Apprentice SA Episode 2: The end of the road for me

Last night's episode of the Apprentice SA was again somewhat disappointing, though I liked the fact that the men won this task (and I may be biased regarding that :) )

Before you read further, you might want to open an unbiased (or less biased) review at the following link (open it in a seperate window):
Tashitagg Review of Episode 2

The task was to set up a tour through Soweto and to end it at the Hector Pietersen museum with the aims of sustainability and profitability. The men had a brilliant insight (Richard actually) late in the first day, which had them sell tickets to a restaurateur (African) who gave it away to his clientele as a promotion. The women on the other hand tried to get corporate sponsorship for their tour, but if they knew anything about corporates, they should have known they would never get money in a day.

But my gripe is about what happened in the boardroom (or what we as viewers saw of the boardroom). I was looking forward to some cat fights as it was the first time the all women team would be in there and the fact that the only male in the room would be Tokyo Sexwale. I was not disappointed in the cat fight arena as there was enough bitching to go around for everyone. I was (once again) disappointed in the decision Tokyo made: He fired the female team leader, Iris. For my opinion on firing leaders, read my previous post. This time round, I feel that Iris did indeed take the two weakest members (of the female team) into the boardroom and then Tokyo just goes and fires her.

Well, I disagree with him, and maybe I'm just not cut out as a spectator or maybe I'm just seeing the contentious bits the directors want us to see, but I respectfully won't make an appointment to watch The Apprentice SA again.

Regards
Leon van der Walt
------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: The Financial Inspiration Cafe
WEBSITE RSS: Financial Inspiration Cafe RSS
BLOG: Financial Inspiration Thoughts
BLOG RSS: Financial Inspiration Thoughts Atom

Apprentice SA First Episode: Exhilirating and disappointing

Last night the first episode of the South African Apprentice was aired on SABC3. After much anticipation and building to the climax at 20:30 (had to sit through Top Billing who mercifully had a snippet on The Apprentice SA), the time finally arrived for the first episode of our Apprentice.

A big part of this episode was to simply introduce the contestants which was necessary, but took a some of the potential shine from the task: To find a street vendor, help him/her improve his business in an ethical and sustainable way with the final measure being the percentage improvement in profit the different teams make in the vendor's business over one day.

The teams were, as in the US version, the men versus the women. The women's team name were(are) something that means 'You touch a woman you touch a rock.' (couldn't they find something that said the same thing in less words? - just a man wondering) versus the men who were 'Pride of Lions'.

It was exciting to see how the two teams go about their tasks: the women spending a lot of time negotiating for good prices at the market (lesson: you make your money when you buy), while the men actually arrived on time but going with the flow (each team had already had one day of planning, and this was the day of execution).

In the end, the women triumphed as they secured almost double the profit the men had (without seeing the actual figures I'd attribute it to: men paying two times more for initial stock than the women and women selling produce to restaurants - smart move, I must add). Where I feel they could have done something more, is to sell advertising space on the vendors' carts, but that may be left for another day.

The disappointing part came when the losing team leader, Tristan Davies (of the men), had to pick two people to move in front of the firing squad. He chose two very strong candidates (Richard and Nthato) and they vociferously defended their positions. Why did he choose those two? His stated reasons were 'sleeping on the job' (Richard) and 'insubordination' (Nthato). 'Sleeping on the job' I can understand, but 'insubordination' - come on, can't someone disagree with you as a leader. A very weak excuse and he could have chosen someone for more valid reasons. Anyways, Mr Tokyo Sexwale goes on and says "You're Dismissed" to Tristan Davies.

To Tristan Davies, the team leader. What? Come again? How can you fire a leader? He (Tokyo) says because Tristan did not speak up when first asked. How about loyalty Mr Sexwale (to superiors and subordinates)? How about making decisions in tough times? How about the guts to volunteer to be the leader on the first task? And while I'm ranting, why did you have to divide the group into men and women? Do you want to stir up gender conflict? Why not simply divide them up by race while you're at it?

But lets summarize (my views) on the first episode of The South African Apprentice: Very entertaining task and how they go about it, but when the push comes to shove (dismissals), I wouldn't wan't to work for someone who fires his leaders by the narrowist of margins (narrow margin = if the three contestants sitting before him, I'd consider the leader to be the last one for dismissal).

If you don't like my commentary, read a more balanced view from the official reviewer of The Apprentice SA.

37,000 US$ millionaires in South Africa

According to the 2005 Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini World Wealth Report the number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) in South Africa rose 21.6% to 37,000. This is the second highest country growth rate in HNWI in the world, with only Singapore growing faster at 22.4%.

Globally, there are 8.3 million individuals that hold the status of HNWI - $1 million in financial assets with a combined wealth of US$30.8 trillion. Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (Ultra HNWI), with wealth of more than US$30 million, increased with 8.9% to 77,500 individuals world wide.

Of the different continents, Africa had the highest change in HNWI population with 13.7%, ahead of North America with 9.7%. Not surprising when you consider that most of Africa's HNWI hails from South Africa. If you, however, consider Africa's HNWI combined wealth and compare it to that of the others, we only have 2.27% of the world's HNWI wealth. North America has 30.2% of the world's HNWI wealth.

The main economic driver of the change in South Africa's number of HNWI were the phenomonal growth of equities: the Johannesburg Stock Exchange gained 163% (in dollar terms) in value.

The BRIC developing countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are becoming an ecomic force to reckon with. With 41% of the world's population and 8% of world GDP, they are predicted to overtake the G7 ecomic output by 2040. Their number of HNWI are 98,000 (Brazil), 88,000 (Russia), 70,000 (India) and 300,000 (China) respectively.

In growth terms we haven't fared to badly. When you look at the absolute numbers, however, we are still lagging behind, even just compared to other developing countries. Also, most of Africa's economic wealth seems to be concentrated in South Africa, where then are the rest of Africa? Yes, we are doing OK, but we can still do better.

Regards
Leon van der Walt
------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: The Financial Inspiration Cafe
WEBSITE RSS: Financial Inspiration Cafe RSS
BLOG: Financial Inspiration Thoughts
BLOG RSS: Financial Inspiration Thoughts Atom

I have found a mentor

I have mention before that I'm on the lookout for a mentor. Well, I've sort of found one. Why do I say sort of? He has actually not 'arrived' yet, but is somewhat down the path of where I want to go.

I met him through Toastmasters and only recently became aware of what his interests are outside of Toastmasters. He's had several business before and also has been bankrupt before. He is now an entrepreneur and enjoys working himself to death. Sort of.

Anyways, I got a lot of respect for his views and it carries a lot more weight than from someone who hasn't and aren't walking the path. He walks the talk and that is what I was looking for in a mentor.

Regards
Leon van der Walt
------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: The Financial Inspiration Cafe
WEBSITE RSS: Financial Inspiration Cafe RSS
BLOG: Financial Inspiration Thoughts
BLOG RSS: Financial Inspiration Thoughts Atom

The Scroll Marked III

After almost two months I'm still (repetitively) reading the book: The Greatest Secret in the World. Ironically then, that Scroll III states 'I will persist until I succeed.' Well, truth to tell, I'm amazed that I've come this far - previously I was not a man that could persist with something so dull and repetitive. Maybe that is what this book is trying to achieve - for you to realize the power of your habits (that or the power of the subconscious mind).

Well, it should start panning out now, since the people at work are starting to ask me what the greatest secret in the world is every time they see me reading the book (second time of the day just after partaking in the midday meal).

Regards
Leon van der Walt
------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITE: The Financial Inspiration Cafe
WEBSITE RSS: Financial Inspiration Cafe RSS
BLOG: Financial Inspiration Thoughts
BLOG RSS: Financial Inspiration Thoughts Atom