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