This Is Not How A Business Should Feel

For SME owners who are tired of permanent panic, late payments and running on fumes.

This book is written for South African SME owners who are in the fight every day – especially service businesses and professional services: agencies, consultants, trades, coaches, creatives, small firms. If you're signing your own payslip, juggling clients, and carrying the weight of staff and family on your shoulders, this is for you. You don't need an MBA. You need straight talk, practical structure, and examples that feel like your world, not a Silicon Valley case study.

chapter 4

If this is your reality… this book is for you.

90%

of South African SMEs experience delays in receiving payments

24 days

lost to financial admin like invoicing and chasing payments

72%

of owners in cash-flow trouble had to use personal funds just to keep the doors open

Two-thirds

of small business owners report feeling burned out

What's inside

The book is split into two big moves:

Part 1 – Survive
This part helps you stop the bleeding. We deal with late payers, messy scope, endless "urgent" requests, weak boundaries and that feeling that the business is running you. You'll learn how to firm up promises, protect your calendar, stabilise cash flow, and build a simple daily "Money Hour" so you're never completely in the dark again.
Part 2 – Grow
Once the fires are under control, we start building a small, reliable growth machine. You'll work through how to get in front of better-fit clients, sell without begging or discounting, follow up like an adult, and use Martech and AI at a level that makes sense for an SME. No magic funnels, just honest, repeatable work that turns attention into booked jobs and money in the bank.

All the way through, you'll find stories from real SME life, plain-language explanations, and exercises you can do with a notebook – nothing that requires a special platform or a consultant to "implement".

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