Networking 101 - Building a Virtual Corporation

Networking 101 - Building a Virtual Corporation

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd - December  2009

One of the greatest things to come out of Networking for me, apart from all of my business, is my ‘Virtual Corporation’.

What does this mean essentially?  Well it’s like this, in many ways my ‘Virtual Corporation’ is far more powerful than even the biggest corporation.  You see my “Virtual Corporation” is staffed by small business owners – people who are specialists in their own fields and who are as passionate about their businesses as I am about mine.

Most corporate companies have  their own IT department – I have Ian Grant of IG Computers (http://www.IGComputers.co.za) – oh and while I am on this subject and this site, if you would like to check if the name that you want as your domain name is available, go to Ian’s site and on the top right hand side of the home page, you will be able to do just that – at no charge.

Then of course most Corporate companies have their own web development department and I have Meryl Rosenberg of Pixelmagic (http://www.pixelmagic.co.za), Meryl has does some awesome stuff for me, including but not limited to my website or how about the branding on my e-mails, pretty powerful stuff that and I have received several compliments for it from all around the world.  Then of course the branding of my ‘Twitter’ account and me on Facebook and where-ever you look, I am branded and it all links back to my website.  How cool is that!

As most of you know by now, I write policies and procedures and have a Workshop entitled “A Basic Practical Guide to Starting A Business” and one of the things that I try and teach Business Start-ups – as well already operational Small Businesses, is about getting the various contracts in place, so just as a big corporate has a legal department, I too have one – but mine of course is bigger and better.  Firstly I have a Kerry Jack of Cognosa who specializes in contracts and to make life easier for the SMME you can go to her site http://www.agreementsonline.co.za and actually download pretty much any kind of contract that you would need in your small business and if you wanted something changed slightly, contact Kerry and she will assist you to make that change and still keep it in legalese.  Actually if the truth be told her contracts are so simple that even the average layman can understand them – how’s that for transparency?  Although Kerry is a registered attorney she does not do litigation, but for that and all matters requiring litigation I have Noa Kinstler of Kinstler Attorneys and Noa, being a proactive attorney has a newsletter in which she gives legal tips and also tells us about the various legal issues that may affect us both in our professional and personal lives – an early warning if you like.  If you would like to receive these newsletters please contact Noa on noa@kinstler.co.za.

And let’s not forget my Accountant, Nico Labuschagne from Less Tax 4 U. Nico is not only a CA (Chartered Accountant) but he is also a registered Auditor, which means you only get one account.  After his staff do the accounts and he has checked them, he is legally allowed to ‘sign off’ on them as audited.  Now that’s a huge savings.  Nico can be contacted on nico.lt4u@gmail.com.

To round my awesome team off, I have Dyonne Modlin from Lateral Labour who handles all the HR compliance stuff and she is also the very patient soul who has to go and do battle at the dreaded CCMA.  But never be fooled by her patience and quiet demeanour, Dyonne is a Dragon, who looks out  equally, for both the employer and the employee.  Dyonne can be contacted on dyonne@laterallabour.co.za.

This is just a taste of what my ‘Virtual Corporation’ is about, more of my service providers are mostly listed under “My Team” on my website (http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za) and many more from Accountants to HR and IR specialists, to Event Management, Writers or Wordsmiths and publishers to Entertainers, I have them all.

So do yourself a favour – start Networking.  Not only will it bring in the business, but you to can add value to your clients and suppliers not to mention yourself, with your very own ‘Virtual Corporation’.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za