How to grow in a low growth environment
Being an entrepreneur hurts, it's tough.
The University of Johannesburg’s Business School hosted the Richard Maponya – UJ Annual Lecture on Entrepreneurship on November 13.
The UJ Kingsway Theatre was packed to capacity with students and eager businessmen and woman who wanted to learn more about the skills of being an entrepreneur.
The guest speaker was Vusi Thembekwayo, a venture capitalist, global business speaker and serial entrepreneur. The lecture was titled ‘How to grow in a low growth environment’.
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Thembekwayo spoke about the life in the ‘kasi’ (township) and how the narrow roads were given to us so that we could not think beyond that.
He said that if you have ever noticed, billboards started to appear very late in the townships and that when they finally arrived, they were usually the OMO washing powder ones. It all had to do with creating a certain mindset so that people could think in isolation.
“If it was a black man who built the BMW, ‘Black Man’s Wheels, we wouldn’t buy it but it’s only because it is built by the Germans that we buy it.
“It’s the mental conditioning of the spaces we live in because we’ve been taught to see ourselves as less than what we are. We have to know how to deal with a person’s mental condition,” said Thembekwayo.
One of the challenges which we face, according to Thembekwayo, is that our own people seek to put us down. It’s the more I eat, the more you starve, but when it comes to other nationalities it’s about the more I eat, the more you eat.
It’s all about the way we see things and the kind of things we feed ourselves.
“In a service delivery protest, I hope that you consider who are the ones who attend these protests. People who are in franchises and are making money will not be found there.
“The main factor of building businesses is not just because we want to live great lives, but we must aim to have less service delivery strikes,” said Thembekwayo.
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He explained two scenarios: Every morning on my way to work there are young men who volunteer their services, they will clean your window for you and for quite a while I’ve watched them and eventually I called one and asked him where he bought the soap and the squeegee and he told me.
As an entrepreneur, I asked him if I get them cheaper for you would you buy it?
He replied in the affirmative. I asked him where he bought his shoes and he said that he is a street kid, so they wear what they get.
I asked him, ‘How long does it last you?’.
He responded, ‘Anything from eight to twelve weeks because we always walk, I asked if I could get better shoes for you would you buy them? He said,’Yes if I can afford them, sir’.
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If you go into town, there are people who offer their services to you at the robots. They simply come to your car and ask if you have any waste.
They clean your car for a very small amount of money. Most people roll up their windows, but have you ever stopped to think where they get their plastic bags from because every day there’s a clean bag.
- Have you ever thought about where your litter goes to after being collected?
- Do they dump them at the dumping sites, and how do they get there?
From there where is the litter sent to? That right there is entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is not me starting a business, and me opening a bank account, I aim for government and a chance to take someone out for coffee. That is not entrepreneurship. Being an entrepreneur hurts, it’s tough.
“People hate on a young man who wants to fill up a stadium. The story is not about a young artist who wants to fill up a stadium. No, it’s about a dream that is being fulfilled because he is saying that I too am worthy, why must he sing at shebeens or taverns for a living or why must he be just an opening act? Until, and when we learn to celebrate each other’s successes you will never exit this problem,” said Thembekwayo.
He concluded by saying, “The greatest gift that I can give my kids is not money but a free mind. A free mind which dreams, loves, lives. We are all writing our books on the daily.
“Young people, you are the first version of that book. So, when we catch each other doing mistakes, be kind when someone fails. Be kind, this life that we are living has never been done before, we are writing version one.”
