SOUTH AFRICANS LARGELY SUCK AT BEING ENTREPRENEURS. Before you pick up stones and force me into running for cover, bear with me. I’ll explain why I say so and upon what I base that. And I immediately want to put the minds of those South Africans who are true entrepreneurs at rest and hasten to [...]
26
2012
“Midas of the dump” 1 “Damn!” Sucking the oozing blood from his finger, the young man motions to his elderly hireling. “Load this in the trailer please” he says after he weighs the finds on his heavy-duty scale. He rarely helps mine for scraps these days. Before he got someone to help him do the [...]
19
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer The spark plug3 with the ice-blue eyes I had come to him for answers. Unprepared. The blaze in his impossibly blue eyes pinned me to my seat and as he started talking, my misconceptions shrivelled away right there…right then. The passion that exuded from him did not come from a text book [...]
12
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer Someone once said that the wheels of western civilization (now eastern too) run on oil. This truism speaks of universalism and in this context, equally seems to apply to the concept of entrepreneurship that underpins so much of our global day to day living. Setting the stage Entrepreneurship. What is it? [...]
by Elmarie Bouwer Imagine that you’re lying on a sun drenched beach in your favourite spot, sipping pina coladas. While watching the surf and local talent in a lazy daze, every little bit of disproportionate body fat you have starts dissolving away as if by magic. If you’re a guy, your six-pack and calves magically [...]
27
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer The seemingly fearful little whimper came from deep within the foliage. No effort, however calculating, could coax him out of his hiding. No eats, no soothing voice, no blithe promises could charm him into revealing his elfin self to my keen eye. This time round I was determined to find him. No [...]
20
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer Tell me again – why is the subject of creativity important when all I’m interested in is business success? Because creativity underlies all successful business functions! And what you believe about creativity is directly going to influence that very success you’re so interested in! That’s why. ***** “All he ever does [...]
13
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer The contest… Sunlight glinted on the saddle and the deep chestnut hues rippled power. Light played brilliantly on the powerful flanks as the animal readied himself to scale the jump that all others in the competition, less potent than he, leaped with relative ease. This round he would easily win. Triumph was [...]
6
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer Yes, you are. Even if you deny it, don’t feel it, can’t really care or maybe accept the fact but can’t be bothered with it. Even… The boring bits… Mountains of research indicate that everyone is creative. For example, well known creativity guru, Kobus Neethling1, quotes research done on toddlers wherein 98% [...]
30
2012
by Elmarie Bouwer Slowly the lump of brown wet earth forms into the recognizable limbs and torso of a manikin. With every caress, the deliberate pinches and touches of the artist morphs into the image of a child. When fully done, she takes a patina knife and deliberately starts slashing multiple crisscross gashes into the [...]