http://www.pacamisatrading.co.za/

Pacamisa Trading, Pretoria (2026)

10/06/2016

21 Tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs.

1. Challenge yourself.
2. Do work you care about.
3. Take the risk
4. Believe in yourself.
5. Have a vision
6. Find good people.
7. Face your fears
8. Take action
9. Do the time
10. Manage energy, not time.
11. Build a create team
12. Hire character.
13. Plan for raising capital.
14. Know your goals.
15. Learn from mistakes.
16. Know your customer.
17. Learn from complaints.
18. Ask for customers’ input.
19. Spend wisely.
20. Understand your industry.
21. Deliver more than expected.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za

12/05/2016

Tips for a strong start up business:

1. Offer what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell. Too often, people jump into a business built around a product or service they think will be successful, rather than one that is already proven to have a market.

What do I mean?

Instead of creating and selling a new sports shoe with the latest trendy design and materials, you'd be much better off from a business perspective to focus on shoe category generally (a proven category because which people buy shoes every day) and then focus more specifically on the niche of high performance sports shoes, (which you may even sell in a section of a shoe retail outlet). Better to have a small slice of a large category than a large slice of no market at all.

2. Get cash flowing ASAP. Cash flow is the lifeblood of business, and is absolutely essential to feed bottom-line profits. So you need to find ways to jump start cash flow immediately.

How do you do that? In a professional services business, you can ask for deposits on work up-front, with balances due on delivery.

You can do the same in retail, especially on high-ticket or specialty item and position it as an added value and a way to insure delivery by a specific date.

You can also add value to generic items by creating private labels, and develop continuity programs where customers pay an up-front monthly fee to insure delivery or availability of items they will buy on a repeat basis. Of course, the key is to make sure there is little or no gap between when you pay for labor, stock inventory and when you actually get paid. Ideally, you'll find ways to get money up front, and your cash gap will never be an issue.

3. Always find new ways to keep costs low. All the cash flow in the world is worthless if it's not positive cash flow, which means you have to bring in more cash than you pay out.

To do this, you need to keep your costs and expenses low. We've touched on this before, especially in terms of outfitting a startup. The main idea is to never pay retail , and look for used or gently used items to furnish your office or your retail space.

Paying vendors up front also gives you leverage for negotiating better prices. Especially in this economic environment, where credit is at a premium, vendors are more willing than ever to find creative ways to finance transactions, and that is a trend will likely continue over time.

So do some extra work and research now to discover how owners and vendors are finding ways to work out deals, and you just may hit on whole new ways of doing business.

4. When planning, always overestimate expenses and underestimate revenues. I was trained as an accountant, so the numbers side of business is part of my entrepreneurial DNA, and was also a big part of my early business education.

That said, I've never seen a startup business where expenses were at least 30 percent more than initially planned or anticipated, and revenues are at least that much less.

Being conservative in your numbers doesn't mean you are willing to accept those numbers, it just means you are arming yourself with information you can work with and work over. It means you can gauge the kinds of efforts and activities you will need to put into sales and marketing.

5. Focus on sales and marketing manically. In business, nothing happens until a sale is made. From the jump, you'll need to find a good way to get leads, convert leads into sales, and make sure you keep getting repeat sales from your customers.

The way to do this is to find or create a marketing and sales funnel system that you can work, test, measure; one that anyone in your company can utilize.

Too many entrepreneurs focus on getting their brand right before they start to generate leads. That is exactly the wrong way to go about business. Leads are always more important than your brand, so don't waste money getting your brand right at the expense of spending that same money to buy new customers.

Soon, you'll discover you can build your brand from the ground up, versus spending years and hundred of thousands of dollars building it from the top down. Don't presume you'll even survive that long, because without leads, you won't!

6. Find ways to exponentially increase profits. In business, there are five drivers that impact profits. If you can master them while keeping your costs in check, you will run a successful business.

It's as simple as getting more leads, converting more leads into customers, increasing the number of times those customers buy from you, increasing the average price point of your sales and increasing your profit margins.

Do any one of those, while also keeping costs down, you will see more profits. Do all of them and you will see your business really take off.

7. Test and measure everything. You can't change what you don't measure, and you can't tell if a program or strategy is working if you are not faithfully testing, measuring and tracking your results.

Another way to look at this is to think in terms of doctors. Most like to get baseline stats of your heart rate, blood pressure and breathing before they delve into identifying symptoms or recommending corrective courses of action.

The same is true in your business. Why keep literally throwing money away on an ad campaign that costs thousands of dollars but doesn't bring any people through the door?

8. Accept that learning more equals earning more. If you've never run a million dollar business, you don't know how to start a business--simple as that.

But you can learn to run one, even if it is your million dollar business you are building from the ground up.

However, you need to accept right now that learning always comes before "earning" (except in the dictionary). You'll need to be committed to learning as much as you can about sales and marketing and operations if you want to have a truly success business.

Once you do that, however, the sky is the limit. Knowing and applying those simple fundamentals in a highly leveraged way is one of the reasons many top executives and entrepreneurs earn so much.

Identify those areas and you then can decide to learn it yourself or hire an expert and learn as much as you can from that person--because you never know when you can run across a distinction in thinking or a strategy that can really take you and your business to a new level of success.

9. Don't discount, add value. Whenever you discount, you are taking money directly out of your pocket and directly from your bottom-line profit. So don't do it. Instead, create added value propositions all the way up and down your product or service line.

Whatever the industry is, look to hold your price points, increase your margins with the low-cost or no-cost extras and any kind of freemium offerings.

In the end, those little things won't cost you a lot, but will build up tremendous goodwill and word-of-mouth with your customers and customer base.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za
Picture referenced: www.dreamstime.com

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15/04/2016

12 Ways to unleash your creativity.

1.Release perfectionism

Perfectionism is the biggest killer of creativity. Notice when you are approaching a task and have ‘am I doing it right’ or ‘will it be good enough’ thoughts and do it anyway! Start practicing doing things even when you don’t know if you can do them perfectly or how they will turn out.

2.Have fun

In our society we are often taught that we should have a goal or an aim and an outcome to an activity in order for it to be successful. Creativity isn’t linear. Start doing purely things for the enjoyment factor.

3.Practice

Practice being creative often! You don’t necessarily have to show others your creations, but the act of making creativity a ritual will help your brain get used to being creative and keep the flow going.

4.Be present

Being present and living in the moment helps us to get in touch with our creative side. We need time and space to let our creativity pour forth. Try and be aware of how present you are being every day.

5.Relax

Creativity thrives in a relaxed mind. The more stressed or contracted we are, the less creativity can come forward. Find ways to relax and wind down. A massage, long walk or watching a good movie are great ways to do this. Find what works for you and do that.

6.Daydream

The lost art of day dreaming is a powerful tool for evoking creativity. Take time out to day dream and let your mind wander. You can even say that it is in the name of creativity!

7.Find what works for you

We all have different ways and times that we get inspired. Start noticing yours. Are you a morning creative or a night owl? We are all different. Find your way. Take notes oif necessary to track your most creative times.

8.Catch the wave

When inspiration hits, catch the wave! We all have ebbs and flows in creativity. When I am inspired I feel like I am on fire! Nothing can stop me. Use these times to your advantage and go with the creative flow.

9.Catch your ideas

Sometimes inspiration hits when we just can’t follow the flow immediately, for example when we are about to go into an important meeting or when we are driving! Carry a notebook or Dictaphone to catch your ideas and come back to them as soon as you can.

10.Brainstorming

Brainstorm often! Whatever your creative ‘niche’ is get in the habit of brainstorming and letting your ideas and visions flow forward without censoring them. Let your imagination soar and don’t hold back!

11.Be in nature

Being in nature has the power to help us be present, unleash our creativity and get us in touch with a different aspect of ourselves. When you are stuck go for a walk in a park or by the sea … whatever is available to you. Take in your surroundings and let nature work its magic on you – it is after all, the supreme source of all things creative.

12.Feed the well

We need to ‘feed the well’ of inspiration. Make sure you are spending time regularly ‘feeding’ your inspiration. Start keeping track of what inspires you and taking time regularly to participate in this. You should even set a time aside each week to do this.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za
Picture referenced from: www.gallonnews.com

24/03/2016

Happy Easter Long Weekend From Pacamisa Trading's Team.

Don't forget what this weekend symbolizes Stunners...Enjoy your Easter eggs and seafood weekend, if you have more than enough Easter eggs and seafood try and bless those who don't have.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za
Picture referenced from: www.happynew2015x.net

14/03/2016

10 Free Marketing Ideas to Boost Your Business

1. Always have business cards handy. Don’t walk out the door without your business cards – you never know when you’ll bump into someone who could use your help… or who you’ll hit it off with!

2. Attend free events. Check out any local opportunities to meet new people. Search for groups that discuss topics of interest to you, weekly networking events, book clubs, etc. Any chance to meet interesting people in your field (and even outside of it) and again, hand out your business cards is a good thing.

3. Volunteer. No matter how little time you think you have, there’s always time to give. Believe it! Offering to share your knowledge, products or services with others that need or crave it is an opportunity to grow – as a person and a business. That’s called PR.

4. Become a public speaking warrior. You have a room full of people that have to listen to what you’re saying.
5. Utilize your print collateral. If you’re already handing out products to your customers, make good use of the space. Include your website and social URLs, QR codes or promo details on menus, coasters, stickers, pens, etc.

6.Transform your waiting area. If you have a dedicated area for waiting clients or customers, make their wait more productive. Set up a laptop – opened up to your page, blog or Yelp profile – to encourage social engagement.

7. Brand yourself. Wear your company on your sleeve… literally! Get your team custom shirts or windbreakers embroidered with your company name and logo, tastefully of course. You just employed walking billboards.

8. Offer a complimentary meeting. Can you afford to spend 20 minutes for a phone or in-person meeting with a potential lead? If someone doesn’t feel obligated by their first phone call or visit, they’re more likely to call you and enlist your services in the future.

9. Claim your online listings. This is a quick and easy way to solidify your online presence. Just by claiming your business on review sites and Google Places, for example, you’re letting people know where you’re located and that, yes, you’re actually a real business.

10. Optimize your website. SEO is a very powerful element of your online marketing strategy. If you want to attract more quality leads to your website and build a strong, prosperous, interesting presence, this should be high on your priority list.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za
Picture referenced from: selfemployedking.com

29/02/2016

Here are 10 Tips to starting your business while keeping your full time job.

1. Ask yourself how badly you want it.

Starting a business will be difficult, will strain your relationships, and will continually force you to make tough decisions.

Write down a list of all the activities and commitments you have in your life, with the amounts of time you devote to each during a week. Take note of the ones you can afford to lessen your involvement with, and let people know you are stepping back a bit to focus on a new project that means a lot to you. Think of the easy stuff first: time spent watching TV, playing video games, or surfing Facebook and Instagram.

The more time you can free up, the quicker you’ll be able to start seeing results.

2. Inventory your skills, abilities, and weaknesses.

Which skill sets does your new business idea require? You likely possess at least some of the necessary skills to make your business happen, but if you don’t, you’re faced with a tough decision. Spend time learning a new skill or outsource to someone else who can help.

In this Skill Assessment, you’ll list out every asset and skill your business idea requires and map those needs to what you can or cannot do for yourself right now.

3. Validate your business idea.

The No. 1 reason most businesses fail, Fortune found, is a lack of market need for their product (this was cited by over 42 percent of the failed companies).

This really highlights the need to fully validate your idea and get honest feedback from potential customers before you start building, creating, and spending money. It’s human nature to think that we’re right and that our ideas are always amazing.

Unfortunately, our business concepts and product ideas are often not fully thought out, useful, or even properly researched.

4. Write down your competitive advantage.

A competitive advantage is defined as a unique advantage that allows you, as a business, to generate greater sales or margins and/or acquire and retain more customers than competitors. It’s what makes your business your business.

This can be in the form of your cost structure, product offering, distribution network, customer support, or elsewhere in the business.

5. Set detailed, measurable, and realistic goals.

Without setting attainable goals and realistic deadlines for yourself, you’re going to spend a lot of time spinning your wheels. It’s hard to get anywhere if you don’t know exactly where you’re going. In my experience, it works best to set daily, weekly, and monthly goals for myself. It helps me to stick with both the short-term and long-term objectives.

In the beginning, your daily goals are most likely small wins or to-do list type of items, then you'll gradually start hitting milestones as you get closer to launching your business.

6. Map your gameplan to launch date and beyond.

It’s one thing to set your goals and an entirely different activity to map out exactly how you’re going to get to point B, C, D, and beyond. You need to be particularly proactive with this step. Nobody can do this for you, but you won’t be able to do it all on your own, either.

Your ability to problem-solve and navigate around your obstacles will determine the level of success of your business.

7. Outsource everything you can.

This is all about focus. Look for opportunities to outsource every possible part of your business creation that you can.

Obviously, you don’t want someone else planning your goals, roadmap, or telling you 100 percent what your product or service should look like. But in this way, you will be building relationships with other people/companies and they will start giving you work as well.

8. Actively seek feedback.

Your goal is to build a product or service that provides value to people. It does no good to build something that nobody wants. It’s important that you seek unbiased, outside feedback to make sure you’re building something that’s actually marketable.

Do this from day one and never stop. To find your early feedback group, you want to target people you know will give you only an honest opinion. Reach out to them personally. My go-to group consists of a handful of close entrepreneurial friends and a few mentors I regularly keep in touch with.

From here, you can start to widen your scope for feedback and begin incorporating Facebook, LinkedIn examples.

9. Don't blur the lines between personal projects and work.

It may seem tempting to create a “better version of Company You Work At,” but unless your employer missed some major lessons along the way, your contract probably clearly stipulates that you’ve agreed not to do just that. Plus, that’s just bad practice and it can (will) destroy a lot of relationships that could instead be very helpful for you one day.

It may seem obvious, but don’t work on your project during company time.

You’ll also need to refrain from using company resources on your personal project, no matter how tempting that may be. This includes not using your work computer or any online tools, software, subscriptions, or notebooks, as well as not seeking the assistance of other employees.

10. Reach critical mass before quitting your day job.

That said, I’m willing to take my time in fully vetting an idea, discovering my target market, and testing that idea with them, before making the solo decision that “this must be great!”

Having the time to continue thinking things through and seeking the advice of others will greatly benefit your new business.

Even more importantly, unless you’re working on a high-growth startup and can secure investor funding (or you’re able to self-fund), you’re realistically going to need some form of sustainable income before your new project is able to be that sole source of sustenance for you.

Starting your business while working a full-time job will undoubtedly be difficult, but it’s doable. There are as many paths to entrepreneurship as there are entrepreneurs in this world. Take these steps into account, and you’ll be well on your way to being your own boss.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za
Picture referenced from: www.freedom5.net

23/02/2016

25 Types of Marketing Strategies In Use Today:

1.Cause Marketing

Finding a causes both your customers and your company cares about can create magic for your business. This requires internal knowledge about what your organisation cares about and who they want to help in the world.

2.Close Range Marketing (CRM)

Use Wifi or bluetooth to send promotional messages of their products and services to their customers’ smartphones and tablets at close proximity. Close Range Marketing is also known as Proximity Marketing

3.Relationship Marketing

Many companies focus on building relationships with their customers instead of always exclusive trying to sell them something (transnational marketing). Customers who love your brand more will also spend more money with your brand. Many traditional retailers have found this to be true.

4.Transnational Marketing

Driving sales can be challenging, especially for retailers that have to consistently sell products in high volume to consumers. In order to stay with the demands of investors, retailers have to encourage consumers to buy using coupons, discounts, liquidations, and sales events. High volume big-box retailers like Target are constantly running promotional events in order to get interested consumers into their stores.

5.Scarcity Marketing

In some markets it’s important to control how much product is available at one time. In many cases this is done because of the difficulty of acquiring raw materials or higher quality of the product. A company may choose to make their products accessible to only a few customers. Rolls-Royce’s release of their Chinese edition car called Phantom sold quickly. While the cost of the car was higher than most cars the scarcity drove the desire and the price.

6.Word of Mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth Marketing is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Customers are very excited to share with the world the brands they love. Many consumers find meaning in sharing stories of their favorite products and services. Word of Mouth is one of the ancient ways people learned about what to purchase. Modern marketers have learned how to create authentic word of mouth for their companies and the products they represent.

7.Call to Action (CTA) Marketing

CTA Marketing refers to methods of converting web traffic into leads or sales on websites using text, graphics, or other elements of web design. Conversion strategies help improve the percentage of online visitors who become customers or who join the mailing list.

8.Viral Marketing

Constantly creating new business ideas that keep their products in the heart and minds of the global consumer. Each time a new product is created, customers have to be given a reason to dream about their future purchase.

9. Diversity Marketing

Develop a customized marketing plan by analyzing different customer segments based on cultural differences including tastes, expectations, beliefs, world views, and specific needs.

10.Undercover Marketing

Sometimes not telling everyone everything can become a great source of buzz. Think of a movie trailer that got you very excited to go see the movie. While not showing all the aspects of the movie, the advertiser can create enough intrigue to drive viewers to want to see more.

11.Mass Marketing

Major corporations need to drive large numbers of purchasing of their products in order to survive and grow. While mass marketing may seem like a shotgun approach to marketing this is far from the truth. Big businesses spend big money in understanding big data–thats a lot of bigs!) This gives them an insight to where to place media for their potential national customers who buy their products and services.

12.Seasonal Marketing

Seasonal events offers a great way to meet new consumers. Sometimes these events can be actual changes of weather or national holidays.

13.PR Marketing

One of the most important marketing strategies is public relations. Many effective marketers work with the media to bring awareness to their products and the benefits their products offer. Also, in many cases where things go wrong, a good PR marketing strategy is vital. When Apple’s founder Steve Jobs was alive, Apple held a major press conference to announce every new product. This tradition is now continued by their new Apple CEO and CMO.

14.Online Marketing

As commerce has propagated to the Internet, a new form of marketing has emerged. From online banners to those annoying pop ups, online marketers have attempted to get their customers attention any way they can.

15.Email Marketing

As soon as customers migrated into the online world, Internet marketers have attempted to collect and organize emails for potential prospects. Many business-to-business marketers depend on email marketing as a primary way to connect with customers.

16.Evangelism Marketing

Develop raving fan customers (what we call Brand Lovers) who become advocates of your brand or product, and who represent the brand as if it was part of their own identity.

17.Event Marketing

Creating events is a great way to drive sales. Customers often need a reason to shop and events can often offer the perfect reason.

18.Offline Marketing

With mass adoption of the Internet, many companies are finding new ways of integrating offline marketing with new technologies to create more engaging customer experiences. The Coca-Cola company has create vending machines that invite customers to hug them. This continues to tie the Coca-Cola brand to the core emotion of happiness, but also invite customers to experience the real product offline.

19.Outbound Marketing

Sometimes it’s important for companies to let their potential customers know they exist. By developing a list of prospects a company can begin to reach out to their individual target groups in order to find new customers.

20.Direct Marketing

Communicate directly with customers and prospects through mail, email, texts, fliers and other promotional material.

21.Inbound Marketing

Companies often have customers calling them for various reasons. This can present a great opportunity to sell customers additional products and services they currently don’t have.

22.Freebie Marketing

Promote free give aways or sell your products and services sold at low rates to boost the sales of other related products or services.

23.Newsletter Marketing

A fun way to promote a business is to write a newsletter that highlights some of the newsworthy things that have happened for the organization. These newsletters create a sense of inclusion and participation with their members and has provided a key driver for their incredible growth.

24.Article Marketing

In industries where expertise is highly valued, articles can offer a powerful tool to showcase your knowledge and expertise. Some innovations are shared in the form of articles or white papers where technical information needs to be convey to specialized buyers.

25.Content Marketing

Write and publish content to educate potential customers about your products and services. For the appropriate businesses, this can be an effective means of influencing them without using direct selling methods.

Please check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za
Picture referenced from: www.southbayaor.com

02/02/2016

Good day

SACCI is running a small project. They have a one year experiential learning in blue chip German companies in Germany for graduates in Pharmacy, Eng, Comm sales/market, Law,MBA, 2-5 years work experience.

All expenses paid for, ages below 35 years old. Applications closes by the 10 Feb. Check out the link for more information and to receive the application forms: www.afrika-kommt.de

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask and I will put you in touch with someone that can assist you directly.

26/01/2016

Marketing Tips, To Help You Establish Your Small Business.

1. Be different. Take your cue from big advertisers and brands and find something that distinguishes you from your competitors – then promote the difference. The difference could be your slogan, or a key difference in your product, or even a perceived difference. For instance, Are the luggage products you sell lighter? Does your environmentally friendly lawn service make lawns greener, "naturally"?

2. Form strategic alliances with other businesses. Look for businesses that reach your target market and consider ways you can work together. Whether you actively market each other's services, or team up to jointly work on clients' jobs, strategic alliances can extend your reach and firm up your bottom

3. Segment your market and create products or develop specialties that appeal specifically to the needs of each segment.

4. Expand into new markets. Sell your bakery products to local restaurants and catering facilities as well as directly to consumers; if you sell office services to small businesses, look into soliciting business from bigger businesses, and federal, state or local government agencies.

5. Talk to your customers – ask them for feedback. Ask them what you can do to better serve their needs. If you see a trend in what's being asked for, act on it.

6. Put your business on the web if you haven't already done so.

7. Get listed in Google Places.

8. Get involved in social media. Ask your customers which social networks they participate in, and then spend a few minutes a day participating in the one or two most customers use.

9. Fill out social media profiles with as much detail as you can, being sure to include website links and products.

10. Use direct mail to reach your customers. Yes, it's an old-fashioned technique in an always-on world, but it still works.

11. Put local keywords (the name of your city or county for instance) on your web pages and in title tags to help web searchers find you.

12. Add share buttons to your website and encourage visitors to use them

13. Send email to your customers. Plan regularly scheduled emails providing your customers with coupons and special offers, product tips, helpful hints for improving their business or their personal lives, or other information that will help them remember you and visit your store or website again. Constant Contact* is one email service that makes it easy to send eye-catching emails to your customer list.

14. Include your telephone number in your pay per click ads to make it easier for customers to call for more information or call to make a purchase.

15. Make the telephone number on your website a click-to-call link to make it easy for customers using smart phones to call you.

Give away something useful with a purchase over a certain rand amount.

Be proactive and be persistent. You didn't learn to ride a bicycle when you were a child by thinking about how to ride a bicycle. You went out and tried, and tried again until you learned to balance yourself and then gradually picked up speed. Marketing is no different. You have to keep at it until you find what works for you. Then, if you want to continue your momentum, you have to keep on marketing.

Start today. Make your own list of marketing ideas. Include some of the ideas on the list above, or ideas of your own. Include marketing ideas you've used before and those that you haven't. Include marketing strategies you've seen other companies use. Then start putting them into practice one by one. Aim to try one new marketing idea a week. Keep using the ones that work, discard the ones that don't and watch your business grow.

Check out our website at: www.pacamisatrading.co.za

Picture referenced from: blogsocioboard.com

Pacamisa Trading

10/06/2016

12/05/2016

15/04/2016

24/03/2016

14/03/2016

29/02/2016

23/02/2016

02/02/2016

26/01/2016

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