Final post!

Was it possible to do 12 ideas in 12 months. Yes it was. Did anyone care. I dont really know! Am i going to make money. Yep defintely! Will i carry on starting new ideas and testing them in the markeplace. Of course. My guess is that 50% will carry on and thrive and if more do then i am very happy. Have i learnt a shitload? Oh yeah. Can i replicate this model. Yes. Do others want to join me. Come on wednesday afternoons at 12 at the UCT GSB and check out my cult following...but please bring your new ideas...you never know i may like it and say...Youre in! How much do you need? Lets go! Shack wallpaper and Eden cut fruit are well on their way to great success. The final stickfighting tournament of the year will be this weekend in Site C Khayelitsha and the champions will battle it out for R5,000. HUHO street gyms is awesome and Shibeen snacks has the niftiest bowls for peanuts i have ever seen ( order from me asap). The greenboards are in schools and you have to see them to beleive them. I'm gonna sell thousands of these next year. Sumary summary. In the next 3 years i want to test 500 new ideas...the next challenge. I suppose thats toobig for a blog so we'll see where it goes. On the product side i will be opening a retail store with all my funky stuff in 2012. To all those who tried a new idea in 2011 wether it worked or not you played the game my friend and that's what counts. Keep reading newspapers to find new inspiration. This is the final post. in 2012 it will be 166 businesses in 12 months or 500 businesses in 3 years challenge.

I have not dissapeared!!

Hey fellow entrepreneurs! I am still here and as active as possible. In the last few months I have started the required number of new ventures. What i havent told you about is HUHO street GYms which started selling asap straight after launch. 31 in one day! I have also started Greenboards with the first school being painted...so exciting. We also launched the Cut fruit model with all the product sold out within the first day...a huge success! So to summarise we have started and maintained the following new businesses

1. stickfighting company 2. Lavender in Lavender Hill 3. CT Buskers 4. Greenboards 5. HUHO street gyms 6. Cut Fruit   7.I love tripe franchise   8. The Soccer Coop  9. Firebox  10. Collection of 1c/2c pieces

That's 10 businesses in 10 months so i am way on target to reaching my objective. As for November and December i have 2 ideas that i will try.

In November it will be Shebeen snacks and awesome idea to provide snacks to the shebeen market with a wonderfull young entrepreneur called Michael.
In December i will try Shack Wallpaper which will be the design of fubky wallpaper designs for the shack and low income market ( try kaizer chiefs wallpaper) and for shacks add in insulation into the wallpaper.
The issue is that through the process of the last 10 months I have about another 20 great ideas and i will need young dynamic project managers to help me test them. I have also started an experimental kitchen to test a whole new range of food ideas like "chicken crackling" .
The most exciting part of this journey has been that a fellow entrepreneur ( name not disclosed) gave me R500,000 to test anything i liked because i started the whole thing in the first place.
Now that is a great lesson for entrepreneurs...start first....reap the rewards later. 

Seeing the leaves, the book of teaching people to find new ideas

For many years i have been teaching people how to find brand new refreshing ideas for the market. My technique is called "seeing the leaves" and you can now get the information for free from my blog via my newspaper i have produced, called, you get it, "seeing the leaves".  You can take the technique and practice as much as you like. I promise you that if you keep on practicing this technique you will come up with that great new idea that is both simple to do and wont cost that much. A few months ago i did this technique with WIPHOLD, Old Mutual and Nedbank, and we came up with amazing new ideas. Two of these ideas are Sewash and the Firebox. Sewash is an awesome concept that takes from the fact that local people in the interior of the country use seawater to drink for both health ( enema) and spiritual reasons. However no one has ever commercialised the water into a cool brand ( SEWASH) and made sure the water was cleaned to SABS standards. A very cool concept that we will pilot soon. Remember my beleif is that you need to pilot as much as possible to find the truly creative out there. Noted that the seawater is free and there is undoubtably plenty of it...in fact endless supply. The Firebox is an idea that i have been working on but fits the partners so well from a branding and new customer value add. This idea will hopefully see every household in a shack in SA have their own firebox with a recognised brand on it. This will be piloted soon as well.   So download the newspaper read it, start practicing and pass the knowledge onto other people so they can find new and fresh ideas that will blow people away. It really is easy. Send me the ideas from the technique and i will happily add my 10 cents worth. Good luck reading the newspaper, have fun and come on, lets find the next big thing together.

Seeing the Leaves - A newspaper for creative thinkers/social entrepreneurs

I've just created a page for the newspaper I printed a few weeeks ago. You can read it here (it's at the top of the right-hand toolbar) or if you're battling to enlarge it, you can go directly to Scribd and read it there. Click here for the Scribd link

i'm gettin a PA cos every entrepreneur needs one

I havent been writing much because frankly i am just too damn busy. The rock roads project has come to life and so have my innovation workshops. If anyone wants a copy of the innovation series please send to my email account and i will send a free copy. But this also means that although my business model for starting them and handing over to managers is working i'm still swamped. So is it time for a PA? I think so. As an entrepreneur of the highest order i need someone to actually handle the stuff that gives me alzheimers. Those little details like my diary, or when to pick up a child, or that all important travel arrangement. So like all things VP i have decided after my brazil trip ( oh yeah i'm going to brazil and colombia next week) to get the PA. It should be interesting to just let go of the nitty gritty. Will this save me time? Will it mean i start even more ventures as i have more time and energy? probably but isnt that the point... to just go for it ....be manic and excited about the new ...to enjoy every moment of the journey with friends and family and...i am sounding slightly manic ut i have had 4 espressos already and woke up at 4am to be in JHB today. Talking of espresso i think i may be going into the coffee business in my own social enterprise way with jake my mate. More of that later when the plan is done...but suffice it to say i want to take over shebeens and start serving capuccino to the masses instead of beer. Impossible? Not a chance. The government wants a solution to alcohol ads...dont ban them that stupid...serve more coffee!

CT Buskers on the move again

PaleSTAR my project manager for CT Buskers has identified most of our top spots in the city and we have auditions scheduled for the Friday 8th July from 8am-5pm at ROMA in Guguletu. She will be sending out messaging to all who would like to audition to become an official busker on the streets of CT. We are looking for people of all ages, acts of all kinds, and the process will be tough. However the benefits may be huge. We will publicise the talent, become their agents, and make them STARS. So send out the message to everyone to be there. PaleSTAR can be contacted on 071 284 9676. To Moodswings please contact PaleSTAR to be involved. We would love to have you.

Evereyone loves the Firebox idea and everyone sees the need. Now i need the sponsor so we can order a few thousand and start marekting it to the public.

Innovation and young south africans

yesterday i did a massive workshop for approx 300 youngsters from Khayelitsha. Being youth day today i was so taken by many of these young people and their vibrancy that on one side i am saddened at their plight and lack of opportunity and on the other side i am inspired at their bravery because of the circumstance that millions like them have been born with. They face a tough journey and they need so much support and encouragement...and i aim to make it my priority to provide as much as i can from my side wether it is time or money. It is the right things to do. The workshop is a massive success and the model works beautifully...they really do get it qucikly and efficiently. if my angel donors come together then we can start 50-100 new startups a year, and manage these pilot programs. I also hope that the NYDA and the economic development partners also come to the party. We need innovative youngsters with innovative ideas...we need to pilot these ideas and then we need to help them along step by step. So what ideas did i like yesterday...
My top one'e were,
1. A professional usher company for large sporting events like the Cape Argus Cyce tour ( this is a great place to use the unemployed)
2. The re-design of seating for public spaces and trains ( as they are really uncomfortable at the moment)
3. The Umbukhu mbukhu doll ( a healthy fat black baby toy)
4. A special stick for lightning
5. a sports jersey with all 3 logo's of soccer, rugby and cricket on
6. removable water lining for shacks
7. promotion of vegetarianism as a health and weight loss system
8. Using childrens' seesaws to weigh people as a fun thing to help with obesity
9. herb biscuits with real medicines inside for things like colds and flu
10.a special dryer for home based esp. in wet weather

There were many more ideas but these are simple and easy and can be launched as pilots without too much fuss.
The SABEF people also have their heart in the right place as do my ex-students from RAA. Now its time on youth day to make a difference...support these youngsters...and help change this country through its dynamic young people. They really do need help.

what is the june idea? the firebox!

Simplicity and clarity are always make for the best ideas. I did an awesome presentation for Wiphold on my innovation techniques...ps...i will be downloading my technique booklet for all to use for free soon on this blog. Anyway during the presentation and while reading the newspapers the same old story kept on popping up. Fires in shacks. Now after much debate we all realised that it is very difficult to stop shack fires but we asked ourselves the question. What do people miss the most. Everyone was very clear that photo's, ID's, birth and marriage certificates, money, awards, degrees and so on is the worst thing, the most expensive thing and the most hassle for poor communities. What this needs is a firebox that can be locked and if there is a fire all docs are still safe. I have looked at fireboxes across the world and they are importable. We could also try and manufacture in SA and Old mutual could defintelky brand them. What do you think? Would 2 milli0n housholds purchase a firebox for R300 and receive an Old Mutual hamper at the same time?

Thanks Kurt!

Kurt is correct in getting the community more involved and taking more ownership. Thanks for the input. marcelle and i thus thought this through and in the entrepreneurial spirit we came out with the following response.

1. We will make it known that people from the community can get a FREE lavender plant once the cuttings are bigger and all they need to do is put their name and details down. we will publicise this in the local papers.

2. we will buy-back all stolen plants at double the rate. I am interested in how much people actually paid the plants.

3. we will mourn the damaged plants by painting little lavender figurines on a memorial wall. xxxx number destroyed for all to see.

4. We will also make up TAKE ME signs where anyone can take a plant in exchange they will provide us with some of the flowers on a yearly basis. After all we do want a lavender plant in every household in lavender hill.

As an entrepreneur this type of left brain thinking is whats needed. Our donors of plants and cuttings will probably support us more in a crisis and we have other creative ideas out of this as well. The lesson is that crisis often creates the best opportunities. Kurt is correct that its only a few miscreants that have damaged the property. The whole community cannot be labelled the same because of these people. However our response needs to be clever and well thought out and i'm happy with what we have come up with. When an entrepreneur is faced with these sticky times he needs to think very carefully about the correct response and see all the great opportunities. Thanks again Kurt!

It isnt always as it seems

The solution is not always obvious. In Lavender Hill hill where we are aiming to take cuttings from gifts given by the generous public so we can create something quite beautifull in Lavender Hill we now face a serious threat. There are some elements who clearly dont care for what we are doing as they have stolen, crapped, broken what we have been doing. I suppose if we succeed what will they do and where will these elements go. What place do they have in a beautifull crime free area where there are no drugs and violence? So we are faced with a problem. what do we do? We could bolt from the hills and place the nursery and the farm in another community, but this is too obvious and this community has been abandoned many times over. We could put up barbed wire and have giard dogs but this wont really solve a problem and will probably lead to more violence. Why are thyese elements doing this? Who are they selling the plants to? What would Ghandi do? i always ask this question when i dont know what to do? I think we need to try a few other less obvious things. I want to make it public that anyone in Lavender Hill is free to come and put their name down for a free plant or 2 for their homes. I will pay them for the flowers when we start producing our products. I want to tell the bad element they can also have free plants but they have to stop damaging and breaking them. Why woud i take this approach. Well if everyone has there name on a plant and they are damaged then they lose something now and income into the future. Also i dont need land to plant out because they will be looking after their urban product for me and we can support that process. I will however have a\n alternative nursery in a safe area as my plan B and i have a plan C with farmners who have already gifted me lavender. Lets see what happens. This is a massive opportunity to change things in this community and this is the exact time to do it. I call it the crossroads and if we mess up there wont be a second chance

CT Buskers on the move

I need to provide some feedback re CT buskers. I really am so dissapointed that CT with such a creative and vibrant spirit doesnt have a single busker on the street on any given day. Why is this? When you go to any major city and i have been to many there is amazing talent on show day and night on the streets. So I asked my friend Palesa to help me set up CT Buskers so that we can find that great talent and showcase it on the streets of cape Town. We spent the morning first with a map of cape Town identifying hundreds of spots where buskers could play. This was the easy part. We then went to the city offices in St Georges mall looking for the permits. Now i have been down this path before with the stick fighting company and Vuyisile did get a scrap of paper that serves as a permit. We went to the same offices and received the same scrap of paper and it seems that the City really makes it hard for buskers. So in order to get permits we may as well photostat 50 copies and just hand them out as this is all the city does anyway. However they can only busk for around 2 hours a day and in quite a limited space of the city. Not exactly that user friendly for a busker system. So I called the city and have still not receieved any clarification on how we go about getting busking permits for other parts of the city. Sounds normal for the city.
Palesa and i will use the current space available to us and identify 50 spots to start CT Buskers. We will sell each spot for R1,000 per month and we will provide 50% to the buskers every month. So if there are people who want to sponsor a spot and a talented busker give me a call. Right now we are preparing for auditions and then we will mark out the actual spots. We will launch the first buskers under the CT Buskers label at the end of the month. We have some great audition judges and the competition will be stiff to get in as we want great acts and great talent. I spoke to palesa and said that a great entrepreneurship lesson is when there is an obstacle is good as few overcome these obstacles. Those who do overcome will become succesful. CT Buskers wants busking to be an accesible art form and CT city should support us because they claim to be creative and open. Lets see. Anyhow i also though we need a "speakers corner" like the one in Hyde park London. Where people can come and speak and argue about anything they choose and to foster tolerance through dialogue even if you hate what other people are saying. This should really turn heads in a city that is regarded as fractured by race and class. I will provide more updates on all the initiatives that have ben started but let me finish by saying the Minister of Sport will be seeing The Stick Fighting Company next week and we have also been invited to France to showcase what we do....awesome!

new ideas everywhere

sometimes the newspapers throw out so much good stuff. Its like in the air when the energy is right for new ideas. I cant explain it , but sometimes new ideas just flow and inspire.

Here are a few that jumped at me this weekend.

1. Firebox....so many people in shacks lose so much in the form of documents, photos etc that i figured why not design a small firebox just for docs that in the case of fire all docs would be saved and save people huge stress and expense at the same time. after this product you can have a clothes firebox as well.

2. The party of one! Since the elections are on us again and i hate elections and politics i saw that it only costs R500 to register a politicakl party and a few thousand to stand in national elections. My idea is to start a company ( not a party) and organise thousands of independents who would stand on their own. They can all have their own philosophies and ideas and must be as objective as possible. Once these people stand and get elected they will be monitored by the company. The public votes for the calibre of the person not the party and what they deliver in the form of a service which the party of one will monitor.

3. The spat between business , gov and unions about labour laws is so biased and out of control i sometimes think people have lost objectivity. My idea is to hold a reality TV program where one company has no labour law at all ( this will be a new company for experimental purposes) and another existing company can have every labour law in the book...film over 6 months and see what happens? I would love to see the outcome and put some of the crap to rest whoever is deemed correct/

A golden rule for entrepreneurs...dont preempt anything

One of my golden lessons in life is not to pre-empt too much as you really never know what will happen next. Its like nature i suppose where a flood may make the river different or a drought may change the river and its inhabitants forever. I am always amazed when there is a massive storm how the beach changes shape. You cant plan for these things and nature never does. So why are people so anal about planning out their whole business or project before its started. Let me give you an example because my project manager at the lavender project asked. I went to the nursery and saw the cuttings process going on. All the kids and many adults were totally engrossed in the process of what is a cutting, how do you take a cutting and how do you plant one. I watched the process over and over and realised that ( lightbulb moment) thats what the lavender project is all about. Its about the cuttings. People give cuttings for free, even farmers have. The process of giving is beautifull and inspiring. Others plant the cuttings and grow little things into big things. A truly delicate and beautifull process. I realised that the project should be called CUTTINGS. teach, inspire, and cut everything that can be cut to grow even more things and inspire more people etc etc. Can you see the growth process...its almost like facebook. So the project will be called CUTTINGS and each new community may have a new brand of product like geraniums or sour figs etc...whatever suits them. Who knows where all of this will lead to but i see the movement and i see the energy and thats all that counts for me.

CT Busker next steps

My usual model is to get a young dynamic project manager and i have one for the CT buskers program. She will start the following:

1. Set up a venue for auditions
2. publicity for auditions
3. judges for auditions
4. busking spots and busking licences

My vision is to see awesome buskers at awesome dedicated spots 24 hours a day to make the city of CT a vibrant and awesome place to walk around.

Yesterday I met up with my buddy Bart who started a program called APOPO which uses rats to detect land mines and TB...awesome stuff. He is so stuck with buraucracy that he cant see his arse from his elbow anymore and instead of being a social artist and designing even more awesome stuff he is faced with becoming a mixture between a mine specialist and a TB specialist. I said to him. Dude take the rats and create art installations ( and i have seen this with my opwn 2 eyes) of the rats doing their business ie: finding mines and detecting TB/// you have to see this stuff to beleive it...it is mindblowing. My point is the real work is to change the perception of rats in people's minds by showing how awesome they are, and then they will raise millions of dollars in funding rather than asking for funding from the WHO who doesnt really like them and is a skeptic. Imagine that rats come to CT. The media and the public will flock to see them in action and pay and then support them. Looks like Bart who is a social artist may just take this concept to the museums and cities of the world. I really hope he does. My point is that he is not having fun and they are moving so slowly that it is difficult to see progress. Art is about opeing up people's minds and the rest will flow. Bart is also that type of person...a starter...a spark and the sooner he realises this the better...or his spark will die. Who are you?

Black entrepreneurs need to find models that dont cost the earth

from my experience with the stick fighting company the city actually charges no fees to be a busker and the whole industry is very higgeltypiggeldy, meaning unstructured. CT buskers aims to change this and becoming a viable business. My friend Kerry said she's in ( a music promotor, agent, and talent afficionado), i have a great project manager to drive the project as well whom i will introduce later. I have been reading alot about how young black entrepreneurs find it so difficult to finance their start up businesses in the newspapers. However if i look at CT buskers these are the actual costs:

Cost of finding busker spots in the city: FREE

Cost of auditioning buskers: FREE (i will get a venue donated or pay for a community hall at R12 per hour!)

Cost of buskers licences for 1 year: FREE

Cost of publicity: FREE ( because its such a damn good idea that works)

Total cost: 0 ( but it will require some help from friends, time and sweat)

The business model will be to get sponsors at various sites in the city ( 50 spots @ R3600 per annum [ R 180,000]), buskers keep all their own cash they make, buskers get representation and sign with CT buskers for agent fees, a reality TV show, and growth towards JHB Buskers, Durbs Buskers etc.

The lesson is really that young black entrepreneurs need to make sure they can start businesses that require very little capital, not businesses that require loads of cash. This seems to be the opposite way of thinking but it focuses on innovation and simplicity rather than small business development. Young guns need to understand this to get the most out of their energies

CT Buskers

Its time for a new idea and i have to thank a number of people for this one. My students at RAA, New York City and London. While in New York City I saw or heard the most amazing buskers (or people who play on the streets for money) all across the underground or subway. And i mean amazing. There is a story that was told to me that the most famous violinist in the world once played on the subway and people just saw him as another busker albeit a great one. This is the type of excitement and surprise that can deal you one hellava blow on a daily basis on the subway. the same is true in London. Our city has buskers as well but they are of the "usual" kind. Oh by the way Justin Bieber was a busker before he made it big. So Cape Town has young groups of kids singing or dancing and a few marimba bands. But what type of talent is lying out there actually. Singers, dancers, musicians and acts. In New York and London buskers have to auditon and only the best get licences for 12 months and then they audition again. This allows only the best to get the licences and it allows talent spotters the best as well. For the acts it means they have achieved something and they become part of a group of acts that are deemed good enough to be on the streets and for public consumption. I will be launching CT Buskers in the following way. I will set up auditions and publicise through radio and facebook. At these auditions we will look for the best buskers in CT. I will pay for their licences so they can play on the streets. I will set up specific hotspots for them to play at marked with a CT Buskers sign and this will be a first come first service option. I will help this talent get recognised by promoting them and i will try for a reality TV program called CT Buskers...it will certainly have an internet presence. Hopefully CT Buskers can represent this talent after exposing them and the city will buy into the project as well as sponsors. The auditions will be soon so watch this space. My business idea for may is CT Buskers.

Have a lovely lavender filled day

Today was our first day of planting our lavender cuttings at the Zerilda Park Primary School. Our master gardener Vuyesile, taught us all how to take the cutting, trim its leaves, dip it in root growth and plant it properly .Vuyesile really loves his plants

We will be collecting much more cuttings to plant and our little nursery will be filling up quickly.

If you would like to help, we are looking for any planting trays, old yogurt cups or small tins to plant these cuttings in.

We also need to construct a shelving system to stack all our cutting trays (as there will be so many). This gives us more space to plant but also gives the cuttings proper shade which speeds up the growing process. If you have any old wooden planks/pieces or any fiberglass/plastic sheets that you are not using anymore and would like to donate to us, please contact me.

Please see our new Facebook Page on http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lavender-in-Lavender-Hill/197602146941607 to stay up to date with our project.

Please contact me if you can help with any of the above or know of contacts that could help us.

Have a lovely lavender filled day.

Next Friday CNN will be filming us and we hope to introduce a lavender planting party. we would like a massive crowd there so if you want to join the party call for directions and join us there.


--

Lavender forever and some other things

The Lavender project has taken off like a rocketship and this has inspired many people to give cuttings and money for plants. Keep them coming. It only costs R2 for a plug which we can buy from a nursery so i will launch the R2 plug campaign sometime. Vuyisile has set up a lavender growing facility aka nursery at one of the Lavender Hill primary schools and i hope to involve as many kids as possible. Cuttings are going full steam and its amazing how many cuttings you can get from one bush. Literally hundreds. The land is also good to go. I am feeling very confident about this project as it has all the right ingredients of a great venture. I can see the lavender farm with all the colours and the rows already and know that everyone will be inspired. Marcelle my project manager is also excited to learn and grow and i truly beleive that great young people like her are going to make a great difference in this country one day. Mostly because we need to harness this enthusiasm and creativity of the youth to try new things and make them happen. I just came back from London and the youth are just so much more advanced there in terms of their outlook of life. Entering the TATE museum you see thousands of young faces interactinh with Miro and Picasso and you have to beleive that this makes a difference in the creativity and open mindedness of Europes youth as well as innovation. we want south african youth to be innovative and come up with new ideas for business and art but if they havent seen anything then how do they do this? My mission in life is to inspire young, no all people to be innovative everyday so life become a piece of art and you can all be part of making something happen.
I met the Supporters direct people, a guy called James ( remember the soccer idea in month 2) and there is defintely a way forward here now. He explained that i should do a type of barometer of all the clubs in South Africa based on shareholding, financial position, constitutions, if shares are available, governance, sustainability, and any social impact. This would be the start of the initiative as it will give a direct indication of where soccer really is in SA for the public at large. There are some big things on the horizon for me re: innovation on a mass public scale which i can only reveal when the contract is signed, however the month is almost up and i have a few options for next month. The first is CT buskers which will formalise busking by having 50 dedicated busker points and buskers will have to audition each year (to get the best and most inspiring) and to promote the city as a lively destination full of art. The second idea is Train Charity which will promote 1 new registered charity per day on the trains in a professional manner that people can trust. The third idea is called Holy Water. I want to get old wine barrels, clean them up, add in tap water, place them in churches of all types, and then sell small vials called holy water after a month or so. This will raise awareness of water as the rare and special resource that we have. Help me choose the idea for May.

Lavender Hill the place as descibed on the net

The Cape Flats (Afrikaans: Die Kaapse Vlakte) is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. To most people in Cape Town, the area is known simply as 'The Flats'.

Described by some as 'apartheid's dumping ground', from the 1950s the area became home to people the apartheid government designated as non-White. Race-based legislation such as the Group Areas Act and pass laws either forced non-white people out of more central urban areas designated for white people and into government-built townships in the Flats, or made living in the area illegal, forcing many people designated as Black into informal settlements elsewhere in the Flats. The Flats have since then been home to much of the population of Greater Cape Town.
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[edit] Geology and geography

In geological terms, the area is essentially a vast sheet of aeolian sand, ultimately of marine origin, which has blown up from the adjacent beaches over a period on the order of a hundred thousand years. Below the sand, the bedrock is in general the Malmesbury Shale, except on part of the western margin between Zeekoevlei to the south and Claremont and Wetton to the north, where an intrusive mass of Cape Granite is to be found.

To the west the expanse of the Cape Flats is limited by rising ground that slopes up towards the mountainous heights of the Cape Peninsula, while in the east the land rises gradually towards the Hottentots Holland ranges and other elevated regions of the interior of the Boland.

Most of the sand is unconsolidated; however, in some places near the False Bay coast the oldest sand dunes have been cemented into a soft sandstone. These formations contain important fossils of animals such as the extinct Cape lion and also provide evidence that stone-age people hunted here tens of thousands of years ago.

The area has a Mediterranean climate, with warm dry summers and cool, damp winters. It is generally exposed to the wind, both from the NW (winter) and SE (summer). Flooding can be a problem, especially in July and August. Cold wet spells, especially in August and September, can make life very difficult for those living in sub-standard housing.
[edit] History

During the second half of the 19th century, the area was completely overrun by alien vegetation, mainly of Australian origin (Stirton, 1978). The plants included hakeas and especially wattles (genus Acacia). The principal reason for this infestation lay in decisions made by the colonial authorities. It was an era before the advent of modern technological methods for the construction of permanent roads and in those days the Cape Flats was a massive sea of unstabilized sand dunes that moved at will before the winds. This made travel between Cape Town and the interior very difficult, particularly for the large ox-drawn wagons of the time. The authorities decided to try to stabilize the sand with plants native to the British colonies of New South Wales and Western Australia.

The earliest importation of wattles was in 1827. Massive plantings were established in the 1840s and 1850s and the work continued until well after 1875.

At the time, the plan worked well enough: the march of the dunes was arrested. The price paid, in ecological terms, was that the Cape Flats was carpeted by invasive species. Serious efforts have in recent years been made to roll back this alien scourge.

The Cape Flats has undergone revolutionary change in the past half a century. In 1950 the area was practically uninhabited. There was a single, narrow road across the Flats from Cape Town to The Strand that ran between walls of alien rooikrans bushes and one could travel for miles without seeing any sign of habitation other that a few fences and a handful of farmhouses. Native antelope roamed at will between the dense thickets of wattles. The army used the area for military exercises and the few farmers who inhabited the Flats eked out a living by growing vegetables in pockets of relatively poor soil between the barren dunes. Modern amenities were unknown; there were no telephones, drinking water was collected in tanks from roofs and at night the rooms were lit by oil lamps.

The era of sand and antelopes vanished completely in little more than a generation. Vegetable farming persisted but to a much lesser extent, because urbanization enveloped vast tracts of land in short order. During the apartheid era large housing projects were built here, mostly as part of the Nationalist government's larger effort to force the so-called Coloured community out of the central and western areas of Cape Town, which the political theorists of the day had designated as whites-only areas. This meant that only whites could reside there permanently. People of colour could work in the city but could not live there. Additionally, other large townships of black people (e.g., Khayelitsha and Gugulethu) grew up on the flats as a product of both informal settlement and forced government relocations. Since many Xhosa people of the region—including people born and raised in the Cape Town area—were designated under apartheid as residents of Bantustans, many were obliged to live in the area illegally, further contributing to the growth of informal settlements. These consisted in the main of shacks made of 'tin' (in reality corrugated iron), cardboard and wood.

Since the end of apartheid, these communities are no longer legally bound by racial restrictions but history, language, economics and ethnic politics still contribute to homogeneity of local areas. So, for example, most residents of Mitchell's Plain likely still speak a locally-inflected version of Afrikaans, along with English and either they or their parents were designated as Coloured by apartheid; most residents of Khayelitsha still speak Xhosa and English and either they or their parents were designated as Black by apartheid. Nonetheless, some areas of the Cape Flats have an increasing diversity of residents, with Xhosa-speaking people an increasingly noticeable presence in some previously mainly Afrikaans-speaking areas.

The Cape Flats is home to a remarkable cultural history.

Its music spans from the serious-minded jazz of Abdullah Ibrahim and Basil Coetzee and their anthem 'Mannenberg' (named after a Cape Flats township), to the bubbly pop hits of Brenda Fassie; and continues in a new hip-hop movement (e.g., [1], [2]).

Its religious communities include (to name only a few), Afrikaans-speaking congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church, Rastafarian communities, people who engage only in traditional Xhosa practices, syncretic Xhosa Christian churches, evangelical Christian churches, and southern Africa's largest Muslim community (drawing its oldest roots from the historic Cape Muslim community, which dates back to the 17th century).

Its political history is complex and sometimes baffling even to insiders: for instance, the politics of the Coloured communities of the Cape Flats have included Trotskyist activism in earlier years, and mobilization for the United Democratic Front in the 80s; and then, widespread support for the historically white National Party (which had presided over apartheid) in the early post-apartheid elections. More recently, the area has seen an expansion of African National Congress strength from its base in the black townships and into historically Coloured areas[citation needed], as well as a particularly strong local growth of left-wing social movements like the Treatment Action Campaign which offer a critique of government policies[citation needed]. Sometimes violent Islamist movements have emerged from Cape Flats communities [3], along with other notable figures within the Muslim community, such as Fareed Ishaq, who embody an ecumenical strain of religious progressivism.

Almost all of the communities of the Cape Flats remain, to one degree or another, poverty stricken. Serious social problems include a high rate of unemployment and disturbing levels of gang activity. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was significant armed conflict between various gangs and PAGAD (People Against Gangsterism and Drugs), a vigilante organization.

A wide range of community empowerment organizations work non-violently to combat poverty, crime and health problems and the role of civil society in many parts of the area is relatively strong.

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Since the call for Lavender plants i still need to find out why this place was first called Lavender Hill??? Any theories? many people are still calling me everyday for plants and donations....keep them coming people. I have a small team of 3 people and we will start cuttings of the slippers next week. Thereafter we will propagate and then plant a beautifull lavender farm. Remember i want it to be real social art not mereely another project. I will introduce the team on Friday. I am reminded of my friend Mark's story of Ama the hugging lady in India. She started just by giving hugs and the rest is history. The giving of plants seems to evoke the same reaction in people. Vuyisile gave me his theory on humans and plants and i must say i agree with him. The plants and the people are interconnected. I have also had people tell me their stories of other people around the world doing urban farms ( see TED), and biblical stories of lavender. I am excited bacuase ventures like this excite so much more than politics do with the local elections coming up. i still wish that politicians could do small practical projects with grand visions that could potentially create work and new opportunity where it matters. In all the Lavender Hills of the country.

an explosion of lavender

Wow, I havent seen such as amazing reaction like this to an idea for quite some time. I wrote a simple email wanting cuttings and R20 donation for a plant. Within 3 minutes John Maytham from Cape Talk had me on the line explaining the idea. Within 3 hours after that interview i have pledges of over 100,000 cuttings at least and R50,000 worth of donations. A great an innovative idea has to resonate with people on the deepest level firstly and plants certainly do that. I suppose we are all more deeply connected to nature than i thought. also the idea resonates becauses its simple and micro, meaning asking for micro amounts like R20 or cuttings, so everyone can be involved no matter how small. I have the people, I have the great idea now i will cut, plant and process and create an amazing urban farm. The Lavender Hill community will look and smell different and i pray the Lavender helps the community into a new space of calm and peace. This can only happen if 1,000,000 plants are planted ( a mass effect) so help me do it. Join the Lavender farm in Lavender Hill even if its just for your cuttings

Urban Lavender Farm in Lavender Hill

OK, OK, I have been shocking at this blog stuff. But I have a ,massively busy life. have made a decison as to the new venture i will tackle of the next month or so. There is a young student who asked me to help him. he is from Lavender Hill, the gangland area near muizenberg which is seen as part of the cape Flats a dry, windy sort of desolate space. I immediately asked him if there was any lavender in lavender Hill. what he said...never heard of the stuff. no lavender in lavender Hill, this sounds like my kinda opportunity. the plan is to plant 1,000,000 lavender plants in lavender hill. The point is to develop an urban farm. Instead of the wasteland the amazing colours of rows of lavender will be seen by the world, lavender will calm the area down and jobs will be created via the growing and processing of the lavender. This will be a business but it will also be an attempt at social art, and social activism. Can nature overpower evil into good just by being present. I think so. So I need to collect lavender cuttings from JOE PUBLIC....thats you mense. Call me or send me a mail, send to a friend, and i will come and take cuttings from your lavender plant or you can deliver to me. My own plants have contributed 100 cuttings....only 900,000 cuttings to go.

entrepreneur explosion

I apologise to anyone who may have been following this blog but everything just exploded...in a good way. Family life and kids is hectic enough only to have all the projects and businesses i am running ( besides the blog) explode as well. Stick fighting hits CNN this week sometime and i suppose the lesson here is a great implementor with a great product equals success. I really need to have an implemntor for every new business that i can trust will drive the nail straight in and make it work. I have also started the process of writing my next book, "seeing the leaves' which will hopefully also explode and inspire people to find innovation exciting and new ideas accessible. The Rock Roads ( yes, i'm building roads with rock) just received all the cash i need to build my pilot road ( a few million) I have a great implementor so i know that this will turn out to be a monster business/ project. I'm off to London in April where I will be meeting with Supporters Direct re: the Soccer Coop model and others are knocking down my door to implement it. The April idea is moving slow because of the explosion...change is needed...something simpler. What about a spot the ball gambling business. Spot the ball ( any sport) in community papers, entry fees and winners. Dunno, i like the idea, but gambling...gotta find a positive social angle...i know portion of profits go towards poor sports clubs every week. As you can all read my head is about to explode, the southeaster is up so i cant surf much ( weekend looks better) and release my stress...no more coffee please...one day at a time. Most people would love to be in my position but i'm telling you its hectic.

a new business for March: timing is everything

I havent written on my blog for a while. I suppose February idea was difficult to implement over a month period and will need some more working out. I met with the lawyers as the cooperative model for fans has to be legal and i think i have a good handle on what to do now. Strangely enough, a whole side business in women's owned coops for crafts ( and i mean great businesses) have come and asked me to help them set up a large coop which is very exciting. For the fans coop, i have been speaking to Maritzburg United and today i will chat to Supporters Direct (UK) on which the idea came from initially. I am quite excited about this. Needless to say I wont give up on this awesome idea because people love it. Stickfighting grows stronger everyday, The first world tripe festival is happening on the 19th March, but it is March and i need to start a new business. I read a small little article in the Argus about how 1c and 2c pieces are legal currency BUT no one really wants them and the banks dont want them and retailers dont want them, and people put them in jars. So there are literally billions lying around in tiny currencies. I have thought about this before many times but when i see a newspaper article like that it is giving me a message....the time is now. So the business idea is to set up collection points for 1c and 2 c pieces and 5c pieces and 10 c pieces ONLY. I will work on a business concept to either count or weigh and then provide the customer with cash notes less a margin of profit on each transaction. I dont have a name for it now but maybe someting on the lines of "rands and cents", cents exchange, help me someone! The lesson here is when you see the opportunity then you need to move quickly, as i am sure there as others who have seen the same opportunity as you.

an entrepreneur needs to be flexible

So i met with my buddy Ben the lawyer and his colleauge and we thrashed out wether a central cooperative was the best model for the fans coop. It turns out it isnt. All sorts of issues related to shares etc and it would cost about R1 million to set up. So i am back at square one and probably copy "Supporters Direct" a non-profit from the UK where i got the idea in the first place. Basically it would be better to set up a fan's coop with each and every team we decide to do a deal with. The non-profit entity would be funded to help fans to set up these coops and the coops can buy into the clubs and keep them honest. By chance i will be travelling to the UK in April and i will go and see them, chat with them and learn as much of possible so i can implement this concept properly. In the meantime i will try and get 1 soccer club ( Martizburg united), 1 cricket team ?? and one rugby fan base ( the bulls would be best) and see if we can test case the concept.

an entrepreneur needs to be patient

I havent written for a while but things have been happening on all fronts, maybe thats why. The stick fighting company is trying for an ETV sponsorship for a documentary as well as great articles in Mail and Guardian. Other foreign media want to showcase this product but are unwilling to pay. They are OK paying celebs but not us...so I have said no to a number of foreigners. After all it is Vuyisile and my time and we are not short of publicity and i dont think we ever will be. the next tournament is on the 20th feb in Stellenbosch where we hope to get sponsors there to see the spectacle. I also want to transmit the feed live of the fighting as I think this will take it to another level.
On the tripe business we are busy organsing the first world tripe festival on the 26th in a small park. Exciting.
The sports/fan coop should be formalised this week when i meet wih the lawyers. Everyone says it is a great idea and would buy shares in the coop. It is important for me to pick up some good media partners as well as the publicity has to be very broad and across sports codes. I suppose as an entrepreneur having patience is as important as the the dynamic wam bam thank you mam moments. Lets see what happens after Friday and the lawyers. Breath...be patient...relax

Fans are generally treated like shit

while i continue working on the stick fighting Company and the Tripe Franchise and they are all moving nicely, the 1st always means a new venture.
I am a major sports fan, but fans are treated like shit. The clubs need fans, so do countries, players, sponsors and owners. Without fans there is no sport. So what is it about fans that make them so fanatical and loyal about their teams and players and yet receive so little in return. Passion maybe? Lets look at local teams. The 3 biggest sports codes rugby, cricket and soccer all need fans. when stadiums are empty the game is dead! for all these 3 sports and millions of fans, how many can actually own a share in a club? The answre is a simple none! None! Why is is that fans cant own shares. The answer is because sports are controlled by a few powerfull individuals either as owners or as committees. Now as a fan this really pisses me off. I want to own shares in Chiefs, Pirates, Stormers and ( well I dont really follow local cricket but i know a few people who do....right!). while riding the train one day i read an article about a UK Non profit that mobilised fans to set up a cooperative ( which means you can own as many shares as youn like but you only get one vote). This Cooperative then purchased shares in local clubs and there are now over 300, sit on their boards, add revenue to the club when needed, help make decisions, and so on. So I started to calculate how much the soccer clubs in South Africa are worth? My gues is no more than R60 million-R100 million. So if i sold shares in a cooperative of which i have no name yet for R100 i would need 1 million fans to purchase shares so the fans could own all the PSL clubs in the country...yup this is the next idea. Fans will invest in the coop, the coop will offer to purchase shares in clubs, the fan will become a part of the game ( rather than some fat dickheads who only care about their own pockets not the game or the fan), fans will fill stadiums, fans will make money and buy more merchandising goods.
The next steps are to meet with my lawyer buddies to make sure its legal and the cash is safe, to meet with my other buddy for the branding, and then we can launch to the public. The ultimate goal is to purchase shares in all 3 codes and let the fans rule again that belongs to them...viva

up the tripe business and hello to the new business

when i judge a good business idea i always notice the reaction of the individual when I tell them the concept. Whenever i talk about the tripe concept the individuals either go "what a great idea", I love it, or they go UUUURGHE, sies, Offal. The fact is over 90% of people who tasted and heard about the concept loved it...and thats why i called it "I love tripe". I dont want to beat around the bush but this is a "black" concept, and while white people stick their noses up at it it amazes me that they would probably try it when travelling in Italy but resist when at home. Sies man, thats not nice. As I said before this is a concept whose time is now. I will see the appropiate financing and cook and sell shortly. As far as the world tripe festival goes i will wait till winter when i feel this concept will be even stronger.
This means that i need to make the very difficult choice of a new business for February. I have been dying to do the soccer cooperative for such a long time now that i think a coop will be exciting and different to what i have already done, namely a Trust(stickfighting) and a franchise food model. I will add in the franchise docs still for the tripe model as well as the recipes for you to try. Nick and I are also going to do a tripe cookbook so you can all indulge in this lekker food.

feeling exhausted today

i am feeling so tired i can hardly write this post. Running new things is so hard when you are doing other things, dealing with children, other people's emotions. I have always said that to be an entrepreneur it would be better being single and young. Soooo tired of all the other stuffing around. I am wrapping up the tripe franchise idea and am excited about it. Funding will come as it always does and i'm in no rush. i do however want to do the tripe cookbook as well as the world tripe festival asap. i havent decided on March business yet. I have a few options. The soccer fan coop, the green board, the stock in a box, ball watching, or talent spotting???? decisons decisions. all innovative, fresh and new concepts....all exciting.

My reflections on franchises ( food)

Setting up a food franchise seems like such a simple exercise and yet it has proven to be very diffulct due to the amount of detail needed. Also unlike other businesses the level of investment is much higher as there is testing needed and daily costs that cannot get recouped quickly. the rewards are however large and the final product will be worth it. My feeling is that we have put everything in place now and I need to get some financing for the franchise. I did lose quite a few days ( 10) in the month due to holidays but this is no excuse. The risk for me is to put all my own money in i need to drive this business on my own saving operational costs. Hoever i have so many other things to do that this is not practical right now. So with all the 12 businesses it seems that testing the concepts, launching them in the public eye, building a business case is the way forward for me. if they take off like rocket ships then great. My biggest expense is paying staff which is just too risky right now. Is this an entrepreneusrhip lesson? I suppose it is. If you start a business you need to manage it yourself for a few years until you can hire a manager, not the other way round. For me there is no rush but i didnt start this business with employment in mind i started to test new innovations in the marketplace so this is what i will do. in the last 3 days we will wrap up the business case and costings and start marketing to investors and financing institutions. The other leson for me is that i will have so many business cases that have been well reserached which means i wont have all my bread in one basket. Some will get the financing and others wont.

what a day! the food business is hard!

Alex and I went to the streets today to market and sell our tripe. Alex was running late and i was getting stressed, as he coudlnt find the containers for the day. at about 10.30am he arrived in his dads bakkie and we went down the road, parked in a loading zone, lit up the gas and started to sell within minutes. There is so doubt about the demand for the product and generally all the recipes were very well liked. We had curry ( needed a bit more and needed more seasoning), chilli tomato ( the most popular), onion and ginger and coriander. The people liked all the flavours and most people said they would buy again. There were so many lessons today...
1. The lids need to be on all the time
2. People use other words for tripe like pens ( stomach) and offal when marketing
3. The bowls we used need lids ( as many people like to eat at their desks)
4. We need to have salt sachets as well as spicy sauces
5. People also like home made steam bread and pap ( as tripe has plenty of gravy)
6. Tripe needs to be watched carefully in terms of its sell-by date/ this makes it a daily fresh product
7. The warmers need to be simple and without gas which is expensive
8. the cleaned tripe we bought from the supplier was frozen and was less than the weight we bought it for

with all these learnings the next steps are:

1. franchise financing
2. Costing of the whole model in detail
3. Logistics in more detail
4. a cooking facility for daily tripe
5. The detailed booklet for the tripe business

The business model will be to sell the franchises for around R50,000 and these franchises are trained to follow the tripe model. they will purchase the cooked tripe from us on a daily basis with our recipes only.

The food business is a tough business. The detail is so intense that any little mistake can lead to disaster. However there was a real demand for this product and we sold 70 servings in 2 hours. There is money to be made here and plenty of jobs created as well as opportunities for young black entrepreneurs. There is also a huge amount of work to be done as well.

selling tripe on the streets

my biggest philosophy in life is to be a doer. It literally is the hardest step to take for most people. It goes beyond thinking and planning and just doing and learning and building confidence. Today we will sell tripe on the streets and see what we can learn. We will see what the public thinks and says. It will be exciting and it will be tough. As an entrepreneur this is something that you need to do rather than someone else. I am excited and concerned what people will think. Will they like it, or put their noses up to it? who knows! Maybe you will see me on the streets selling tripe. Today is the first day of a new business and i will tell younall about it tomorrow.

tripe franchise costs

Alex is meeting with a business banker from FNB tomorrow to discuss franchising and financing for franchises etc. Should hopefully come out with some good information and information packs. It is essential that all details pertaining to starting a new franchise is acquired. Its not as easy getting the correct information but hopefully through our experience others can learn from our mistakes and experience.
We are good to go with the cooking of the tripe this weekend. Just hired the gas cookers, gas and pots – collecting tomorrow. Buying all ingredients tomorrow as well – total cost of R1061 for the weekend hire for all equipment, R400.00 of which is a deposit – so total hiring costs are R661.00 for the weekend.
we havent really costed the whole start up process but that is the beauty of the way i do things. I do them first then work on the costs. Sort of backward but i beleive this is the way forward for many businesses otherwise they just dont get off the ground. i am driven to getting things done and then hoping for a snowball effect. I asked my friend Dorria Watts who is the best PR I know for names of magazine and newspaper foodies which she has given me. Alex and I will send them a outline of the tripe franchise idea as well as some samples. Just hope they take to the idea as quickly as the media took to the stickfighting concept.
Just got a price list from A&S Distributors. Alex 's brother brother put himm onto them – they supply restaurants, stores with product. So our costs will now go down because the costs of a majority of the ingredients will be going down. Will be able to calculate new costs with this price list. We can use financials I sent you for February trial period though as we need to finalise issues such as cooking of tripe labour costs, transport costs of tripe from place of cooking to traders in town, other cooking costs such as equipment, premises etc. I will do some homework on these items and start putting together the final franchise numbers that will go into the franchise document.
T-shirts are being collected tomorrow as well as cooking equipments as mentioned above. Packaging will also be purchased tomorrow. cant wait to se the T-shirts on the streets.
on the promotion side we will only do a small run in the beginning and i have decided to sell from the start, even before promoting the product. My thinking is if it sells from day 1 then it will sell all the time. Thinking what Donald Trump would do on the apprentice.

the tripe business is gaining momentum

its all getting very exciting as we near to the launch of our product on the streets of cape town. Alex mother and mother-in-law will be making the product and we have our locations set out on various street corners. We will cook on Sunday and start to promote on monday. The T-shirts are ready and will say. " I Love Tripe". On the same day i will send samples to various radio stations and journalists with the promoters and their t-shirts. After monday we can reassess and see where we are in terms of the business. I have encouraged alex to docuemnt every little detail as we want it to be a franchise operation. we have also decided on a venue for the first tripe festival (probably in the world) which will be a small park in a small suburb in Athlone. I want it to be really local and for the locals to really buy into it. when other people start arriving and producing their tripe they may get a big surprise and become excited about future events. The prize for the best tripe on the day of the festival will be R1,000 and the recipes have to be produced. what alex and i are learning is to keep a detailed record of everything, even every converstaion we have for a franchise operation, and that cleaning and cooking tripe is an onerous process which has become a USP for us...strange.

dreams and visions of a madman

14 days into the tripe business and its all going really well. i am really happy with alex and i am convinced that the tripe festival is going to be a real hit. i can see it already. a small park, a few tripe stands, lots of community action as people come and sample and buy all the different products. a winner for the day and one big happy rounded face of a woman from the area. As i hand her the cheque of R1,000 i am drawn to her success and her pride in cooking something she has been doing forever and perhaps the recipe that has been used for centuries. i can see myself taking a whole load of scrap papers with recipes scralled over them and i can see myself poring over them and shaking my head. Wow i'm thinking this is so awesome. i can see the cookbook on the shelves and i can see queues of people buying tripe of the streets. all of this giving me joy. if i can see it already then i know it will become real. i only wish that everyone can take their own visions, and dream them and see them and keep doing this until they are real. What a great feeling. This is what an entrepreneur is all about. That great feeling.

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I also want the first Tripe festival probably in the world.
In order for the tripe business to get off the ground there are a number of details we are working on.
1. Permits. And you know how i hate permits. These include health and safety permits and hawkers licences. On the tripe business however the health permits are a good thing when it comes to food but lets see how comprehensive they are. if they are like the "entertainment permits" we received for stick fighting then i am not sure i will be too impressed and i'm not too worried about this.
2. The process of purchasing the tripe and various suppliers. These are looking positive and i dont see any problems.
3. Cooking the tripe...not sure who is going to do this yet???
4. recipes and testing of recipes. There are 4 varieties that we need to test on the streets in the next few days. These are curry, tomato and onion, spicy, mushroom. Based on teh feedback of people we will choose 2 for the stand. I also want an open competition for people to send recipes and bring samples to a single place over 1 day of sampling. The winner will receive R1,000 and we will use best recipes for the cookbook. The winners will also be able to have the option of becoming chefs for the business.
5. The mobile units. In a new business i dont want to expend too much capital in infrastructure until we have tested the concept fully. My friend Yolanda has some units we can use and i hope this works out. Otherwise we will be needing another option...like a chinese bicycle! (thanks douglas)
6.The logistics of moving a cooked product to the streets daily...no ideas yet?
Ps : the stick fighting company is flourishing, the next tournament is soon and we are getting plenty of publicity

Why a Tripe Franchise?

So you probably all think I am kind of crazy doing a tripe franchise. For those of you who dont really know what tripe is...it is the intestines of the stomach. The idea actually came to me while travelling in Italy. There I was in my first trattoria and on the menu was trippa (Tripe). So I ordered it and it was magnificent. I asked the owner if tripe was popular in Italy and he raved and raved about its importance to genuine Italian cusisine. I then went to the largest Florentine open air market and the most popular stall was the tripe stall which was considered very famous. In the queue were office workers in suits and ties and then it hit me! In a country like South Africa tripe is only seen as stinky poor man's food. In Italy the land of gastronomy it was seen as a gift and a delicacy...something that takes time to cook and revered as a popular food amongst rich and poor. Why not try and and popularise the concept in South Africa? So this is how the idea came about. Food franchises are very popular. So the business concept for the tripe franchise is as follows.

1. Formulate a mobile street tripe franchise that the general public love
2. Change people's perception about Tripe
3. Offer cooked tripe to top end restaurants for their menus
4. Publish a tripe recipe book

Welcome to "I love Tripe" coming to a corner near you!

an entrepreneur never gets to sleep

I have been away with my family for around 7 days on holiday and yet i have been in contact with Alex ( my man on the ground ) all the time building the next business " I love tripe".We have made some significant progress with the I love tripe business but more about that tomorrow. There were so many signs that this is the correct business #2. I met a farmer and we discussed tripe. I read in the succeed magazine about new food franchises and how they should do very well. None mentioned tripe which excites me even more as they hadnt thought about it. I spoke to a greek women who mentioned how her greek relatives love tripe. I spoke to an old friend from University who mentioned how much his realtives love tripe. I spoke to a politician on the plane who said the politicians during parliment love eating tripe. So even on holiday an entrepreneur never sleeps. I had alex doing the legwork, i was looking and thinking and stressing about being away, and yet trying to relax. Over the next few weeks i hope to get the first tripe stand on the streets in Cape town. I hope that everyone loves it.