Book Review

If you are tired of working “in” your business instead of “on” your business, then Patricia Wooster’s new book Uncommon Results: Secrets & Strategies of High Performance Entrepreneurs is a must-read. If you are worried that maybe your business is not sustainable; or you are wondering how to make it successful; or maybe you want to create lifestyle freedom, generational wealth or monetize your life’s purpose, Patricia has some great insights and advice shared by eighteen different entrepreneurs. They provide their tactical advice and talk about what they have done to grow and scale their businesses.

In Uncommon Results, Secrets & Strategies of High Performance Entrepreneurs 

by Patricia Wooster you will learn:

• The systems and processes to automate your business

• Marketing and social media strategies to grow your online presence

• The tools, tech, and people you can use to increase performance

• Routines and life hacks to maintain optimal performance as an entrepreneur

• The proven strategies to six and seven-figure payouts

Roughly 627,000 new businesses start every year, but only a small percentage make it past their first 3, 5, or 10 years. Uncommon Results has been written to help entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level and unleash their own uncommon results. Patricia believes that your growth journey starts now.

Contributing editorial experts featured in the book include: Rachael Amarante, Lindsey Ardmore, Jeffrey Arnold, Jacob Curtis, Lani Dickinson, Tyler Garns, Giovanni Gonzalez, Katie Harris, Ashley Helene, Zoe Hong, Jillian Rosich Kendrick, Micah Mitchell, Piyush Parikh, Saurel Quettan, Dave Soelberg, Shelle Soelberg, Amber Stitt, Nick Wooster, Patricia Wooster, & Cindy Zuelsdorf

Author Quotes

Are you tired of working “in” your business instead of “on” your business?

Uncommon Results will take your business to the next level. 

Don’t wait. Unleash your own uncommon results. Your journey starts now.

About the author

Patricia Wooster  is a bestselling author, publisher and book coach. Whether it’s helping a business leader write and publish their first book or their fifth, she helps people write books that create a massive impact on their readers and on their business. She is the author of bestselling books like “Ignite Your Spark: Discovering Who You Are From the Inside Out” and “The Female Entrepreneur’s Playbook”. Patricia’s books have been included in school curriculums, small business organizations, entrepreneurial associations, WeDay, youth leadership events, Girl Scout programs, and book clubs.

www.woostermediabooks.com

What inspired you to start your company?

We were inspired to start our business because of the youth that were falling through the cracks, mostly unable to get employment due to a lack of skills and experience.

Why should anyone use your service or product?

Our story. Rarely do three stay at home mothers manage to put together a self-sustaining enterprise to provide employment to youth in their community and succeed in it running for 15 years without donor support.  Our gifts are special because we incorporate handcrafting techniques in the finishings. The work is custom made and the craftsmanship is unmatched, and even when we produce hundreds of boxes or even thousands, we are able to maintain the high quality. 

Our clients come to us because we put a fresh spin to their brand and make their gifts look well thought through. So the recipients feel like they are not just a number but a person that is valued.

Tell us a little about your team

Dorothy is our manager and she is passionate about youth, especially women. She has a track record in insurance sales. Henry is our creative designer who also loves to sing. He puts together both digital and handcrafted work to provide the best quality pieces. Our consultants are mostly in design, sales and accounting, and some of them are previous employees who devote their time to a few SMEs about our size.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

Yes and no. My father was a professor of linguistics at Makerere University and my mother was a playwright and English teacher at a college. However, they passed away when I was very little and I was adopted into an entrepreneurial family. I participated in labelling products when my adoptive mom bought babies clothes from London before they were taken to the shop. Many of the Uncles in our extended family were involved in one business or another. I was a pre-teen then and sometimes worked for them. At University, my sister bought me a camera and I started to take photographs and sell them. Eventually, I started distributing South African potato crisps at Makerere University where I was a student. My Uncle used to import them wholesale. The biggest entrepreneurial experience though came from my first job. I worked with an Irish doctor, Ian Clarke, who is very entrepreneurial. He founded two hospitals and was constantly innovating and finding ways to solve problems.

by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie 

They say that confession is good for the soul. If only it weren’t so darned embarrassing! I’m constantly evangelizing and advocating rituals and routines that set us up for alignment with our best intentions for ourselves. And yet, here I am, slowly emerging from an almost week long bender of crisps and TV. Don’t ask me what I watched. I vaguely recall the Romanoffs, but I was indiscriminately captivated and captured by crap. As the new week rolled in, I yearned to come back to myself and to my mission, but the inner chatter of regret and guilt was thick, and it throttled my efforts to return to self and to sanity.  I had to find a way to move forward, but I was stuck. Thankfully a friend dropped a gem that was like smelling salts to my fogged-up brain. She had counselled that “you can’t change what you have done; only what you are going to do”. Indeed. Thank you, Friend.

It was just the message I needed to get me shifting from regret, ‘If only’ and ‘WTF!’ to deciding how I would begin again. But I have a pitstop to make before I begin again.  I want to restore trust in myself again. I want to offer myself the self-compassion I am evangelizing in virtually every human contact I experience these days. If I had dropped the ball with someone else, I’d apologize. Profusely. I would devote myself to restoring trust and earning back their respect. What becomes possible if I treat myself with this very same respect?

I’ve learnt the steps to a good apology some time back, and I have used these steps a few more times than I’d like to remember. But I am today years old that it’s dawned on me that I am entitled to the same level of respect and level of apology from myself. I am floored firstly by the idea that I can apologize to myself and secondly that it’s never occurred to me before that I could actually do this.

This is powerful. 

It is the ultimate acknowledgment that I take my intentions and my mission seriously.

It is the ultimate acknowledgment that I can tangibly redeem myself with myself.

It is the ultimate acknowledgment that I can express compassion to myself and fully immerse myself in my humanity; my fallibility; my vulnerability.

It is the ultimate acknowledgment that I can be safe with myself.

It is the ultimate freedom to reflect and to learn without being shackled by self-judgment. I can’t change what has happened over this past week. Getting hung up on regret, guilt and self-persecution cannot change what has happened over the past week. What I can and will do is redeem myself. Apology is an organic process of taking responsibility and restoring trust. It is more than words. It is redemptive commitment that one returns to until trust is restored. Accepting the apology is a mercy, an act of compassion and grace.

My Four-Part Self-Apology

1. Acknowledge the commitment that was not kept

I had said I’d eat crisps and watch tv in moderation. That my priority is the artefacts, tools and resources I am creating and getting to bed early. 

2. Describe the consequences of breaking your commitment

As a result, I felt tired and depleted and betrayed by myself. My goals slipped. It’s hard to trust myself and I feel disconnected from my hopes and mission. 

3. Remember your context, not as an excuse, but as a way of learning

My upper limit kicked in. After a month of strong action and promising results, the doubt set in. I had not set aside enough time and created the support structures I need to manage this.

4. Explore what will restore trust

The realization is that I am not lazy. Or useless or a quitter. I need support and I need it as a constant. Getting lost in my head is never healthy, and speaking my confusions and fears out loud gives me breathing room and allows me to recalibrate. I have gotten the support from two separate avenues and I am on the lookout for a third. With accountability partners and a coach I can apply IMPACT and get the ‘goggas’ in my head sorted out.

Lioness Weekender spoke to the pioneering founder, Mampho Sotshongaye, to learn more about what drives her in business and about her future aspirations.

Tell us more about your business

Golden Rewards 1981 cc is a Road Maintenance and Vegetation Maintenance company that is based in Cape Town, South Africa. Our primary focus is on the maintenance of major routes such as national, provincial and municipal roads but the company’s expertise has extended to construction projects.

What inspired you to start your company?

Before starting my own business, I worked in the construction industry for 7 years and acquired enough experience to make a change. Working in the rural areas of the Western Cape motivated me to continue with my contribution to the maintenance of road infrastructure and my desire to empower local communities, especially women and youth.

What makes your business, service or product special?

Having construction managers on our sites who are females and experienced is something that our clients are not used to. Having to employ people from local communities with no skills and formal educations is a challenge but over the years it has become a solution to job creation and skills transfer.

Tell us a little about your team

Our company comprises of qualified and professionally registered experts in Built Environment, of which 40% are females. On an ongoing basis, we apply various skills transfer and community upliftment programmes, providing training and support for local workers on all projects.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

Before starting my own business, I worked in the construction industry for 7 years and acquired enough experience to make a change. Working in the rural areas of the Western Cape motivated me to continue with my contribution to maintenance of road infrastructure and desire to empower local communities. Being a woman in a male dominated industry is very challenging, you get tested in mays. I have to work twice as hard compared to my male counterparts to prove my worth and capabilities. The journey has not been easy and I am still fighting for the change I want to see.

What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?

We see ourselves expanding to other provinces and to empower more women.

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

It’s to see the difference that I make in people’s lives and my contribution to the growth of South African economy.

What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

Perseverance is key, do not give up when you are being faced with challenges. We were created for a purpose and we are worthy of every opportunity coming our way.

To learn more about Mampho’s business or to contact her directly, send an email to:

mampho@goldenrewards1981cc.co.za

Or visit the company website: http://goldenrewards1981cc.co.za