"The one thing that I hold onto
is that I will always outwork
you"
and exiting your comfort zone. I am
still fundamentally an accountant, a
boring accountant, so I’m not one of
those guys who takes massive risks.
My latest endeavors were a gamble, a
50/50 and it paid off.
I’ll always take risks; but
calculated ones and I think
throughout my career I never
gambled too much on anything. Well,
apart from moving to Johannesburg:
that was my scariest process thus far
in my life and how I got over it is was
to just get ‘into it’.
I always say that if you take me
on, the one thing that I hold onto is
that I will always outwork you, and
that has always been my comfort. I
don’t care what you do, I can work
harder than you can even while going
through a ‘scary time’.
I’ve just came from work and
have committed to this interview,
hereafter I’ve got other
commitments, but I know I don’t
need much sleep, I’d outwork myself
over anything.
ERIK KRUGER: That’s awesome.
The next question then: If you
could go back to ‘Marnus who just
moved to Jo’burg’ and he has had no
success as yet, and you can tell him,
maybe spend 10 minutes with him,
giving him some advice on business
and life, what would you say to the
guy?
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MARNUS BROODRYK: I think one
thing for me that is certain, and it’s
easy to say it now because there’s 10
years behind me, is that my own
thinking should have been a lot
bigger. That is something that comes
with experience, and age I guess, but
when I left articles I had a dream
salary and whatever it was, X amount
and then a year later I got to that and
then that was actually nothing, so I
doubled it and then I got to that
amount, and I doubled that, and I got
to that amount. It’s probably X10 the
original amount now but the bottom
line is that I was coming from a small
town, so my thinking as a whole lot
smaller than what it is today. I think
the bigger challenges that we take on,
the more we succeed and I would
definitely have taken on bigger things
back then knowing what I know now.
ERIK KRUGER: You obviously
spend a lot of time with
entrepreneurs, you work with quite a
vast spectrum of business men and
women, from those who are just
starting out to guys those who are
turning over millions and millions:
what would you say are the one or
two points that guys just don’t get
when it comes to entrepreneurship,
whether it’s limiting beliefs or a gap
in their knowledge, where are
entrepreneurs getting stuck?
MARNUS BROODRYK: I think I’ll
give one for the startup entrepreneur
and then one for the established one.
For the startup it’s that we think that
entrepreneurship needs to be a
unique idea. We think
entrepreneurship is all about new
ideas and patents and I promise you,
if you think you’ve got a great idea
and you spend enough time on
Google, you’ll find out that
somewhere, someone has already
done that.
Ideas are really nothing these
days, everything is online,
information gets shared and small
businesses are really not about ideas
anymore but rather all about
execution. Steven Cohen the founder
of Sage Pastel or co-founder recently
said: If you’re an electrician and
open up an electrical company you
are just one of thousands of
electricians in Jo’burg. However, if
you open up a new electrical
company, you phone your customer
three days after you’ve been on site
and ask them how everything is
going, and you send them a
newsletter at the end of the month
with tips and tricks for electricity
consumption, you’ll outperform
every other electrician in Jo’burg
just because you are great at your
service and success is all about
executing on your offerings.
You don’t need a great idea to
start that business, you just need to
do it better than anyone else.
I think that in my own industry
there are so many accountants and
accounting firms that we are
outperforming just because of the
way we execute our tasks and this
includes the way that we use the
technology on offer and not because
we are offering a brand new idea. I
think that that knowledge is crucial
for new entrepreneurs.
I think that for established
entrepreneurs it is definitely to
remove yourself operationally as
quickly as you possibly can: get out
of working the whole saying “don’t
work in your business, work on your
business”. Too many entrepreneurs
spend too much time in their
businesses, being operational, not
being able to grow their business
through systems and getting more
customers and growing employees.
Having said that, you don’t need to
do that, there are many people who
are perfectly happy just running a
one-man show and generating a
decent income, but if you want to
grow your business into an
expansive company, you can’t be ‘in
the business’.
ERIK KRUGER: Which habits do
you have that you think contributes
to your success?
MARNUS BROODRYK: My morning
routine sets me up for a great start to
the day. I wake up at 4:00, I journal,
meditate, listen to an audio book,
and at 5:00 I go to the gym. I eat
breakfast at gym and by 7:45 I’m
ready to start my day. I’ve worked on
my mind, my body and the rest of the
day is work time.
ERIK KRUGER: Which books would
you recommend?
MARNUS BROODRYK: Definitely
Steve Jobs, it’s a bit of a hectic read,
but Steve Jobs definitely. As well as
Richard Branson, I just love that
guy, and I’ve probably read his
biography 20 times over and every
time that I do I still get inspired.
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