Whispers of an entrepreneur

I have always been fascinated with the American culture of taking people to court for various arbitrary issues – many garbage TV shows, showcase this culture of American society. Salacious tendencies that should be reserved to the bottom few who like to slog mud. With my self-righteous banter well on the way - I was not aware of dark cloud amassing in the distance. As an entrepreneur - like so many would know, one is always up for new opportunities. Analysing and trying out new things that can or will not add value to your business. With that I ventured into the development of mobile games - games played via mobile, electronic device as an app or through existing platform. Our first App was quite a  success - not Silicon Valley success but gave well over 2000% profit - with all cost covered. Clean profit. So I devised the second, substantially bigger game - which invariably would take up all the profits for product development; hired a development team to dev...

I recently met a very interesting gentleman – let’s call him Sipho. Now, Sipho is an elderly gent – about 1.55m in length with a small frame but broad shoulders, indicative of many years of hard work and labour. His stare is piercing and focused and one gets the impression that this is not a man to trifle with. He is fit and one could never say he is in his 60s. Years ago, Sipho lost his job and the income potential it had, with a family to support he was down on his luck. He had to find ways in which to support himself and his family, means that were legal and did not depend on the state. Employment opportunities for someone of his limited skills/education and advanced years were limited, and as is the case with most entrepreneurs – limitation became the fire that would drive him to achieve. Sipho has an interesting business case – he goes around Bellville Taxi Terminus (the area in Bellville where all the busses, mini bus and midi bus taxis and train all depart f...

I get a lot of queries when I present my business cards to people - the title on the card reads; PathFinder. – "path finder" they would say, "what is that?" I have long been trying to lead without a title - my aim consistently has been to become a corporate leader in South Africa and the world. I never went out to become a CE or an MD or any other fancy title out there. All I wanted to do is build a major business, build my skills and abilities in the process and help nurture other people and of course, make a whole lot of money in the process - very naive view, I know. But these are my guiding principles throughout my career as an entrepreneur. Being in business for a bit, one realises how the world is not necessarily how you would like it to be. I realised that I cloud not go with a blank space for my title - after all people respond differently to you if you have an impressive sounding title. Doors open sooner and more accommodatingly. People are happy ...

I have never really been dismissed from things that mattered to me - I may have had a dismissal from a relationship of two (being dumped), but nothing really concrete. So - it always affects me when I have to dismiss a person that is not fullfilling their end of the bargain - it's like your bank not working for you, when the time comes, you have to part ways. Sitting and preparing for a dismissal - I find a lot of questions coming to mind, questions I think the dismissee may want answers to.  As always a victim during these sort of transactions - the dismissee would want clarity on how they have gotten to this point and how it was my fault (to my experience, it's never their doing - no act is a heinous as this) So I have a few things that make it comfortable for me - for as much as the dismissee is a victim, I too, am a victim of their actions, actions that have led to this point.  I almost always try to do this on a Friday or towards the end of a work week. I ...

Classic entrepreneurial education theory outlines key elements or traits of an entrepreneur – various qualities that can lead to success in entrepreneurship. The one I have grappled with the most, while studying was: Tolerance of Ambiguity. At the time of learning this, I did not fully understand what it means, sure the words are easy to decipher and I had gotten the definition, but understanding this key trait seemed to allude me. One explanation of this was; this trait is the definition of risk-taking—the ability to withstand the fear of uncertainty and potential failure. “It all boils down to being able to successfully manage fear,” notes Michael Sherrod, entrepreneur-in-residence at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University. In my experience – I have come to understand this trait requirement, for this is a really required trait if you want to become successful in the long run. If you take the example of changing lanes when driving – the safe thing...

Over the past few months I have been thinking at length on the appropriateness of the name of my blog. Initially, being called “ My thoughts, ravings and ideals ” was apt, for it was just ideas and thoughts I had and wanted to pen down. Like a sort of diary that I can one day look back at and reminisce. As I am growing up, and maturing, I have realized that I would like to write more on issues I have a passion for – though I claim not to like politics, it does interest me and I will continue to write a little about it, from my perspective. My essential focus will be on entrepreneurship and its effect on communities – my experiences and lessons learnt. And due to this narrow focus, a requirement for name change. After pondering for some time, the most appropriate name for the blog, I could find is: “ Whispers of an entrepreneur ”. Reason for name These are essentially anecdotes from my life, on subjects I have researched, experienced or debated about. These are my w...

Having made it to the end of the work week, after a very interesting and fulfilling week, I cannot but help feel warm inside – thinking of some of the things that happened this week. At the Developer Factory we have Appies (Apprentices), which I try to have an interaction with on a weekly basis, largely to see how they are doing on the programme and if the mentorship is going well for them. During one of these interactions, the Appie I was speaking with, comments to me that he was not aware that he would be getting a stipend for his Apprenticeship, he was just happy to be here and enhancing his skills. The opportunity itself was payment enough – I thought that was arguably one of the best things I have heard in my life. How many of us, in this day and age, would be willing to get up every morning and do a solid days work as an investment for your future – WITHOUT PAY or any short term benefit? This young person taught me something about passion and living your passion...