In conversation with the Branson Centre

"I'm a big word nerd, so I think when we start thinking about partnerships, let's go back to the basics of what the word is, which is to partner, and so that already means that there is more than one side to the conversation, there's more than one player in the relationship. And then we start thinking about what good partnerships feels like; it's when there is good exchange, there's clear exchange and so in order to get to that place of good and clear exchange, it actually means that we have shared objectives and have alignment in terms of our values and we're kind of we're striving towards the same things, and we also exist to make each other look good."

In the latest episode of our podcast, we talk Partnerships, and who better to talk to than the Branson Center's own Director of Strategic Partnerships, Nwabisa Mayema.It is Nwabisa's purpose to connect people with one another and to opportunities.

Many entrepreneurs overlook the significance of partnerships when developing business strategies, which is unfortunate since a well-developed and well-defined partnership strategy will elevate your business.

In this partnership masterclass, Nawabisa guides us through what partnerships are, how to identify potential partners within your network, how to embed purpose into your partnerships, and so much more.

Those who don't understand the concept of partnerships or aren't sure where to start will find this podcast useful since it simplifies it in a practical and understandable way.

For more on Partnership watch the full episode on our Youtube channel.

"Through the journey of entrepreneurship, I've learnt that tenacity is everything, and It's very difficult to be tenacious in achieving your goals as an entrepreneur if you are not living your purpose. That being said, if an organisation has a clear purpose and the leader of that organisation is aware of what that clear purpose is for that organisation. The people within that organisation will also be as clear in terms of that organisation's purpose and leader's purpose."

Nwabisa speaks with Ayanda Mzondeki, the founder and managing director of Liyema HR Consulting, a global HR consulting firm that serves some of the biggest multinationals in the engineering and management consulting sectors, about People.

At the Branson Centre, we are deliberate about not talking about HR-human as resources- but rather about people, since it's about seeing the people in your business as enablers rather than as a resource or employees. We see people at work and beyond as people.

Ayanda echoes this sentiment and as she puts it, Liyema Consulting's success is due to the people who make it what it is! The company has evolved and innovated despite the challenges it faced, especially in the last year, thanks to her people's commitment, tenacity, passion, and excitement for learning.

Like us, Ayanda is a big believer in showing up in the world with your purpose in the forefront of what you do! And when it comes to embedding your company's purpose in your people, she maintains that you need to live and breathe your company's values and culture daily. By doing this, you can filter the people who enter your business and ensure you hire the right people.

For more on People and purpose, watch the full interview on our Youtube channel.

“When people meet you, your product, your service, your staff, your employees or your leadership, they meet a brand! So, Brand is a way to create an identifier for them to connect with. So, that they can say ``wait that thing, that connection we made, that's the Brand.”

As the owner of ar.che.ty.pal, a personal branding consultancy, Pride Maunatlala lives and breathes, creates and curates brands. In this podcast episode, Pride talks brand, why it’s important and how to embed your brand with purpose.

According to Pride, embedding your brand with purpose has perks! Not only will it drive innovation, but it will also drive profits by attracting the right advocates and customers to your business.

Now you can watch the full interview with Pride on our Youtube channel.

“People think, well I need to build my product first and then I will find my customers and I’m always trying to dissuade people from doing that because it actually starts with your customer. And it starts with customer discovery and so right at the point where you observe the problem and you think I may have a way to solve that problem, the next thing you do is you start speaking to people.”

Tumi Sineke describes herself as a cheerleader of others and loves to watch people grow and develop. She also serves as an Entrepreneur Relationship Manager at the Branson Centre.

In this episode of our podcast, Tumi talks about product development and the importance of using product personas and customer journey mapping to develop products that solve problems.

According to her, product development begins with customer discovery. Customer Discovery is all about asking the right questions about the problem, gathering insights, and then developing Customer Personas and the Customer Journey.

For more on product development, watch the full interview with Tumi on our Youtube channel.

“Processes are really just the steps and actions that you do to get a desired outcome. Whether it is building a product or service, it’s just what are the key steps or actions that you need to do to get what you’re looking for.”

Charlie Luzuka is a partner at Dazzle Angels, an Angel Investing firm created to not only increase access to finance for women entrepreneurs, but also to give more women the chance to invest.

Her background as an accountant and consultant has taught her the importance of consistently executing the processes or  'brilliant basics' of your business well, as they determine both the success and the failure of your company.

During the interview, Charlie discusses what funding is available for startups and entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses in South Africa. She also stresses the importance of entrepreneurs and startups ensuring that their values align with investors they approach in order to find the right funding options for their businesses.

For more on processes and finances, watch the full interview with Charlie on our YouTube channel.

“Planning is really important! It either happens in your head or on a piece of paper, but either way, we all have a vision for our business, we all have a vision for our lives, but how do we get there?”

Nwabisa sits down to chat with Tamburai Chirume, the co-founder of ONEOFEACH, an African luxury brand based in Cape Town, about Planning in your life and business.

Tamburai, a second-generation entrepreneur, knows that goal-setting is important when it comes to planning and that you have to find the things around you that will help you achieve your goals.

Among her tips for achieving your goals are:

Watch the interview on our YouTube channel.

For more advice on setting and achieving your goals, register to join our community.

"Food waste, in essence, is a resource, it’s something that holds mass and nutritional value, it’s meant for human consumption that then goes to waste.”

Petro Myburgh, is Senior Operations Manager at the V&A Waterfront, one of Africa's largest commercial precincts and Africa’s most visited destination. She oversees the cleaning, waste management and landscaping of the precinct; and also sits on the V&A Waterfront’s sustainability committee.

She believes biodiversity and natural resources need to be conserved for future generations, and the way commercial precincts deal with food waste is an important part of that.

The V&A Waterfront has implemented policies and procedures for separating waste, including distributing composting bins to tenants, which has prevented tons of waste from going to landfills.

She adds that Commercial precincts are ideally positioned to lead by example in the fight against food waste since landlords have the partnerships and information needed to influence their tenants and the communities in which they operate. And while it can be overwhelming to get started, with the right partnerships and a little help from friends, she believes you can make a significant impact.

Watch the interview on our Youtube channel.

Register to join the Food Waste Innovation Community.

“That’s how you have to look at things as a system and I always like to start off by saying if you are to ever do anything in the realm of conservation, sustainable resources, how you manage the planet, how you exist- someone’s behaviour has to change”

In this episode of our podcast, Nwabisa sits down to talk to Pavs Pillay, Behaviour change practitioner at the WWF SA.

Pav shares some alarming statistics regarding food waste and loss, hunger and food insecurity and the prevalence of childhood stunting in our country as a result.

Despite the challenges, it isn't all doom and gloom. Food waste is a fixable problem, but it begins with us and the small changes we can make in our daily lives.

She suggests that we start with how we buy and store food since everything we eat has an environmental impact.

Some of her suggestions include:

Watch the interview on our Youtube channel.

Register to join the Food Waste Innovation Community.

“Purpose for me is a living breathing journey of discovery of what I can contribute to the world, why I’m actually here, and that’s been so important for me because it doesn’t stop it, it evolves, it grows, it manifests, and it actually pours out into the spaces that I work, the work that I do and the people I’m around.”

Pride Mauntlala is a purpose coach with 18 years of experience connecting brands to purpose and profit.

Nwabisa sits down with Pride to chat about what Purpose means to her. Over the years, Pride has developed a very clear idea of what her purpose is today.

“My purpose is to enlighten and illuminate other people’s purpose within them. My superpower is clarity, I create clarity in the spaces that I'm  in, and so my purpose is to bring that clarity to others to see what their purpose is.”

Pride’s cheat-sheet for discovering and articulating your purpose includes asking yourself the following questions:

Watch Pride’s interview on our Youtube channel.

Visit our website to find out more about the Branson Centre's Purpose.

Register to join the community to Discover Your Purpose.

‘In a circular economy there is no waste, there are only materials and flows. Waste entrepreneurs are going to be material managers in the future.’

Sally-Anne Kasner is a director at Circular-Vision and a #ZeroWaste Challenge advisory board member for the Branson Centre.

Nwabisa chats to Sally-Anne about how we can increase circularity in the system, a fundamental shift from our current linear approach. Their starting point is the question: what is waste? Sally-Anne defines it as man-made concept not found in nature. In nature, it’s a nutrient for new life but man has created monstrous hybrids we can’t do anything with that ultimately become bigger problems.

Recycling shouldn’t be seen as the answer. Sure, it’s a first step but we need to reduce the waste first through resource efficiency to have a positive knock-on effect down the line to ultimately divert waste from landfill.

Circularity addresses how we design our economic system so that we can break our current detrimental linear approach.

Visit our website to find our more about the Branson Centre's Zero Waste Challenge.