Comments for SkillingAfrica.org for ETD Practitioners http://thenexus.co.za/blog Blog for African Skills Development Professionals Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:47:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 Comment on The 3 Rules of Project Management by Andre Skeen http://thenexus.co.za/blog/archives/52/comment-page-1#comment-4 Andre Skeen Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:47:13 +0000 http://thenexus.co.za/blog/?p=52#comment-4 About how it works... Project planning in the training environment requires the flexibility of an acrobat and the patience of Job, nerves of steel and the tact of a diplomat, and thats before the learners come on board! About how it works… Project planning in the training environment requires the flexibility of an acrobat and the patience of Job, nerves of steel and the tact of a diplomat, and thats before the learners come on board!

]]> Comment on What is Entrepreneurship? by Andre Skeen http://thenexus.co.za/blog/archives/18/comment-page-1#comment-3 Andre Skeen Fri, 29 May 2009 14:18:34 +0000 http://thenexus.co.za/blog/?p=18#comment-3 An interesting comment that. I suppose I would lean towards - not job creation for others neccesarily- but rather to the building of an asset. If I am a commission-based salesperson, I am effectively self-employed. I work hours that I determine, even though I report to a boss. I am in charge of my own income: the more I sell the more I make, and my loyalty is to my client base, not really to my employer, because the clients are mine, not my employer's. When the rainy day comes however, I need a pension plan or something, because my job cannot continue to sustain me when I'm not there. I would define Entrepreneurship in my mind therefore as the ability to create an asset that can sustain me even when I am no longer there doing it. By that measure I could gamble on the stock markets from a beach in Mauritius; and as long as I create sufficient wealth to sustain myself even when I stop share trading, I will have achieved the same goal as the person who creates a thousand jobs in pursuit of his or her dream. Of course its easier to do it with staff - you can appoint a manager, have enough other people to do the work and so on. For me the question is: do I want to build a lifestyle for myself, or an asset. Many people have lifestyles, but when things go wrong and they are unable to continue doing what they do, they lose the lifestyle. In that they are no different from the hawker at the side of the road, they enjoy a higher income but their situation is just as precarious. What you want to do is create an asset that continues to generate an income for you even if you are unable to be actively involved. An interesting comment that. I suppose I would lean towards – not job creation for others neccesarily- but rather to the building of an asset. If I am a commission-based salesperson, I am effectively self-employed. I work hours that I determine, even though I report to a boss. I am in charge of my own income: the more I sell the more I make, and my loyalty is to my client base, not really to my employer, because the clients are mine, not my employer’s. When the rainy day comes however, I need a pension plan or something, because my job cannot continue to sustain me when I’m not there.

I would define Entrepreneurship in my mind therefore as the ability to create an asset that can sustain me even when I am no longer there doing it.

By that measure I could gamble on the stock markets from a beach in Mauritius; and as long as I create sufficient wealth to sustain myself even when I stop share trading, I will have achieved the same goal as the person who creates a thousand jobs in pursuit of his or her dream.

Of course its easier to do it with staff – you can appoint a manager, have enough other people to do the work and so on. For me the question is: do I want to build a lifestyle for myself, or an asset. Many people have lifestyles, but when things go wrong and they are unable to continue doing what they do, they lose the lifestyle.

In that they are no different from the hawker at the side of the road, they enjoy a higher income but their situation is just as precarious.

What you want to do is create an asset that continues to generate an income for you even if you are unable to be actively involved.

]]> Comment on What is Entrepreneurship? by gizelle@skillingsa.co.za http://thenexus.co.za/blog/archives/18/comment-page-1#comment-2 gizelle@skillingsa.co.za Fri, 29 May 2009 09:48:14 +0000 http://thenexus.co.za/blog/?p=18#comment-2 My question in terms of entrepreneurship is do you understand what entrepreneurship means to you? You need to define whether you want to be self-employed - put money in your account and pay your bills, or do you want to create opportunities for others to be employed? You cannot "force" this, and in my opinion the huge drive to entrepreneurship - employing others (by my definition), has been misunderstood and abused. My question in terms of entrepreneurship is do you understand what entrepreneurship means to you? You need to define whether you want to be self-employed – put money in your account and pay your bills, or do you want to create opportunities for others to be employed? You cannot “force” this, and in my opinion the huge drive to entrepreneurship – employing others (by my definition), has been misunderstood and abused.

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