I started my own small business seven years ago. I hadn’t delved into the world of commerce before and have never studied business – I have an Honours Degree in English Literature, for what it’s worth! So, it was not easy coming to terms with VAT registrations, structuring a team, client rates, contracts, invoicing, payment terms, and all the other attendant craziness that comes with trying to run a business when you know more about Shakespeare than SARS.
Having now read Catherine Wijnberg’s newly published book Sheep Will Never Rule The World , I wish that I had had the nous to follow her online blog, published on the Fetola website, back then. It would have saved me from many fumbles as I started building a team of 17. You see, this useful blog is what blossomed into its 2020 incarnation – Sheep Will Never Rule The World – and its many pearls of wisdoms have now been collated into a convenient bundle.
If you’re like me, then you can benefit from the sage advice Wijnberg offers based on her own varied experiences as an entrepreneur. After reading her book, I see there is still much that I can improve upon (especially from a personal leadership perspective) and there are many tactics and responses that I can adopt and implement with immediate effect. And if you’re still at the very start of your new business journey, then reach for this handy guide now.
The inputs Wijnberg provides are simple and often personal, but by no means simplistic. They are never couched in elusive language, jargon or complex corporate speak. Much of what she communicates has a more universal bent and is not solely applicable to running a business, which allows me to understand why Sheep Will Never Rule The World has been described as a guide for business and life.
Although Wijnberg is best known as the CEO and founder of Fetola, an organisation that helps build small businesses, there is a very strong push throughout her writing that encourages the reader to achieve their best potential, regardless of work context.
This will no doubt broaden the appeal and relevancy of Sheep Will Never Rule The World. In addition, the book is by no means a dry read, with charming visual interest added in the form of quirky illustrations by Cape Town-based artist Patrick Latimer.
Overall, this is a life-enhancing read that comes at a time when we are all needing that extra bit of motivation and Wijnberg manages to provide this with confidence!
Sheep Will Never Rule The World is available at Exclusive Books for R277, Takealot for R259 and Loot for R200.
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