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Marianna's Ramblings

MB Consultancy turns one...and signs its second UK client.

It's been just over a year since I started running MB Consultancy  (happy birthday to my little business!) and I am very proud to say it is thriving. The South African market is saturated with so called digital marketing and social media ''experts'', not to mention the big agency players that land the majority of the digital work available. It was tough to differentiate my agency and my skills in the beginning, to show potential clients that I had actual international and SA digital experience and that I could add value to their organisations. It took time, energy, determination, and sheer will to build up MB Consultancy to a profitable business in just one year. 

 

I have build up a wonderful, talented team of freelancers whose services I utilise for my clients when and where needed. I have worked with a number of SMEs but it is my work with larger brands that helped to create a viable business. MB Consultancy signed its second UK client this year and we are proud to be working with two incredible global brands, plus some smaller, flourishing businesses in South Africa. 

 

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Goodbye carbs, hello new(ish) body.

I passed my neighbour on my way out for my daily run this morning. She looked me up and down and said ''you are looking well''. Usually I would have shrugged off this type of compliment but I think she is right. I am looking well. My arms are slimmer, my stomach is flat and my thighs are starting to look thinner. My sister will finally stop calling me ''thunder thighs'' :)

Until about two years ago, I was blessed with a rather phenomenal metabolism rate (i.e. I could eat pizza and still look slim). Unfortunately as I hit late twenties, my metabolism rate slowed down big time. The turning point was my Thailand trip where I ate my own body weight in pad thai and returned home looking considerably chunkier than when I left. Now don't get me wrong, I have never been fat nor did I consider myself overweight but I am used to being thin and picking up 4kg makes a difference to the way my body looks. I tried on and off to ''eat healthy'' but with a new relationship at the time and never ending dinners out, it didn't quite happen. I looked fine but I knew I could look better. 

Cue December holidays with my family. Now my family are a bunch of health freaks and in two weeks time I was already looking 2kg lighter. My sister whipped me into shape through gym sessions and running, and my mom made sure that every morning began with a yoga session. Ultimately though it's about what you eat and I knew that in January I would need to completely change my eating habits. 

So I cut out carbs. I stopped eating bread, potatoes, rice (well except for the occassional sushi...my only vice), cakes, biscuits, and any kind of junk food. I am fully aware that complex carbohydrates are actually good for you and after my wedding day I will definitely bring back quinoa, wholewheat rolls and brown rice into my diet but for now I am focusing on looking slimmer and feeling healthy. 

I have also cut out sugar as much as I can (I do eat fruit and I do drink fruit juice but I feel it's a necessary part of my long term healthy eating strategy). For those who care (and want to follow a similar eating plan), I usually start my day with either a yoghurt based fruit smoothie, oats or muesli with yoghurt. Lunch is typically a salad with either tuna or crab sticks or smoked chicken. Supper is also a salad but a smaller one than what I would have had at lunch or fat free cottage cheese with rice crackers. Salmon or tuna steaks are also great and really really good for you. On the week-ends, I follow the 80-20 principle. Whereby if you eat healthy and follow your diet 80% of the time then your body should be able to handle treats or nice meals 20% of the time. There are times when I eat sushi, drink wine and eat a slice of quiche or an omelette but mostly I try not to have carbs. Friends' parties are tough as you are tempted with delicious food but then portion control is key. 

Overall I am looking better and feeling great. It's an incredible feeling to be eating food that nourishes your body instead of food that depletes your energy and increases your cholesterol levels. 

 

 

Gripes and Delights: #1

Inspired by the ''10 Things I learnt this week-end'' series on Being Brazen, and by Tori's ''Pet Peeves'' on Kiss, Blush and Tell, comes my own weekly mash up of my top five ''gripes'' (annoyances/pet peeves/whatever else you want to call them) and my top five ''delights'' (things I cherish, special moments, fun stuff, etc, you get the picture) for the week.

Time to put this ''ramblings blog'' to  good use (plus it's cheaper than therapy, hey?)

 

  • Gripes this past week:
  1. People who don't RSVP in a timely manner. Actually people who don't RSVP at all. Why must I chase after you? No wedding cake for you. Hah. 
  2. The freakishly cold weather...what happened to spring? Why am I still wearing my Uggs?
  3. Collecting slips and doing accounting. The worst part of running a business. 
  4. Invoicing. 
  5. The fact that our wedding venue co-ordinator will not budge on the ''not allowed to bring your own wine and champagne'' rule. 

 

  • Delights this past week
  1. My fiance (how did I get so lucky?) 
  2. Discovering the warm pear and gorgonzola salad at Pepenneros. My new food addiction. 
  3. My bridesmaids. Because I can email them 1000 times a day and they will still humour me by replying.
  4. Pretty Little Liars season 2. Am obsessed. 
  5. The movie ''Beastly''...and Alex Pettyfer.

Why starting your own business is not for everyone...

It’s been exactly 8 months since I started running MB Consultancy. Still early days when it comes to analysing the success of this new venture but enough time to learn the pros and cons of running a business. I don’t believe entrepreneurship is for everyone.  Also, I don’t believe this type of lifestyle would appeal to everyone. Whilst the past 8 months have been some of the most exciting and challenging ones for me, I have also had to adjust, adapt and learn quickly to be able to ensure the survival of MB Consultancy.

Some of the potential challenges of running a business include:

  • Never ending business development – People who cannot/don’t like to/don’t want to sell their companies (and essentially themselves) are not cut out for this. Running a business (especially a digital consultancy) means never ending business development. It means continuous growth of your social presence, it means writing business blogs focused on providing value to potential clients, it means finding innovative way of generating leads if the usual ones are not yielding successful results, and it means networking, networking, and then some more networking.
  • Ineffective meetings – I can almost guarantee that 80% of meetings you will have in the first year of starting your own business will be a waste of time. It’s harsh but it’s true. After ten or so of these meetings, you will become a pro at differentiating the ones that want to gleam insights from you (no, I am not going to compile your whole digital strategy for free...neither will I translate something into Russian ‘whilst you have me here’) to those who actually want to do business with you. It is vital to be in control of these meetings. In my first month I attended a meeting where I was kept discussing their strategy for two hours...which culminated in them offering me a free holiday instead of actual payment for services offered. Currently my initial meeting with a potential client is one hour and the meeting is structured in such a way that the potential client does the majority of the talking so I can then compile an in-depth proposal based on the information gained at the meeting.
  • Limited spending – Living out of your savings is scary. Fact. Whilst this month might be fantastic in terms of your revenue, next month might not be looking so fine (things can change quickly). It is vital that you curb all unnecessary spending (you will be able to live without attending U2, you will survive if you stay in more and eat out less, you don’t need that new black dress). Prior to this year, I was a shopping fanatic. It was normal to walk into an expensive shoe boutique, buy two pairs of shoes, come home and toss them aside only to wear them next year. I can honestly say that I have bought about 5 clothing items this whole year.  A challenge when you run a fashion/shopping blog. No matter how well your business is doing, remember that clients can leave and then your savings account better have enough padding to carry you through the tough few months.
  • Value focus– No matter how you bill (per hour or per project), your clients must be finding value with your work and your services. Go out of your way to ensure that you are adding quality value to your clients’ businesses. Put in the extra hours, spend that extra time on reporting, have continuous meetings to manage clients’ expectations. You cannot afford to be lazy or cut corners. Go over and above what you actually promised them. The rewards of happy clients are well worth it. 

2nd Sushi Networking Dinner

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Still on a BYM high. Hence my recent burst of energy and the resurrection of the sushi networking dinners.

For those who missed my frenzy of tweets and blog posts on the first event, here is a brief recap:

 

Think sushi club meets business networking.

Think 10 interesting people from 10 different industries.

Think connections, think leads, think ideas.

That pretty much sums it up. The first event was kinda awesome...held at Sevruga, met some lovely new people, reconnected with old friends, chatted more sushi and wine than we did business talk but am hoping something cool came out of it for everyone who attended. 

The second sushi networking dinner will take place at Beluga (my favourite sushi haunt) during the first week of August...some of the guests will include:
  • A food blogger
  • An actuary
  • A model/actress/digital marketer
  • A designer
  • A chef
  • A writer
  • A book publisher
  • An online marketing strategist (yes me)
  • A medical student
  • A photographer

I will (hopefully) continue with more of these in the future so if you want to be on the guest list for the next event, drop me a mail (marianna [at] mbconsultancy.co.za)...would love to hear from you. 

(One of the pics from first event):

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BYM 2011 Experience

 My world has been pretty small this year. Aside from attending a few local tech conferences, my time has been focused (mostly) on MB Consultancy and getting my business off the ground. So when I was presented with the opportunity to attend the BYM (Brightest Young Minds) Summit in Joburg, I grasped it and booked my ticket immediately. I yearned for a break from the routine of working at home in my pyjamas, sitting in front of my laptop for ten hours a day and all the biz meetings. 

1 City. 6 days. 100 Delegates. What was it *really* all about?

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect...well except that I would (by far) be one of the oldest delegates. I was OK with that. Age + work experience = wisdom...right? Not this time. During the BYM Summit week I was exposed to some revolutionary thinkers, innovators, aspiring entrepreneurs, and truly eloquent speakers (still blown away by how scarily smart some of those twenty year olds were). I was astounded by the level of intellect from the people that were gathered together, especially as I have become accustomed to working alone, so it was such a necessary and beneficial experience as I tend to crave the kind of conversations/debates that the majority of the delegates indulged in. 

It was a phenomenal albeit a rather mental week. For those considering applying for BYM 2012 (and I strongly urge you to do so next year), I have a compiled a list of the highlights (and there were loads of them), some of the cracks in the programme (my personal perceptions) and some of my more memorable moments. 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The people (THE PEOPLE) – The experience is wholly dependent on the people you surround yourself with during this programme. I was lucky enough to become friends with some amazing peeps...from my crazily wonderful friends to some super industry connections. 
• The speakers – Kudos to the organisational committee for sourcing some pretty cool and inspiring speakers (the ones that stood out for me included Max Kaizen, Rich Mulholland, Beverley Merriman, Stafford Masie, amongst others). 
• Open Space sessions – If you love brainstorming then this programme is for you. Day long open platform sessions of pitching your ideas and discussing other delegates’ proposed projects. 
• The food – The never ending supply of food (my hips hate me now). You know you should stop indulging yet you are powerless when faced with prawn cakes, mini quiches and halloumi cheese spring rolls. 

THE CRACKS:

• The logistics  – I am not a fan of sharing a hotel room with a stranger...even if that stranger will become one of your friends. By some crazy luck, I actually ended up having my own room but I do think something to consider for next year is the possibility of not having to share a room. I am fully aware of the financial implications of that and that for some sharing a room was a positive experience but for a number of people this was a minus in the programme. 
• The sponsor speakers – Some were amazing but others were way too sales pitchy in their presentations. 
• The student focused programme – This was a negative only for me most probably. As far as I am aware, the majority of the delegates were students and will hopefully benefit from this approach. Something to be considered for next year, for the 26-30 age groups, as they might want more access to business type of information, presentations and contacts.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS (some personal ones):

• My friendship with Sarisha and Pari...two wonderful and slightly nutty girls 
• The evenings when Sarisha and I would hunt down anyone who had their own car so we could bug them for a lift back to the hotel so we could have an early night (not sure how we would have coped without Tshepi!). 
• Sharing insights about running your own business and focusing on entrepreneurial type of ventures...was wonderful to be able to impart some of my (limited) knowledge on this subject. 
• Umar managing our mental but awesome group...think he earned great respect from our team members for his leadership skills, patience and tactful approach. I envy anyone who will end up working with Umar. 
• The heart to heart chats at the gala dinner. 
• The pizza brainstorming session. 
• Couple of worthy biz connections that might not have materialised if it was not for the BYM summit. 
• The last night...my first all-nighter in a very long time...the random chats, the 4am coffee making and all the gossiping. 

All in all, it was a worthy experience (well done to all the organisers). The BYM 2011 Summit offered some perspective on my current entrepreneurial efforts as my life has been consumed by my work lately so it was beneficial to gain a glimpse at how varied the educational and working worlds are and all the opportunities that exist. 

Black Swan Ramblings

I watched Black Swan last night. I also managed to sleep sans nightmares last night. An achievement considering the dark nature of the movie, the disturbing imagery and the nail file scene (!)

For those who are debating whether to watch Black Swan or not, stay away if:

  • You are squeamish (I still shudder when I think of the hangnail scene...you can forget eating popcorn during this one people). 
  • You like a movie to 'make sense' (Plenty of fantastical horror imagery in this one).
  • You are easily offended by graphic sex scenes (Surprisingly those were the least offensive scenes for me but anyone mildly prudish is in for a shock).
  • You cannot watch blood scenes (I actually screamed during the nail file scene to the amusement of my friends).
Go watch Black Swan if:
  • You enjoy delving into a complex psychological drama (a nightmarish world of a ballerina with a graphic depiction of her mental demise.)
  • You thrive on compelling performances ( Natalie Portman is just frighteningly phenomenal, Winona Ryder is shockingly dazzling and Mila Kunis is scintillating...what a cast).
  • You want to experience the full impact of a movie after you have left the cinema (Fourteen hours later and I am still thinking about the movie).
See it if you dare...

Going Solo Learnings

One month has passed since I started running my own business, left the comfort of a salaried job and gave up the 9-5 lifestyle. It has been an exhilarating and equally terrifying month. It has also been a month full of going solo learnings. If anyone stumbles upon this blog post looking for some advice about what it is *really* like to start your own business, I hope some of my ramblings will help:

 

  • You will dream of the days you were working set hours. Once you start developing your own business, you never stop working. Yes, you might decide to step away from your laptop at 7pm (oh how I wish) and spend time with your partner/family/friends but your mind never stops agonizing over the proposals you sent that day, the emails you wrote, the strategies you compiled and any potential business ideas you are still concocting. When you work for a company, it is very easy to leave your work behind at 5pm and forget about it until 9am the next morning. When you run your own business, that is practically impossible. 
  • Forget about whatever line of work you were doing before you resigned from your job. Now you are doing one thing and one thing only. You are a salesman. I tend to spend most of my days selling myself, my company, my work, my experience, my connections and my past projects. After one month of selling myself, I can honestly say I am very much sick of me. What is even more difficult is how important it is that you stay upbeat and motivated whilst singing your praises to all potential clients and leads. Positivity and enthusiasm are two attributes that are necessary when launching your own business.

 

  • Connections are everything. EVERYTHING. It truly is who you know and not what you know (sadly so). I have found that referrals, past work contacts and people you meet through networking are the three best ways of landing clients. People trust other people's recommendations so it is vital that you ask for referrals. Don't be shy to approach people you have worked with in the past (be it ex colleagues, clients or suppliers) and reconnect with them. Networking is crucial as face to face meetings beat any kind of email and phone correspondence. 
  • You need to be smart when it comes to advertising for yourself and your business. I don't believe in paying for advertising as most studies show that for advertising to work it needs to be carried out over a long term period and most new companies just don't have the budget for that. Look for ways to promote yourself and your knowledge via other methods (free online directories, speaking at events, being interviewed for a blog, writing an article for a newspaper...try anything that will get your name out there and will bring you closer to your target market).
  • On the topic of target market...make sure you know exactly who your ideal client is before you start selling yourself. I had to refine the way I approach organisations and businesses as the more I learn about the existing opportunities the more my original strategy changes. 

One month into it and I am still happy with my choice to try make it on my own. It has been a tough, exhausting month but it has also been a month full of unexpected connections and creative ideas that might pave way for interesting future collaborations. 

 

Who knows what the tide could bring?

It is incredible the things your family remembers about you. I was having a rather low day yesterday so my sister emailed me Tom Hank's monologue in Castaway (which I fell in love with when I watched the movie) for motivation. 

It helped.

“And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day, my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I'm back in Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass... And I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I got to keep breathing. Because tomorrow, the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”

 

Sushi Networking

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The title kinda says it all. 

Think sushi club meets business networking.

Think 10 interesting people from 10 different industries.

Think connections, think leads, think ideas.

Which pretty much sums up my sushi networking idea. 

Since going solo and launching my own business, I have found there is a lack of proper networking events...all the geek ones I love very much but it is the same people at pretty much most of these events. I am looking for new blood. I want people to mix with others they might have never met before if it was not for sushi networking. I want people to speak about their work and how they need leads/ideas/connections/inspiration. AND I want all of this to happen over tempura prawn rolls and sashimi :)

I will be organising these dinners every second month, I will chose a variety of people and hopefully something cool can come out of it for each person attending. 

The first one will be at Sevruga and the guests will include:

PR Specialist
Wonderbra Model
Chef/Food Blogger
Online Marketing Consultant (yes, me)
Luxury Cosmetic Brand consultant
Published author and columnist
Professional Photographer
Marketing Consultant 
Wine Publisher
Pharmaceutical company owner

I was grateful for the positive feedback from the guests that I invited so am looking forward to the actual evening very much (but now to find a date that suits all...eish!)