I BET you all thought that I forgot about my weekly/bi-weekly blog! No way Hose! It is a bit late, but at least it’s here… .

SO… today is Valentine’s Day. Happy V-Day to everyone. Hope you all get spoiled! Clint, ever the gentleman, gave Ferrero Rocher chocolates to everyone at Avo this morning (choccies for breakfast, mmmm…), so we were definitely all spoiled.

We had some Midmar swimmers this weekend. Carla and Clint both swam and so did Gavin (Meryl’s husband), Kieren (Tazzy’s boyf) and Richard (Jenny’s husband). They all finished their races, although because of not-so-great weather it was apparently pretty hard going. It’s tough working with all these over-achievers! (It’s just jealousy guys!).

As for the kiddie news, Jenny’s daughter Kerryn made the B-Team for swimming, even though she wasn’t actually trying to get onto the team!. Catherine’s daughter Jessica was also chosen for her schools swimming team. And let’s not forget that Rochelle and Hubby are expecting baby no.1, congrats!.

So that’s it for now, you’ll have another update soon!.

I know I’m spoiling you by putting in the whole article, but check out the Finweek interview with Jules and Elaine:

“I’M NOT VERY EMPLOYABLE - I give far too much feedback,” says Jules Newton, who started Avocado Vision 10 years ago. With a teaching background, she landed a training job at a big bank but soon started thinking about starting her own business. “I soon decided that I wasn’t going to help a company make money but I’d much rather do it for myself.”

Her ability to network and to barter her services helped her establish the business and her knack to build solid relationships led to the successful partnership with co-owner Elaine Sampson four years ago. For Sampson, also from a teaching background, joining the company that specialises in training people to communicate effectively came at a time when she was ripe for a new challenge.

“After having established and then running a school on Robben Island for four and a half years, going back to a ‘regular’ teaching job didn’t seem very exciting,” she says.

At the time of her joining, Avocado had five employees. That’s since grown to 24 and first year turnover of R100 000 had grown to R5m in its past financial year. “But about a year ago we got a wake-up call when I had to ask our bank manager to extend our overdraft a third time within a very short period,” says Newton. “When he asked me to convince him that things were going to change I realised we had to take some serious steps.

“I initiated a Friday morning forum - referred to as kudos and cock-ups - where staff get together for a very frank discussion of what they’ve done right or what should have been done differently. For example, I had to confess that I’d lost a deal because I gave a presentation without being properly prepared. That made me realise that I had delusions about my competence.

“Furthermore, when we noticed that sales were declining I came to the conclusion that one of the reasons was that I was no longer focusing on what I’m good at. I had to go back to selling and, in the process, again start motivating the sales staff. To enable me to do that we appointed a general manager to take over the day-to-day running of the business.

“But to return to a sound financial position we also had to do a lot of tightening up of costs. We had to improve cash flow, resulting in months when we had to prioritise who would be paid just enough for them not to lose their houses. One of the most important lessons I’ve learnt is that you need absolute honesty in a business; it’s vitally important that employees give constant feedback,” says Newton. “We’re now looking forward to a new challenge and a growth phase that will take the company way past the R10m turn-over predicted for next year.”

The new venture - Ngikwazi Field Marketing, with Avocado as a shareholder - has its origins in an opportunity spotted when management of SA’s Lottery was awarded to a new company, Gidani.

It awarded Ngikwazi the contract to find 8 000 retailers to house the new lottery machines, accredit the outlets and then train their staff to sell and issue lottery tickets from 1 April.

Says Newton: “So in January and February we’ll be out there training 30 000 people and equipping them - for the first time - with a saleable qualification as an accredited Lottery operator. No untrained staff member may operate the machines.”

Educating and uplifting people has always been ingrained in Avocado Vision’s culture. One example is the company’s office manager, a domestic worker for 16 years who has been coached to that position. With a view that work is life, the company’s culture also allows for the effective merging of family life with the working environment without compromising on professionalism.

Newton says: “We have five couples working for us and we have a constant stream of kids on our premises - a house in Kensington with a wonderful view that is used for training sessions and conferences.”

The impressive avocado tree on the premises inspired the company name. “It takes seven years before an avocado tree bears any fruit. The previous owner of the house planted the tree not knowing if he’d ever eat its fruit.

When we heard his story we realised that his vision encapsulates the work we do: developing people is about planting trees in whose shade you may never sit and whose fruit you may never eat. True inspiration comes from being able to see those first leaves unfurl and to see the potential that waits in that moment.”

Check out our article on the new Lottery contract that appeared in the BizCommunity newsletter:

SME awarded lottery contract

Ngikwazi Field Marketing, a new joint venture between Avocado Vision and Can Do, was recently awarded a lottery contract by Gidani, the new lottery operator as of 1 April 2007. Its mandate is to find, train, accredit and provide ongoing support to the 8000 new and existing lottery retailers.

Avocado Vision’s Juliet Newton says the company is keyed up and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead. A contract of this size is quite a coup for a small company, she comments.

Bongani Khumalo, chairman of Gidani, charged us with using this lottery opportunity to build a sustainable, empowered business that we all can be proud of. That’s just what we intend to do. At last we have a vehicle that will help us make a sustainable impact as we build South Africa together.

Says Andre Grobler, Ngikwazi’s CEO: Having previously been intimately involved in the launch of South Africa’s first on-line National Lottery, I have some first-hand experience of just how big this challenge is.

However, by being given the opportunity to attract the best people available in this country for this task, we have been able to assemble a group of highly committed people who are able to do what is necessary to deliver on the commitments. We see the contract as an opportunity to be part of a life changing experience.

Once retailers have been accredited, Ngikwazi (Zulu for ‘I am able’), will provide ongoing support to retailers, thereby developing and empowering people in line with the lottery’s core vision.

Grobler concludes: We have incorporated a unique business model that employs a number of highly skilled permanent staff as well as a large flexible field-force of people who work close to home. This will provide sustainable employment to a great number of people who are able to speak the local dialect, who are familiar with local customs and can earn a sustainable living without having to secure a ‘formal’ job.

I believe that this has the potential to change the way many companies do business and can take sustainable employment to a new level not before experienced in South Africa.

[05 Feb 15:47]

Avo has had another article published in the People Dynamics recently.

People Dynamics interviewed Jules (Unisa’s Centre for Business Management Emerging Leader of the Year 2006, just to remind you…) about what it is Avo does, where our name comes from, how she managed to get into the industry and what blogging has done for us.

It was a really interesting article, hope you’ll get a chance to read it.

Must be fun being famous…