🥔 THE PROFESSOR & ME: ONE BAD POTATO “One bad potato should not cost you a good customer.” This lesson from my father is about more than fruit and vegetables. It’s about what we do when a customer is disappointed. Do we concentrate on winning the argument—or give that customer a reason to trust us again? ☕ Watch this little film, then share your thoughts: How would you handle a complaint about something you sold? What would you say first? Let’s learn from each other’s experience. — Gilbert Real memory • AI-recreated visuals and narration

☕ COFFEE TIME WITH GILBERT Before you hire another person, ask yourself one question: Could a better system do some of this work first? I'm learning that AI in business isn't really about robots replacing people. It's about finding the work that's eating your time, costing you money or stopping you from selling. Here are 6 places I'd look first: ⚙️ OPERATIONS — What are you doing over and over every week that could be simplified or automated? 💰 SALES — Are leads being followed up properly, or is money quietly slipping through the cracks? 👥 TALENT — Before adding another salary, does the business really need another person — or a better system? 📊 FINANCE — Where could faster information and better numbers help you protect your margin? 📣 MARKETING — Can AI help you research, create and distribute more without turning you into a full-time content creator? 🧭 LEADERSHIP — And this is the big one... Can your business operate without everybody waiting for you to make the next decision? After more than 40 years in business, I'm still learning. The tools have changed. The principles haven't. Use technology to remove the repetitive work. Use people where people matter most. And spend more of your time talking to customers, solving problems and growing the business. ☕ Old-school lessons. New-school tools. — Gilbert The Professor & Me

SATURDAY TIME MACHINE ☕ Five memories—and one jacket I never forgot. I remember the song. I remember the red socks. But most of all, I remember the jacket my brother gave me. Here’s my Saturday top five from those days. 🎵 1. The soundtrack Sugar Man by Rodriguez. That song takes me straight back to my school and fruit-shop days. Funny how a song can bring a whole part of your life back. 👖 2. The Saturday outfit Levi’s jeans, a white shirt, red socks, South African veldskoen—and my leather Pointer bunny jacket. Inside the jacket was a little badge with a pointer dog. That was the brand: Pointer. ☕ 3. The place we met After Dark café, opposite Sterland in Arcadia, after coming back from Jacqueline’s nightclub. Some place names stay with you long after those nights have passed. 💿 4. The record hunt We bought imported LPs at the Hillbrow Record Library in Johannesburg. If memory serves me correctly, an imported LP was around R7. I stand to be corrected on the price—but I remember where we bought them. 🧥 5. The gift My brother Johnny bought that Pointer jacket for me at John Stevens in Church Street, Pretoria. Johnny was a man about town. And he gave me a beautiful jacket that I wore for many, many years. Of all these memories, that’s the one that means the most to me: my brother choosing something special and giving it to me. The jacket was part of my Saturday outfit. The gift is still part of my life story. ☕ What takes you back—a song, a place, or something someone special gave you?

COFFEE TIME WITH GILBERT ☕ An opportunity still needs you to do the work. Some mornings, I’m still in the shower when an idea arrives. Then I walk outside, speak to someone, or notice something—and there’s another opportunity. Seeing opportunities has never been my problem. Choosing which ones deserve my time? That’s where the learning comes in. Open the internet today and someone is promising millions, a dream lifestyle, helicopters and money while you sleep. It sounds wonderful over a cup of coffee. But before I get carried away, I have to ask: what work sits behind that promise? Who is the customer? What do they need? And can I actually deliver? I’ve taken opportunities throughout my life. Some worked. Some didn’t. When they didn’t, I still learned something—about the business, about people, or about my own judgement. Sometimes it was an expensive lesson. That’s why I believe in keeping your eyes open, but taking a proper look before grabbing something with both hands. Some opportunities are too good to be true. Others are worth their weight in gold. You need to learn the difference. And even a good opportunity needs effort. Hard work gives it a chance; it doesn’t guarantee success. “Passive income” might be the goal, but there is usually work to build it and responsibility to keep it going. I can help you think an opportunity through. I can guide you and share what experience has taught me. But you still have to speak to the customer. Listen. Understand their situation. Deliver what you promised. For me, that human connection is where an idea starts becoming a business. So keep looking. When you find an opportunity worth pursuing, take it seriously—and be ready to do your part. ☕ What opportunity are you considering—and what is the first piece of work it needs from you?