Originality MG

23/07/2026

Episode 3 of The Originality Growth Series just dropped, and this week I am saying something that most business coaches are too polite to say directly.

If you keep losing proposals to competitors who charge less, the problem is rarely the price.

It is the offer.

Because here is what I have consistently observed over ten years of working with South African businesses: businesses that never compete on price are not charging more for the same thing.

They are designing offers so precisely matched to a specific outcome that price becomes the least important factor in the buying decision.

Mr Price generates a 42% merchandise gross margin in a market where competitors are discounting aggressively. WeBuyCars broke its all-time sales record while absorbing margin pressure across the sector. Premier Foods expanded its operating profit by 23.2% without changing a product that has existed for 202 years. Dis-Chem acquired 550,000 new customers without a single advertising campaign.

None of them compete on price. All of them compete on offer design.

In Episode 3, I break down exactly what offer design is, the three components that make it work, and the three-question audit you can run on your own proposals this week.

This one will change how you write every proposal from today.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-keep-losing-proposals-competitors-who-charge-less-ndlovu-0v9ff

17/07/2026

Episode 2 of The Originality Growth Series is live, and it will challenge the assumption that most South African entrepreneurs have never questioned.

Last Thursday, I introduced Growth System Engineering as the foundation of every business that is genuinely winning in South Africa right now. I closed with a question that generated more direct messages than any post I have published this year:

"The most important strategic decision in your business is not whom you are trying to attract, but whom you have decided not to serve."

This week, I make good on that statement.

Episode 2 is about the customer definition problem, the single most common and most expensive strategic mistake I encounter in South African small businesses. Not a marketing problem. Not a pricing problem. Not a product problem. A customer definition problem.

I use six of the business stories I have covered all year, PEP's 76% brand value surge, WeBuyCars' all-time sales record, Mr Price's record R6 billion operating profit, Remgro's R15.6 billion Mediclinic acquisition, Telkom's R10 billion loss to R3.6 billion profit turnaround, and Premier Foods' record cash generation, to show exactly how precise customer definition drove each result.

I also name the three customer definition failures that are keeping most South African small businesses small, and give you the four questions that will change how you think about your own business this week.

The businesses that try to serve everyone serve no one well.

Episode 2 is live now.

Episode 2: The Customer Definition Problem. Why the Most Important Strategic Decision in Your Business Is Not Whom You Want to Attract, But Whom You Have Decided Not to Serve.

15/06/2026

Most businesses spend years earning a premium position in their market.

Few businesses understand that the premium is not a destination. It is a debt.

Clicks spent 15 years building one of the most consistently compounding retail businesses in South Africa. The market rewarded it with a PE above 20. Investors priced in continued exceptionalism, not as a possibility, but as a certainty.

Then growth guidance came in at 4% to 9%. Not a loss. Not a collapse. Just growth that was slightly below what a premium valuation demands.

R19.7 billion in market value disappeared in five months.

The lesson is not about Clicks. It is about every business that has earned customer loyalty, market leadership, or premium pricing through years of consistent delivery. That premium is an advance on your future performance. Not a reward for your past.

The moment your market, whether investors, customers, or partners, senses that the future will not match the past, the repricing begins. The only way to protect a premium is to continuously re-earn it.

Are you building toward your next growth chapter, or protecting the one you already have?

Turnover up 7.4%.

07/04/2026

March was a pivotal month for Originality MG. We achieved an impressive revenue growth of +104.6% month-over-month, with a gross profit margin of 55% and an operating margin of 23.5%. This demonstrates that our demand and delivery processes are effective.

However, there are important details to consider: our expenses rose to 31.5%, exceeding our target of 25%, and owner withdrawals were unrestrained at 33.62%. Consequently, we closed with a net margin of -5%.

This situation reinforces a crucial lesson: growth without financial control can erode value. As we move into April, our focus will shift to tightening expense discipline, enforcing profit allocation, prioritizing high-margin and recurring revenue, and aligning our growth with financial efficiency.

Sustainable success is not just about how quickly we grow, but also about how effectively we manage and retain that growth.

13/02/2026

For investors, predictability matters more than hype.
For founders, predictability creates peace.

Tracking MoM and QoQ performance brought predictability into a very human entrepreneurial journey.

12/02/2026

MoM tracking showed us that some months declined by 25–50% after strong growth.
Without measurement, that feels like failure.

With data, it feels like seasonality.
That distinction protects decision-making.

11/02/2026

When entrepreneurs say “my business is struggling,” the first question should be:
Which month? Which quarter? Which service?

Performance tracking taught us that struggle is often isolated, not systemic.

10/02/2026

Least-sold services taught us just as much as top performers.

Services contributing below 10% of total activity weren’t failures, they were signals.
Signals to refine positioning, pricing, or packaging.

Data replaces guesswork with direction.

09/02/2026

Measurement showed us what to protect.

High-value advisory services consistently outperformed others by more than 3×.

That insight allowed us to focus marketing where long-term value existed, not just short-term wins.

06/02/2026

Service mix analysis was a turning point.
Over 65% of revenue came from consulting, business planning, and compliance services.

These were our most consistent performers.
Creative and once-off services contributed less than 20%, but drove visibility.

Knowing this shaped our strategy.