Franschhoek Valley Month - December 2009 Editorial
One man's meat
It struck me, when chatting to an elderly couple who visit Franschhoek regularly, that the Franschhoek Valley offers very different experiences to different people. One man’s meat is another man’s poison and what we may think is special about the valley (or misplaced, for that matter) will increasingly define us as a publication. But in asking this couple about their perfect day in the valley; ‘an early walk up to Chamonix, breakfast at Café Bon Bon, a lunch picnic at Solms Delta, a late afternoon stroll to Dieu Donne for sundowners overlooking the valley followed by dinner at Haute Cabriere by the crackling fire’, I thought we should begin a series of ‘Perfect Days in the Valley’ articles contributed by different folks from different strokes. Feel free to submit yours to
david@themonth.co.za.
Small business is supposed to be the lifeblood of the economy yet new figures released in the UK suggest bank lending to small business is falling, even though one of the stated aims of quantitative easing was to encourage banks to lend more to small business. It also doesn’t really help when an ‘enterprise tsar’ like Alan Sugar describes struggling small business owners as “moaners – living in Disneyworld” who wouldn’t get a penny from him and “shouldn’t from the banks.” Yet maybe he’s right. Too many small businesses start up, even here in the valley, with very little guidance and an almost unreal expectation of success that leads to absent owners, disillusioned staff and poor service. We cover two small business stories on page 3, first in our interview with local marketing expert Michelle Harley and just above that with our chat to Jeanne Farley who laments the state of small business in the valley. The free market is full of inefficiencies, we know that, yet with that comes opportunity and the Sub’s Parting Shot on page 27 calls for some co-ordination to help our small businesses better market and manage themselves during these difficult economic times.
Great news from the organisers of the Franschhoek 2010 Soccer Championships. Since the project began, three new teams have entered, yet I’m delighted to report that all seventeen teams (plus the refs) are now sponsored by valley businesses – see the sponsors on this page. The soccer kits have been ordered and the draw will take place on the same day as the World Cup draw on December 4th at the top pitch in Groendal, near the informal settlement at 18:30. The first matches will be played the following day: four on the Saturday and four on the Sunday. Then in the middle of January the second round of matches will be played and thereafter once or twice every month building to a final, precisely a week before the World Cup starts.
Still on the World Cup theme, we picked up these recommendations for domestic travel during this period:
1.Do not travel during the World Cup unless it is critical.
2.Plan your trip well in advance; ticket changes over this period will be extremely difficult and very expensive.
3.Try to make appointments at a location that is in the opposite direction of a stadium or fan park.
4.Take flights at times when the games are actually being played. Games start at 13h30.
5.Allow for a minimum of two hours to get to the airport in Cape Town and possibly three hours for Johannesburg. The congestion on the roads both to and from the Airports is going to be chaotic so plan for delays!
6.Parking at the airport will be virtually impossible and it is advisable to get someone to drop off and collect you from the airports. Transfer companies will be busy with tourists and will also be very expensive.
In this edition we have the first of a two-part light-hearted ‘festive season’ Question of the Month where we ask our valley chefs what they would have done if they hadn’t gone into food (page 20) and the Retail page has some ideas for Christmas gifts on page 24. And finally, the world’s leading research agencies concur that, in terms of long-term return on investment, the best strategy is to increase marketing expenditure during an economic slowdown. There’s my Christmas present! Enjoy the December edition and the holidays!