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How one small tech company overcame trademark issues and developed a new brand name for their business. A while ago, I joined a promising South African tech company called Honeybee. My purpose was to  scale the business and take the company and brand global. We have a great product (cloud-based Field Sales Management software and a Mobile Sales app that integrate with Sage). It had a name with strong brand equity and a large customer base in the South African market. However, as we entered the UK market, we discovered that our name was not unique. There was another technology company operating under the same name –

Venture Burn shares Sam Clarke’s, our CEO, 16 month journey of becoming an Endeavor Entrepreneur. Sam Clarke, the CEO of Stellenbosch based field sales management software company Skynamo is the latest South African to be selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur. Clarke was part of 17 entrepreneurs leading 11 companies from seven countries that were selected by Endeavor at their latest International Selection Panel (ISP), held in Detroit in the US from last Monday to Wednesday (30 July to 1 August). In a press release earlier this week, Clarke said being selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur had been a “profoundly

Endeavor selected 17 entrepreneurs leading 11 companies from seven countries at the 81st International Selection Panel (ISP) in Detroit, USA. Sam Clarke, CEO of Stellenbosch based field sales management software company, Skynamo, was selected to be an Endeavor Entrepreneur at the ISP. Skynamo provides cloud-based field sales management software and a mobile app. It is used by reps and their managers to improve insights into field sales activity. The apps features reduce admin and create coaching opportunities that lead to higher sales. Since starting in 2012, Skynamo (formerly known as Honeybee) is used by over 5,000

Skynamo continually adapts mobile app navigation features to better suit user needs and habits and to improve user experiences. Read about the most recent Skynamo navigation improvements to iOS and Android interfaces implemented by our development team. At Skynamo we continuously try and improve the way things are. Inevitably, that means that things change. Sometimes it helps to take a step backwards to get a view of the bigger picture. This is exactly what we did when we set out to improve the navigation of our apps. In software, navigation is the vehicle that takes users where they want to go inside an application.

“The structure of the daily habits of successful salespeople matters far more than any one secret strategy”, argues sales strategist Marc Wayshak. “Superstar salespeople are doing little things over and over each day in order to close massive sales and close more sales than the average salesperson”. Field sales outcomes are very much connected to personal habits we’ve acquired over time. One could argue that all sales reps operate on autopilot and that sales success is directly related to their daily routines. Thankfully, sales habits aren’t set in stone. Healthy habits can be adopted and there are brilliant sales

There’s always a trade-off with software: convenience vs privacy. Entrusting sensitive customer, product and pricing data to a 3rd party can bring massive benefits. But at what potential data security risks? It just takes one question to know if your data is safe with your app provider. This question could keep your data out of reach from the wrong hands. The security of your data should be non-negotiable Subscribing to a software service, or app, enables businesses to benefit from innovative and time-saving features. This subscription comes without a big upfront investment in infrastructure or a long-term

Skynamo was recently selected as one of nine finalists, out of 683 entries, for this year’s FNB Business Innovation Awards, in partnership with Endeavor South Africa. We didn’t win the award, which went to the very deserving (and totally amazing) Saryx team, but we certainly didn’t lose. Awards are wonderful pause moments because they create time to reflect. Our business moves so quickly, and there is always So Much Still To Do™ that I seldom stop and think about what we have achieved. The awards process gave me time to consider how far this business, which started as a way to keep some software dev house in 2012,

Listen to Pavlo Phitidis and Kieno Kammies’ follow up interview with the SEO of Skynamo, Sam Clarke’s follow up interview about the company’s progress in scaling our business internationally. Click here to listen to the original CapeTalk 567 interview with Sam Clarke.

If you often find yourself thinking, “My salespeople just aren’t selling like they used to…” you’re right. Across the board salespeople aren’t making the numbers as often as they were five years ago – 10% less often to be specific. Last year, CSO Insights released research which showed that only half of the world’s sales people are making their targets. How can that be? With mobile devices, CRM systems and improved sales methodologies you’d think that salespeople would be better equipped to sell more than ever before. The CSO Insights research went deeper and found that the top-performing salespeople had one thing in

A short story of how a small tech company dealt with trademarks. And how it developing a unique brand name in a global marketplace Back in September 2017, I joined a promising South African tech company called Honeybee in Stellenbosch, Cape Town’s winelands area, as part of the team to scale the business and take the company and brand global. We have a great product (a Field Sales Management and Mobile Sales app), a name with strong brand equity and a large customer base in the South African market. However, as we entered the UK market, we discovered that our name was not unique. There was another technology company