Minimum Viable Product

Every weekday morning at 7.00am I pop across to South Africa (thanks to the wonders of Zoom and the internet) to take part in Wisdoms123 Chats. These last for about 30 to 40 minutes and are conversations about business, sometimes life, topics. Great training for the mind. It’s interesting that sports people train to keep their bodies fit and ready to compete, yet businesspeople, competing in the marketplace, seldom train their minds.

At the beginning of the week, I was impressed by what a young South African, Thabiso, said. He wanted to make a record but did not know anyone in the music business and could not afford to hire a recording studio. Thabiso concentrated on what he had and what he could do, not on what he didn’t have and what he couldn’t do. He found some software for his mobile phone that would allow him to create a soundtrack and then allow him to record voice onto it. Where he lived was always noisy, so he went to Sandton an affluent area of Johannesburg to find a quiet spot.

A local park looked like the perfect spot as it was virtually deserted; however, when he started recording there was a problem, there was a breeze, and this was affecting the microphone. I’m sure you know what this sounds like from receiving mobile phone calls from people standing in a windy spot. He started to think about where else he could go when he spotted the solution, a portable toilet. He would be out of the wind there, so he went inside and started recording. About halfway through he was interrupted by a knocking on the door. Someone wanted to use the facilities for something more basic than laying down some tracks. Thabiso waited patiently outside until he was able to go back inside and finish the recordings.

The next stage was to head off to find somewhere with free Wi-Fi so he could upload everything to SoundCloud, which is where you can hear the recordings, just search using antakalipa. You will know you are in the right place when you see the photo of the portable toilet.

What a great example, creating the Minimum Viable Product to get his music to the public and not being put off by a lack of facilities.

Remember

If it is important, you will find a way

If it is not, you will find an excuse

Honesty Box

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