Rent-A-Skill is a platform for you to advertise your skills and to help you grow a business network of clients requiring your services. As your client base grows your stability and income increases and you can become self employed utilising your skills.

Most people think that they have stability when employed but they are so wrong. They can lose their jobs tomorrow and sit with nothing. We all have unique skills, from baby sitters and plumbers to dog walkers and engineers. Why work for someone when you can make a living renting those skills out directly to the people who require it?

Start doing it part time. Advertise your skills for FREE on the Rent-A-Skill website and take the first step to self empowerment!

These are feelings and situations that face all solo entrepreneurs, usually more than once, in their journey. In this current economic climate, where everything seems so much harder due to the stress most people are under, the soloist is going to be facing even tougher challenges.

Remembering that a person who is self motivated is usually driven by some internal dream, I have found that the following self motivation tips work for me.

1. Identify Your Dream
I believe I’m self-motivated, because some inner desire has been driving me since I was a teenager. However, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I could clearly state what my dream was. When people asked me “what do you want to do when you grow up?” my answer was always “I want to start up a website called Rent-A-Skill.” Someone asked me once: “why have you not started?” My answer: “Because I don’t know what it is I need to do.” I needed clarity. I needed to identify my dream. It took me several years of self-reflection to do this. All solo entrepreneurs must go through this process if they want to succeed. If you don’t identify your dream, you will not have strong enough motivation to continue when during challenging times.

2. Clearly State Your Dream in a Memorable Format
Once I identified my dream, I had to put it into a form where I could be easily reminded of it on a day to day basis, especially when things got overwhelming. Some people use vision boards. Other people tell as many people as they can about their plans. Find a technique that works for you. My dream is clearly stated in writing and posted around my home and office, with pictures of places I want to spend time at and objects I would like to one day have reinforcing my words. From my observations over the years, most solo entrepreneurs’ dreams are basically the same, but the action plans they follow will be different. Like me, I imagine you will be wanting to build full-time income through leveraged sources, to give yourself and your family a substantial lifestyle.

3. Start Taking Action
I’m not a detailed planner. I have spent years identifying my dream, and plenty of additional time putting it into a form where I can be constantly reminded of it. Now I’m itching to get started. If I further delay myself by researching and learning every skill I may need to be the successful entrepreneur I dream of being, I know I will lose motivation. Some people need a road map or clear plan to follow. They want to be spoon fed every step of the way. They prefer the simple life, no surprises, no challenges, no highs and lows. Not me. Or you. Solo entrepreneurs have courage. They know that by taking big risks, they will receive big rewards, if not financially, at least emotionally. Solo entrepreneurs have faith in a higher power. They know that by taking small steps along a dark unknown path, the help and clarity they need will appear. Solo entrepreneurs have belief in themselves. They know that for each attempt they make, they have the ability to face the challenges head on. This self motivation tip recommends that you ‘just do it’. By taking some small action, you will increase your self-confidence, no matter the outcome of your attempt. Success or failure gives the same results: you learn from your previous step and adjust your next one accordingly. Start today by listing your skills on the Rent-A-Skill website.

4. Keep It Real
As I drove to my ‘real’ job this morning, the road ahead was blanketed in a thick sea fog. The night before I had been reading about a similar incident experienced by self-motivated, successful website owners.
Like them, my visibility was limited and I could only focus on a small portion of the road ahead. A great analogy of the solo entrepreneur’s journey, right? Or is it? A solo entrepreneur’s journey is massive. We’re told to aim for the furthest stars so that we may hit the moon… and so we do.
Our goal definitely goes beyond the visible horizon, regardless of fog, rain, snow or sunshine. Often our dreams take us the equivalent distance of several times around the world. When we embark on a long journey, how do we do it? By keeping it real. We get in our vehicle (car, bus, plane) and start moving, traveling for hour after hour, Kilometer after Kilometer, in the moment, facing each bend in the road, road block, detour or delay when it appears, often without warning, and not a moment before or after. Solo entrepreneurs must do the same in order to be successful. We must plan as best we can for the expected contingencies, and deal with the unexpected when they appear.
We cannot bury our head and deny these challenges exist. A certain amount of negativity is healthy, because it gives us feedback and allows us to make the adjustments that are necessary for our success. Keep it real when you get feedback. It needs to come from more than one source (three or more is a good number), or over a period of time. I recommend you adopt the ‘three months to change a habit’ rule before you make drastic changes to your plans.

5. Follow Your Plan
The last of these five self motivation tips looks at the importance of pursuing the right plan. Who’s plan are you following? Yours, or someone else’s? By all means study your heroes and heroines – the successful people you model yourself on. Remember though, that solo entrepreneurs realise that no one else gets their dream better than themselves. They are leaders, not followers.
You are an unique individual, with your dream that provides the fuel for your self motivation. You will never be content duplicating a system or another person’s dream, because it does not give you enough internal drive to pursue your own.

I believe that the above five self motivation tips are a good starting point on your solo entrepreneur journey, but I recommend that you start to take notice of what is working and not working in the overall picture of your plan. A solo entrepreneur’s journey should be challenging, exciting, and confidence building. It should be a positive, growing experience.

Most of all it should reinforce the dream we all have to live a substantial life as your own boss!!

Being a Solo Entrepreneur does not mean being isolated or being completely on your own. Solo-Es often collaborate with others and/or build alliances with other Solo-Es according to their business needs. Although many Solo-Es do not have employees, some may have up to five employees to help support their day-to-day business needs or build the business in other ways. Many find creative ways to support themselves, for example, by using virtual assistants.

What Are Typical Solo Entrepreneur Characteristics?

- A desire for personal freedom that affords them an opportunity to make unique lifestyle choices.

- Seeing themselves as entrepreneurs with a vision, a personal drive, and a passion to fulfill their dreams.

- A deep longing to succeed in their chosen area of expertise and a joy for learning.

- Believing in themselves and being passionate about what they do.

- Being committed to their quest to be “solo.”

- Comfortable using technologies such as the Internet and websites like Rent-A-Skill to promote their business, collaborate with others, and learn.

“The thousands of people starting home based businesses confirm my belief that a new breed of person is emerging on Earth. Such a person is of higher value doing self-created work instead of a job thought up by others. This person is both independent and committed to service, highly flexible, constantly learns, and gets better and better every year.”

Where Do Solo-Es Come From?

Many come from the corporate world, while others enter the world of being a Solo Entrepreneur as they change from a traditional-based small business with employees and management responsibilities to being an independent professional.

What Are The Social Changes Occurring That Are Supporting The Shift Toward Solo Entrepreneurship?

- A general change in attitudes toward individual choices in actions and life direction and away from working in large companies, climbing the corporate ladder in search of more money, and more employees.

- The spread of tools and techniques, including information technology developments, that enable many people to work together on projects, but not be confined to a formal organization.

- The increased volatility of the industrial sector in general, which leads to a quicker change in the fortunes, direction, and size of companies and makes it advantageous for companies to employ Solo Entrepreneurs with the right mix of talents at the right times.

Where Do Solo Entrepreneurs Do Their Work?

A Solo-E’s office may be considered unconventional as compared to an office in a corporate setting. The Solo-E’s office is characterized by low overhead. It may be located in the Solo-E’s home or be a shared office, and it is used as needed. The Solo-E’s conference or meeting room may be the corner coffee shop, a local bookstore, or a client’s office.

Solo-E’s often use other tools and services such as a laptop, mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, and text messaging to support their business mobility needs.

What Drives The Solo Entrepreneur?

Freedom: the ability to exercise one’s will. (For Solo-Es one of the biggest complaints about their lives as a employees was that they disliked office politics. They felt imprisoned by all the games played in corporations.

By having freedom, Solo-Es determine when they are going to work, with whom they want to work, and where and how they are going to work. They use their freewill to make business decisions. Solo-Es feel liberated and motivated by their new freedom.

Authenticity: People want to be themselves—not wear a “mask” at work to fit into the corporate culture and environment.

Traditional work environments tend to force people to fit into a mold, and individuality often is suppressed. People express discontent with not being able to be themselves at work.

Solo-Es are able to allow their personalities, individuality, creativity, and uniqueness to shine, while being true to themselves and not having to “be someone else” in front of the boss or their peers.

Solo-Es are on the front line of their businesses. There is no one to hide behind or any coattails to ride on. This means Solo-Es are accountable for everything they do, including their business’ marketing, the quality of their work, delivering what they promise to their clients, the success of their business, etc. They accept these business challenges and reap the rewards and lessons learned along the way.

Self-Defined Success: the measures of success are being redefined by Solo-Es.
For Solo-Es, money and the promise of a promotion to the next rung on the corporate ladder are no longer motivators or factors in defining what it is to be successful. Solo-Es use a different measuring stick to define their success. Money remains an important factor to many, because they have to pay for their bills—but it typically is not the primary measurement of success. Instead, success is building the business they dreamed of building for years, and following their heart’s desire (or calling)–and that is what they deem success!

Success may also be defined by having the freedom to choose the work they do, the freedom to present their authentic selves in the work they do, the ability to integrate and balance their work with their life, the freedom to grow their business as they deem appropriate, and the list goes on. The criteria for success are self-defined by each Solo-E. In the 2000 Swedish study, one woman said, “My lifestyle is my big profit.”

What Are The Challenges Facing The Solo Entrepreneur?

Solo-Es often have many challenges and demands on their time, self-confidence, finances, and other resources. These challenges include:

- Having a desire to be solo, with no idea of where to start or of what is possible.

- Working through the initial start-up phase and not giving in to the temptation or pressure to go back to a corporate job or other “safe” haven.

- Having skills, products, and/or services that are in demand, but little experience or knowledge of how to package, market, and sell.

- Understanding how to cohesively fit together the relationships and elements that are part of running a business.

- Determining how to create a unique and solid brand for their business that helps position their strengths.

- Having a desire to go solo, but not knowing how to build a support network.

- Developing ongoing personal leadership skills that help them connect in more meaningful ways.

- Finding a way to transition from doing “tasks” to managing and building their business.

- Figuring out they do not have to do everything themselves, and then learning how to find and build the right alliances, as well as initiating collaborative efforts to support their business.

- Recognizing they are not alone as they make the move into the Solo-E market.

- Determining how to embrace their new career move and establish realistic and achievable goals.

In spite of these challenges, Solo Entrepreneurs find that the rewards are worth it! Being a Solo Entrepreneur is not so much a job, as a lifestyle. Solo-Es get to work when they want, doing the work they love, with people they enjoy working with. It’s a fantastic choice – one that we think more individuals will be making in the years to come.
Advertise your skills as a Solo Entrepreneur on the Rent-A-Skill website and achieve your goals as a “Solo”.

Employment fell 6.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same quarter last year. South Africa shed 171 000 jobs in the quarter – a sign that, while the recession may be officially behind us, the effects will be long-lasting.

According to Statistics SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, released yesterday, the unemployment rate rose to 25.2 percent, as heavy job losses in the formal and informal sectors outweighed those jobs created in agriculture and private households.

Patrick Craven, the spokesman for trade union federation Cosatu, described the job losses as shocking. “It’s clear we are not coming out of a recession as far as workers are concerned.”

The number of discouraged work seekers continued to rise and 1.84 million people have given up looking for work, 153 000 more than in the previous quarter.

Jaco Kleynhans, the spokesman for trade union Solidarity, said with the expanded unemployment rate rising to 32.5 percent from 31.1 percent in the fourth quarter, unemployment was now the biggest problem in South Africa.

“We are close to saying that a third of South Africans are unemployed. It’s a crisis. We cannot fix social problems such as crime if you don’t deal with this,” Kleynhans said.

The hardest hit sector was finance with 126 000 jobs lost, followed by construction and trade. And the worst affected province was Limpopo followed by Gauteng.

The Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal created 21 000 and 9 000 jobs respectively.

The survey, which is the broadest measure of employment, is a household survey of 30 000 homes.

The job losses recorded in the first quarter follows the creation of 89 000 jobs in the fourth quarter last year, bringing total job losses for last year to 870 000.

Craven said the fact that job losses had continued, despite the recession being officially over, was proof “we have a huge emergency”.

He said changes in strategy should include addressing the value of the currency, which makes it difficult to export; addressing monetary policy where big cuts in interest rates were needed to boost investment in manufacturing; and resisting attempts by the World Trade Organisation for South Africa to reduce the protection in place as the country had already cut trade protection “too much and too quickly”.

Kleynhans said a solution should include a government master plan to support exporters, assisting with, among other things, the infrastructure or financing required.

Pan-African Capital chief executive Iraj Abedian said the job losses in the first quarter were the result of decisions made six months earlier. He said cutting jobs was a lengthy process due to labour laws.

“What is surprising is the quantum which signifies that last year the mood in business was very gloomy.”

Abedian said prospects had become more favourable as the world economy had turned the corner and some sectors in South Africa were showing signs of revival. Therefore large scale job losses in the future were unlikely and in the third quarter and fourth quarter business should be expanding and creating jobs.

But he warned that manufacturing was hurt by the strong rand and there might be more job losses in this sector.

Abedian said the first-quarter job losses were unlikely to influence the decision on interest rates as job losses related to conditions last year. Any rate cut would be based on consumer confidence.

The solution to unemployment is Entrepreneurship. Advertise your skills for free on the Rent-A-Skill website (http://www.rentaskill.co.za).

By SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE

Any information you might need to start or run your business effectively is out there – and for the most part it is free. Here are a few ideas. For a basic guide and great extras, most banks have taken the time to provide lots of information for small-business owners. A visit to www.absa.co.za is a must.The website has an entire section dedicated to providing information on starting a business.

You can find guides, including the non-financial risks of being a business owner and a check list for buying a business. There is also an interesting section on business ideas and a cash-flow programme you can download.

Standard Bank’s website – www.standardbank.co.za – has a handy Business Basics Guide that can be downloaded free, and information on legal matters you might find useful.

Nedbank also offers interesting information, and it has what it calls small-business services. For R360, existing clients can visit the small-business services at any Nedbank branch to help them register their business. For more information, visit www.nedbank.co.za.

* Can government help me?

The government has set up the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) to help small businesses get off the ground. The agency’s website has all the usual information on how to register your business and other basics.

A useful section to look at is the business ideas, where you can click on links that will give you more information on ventures, such as marula processing, retail and security.

The agency has offices in all nine provinces, where you can walk in and get advice. To contact the agency visit www.seda.org.za or call 0124411000.

* Networking opportunities

For female entrepreneurs, the South African Women’s Entrepreneur Network (Sawen) is a great option. The network is an initiative by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Joining is easy. Fill in its membership form and pay the annual membership fee of R300. For this you get to join in on networking forums, and access to information and key decision makers in business. For more info visit www.sawen.co.za.

Another network to consider joining is Enablis. The Canadian-based organisation has what it calls a member-driven network. In essence, joining up with Enablis gives you access to like-minded entrepreneurs and to mentoring and coaching programmes.

Visit its website, www.enablis.org.

Biznetwork is another networking opportunity. Its aim is to get small businesses talking by hosting discussion forums and providing access to mentors. Visit its website www.biznetwork.co.za.

* Money, money, money

Access to funding is one of the largest hurdles faced by any small business. There are, however, many organisations that try to help with funding.

Here are a few. The National Empowerment Fund (NEF) has been set up to help with broad-based black economic empowerment. Its four funds include entrepreneurship finance, procurement finance, franchise finance, and rural community development projects. For more information visit their website – www.nefcorp.co.za – or call 0113058000.

Khula Enterprise Finance is a government entity that provides finance. It has been around for almost 13 years. For more information visit www.khula.org.za or call 0860054852.

Business Partners helps small and medium businesses with equity finance, which means it becomes a partner in your business until you have repaid the loan.

It has branches nationwide. To find out more visit www.businesspartners.co.za

SA Web Award

We are very proud to announce our first web award!

Click on the SAWA logo to see the details.

SA Web Awards was launched in 2003 and quickly became South Africa’s top website review site. Their aim has always been to recognise South Africa’s top web design talent.

How SA Web Awards works

Their website review program is unique and it ensures that the website awards carry weight and recognition in the industry.

Websites that are submitted to SA Web Awards are evaluated by at least 3 website judges. Each judge reviews the website and gives it a score in each of these four categories: content, layout, functionality and overall appeal.

The combined score from all the judges determines whether the website wins an SA Web Award.

We truly believe that this award is the first of many!

This is the new home page for the Rent-A-Skill website.

A cell phone will allow registered users to receive messages directly from the website, without having to be online. Any prospective client or person searching the website will be able to send an SMS to the skilled individual, expressing an interest in their offered service and initiating a commercial exchange.

The site is also free to search, so users who are looking for a qualified pair of hands, can do so easily and quickly. “The fact that the Rent-A-Skill Facebook fan page is already one of the largest of its kind in the world with over 43 000 members is a good indication of the need for a site such as Rent-A-Skill which you will find at http://facebook.com/rentaskill,” Ruppersberg said.

“All over the world, people are struggling to live comfortably and our goal is to make financial freedom and independence available to everyone for free, whilst also creating the largest searchable database of skilled individuals in South Africa,” he added. The Rent-A-Skill site launched in October 2009.

Concept

Ruppersberg said when consumers need to have something done that requires skill they have three choices. “Make use of a business or company. They employ individuals to make a profit from their skills, so the consumer end up paying more. Secondly, do it yourself. This is probably the most cost effective way to go, but not everyone has the time or skill required to complete the job. Or thirdly, contract a private individual who is experienced in the skill they require. This is the best option.”

This amounts to the consumer renting the skill directly from the skilled person “and it is far cheaper since there is no business or company profits involved. The only problem with the last option was that no-one knew where to find these skilled individuals, until now.”
The new service allows consumers to simply do a free search on the Rent-A-Skill database for any skill or service they require in their area. They will then be supplied with a list of individuals advertising their experience, references and all relevant information making it easy for them to make a choice. The consumer will be supplied with the skilled individual’s direct contact details and searching or advertising on the website for free.

The website also offers a reference system where consumers are encouraged to go back onto the website and enter a reference for the person whose skill they rented. All references are available to view. The reference system informs consumers of good or bad service and so keeps an element of trust in place. Another special feature is the support groups offered by the website. Joining the website gives the skilled individual access to a support group in their field.

“If you are a Plumber, you would belong to the Plumbers group for instance. Electricians will belong to the Electricians group and so forth. In these groups they can discuss new technologies and get help and advice or just chat socially with other people with the same skill and interests. This function makes the skilled individuals feel like they are part of something and keeps them actively involved in their skill,” Ruppersberg explained.

Tools

The website also has special tools like a professional quote generator, invoice generator and all other templates a skilled individual would require when renting out their skills. “We also supply them with free business cards and their unique web address (URL). Rent-A-Skill is the perfect tool for private skilled individuals renting out their skills. They can manage all their clients and contacts and never lose that important client’s contact details,” he said.

The website puts the power back in the hands of the individual by giving them the opportunity, by providing them with a platform to advertise their skills nationally as well as internationally, to get their foot in the economic door and grow. A support group system furthermore improves skills development, industry related knowledge distribution and technology development.

“There are millions of private skilled individuals in South Africa. All consumers now have direct contact with them and any skill or service they require. They are now in direct contact with the workforce. This is not just a website… It is the start of the 21st Century Industrial Revolution,” Ruppersberg said. VOC

Pretoria – The latest employment trends in South Africa indicate that the economy is not creating jobs and it is getting more difficult to get employed, according to Kefiloe Masiteng from Stats SA’s Labour Force division on Tuesday.

She says an important number in the data is the 360 000 decline in employment year-on-year in the second quarter.

“It means the economy did not create jobs,” she said. “It is also an indicator of an economy not growing.”

“Employment is getting difficult as it is difficult to get into the labour force. It is also difficult to get short-term employment,” she said.

This comes as data on Tuesday revealed that discouraged work seekers accounted for as many as 302 000 of the rise in the not economically active in South Africa.

These patterns suggest that in Q2 there was a shift from both employment and unemployment into discouragement as individuals gave up hope of finding work or felt that there were no jobs in the area in which they lived that matched their skills.

The data showed that among the unemployed, job losers increased 67 000 on the quarter and a massive 255 000 on the year.

While plenty of criticism erupted at the press conference about excluding discouraged work seekers from the unemployed ranks, Masiteng said that this way of reporting is internationally recognised and “gives a picture of the dynamics of employment”.

“So now you can see why people are not looking for work, for example, it could not be out of choice,” she explained.

Said Statistician-General Pali Lehohla: “When times are hard people stop searching. But they should search when times are hard.”

South Africa’s unemployment rate increased to 23.6% in the quarter ended June 2009 from 23.5% in the first quarter, Statistics SA data showed on Tuesday.

Jobs growth was reported at -2.0% quarter-on-quarter (q/q) from the -1.5% q/q seen in the first quarter.

The total number of employed people was reported to have dropped 267 000 to 13.369 million, while the total labour force was down 325 000 to 17.495 million.

Formal sector employment fell 93 000 to 9.356 million, and informal sector employment fell 41 000 to 2.109 million.

The labour force participation rate is the proportion of the working age population that is either employed or unemployed, and this rate was reported down 1.2% on the quarter.

However, discouraged work seekers were reported up 302 000 to 1.517 million. The not-economically active population was up 117 000 on the quarter to 12.068 million.

The data also showed that employment was down 2.6% y/y or -360 000. The unemployment rate increased 0.5% y/y.