Whispers of an entrepreneur

The year was 1993, I, a wide eyed kid was one of 6 kids making up the first wave of black kids newly welcomed to the white schools in Cradock. This was still Apartheid South Africa - though Madiba was out of prison and negotiations well on the way for a democratic South Africa. A lot of preparation went into this 'unlikely integration' - the past two years a small group of us, through the foresight of our parents, had been attending afternoon classes in learning the English language. Having been at an Afrikaans medium school, from Crèche to now - I was able to get away with communication in Afrikaans. I was lucky enough to go across the N10 - which divided Cradock with blacks on the one side and coloured or brown people on the other; to better schools than what was available in the black township. A little known fact - Afrikaans is the most widely spoken language in South Africa, even today.  During these classes we learnt the command of the language our paren...

A lot has been written and said of the passing of Prof Russell Botman. Some things were in my view fair and richly gave credit where it was due. Other things were utterly unjust and insensitive given the bereavement of the family. The latest headline I read was:” who killed Prof Botman.” I have been very lucky to have had numerous interactions with Prof Russell, from structured chats to meeting each other in the street to catch up. At all times, I found him to be a man serving his vision and taking it steady step at a time. For nothing ever worth going for takes a day, Prof Russell was well aware of the mountain he was trying to conquer and the personalities and minority factions that were opposed. Last week when we attended his funeral, I was impressed by a few points during the whole service. As big as the funeral was, it was quite intimate – where most if not everyone felt that they were welcome and appreciated for showing support. The VIP mourners and guests were...

I recently watched a Multichoice advert on 20 years of freedom , about a gentleman called Johnny Bada, who over a 20 year period has risen from a mere Multichoice installer to become a business owner with 3 DSTV agencies and a staff component of 65 individuals. Though I cannot attest to the legitimacy and truthfulness of this story, it did capture me – proving again that business and success takes time. As I have mentioned before, an overnight success takes 14 years. Us, young entrepreneurs hardly take the time to learn our craft, to master it and be regarded as an industry expert. We tend to expect quick turnarounds in business and life. Our culture of “Now” hampers the growth and development of many aspiring, talented entrepreneurs. The desire to be a Hollywood entrepreneur sometimes clouds our judgement in finding the right opportunity and gradually growing it into a multibillion enterprise. However, not all entrepreneurs will be billionaires or even millionaires (Ra...