Whispers of an entrepreneur

This term: Equal Distribution of Wealth , really alludes me, it is devoid of all logic and practical application. The Freedom Charter , which can be described as the moral designation upon which the majority of South African politics is based (by its very nature, morality and politics do not mix ) identifies the great need to redress all the inequalities, subjugation, forced poverty and heinous crimes against humanity. The one clause in the document most associated with equal distribution of wealth is that of: The people shall share in the country’s wealth .  In my opinion this is one of the most noble of the clauses – speaking to wealth creation, efficiency and free of state influence. THE PEOPLE SHALL SHARE IN THE COUNTRY'S WEALTH!   The national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be restored to the people; The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and the monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownersh...

I woke up this morning with a pair of interesting questions on my mind. Bent over the bathroom basin, brushing my teeth. All this after one of my power naps – well, this is all I can call them nowadays, my lack of sleep due to insomnia keeps me up till the strangest hours of the morning. I found it strange that at such an early hour, I am already thinking about life and the direction I am taking. Back to my big questions: “Where would I rather be right now” and “What would I rather be doing now” To the former, my answer was, “ Here and now ”, I am so excited about life – spring is in the air and I feel rejuvenated. Notwithstanding the horrid feeling I get with all the pollen in the air, this time of the year is my favourite. The latter question was more interesting – what would I rather being doing now, that is with regards to my life. “I am doing what I would like to do, and do for at least the next 10 years” One of the greatest pleasures has been finding my way in th...

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...

Lately I have been having a tough time, after setting up my goals for the 6 months to June, I was very fortunate to achieve them, with varying degrees of success. After the whole period and goals achieved, I felt empty and without purpose – I was happy of the achievement and the progress made, but the ability to pursue no longer existed. Katberg Mountains - Eastern Cape, South Africa   As a friend recently commented, “maybe you should set bigger goals next time round” – I set up these goals on a biannual basis as to keep myself going and motivated with strict and clear results to be achieved. Challenging myself but also ensuring that I am realistic in my approach. Goal setting is arguably one of the most difficult things to do - to sit down and pen commitments to yourself that you are accountable for and have to evaluate your progress on yourself. A sort of personal KPIs without the whip or carrot of a manager. Annually people lay simple to complex goals - from los...

Mobile Communication - Apps run the world With 900 million mobile subscribers in India, over 600 million in Africa and just over 1 billion in China, there are more mobiles in the developing world than any other devices for communication. This brings a treasure trove of opportunities for builders of mobile applications. Applications or better known as Apps – essentially pieces of software that can be purchased as stand-alone modular products according to the requirements of the user, are revolutionising the way in which we consumer software products. When you think back, all software used to come from the big software companies, you had operating systems, antivirus software and business software packs. The Netscape guys are one of the pioneers of what we today view as the App revolution and the App market. Taking nothing from Apple and its iTunes Store, they well and truly made software a wide appealing consumer product. The folks from Netscape gave us a free browser tha...

I always find it extremely hard to find good service in South Africa. People are either rude or just unaccommodating - during these many public holidays the family and I had lunch at the Waterfront in Cape Town. We decided to make a picnic of it - buying food and sitting somewhere we could see the boats and feel the buzz of Cape Town life. We saw a great potential eatery – they had the proteins we like as well as veggies; key in our new eating plan, thanks to Dr Tim Noakes. Well – we enquired from the attendant, behind the counter, how their menu works. Do we choose the portions and incorporate any of the veggies? Or, do we get a meal that comes with the veggies? Seemingly, this was just too much to take – the gent just looked at us and moved over to the next customer. Feeling perplexed I decided to look out for any poster with information at the eatery. I found nothing that could help me. We then decided to ask another attendant, this time a lady. Posed the same ques...

During the past weekend, I got reminded of the things I am thankful for; a kind of taking stock of what is important as well as the journey that has led to this moment in my life. Praying hands Cleaning my cupboard I came across old business cards of lives I have lived and responsibilities I have had. Some were challenging, others simply infuriating but in all the positions and jobs I have had, valuable knowledge was accumulated, experienced gained and lessons learnt. My latest journey has been the most challenging, coinciding with my responsibilities as a husband and father - I was no longer able to take on the major risks of the past, risks that made me well off as well as broke me in more ways than just financial. Though a little wiser and more risk averse, I have taken a few gambles with some disasters and triumphs – effects of which were exacerbated because of my young family. The lows became so much more bitter and the highs were duly needed. As the husband, I am r...