat food and all kinds of other interesting and essential items.

We have a street map in our shop and many people come to us for directions, whether to visit people and often for people doing deliveries. For tourists we also keep a good selection of maps.

We also have personal contact with our customers and often inquire if there are any specific needs and if possible, will order it in and keep it in our shop for them. When we are able to get stock at an excellent price, we supply these bargain priced items to our customers e.g. for the past few months we have been selling Bar Ones at a price you will not find anywhere else!

We bake all our pies, rolls, confectionery on the premises and they are always fresh. Please remember us for your orders as we also bake to order and have a standing order with the Rotary for croissants. We have the best croissants in town – made with real butter. On Friday’s we have “Friday is Pie Day” which has become extremely popular. Because we are open 24 hours, people can order from our bakery for say, 6am and we will bake it for them.

Every month we hand out a newsletter with some nice positive input. As one customer once phoned us and said that our account is the only one she looks forward to receiving as she cannot wait for the newsletter that comes with it!''

Andre and Margot also strive to give back to our community in Gordon's Bay. As education is important to them, Gordon’s Bay Primary school has been their main area who they sponsor. They had a project where they sponsored the school on a Rand to Rand basis for R100 000.00 where they were the first school in the Western Cape to get interactive white boards for their classrooms. Besides this, Andre and Margot also sponsored the spelling marathon and the BP Fun Walk which is held annually round about September/October each year and has been growing every year. Each participant receives a medal for completing the walk. Next year the marathon will be growing more as they would like to expand it to a whale walk as well.

André & Margot are involved with the Gordon’s Bay Business Association where we strive to upgrade our town to bring more visitors and therefore more business to our businesses and in the process more jobs will be created. Please remember to support this wonderful couple in our town, they can be contacted via e-mail bpgordonsbay@gbsec.co.za or per telephone 021 – 856 2813.

We are thankful to them for their contribution in Gordon's Bay and wish them all the success in their business for 2011.

GORDONS BAY BUSINESS ASSOCIATION LAUNCHED ON FACEBOOK!

Hi Friends,

It is my privilege to announce that we have launched our Business Networking Page on Facebook! 

As of September 2010, Facebook surpassed Google in regards to the amount of time users spent on their site. Facebook states that users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. With 500 million active users worldwide on Facebook, its makes for an excellent marketing platform for all Business owners. 

According to stats taken in June 2010 the number of users on Facebook in South Africa were 2 833 860 and climbing quickly!

The reasoning behind using Facebook for marketing or awareness is basically to increase search engine optimisation on the internet. Putting that in simple English : 'Facebook is a busy river! So if we put our Gordon's Bay Business Association 'island' in the middle of a busy river with lots of traffic, we are bound to get good exposure!' 

We already have 22 fans/supporters on our GBBA Facebook Business Page. These are people who are interested in getting our Gordon's Bay Business Association news or connecting and networking with us. I am hoping this will grow steadily, already with 22 fans in such a short time, its so great to see support coming our way already!

Please click here to see our new Facebook Business Page :

http://companies.to/gordonsbaybusinessassociation/

Also please dont forget to simply click on LIKE once you are in, as that will enable you to be a member on our Page.

Believing the best in you, together for Gordons Bay!

Danie Miller

BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

As chairman of the Gordon's Bay Business Association, I have decided to select one outstanding Businessman or Business woman per month and promote their Business and work here on our Blog and Website linked to Danmil Attorneys.

Gordon's Bay is rich in entrepreneurs and is an area where many courageous men and woman have had to the insight and courage to open their own businesses. It is an honour to support my fellow Entrepreneurs. Together we can share skills, learn from each other, and most importantly make a concise effort to support each other's Business's.

Our Choice for Entrepreneur of the month is Peter Venter who, alongside his wife, Maria is the the owner of Peter Venter Estates. This family-owned real estate business is based in Gordon's Bay, just outside Cape Town, South Africa. Their Business was founded in 1998 and they specialise in marketing an extensive portfolio of fine houses and apartments on the Gordon's Bay beach front, surrounds and the mountainside. Their target market is investors for fine homes, for those who wish to re-locate to Gordon's Bay either on a permanent basis, for retirement or for a deserved breakaway to invigorate body and soul

To contact them please see their website on http://www.peterventer.com. Their offices are situated on the beach front of Gordon's Bay at The Anchorage,shop 1, 69 Beach Road, Gordon's Bay.

It is my vision for all local Business Owners to make an active effort to support each other's businesses. This is the way forward for us to grow our business's with success! Statistics have shown that by supporting local business there is an inward flow of currency/capital to that area. Hence, the area benefits financially as money flows within and to that area. The opposite happens when spending or searching for products and services OUTSIDE of the local business area.

If we all make a concerted effort to support our local Entrepreneurs it will directly uplift and benefit our geographical area. 'Support Local' and Gordon's Bay and its people will reap the rewards. Lets pull together for the good of our beautiful town.

South African Perspective

SOUTH AFRICA : PERSPECTIVE

I am aware of the problems we have in South Africa, but am of the opinion that the Zuma government is doing reasonably well.  Lots of mistakes have been made and lots are still being made, but matters are slowly improving, well that is my opinion, but the facts are :

1.      We hosted a successful World Cup Soccer Tournament and (although still far too high), crime is slowly decreasing in spite of serious problems with our Police, Courts (Justice System) and prisons.

2.       Our growth rate in the last quarter was 4%

3.       Our inflation rate was the lowest for a long time, about 3.6%

4.       Our interest rate is the lowest it has been for 31 years. 7.5%

5.       Plan are afoot for a major upgrade of our railway system, amongst others a fast speed rail service between Johannesburg and Durban and Johannesburg and Cape Town

6.       Plans are afoot for 6 nuclear power stations

7.       Overseas investors obviously have confidence in South Africa!

8.       The Rand was R6.95 to the US $ yesterday which is very good.

9.       Gold was over R1 300 per ounce

10. Wal-mart is negotiating the takeover of SA Massmart who owns among others Game, Dions, Macro and Builder’s Warehouse for about R30 billion

11.   HSBC is negotiating to take over Nedbank SA for also about R30 billion

I believe the future in spite of all the present problems, is bright and I have faith in our beautiful country, South Africa.

Danie Miller - 30^th September 2010