Rob Gibbs shares decades of business success with us

Some info on Rob Gibbs:
As managing director of Mopani Pharmacy, Rob runs the executive team that manages the business of their pharmacies.

Mopani is a community pharmacy employing 250 people and they trade out of approximately 3 000 square metres.

Rob also heads up the key role players of finance, marketing, HR, pharmacy, retail, fragrance and cosmetics, and looks after the brand development and future expansion of their group.

Here are Rob’s top 10 golden rules:

1. Learn to delegate – If not, you end up giving away authority in areas that you should not be giving away. You can do more by doing less of certain things.
2. Spend time with your staff – You can delegate the management of your ground staff to someone else, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but, make sure that you still spend some time with them; even if it’s just an informal discussion once a month. Just to stay in touch with your staff. They are after all the heart of any business.
3. Be big enough – As a business owner, you have to accept that your staff in some areas of your business might know more than you. This is not a bad thing! A good entrepreneur employs experts in every section of his business and allows them to grow it, and make it better. You may even learn something from them.
4. There is more to life than work – Do not be overly busy. Always remember that you are always someone’s husband, father, grandfather and brother. If you are not careful, life runs away from you.
   
5. Take opportunities as they come – “I have never believe in ‘kicking doors open’. If they open, I will walk through them. If growth comes your way, take the opportunity, but don’t force growth. Normally this does not always work out well for you if it was not meant to be.”
6. Religious growth – “When I was younger, I thought the way forward was to open more branches, and grow the business. I had this anxiety of not keeping up with the industry, but God is the most faithful business partner you could ever wish for and since taking Him into my life and business I have never been anxious of being overwhelmed again.”
7. When the time is right, take the door out – Somewhere in life you have to make this decision. Hand over to the younger generation. Just be a mentor to them. It is important to understand what you need to do less of, so that you can do more of the things in life you want to do.

8. Become an employer of choice – So that people would want to come and work for you. Be honest, stay humble, respect others, have faith and the rest will follow.
9. Look and learn – Look around in your industry and see how other companies do it. Where can you improve and what they can teach you. This is how you become better at what you do.
   
10. Personal ownership and growth – Identify what your staff are good at and work on that. Develop their potential to become even better. Empower your managers by teaching them to push back. Teach your staff to take responsibility, from the floor staff up to top management. This is how you reach excellence!

Lizelle’s feedback:

Rob is a true gentlemen and a good mentor to his team. He is an amazing businessman and has a lot of knowledge to share with the younger generation.

The model around Bring Change Africa is built on the principle where influential business men and women, shares their knowledge and experience which is built on a local methodology, with a chosen entrepreneur that acts as a mentee.  Bring Change Africa supports projects at a critical early stage of their development and act as a catalyst for entrepreneurs by building a community that can accelerate the impact of forward-thinking projects, ideas and people. We build close relationships with experts across sectors that understand and support’s the importance of a growth mindset.Enter your business or proof of concept and you could be chosen as the 2018 mentee to enjoy a mentoring journey with some of the Lowveld’s most influential. Read more about our organisation on  www.bringchangeafrica.org or visit  https://bringchangeafrica.org/areas/south-africa/lowveld