My work experience is retail (now I am a management consultant), I have a passion for it, it is in my blood.

So much so that I constantly analysis retailers when I am in them, want to jump behind the counter and help a customer, want to call a manager and ask them why they are doing such a slap stick job of running this gift they have been given.

Yes, retailer stores are my pretty castles and after selling my 12, my heart longs to own another one or two or three (I forget all the difficult customers, hard core landlords, stock supply issues and staff drama).

I have decided that I will invest my passion for retailers into blogging about them.

So first retailer that gets the honours is Sweets from Heaven, which I promise you there is nothing Heavenly about them other than the niche market they have and the opportunity to turn that business around.

So let me be nice and start with what I think they have done right:

Position: They are conveniently situated in most big shopping centres and airports. Their locations are excellent.

Shopping Centres – near the movies so you can buy stuff to nibble on or a quick drink after.

Airports – so you can buy your kids or yourself sweets to stuff your face with on the plane, or like me a smoker, they are always there when you get freaked out that you going to run out of smokes because you need to smoke 12 in 5 minutes before a flight.

Product: They sell sweets, cold drinks, pop-corn and CIG’s.

Price: Well here is the kicker they unlike most retailers seem to get away with a MASSIVE mark up on all their products. (Sunday night I purchased 1 x 20 Cigs and 1 x cheap lighter, the total R45.59) Did I blink an eye; definitely not I was dying for a smoke before the movie and would have sold my soul for a cigarette.  Is it just me or are their products over priced? If Pick ‘n Pay tried to sell the same products at the same price there would be a national public outcry and Carte Blanche Consumer doing a massive segment on it.

If I was CEO of Sweets of Heaven I would:

So this is all the stuff I think they doing a kak job of…

1. PLEASE make it easier for me to pay with my credit card at your stores. Honestly if you going to mark the products up like 200% then at least have working credit card machines at each till and staff that don’t sigh when I pull out a credit card. Also can the credit card machines be put on their own dial up connection (and not use the landline to dial up) because every time I go to your store the credit card machine fails. I think it is because one of your lazy staff members is in the back on the telephone/internet/fax that shares the line.
2. Next FIRE all your lazy staff, rude, stealing and un-customer friendly staff. WOW stealing was very harsh but even you agree with me because you have a sign up in all your stores telling me to INSIST on a TILL SLIP which means your staff do not ring up stuff and pocket the money and you do not have proper stock control systems. Secondly there is NEVER enough staff in your stores, they either hanging out at the popcorn machine OR and I am almost sure a lot of people will agree with this one. When the line in the store starts to snake out the entrance, the cashier will look up and scream to someone in the stock room, who will then take all the time in the world after peeping out the door to come serve the customers.

So it’s time for fresh new staff who smile, maybe even joke with customers (something like a Kulula staff change and humour concept).

1. Talking about your stealing staff, you also have stealing customers (as the lady behind me eating out of the bag of sweets that had not been weighed yet made me realise).  Now I think this can be easily solved through a few steps 1. Either get ride of the bagged sweets and help yourself concept and put pre packaged bags in place or get someone to supervise. 2. And this is NOT a negotiable option – get rid of your OLD TECHNOLOGY TILLS – I used those things in 1996 (you know the ones where you get the little till slip with no specific product name on it) INVEST in a proper POS and STOCK control system because this is exactly why your business can not stock take and hence deal or understand the theft.

I think you have an awesome Niche business BUT I think you are doing a terrible job of running it. The potential is there for Sweets of Heaven to be a very viable, profitable, CUSTOMER focused business with a little hard work and some changes.

My life. Is *never* SIMPLE… why? Well this is the question I keep asking myself currently…

1. Maybe it is because I must try do 10 000 things at once……

2. Or because I feel I am not going to achieve the things I want to….

3. Maybe its cause I feel like I am getting OLD and the clock is ticking…

4. Or maybe I just can’t live a simple life….

When I was in therapy my therapist suggested that I take a year to not excel at anything, not take on anything, not take on new projects, not start anything new… to take a year to JUST BE!

This was such a foreign concept to me, everything in my core screamed against it.

And now. In the chaos of my life at the moment I long for a simple life.

Picture Credit: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/

I love getting awesome presents for people close to me. I think long and hard about gifts for people I love (ask anyone close to me).

So I really really really owe @za5 a gift, the past 8 weeks he has been the MOST supportive person I have ever known in my life!

From driving me to JHB CBD and waiting for me while I am at an appointment, to visiting my parent’s dogs (the dogs had 6 weeks left before they join my parents in Australia) every single Saturday for 6 weeks while I worked on my project. Supporting me through my legal cases, making me special coffee and being an awesome pillar of strength in my life.

While chatting to my Mom and her asking what she can get him as a gift for visiting her dogs, I also mentioned I wanted to get him something nice as well, and we decided on an iPad. My Mom jumped on the internet in Australia and ordered the top of the range 64/3G/Wi-Fi iPad. She even sourced a nice case for it.

It was delivered in two weeks to her and put it in the courier to me. The parcel arrives in JHB and the courier company contact me to try clear it through customs.

On Monday I paid over R1300 in import duties on my credit card to get it out of customs (they more than willing to take your cash). And this morning reception notified me it had been deliver.

When I picked it up from reception it left very light the package and I raced up stairs to open the parcel. As I opened the first brown sealed box my heart started to sink, as I opened the Apple box and found the bubble wrap only I almost burst into tears. It had been stolen.

They were kind enough to repackage the Apple box in the brown box and seal it; they had even been kind enough to put the bubble wrap in the box for me.

I contacted TNT Courier Company, it turns out I must fill in forms and wait for three weeks for an answer on the issue (awesome!).

My issue is you can clearly see something happened at customs SA as the parcel was booked in as 2 kgs in Australia and then booked in as 1.5 kgs in SA by TNT (iPad is about half a kg in weight) you do the maths. Surely they should have said WTF before delivering to me?

So here is @za5 gift..

Awesome hey?

Thanks so much to  TNT courier company (www.tnt.com)  and SA Customs (www.sars.gov.za).

You welcome to comment here or email them to let them know how sad you are for me….

The last week, two weeks or is it three weeks, have been jam packed with so much happening in my life!

1. My bestest friend visited me from Durbs with her boyfriend. It was so nice to see them and have them with us for a weekend. I have not seen her for over 6 months and I forgot how much I loved her. C also gives me the BEST present and takes time to think about them. Luv you C x x x

2. I got news a week or two ago that left me speechless. Something that has never happened to me. It left me feeling hurt and emotional (not sure why). It also made me realise how important it is to be happy and make decisions in line with what is important to you and your happiness.

3. I started dreaming again! Not the normal type of dreaming while you sleeping. The kind of completely awake and dreaming of what can be in my life, what will be soon and how much I want a couple of things to be sorted out.

4. I realised that I have never been as happy as I am in my life right now. I also realised I have never been so happy & in love in a relationship before.

5. I am an addict, Yes I am. I am completely addicted to Soccer. Well I think I am more addicted to the vibe and the energy of being at a live soccer game. (4 World Cup Matches down).

6. I am starting to have a quarter life crisis. This will probably be my 3rd or 4th one. Its 8 months (exactly yesterday) to my 28th birthday. I am almost 30!! Then I will have to be an adult and responsible and stuff….

7. I am impressed with myself and my improved skills of coping with stress. I don’t let myself get so freaked out by the mountain of work I have – it’s all about a strong to-do list and planning.

8.  I am aware that I almost self sabotage sometimes in my life, due to my insecurities. I need to learn to get over this.

All in all what an amazing couple of weeks it has been. Feeling super blessed in my life and all things are moving forward.

Right so my brother has asked me for help, and so I am asking all you amazing people out there for help.

My brother is studying photography in Australia, and if have a look through my posts you will see some of his amazing work! He recently entered a Canon competition and he needs some votes for his picture that he submitted.

So please can you help out and vote for his picture.

http://apps.facebook.com/festival_of_photos/entry.php?entryId=163&compId=2&tab=1&sort=1&page=1&ref=mf

So please click on the link – it will take you through to the Canon Competition FaceBook page and simply click on vote for picture Memory Lane.

A big thank you in advance to everyone who is willing to help a brother out

What an awesome week last week was! I have never felt so proud of South Africa and don’t think our nation has ever been so united.

So the week started on Tuesday 8th June 2010 at 5am with me jumping out of bed and deciding no matter how tired I am, I am going to ride the Gautrain. After dragging @za5 out of bed and getting dress in 5 minutes we were on our way!

It was so worth the 5am wake up and it made me realise S.A. was well on its way to becoming a first world country!

If you have not been for a ride yet – plan one soon: http://www.gautrain.co.za/

Then if my week could not get any better on Wednesday after a long day at work I saw a tweet from @HansHaupt about drinking Starbucks in SA! Again I dragged @za5 off to Sandton and hunted down the Starbucks counter in the Southern Sun.

If you have never tried Starbucks – YOU MUST!

Thursday – well a little while ago I decided I was going to get tickets to the World Cup Concert because Alicia Keys was performing. WHAT an amazing concert, worth every cent! It was absolutely amazing and I have never felt such spirit at a concert before!

Desmond Tutu is such an awesome person!

And then if it could not get any better, I was lucky enough to get tickets to Match 3 Argentina vs Nigeria on Saturday. My first ever soccer game. It was mind blowing, the vibe, the people, the vuvuzela’s and the spirit.

I drank beer (something I don’t do), ate hot dogs (something I love) and I even hanged out with the SAPS after the game and checked Police Clearance stickers on blue light cars!

And then I had this realisation about how sport does bring everyone together! Notice how we have not heard anything about Julius or Zuma in the last week!

Oh and PS. I love the VUVUZELA

Pic from www.ecr.co.za

Stunning pictures taken by @za5

Today is 3 years since my Grandfather passed away.

It’s also 3 year (minus 12 days) that someone in Cape Town lost a 36 year old son in a car accident and in their grief managed to donated a heart to my Grandfather.

My Grandparents decided to put my Grandfather on the heart transplant list about 6 months prior to this (after a back op & complications his heart was left damaged, a couple of heart bypasses & pacemakers later; he was on his last at about 55 years old). Behind my back they made this decision, I remember them telling me when I visited them in Port Shepstone at Fish on River, I was against it, I cried and after my Grandfather appealed to me that he could not live like this anymore, I realised I could not either and gave in.

Also then I thought, a heart, it’s not going to fall out of the sky; people are on the list FOREVER! Let me just give them this, hope, this light of faith….

Less than six months later the call arrived, it was Mother’s Day, I had just moved to JHB and my Grandparents were visiting my Aunt in Jozi. My Aunt was already rushing them to the airport and my Mom was already on the phone to the hospital and heart transplant co-ordinator. I was at the airport in 30 minutes to meet everyone. Then the news arrives from my Mom: there were no flights left out of Cape Town, the last flight had left and all the on private pilot’s were at the Rugby and had been drinking, the clock was ticking and as you all know there is only a few hours that a heart can survive.  My Grandfather was not an ideal candidate for a heart transplant, he was over 60 – smoked, was on his second pace maker, almost died having his teeth replaced. This was it, this heart or nothing.

Let me tell you if you are ever in shit or have a problem in life, you want my family behind you! My Aunt Ellie is the BEST emotional support ever, my Mom Maria can organise anything in the whole wide world and will not take no as an answer and I can pull together anything come hell or high water!

In 60 minutes my Mom had tracked down a pilot who’s anniversary it was and was planning on taking his family out on this plane (which was some plane that was able to fly a lot quicker than other normal private plane’s) and after hearing the family was trying to transplant the heart, packed a picnic basket, rushed to the hospital and collected the heart and was heading to Durban. I got my Grandparents on a flight, my Grandfathers final flight, at least he got to fly business class, we sat in isle 3, his ticket 3C I was sure was a sign all would be fine… (and anyone who knows me well will know why).

We arrived at the hospital ahead of time, we started pre-op, filled in the forms, said our hello’s to the nurses. Everything I was all way to familiar with as I had spent most of my life in hospital with my Grandfather. Reading charts, speaking to Doctor’s and checking medication allocation became part of my life.

I paced the helicopter pad for at least another three hours while I waited for the plane to land and the ambulance waiting on the runway to bring the heart. It was cold (well cold for me from Durban) and I remember looking at a very bright star in the sky, pleading with whatever God is out there for this to work out.

The ambulance arrives screaming up the road, the cooler box was rushed into the hospital with me running behind it. We were ready, it was all systems go.

That night and the next 12 nights I slept in the hospital waiting room.

We had to beg my uncle, his only son to come to Durban. I really don’t care if you read this, I am angry that we had to still to this day.

The transplant was a success; apparently the old heart was the size of a rugby ball form all the trauma (something my Grandfather would have been proud of, he loved rugby)

The next few days were not such a success, behind the glass walls of the transplant unit I stood with my hand against the window. His platelets dropped, his body was weak and by day 12 it was over…. they stopped pumping adrenalin into his system. The heart rate monitor showed his heart beats dropped from 30 to 0 as the priest read his last rights and we all stood around the bed. I never want to go through that again…. I almost hyperventilated, it was a dream.

I could not speak at his funeral, I wish I had, if I had these are the things I would have said:

You are the most inspirational man I have ever meet, I will never love anyone like I loved you.

I miss being able to phone you and rant and swear and get level headed advise form you (Ouma is crap at it, she keeps telling me to stop saying the F-word when I try do it with her).

I will always be your favourite grandchild and the other grandchildren can just deal with that. I was born on the same day as you 3 March and that makes me liable for some sort of favouritism.

I was never just your grandchild; I was your long lost daughter.

I am sorry for busting you for smoking under the log cabin in Saint Lucia.

I am sorry for pee-ing on your foot when I was 3 but you told me that is how you get warts, so I was testing it out.

I am who I am because of you. I am fearless, I fight, I won’t give up. I drink and get up the next day with a hangover and start all over again. I know what I am worth. I don’t take shit from anyone. I am doing things with my life and I am going places. I am not scared to say “Fuck You”! And I can fire a shot gun.

I will buy a red coverable Merc so that I can listen to Tracy Chapman while driving it, and I remember waiting from you to come home from the Rugby.  I am going to go and look at the ice-bergs for you and take some of your ashes so you can too.

I miss you. I love you and I will always think of you.

You will always be remembered.

xoxo

Control your own destiny or someone else will.
Jack Welch