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Three Lessons Learnt - My life from Corporate to Business Owner of a Franchised Store

January 30, 2021 Melanie Hawken
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By Teboho Seretlo

A little bit about me. I have worked for more than 25 years in corporates since 1989. These included Unilever, SAB, The Coca Cola Company, Momentum and finally Nedbank. I held various positions from being a technical trainee going through the brilliant graduate programmes of these illustrious companies. These positions offered me very well-rounded general management skills, from logistics, financial management, project management, human resources as well as transformation/B-BBEE. 

Finally, in 2015, I was ready to go on my own, but I was never fully ready. I chose a premium dry-cleaning franchise, purely because of my small risk appetite and it felt “Safe”, nothing was going to go wrong on a big scale, like in a huge business. A year into it, I knew the culture and the goings-on were not fully aligned with my value system and work ethic, but I soldiered on despite my gut feel telling me otherwise.

Here are some quotes I live by:

“Take complete ownership of your outcomes” Gary Keller

“Our highest priority is to protect our ability to prioritise” Greg McKeown

“Whatever it is that you want to do, you’ll find in life that if you are not passionate about what it is you are working on, you won’t be able to stick with it” Jeff Bezos

Lesson 1 - You are your own boss

Transitioning from a corporate job to becoming your own boss, the buck stops with you. It is perfectly ok to ask for help and not wanting to do it all, just to save money (example, I wanted to do my own social media, bookkeeping etc.) and some of these things I was not even good at or keen on doing. Surround yourself with like-minded people who are also in business and can add to your business (example – you might know someone who has a digital marketing company who can help you with social media and you help them with what your business does well.) Your corporate “connections” are no longer taking your calls, so stop pinning your hopes that when you leave the corporate job, you are walking away with a huge network of people whose doors you can knock on anytime when you need business.

Lesson 2 - Set boundaries

Dare to say “no”. What you say “no” to gives you a chance to say “yes” to something you value. Taking calls at all hours just because you have no set office hours is a no-no. Sometimes the money will dry out and you are tempted to take on any project as long as it brings in some money. Do not - because you will compromise your quality and always get into an argument with your clients about price and timelines. Remember the saying, “it’s not always about the money but about the legacy”

Lesson 3 - Choose a gig you are passionate about

If you are not passionate, you will give up at the first sign of problems. Your grit will be tested. When a gritty person gets “NO” for an answer or encounters a set-back, they may be disappointed, but not for long. Better still, adopt a craftsmanship mindset as a pre-requisite to a passion mindset because craftsmanship says “how can I improve and give something uniquely valuable to offer the world?”, whereas passion is about what the world has to offer you. Getting corporate clients was hard and I should have been grittier but because I was not passionate about what I was doing, I did not persevere.

Thank you to the www.productivitygame.com for teaching me these lessons and for reminding me that actually, if I fail, like I did with the dry-cleaning franchise, I need to find a minus and teach others about my journey, instead of having a pity-party. 

“Insights from the ego is the enemy” – Ryan Holiday


Teboho Seretlo.jpeg

Teboho Seretlo is the managing director and founder of Seretlo Investments (Pty) Ltd, a business support services consultancy which assists micro, small and medium enterprises with business intelligence support, business plans and investor pitch decks, funding applications, business cost optimization and business improvement processes. She also ran a franchised premium dry-cleaning outlet of her own for 5 years. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Maths from University of Fort Hare, Management Development Programme (MDP) from GIBS and an International Executive Development Programme (IEDP) GIBS & Rotterdam School of Management. She has over 25 years working experience with corporates such as Nedbank, Momentum, The Coca-Cola Company, SABreweries and Unilever, where she gained experience in a variety of disciplines including B-BBEE &transformation, financial management & budgeting, project management, decision-support, business strategy & analysis as well as research. She is passionate about gender issues and does volunteer work for women empowerment organisations.

In Guest Blog Tags Teboho Seretlo, Entrepreneurial Journey
← Keep the beat, keep your passion, keep your vision in the groove!Nanny Trouble  →

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS


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LIONESSES OF AFRICA · AI Series Ep. 2 : AI-Human Collaboration in the Workplace

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Sydelle Willow Smith, a pioneer of solar-powered mobile cinema in Africa
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Zanele Njapha, a transformational business leadership coach

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Vibrant Ghanaian craftsmanship,…We just have to share one of our favourite accessories of the year, this beautiful hand-woven bag created by award-winning designer Akosua Afriyie-Kumi and her AAKS brand in Ghana. We lo Image of the Day / Ledikana

Contemporary South African Chic…Knowing exactly how to spot a gap in the marketplace is key to the success of any fashion brand, and Mapholo Ratau, founder of Ledikana in South Africa, has achieved that goal. For h Image of the Day / The 1964 Brand

Modern relaxed fashion…Olakunmi Oni is the founder of The 1964 Brand in Nigeria, a fashion business that proudly promotes self-care through minimalist clothing for the modern woman. Loyal patrons of The 1964 Image of the Day / Adèle Dejak

Big bold accessories…We are big fans of luxury jewellery and accessories made with love and passion on the African continent, and Adèle Dejak in Kenya is the epitome of handmade luxury. The brand c Image of the Day / ReelFruit
 
Healthy snack treats…We love showcasing Africa’s women agribusiness builders, and ReelFruit, founded by Affiong Williams, is inspirational - it’s the largest fruit processing, packaging and distributi Image of the Day / Dokmai Rwanda

Made in Rwanda Handbag…A passion for handcrafted accessories, combined with a sense of pride for ‘Made in Rwanda’ products, inspired Dokmai Rwanda founder, Bernadette Umunyana, to create a company Image of the Day / Eki Silk

Silk Serenity…Nothing is quite as luxurious as silk, that’s why we love the ‘Africa on Silk’ collections from Eki, founded by Hazel Eki Osunde. Her latest Deep Dive Collection is inspired by the p Image of the Day / The Nanjala Company

Pot plants delivered… Give gifts that will last, such as these stunning plants in individual pots from The Nanjala Company in Kenya, founded by Teresa Nanjala Lubano. This online store creates customized Image of the Day / Sari for Change

Sustainable Sari Glamour - If you want to wear a robe that makes you feel and look glamorous, then Rayana Edwards, founder of Harem in South Africa, has a range of fabulous robes all made from sari fabrics. She has Image of the Day / MonChoco

Pure chocolate heaven…If you are a chocolate lover, then you need to experience raw chocolate at its finest, and Dana Mroueh, founder of MonChoco an artisan chocolatier in Côte d’Ivoire, has just what y

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