4 Days to the Wacky Wine Festival, Oudtshoorn, then George and Wilderness plus a little Innovation/Entrepreneurship.

Good Morning,

It is Saturday morning - cold and wet. The weather forecast for today, a high of 18 degrees, a low of 8 degrees Celsius and more rain. Definitely not a motorcycle kind of day. Yesterday I checked the weather forecast for the weekend, rain and more rain. If it rains all weekend I am going to be suffering serious withdrawal symptoms by Sunday evening. 

Below the view from my study as I write this edition, normally I have a beautiful view of the University of Cape Town, the mountain and blue skies.

Today

On a good weather day

Four days to the start of Wacky Wine, visit the website, link on the right, we hope to see you at one of the wineries during the course of the weekend. Try some of the red wine from Montagu Cellars, we always find their wine most enjoyable.

Our ride along Route 62 has taken us as far as Oudtshoorn. After two days of riding I suggest you take some time out and see what Oudtshoorn has to offer. Where to stay? We suggest The Queen's Hotel in the main road. A beautiful old colonial hotel built circa 1880, lovely rooms, have your evening meal in The Colony restaurant and your breakfast, brunch or lunch at Cafe' Brule' on the hotel veranda. 

A room fit for a motorcyclist

Relax before dinner at The Colony

 

Enjoy a light meal at Cafe' Brule' 

What should one do in Oudtshoorn? Visit the Cango Caves, an ostrich farm and have a swim with crocodiles at Cango Wildlife Ranch.

Time to leave Oudtshoorn and head for George and Wilderness. There is a choice of four passes that one can ride, Montagu, Robinson, Outeniqua and Prince Alfred. We chose The Robinson Pass and it was a great ride.

The Robinson Pass

Monument on Robinson Pass

Once you are through the pass you get on the N2 highway outside Mossel Bay and proceed to George and Wilderness. This area is referred to as The Garden Route and well worth a visit. When planning your trip you should try and visit as many of the beautiful places on the route as possible. In the next edition we will discuss George and Wilderness.

Innovation/Entrepreneurship

According to Morris, Kuratko and Covin an entrepreneurial event varies in terms of the degree of entrepreneurship, how much innovativeness, risk-taking and pro-activeness (terms we introduced the previous post) is involved. Just as important is the question of how many entrepreneurial events take place within the company over a given period of time, referred to as the frequency of entrepreneurship. Some companies produce a steady stream of new products, services and processes over time, while others very rarely introduce something new or different. (My thanks to the above mentioned authors of Corporate Entrepreneurship & Innovation, a fantastic book). In the next post we will introduce entrepreneurial intensity.

Entrepreneurship is not always seen as a legitimate or desirable career choice. Many South Africans are forced to become entrepreneurs. Melodi Botha differentiates between two types of entrepreneurs, opportunity entrepreneurs and necessity entrepreneurs. Opportunity entrepreneurs take advantage of  business opportunities and start  businesses due to identified gaps in the market and are pulled towards entrepreneurship. The pull factors are cited as independence, achievement, recognition, personal development and personal wealth. Necessity entrepreneurs are persons who start businesses because they do not have any other employment options and are pushed towards entrepreneurship. The push factors are unemployment, job insecurity, disagreement with management, do not "fit in" with the organisation and no other alternatives. (Thanks to Melodi Botha, from Entrepreneurship, A South Africa Perspective).

In South Africa at present we have an economy that is going sideways at best, unemployment conservatively at +/- twenty-five percent:

How can we create more entrepreneurs and stimulate entrepreneurial events?

Ciao, until next time,

Clive :-)