KEEP YOUR "BEE"- I don’t need it!

The Raizcorp ‘Pitch and Polish’ event held in Vereeniging: A resounding success!, it is a revolutionary workshop and competition specifically centred on growth entrepreneurship.

Hailing from the Vaal is the emerging young, black, talented entrepreneur Fanelo Peter Maseko who proves my point that indeed Black people are making things happen unapologetically. He is the second runner up of last year's Pitch and Polish competition.

It is a platform for entrepreneurs to share their business ideas and get valuable feedback from the audience and a panel of experts and is also an excellent networking opportunity.

I attended this event for the second time now and I have realised how much things have changed for the
better in South Africa. Black people are taking charge of their destinies as the landscape of contestants and even those in the audience was predominantly black.
Considering that the black community historically comes from harsh economic repression that advertently made black people inferior in the economy and subordinate to their white counterparts. Post 1994 - blacks adopted an obsessive sense of entitlement for handouts by the government, but this is indeed beginning to change, judging from the breed of entrepreneurs I engaged with who attended the event. The internal locus of control demonstrated by these fellow entrepreneurs was amazing.

There seems to be a change in mindset as black people are no longer waiting on the government but are taking charge of their own lives and this of course is catalysed by companies like Raizcorp who have committed themselves to instilling a culture of entrepreneurship among South Africans.

It is always a pleasure being in the presence of entrepreneurs because their thinking is generally skewed towards ‘possibility and risk’ and not towards ‘impossibility and security’.

The contestants had lucrative ideas and the most fundamental theme for me was the realisation that the market orientation of business people has shifted to another level as black entrepreneurs have become more experimental and innovative. What I also observed is that South African entrepreneurs are starting to venture into technology. We heard of very fascinating ideas that all had unique facets of technological ingenuity.

One of those in the panel of contestants is an experienced metallurgical engineer who has found a lucrative way of recycling an industrial by-product into a substitute which will be of paramount significance in the construction industry.

Innovative entrepreneurship is the name of the game and the black community is making their mark, the days of BEE and cronyism are fast growing to an end, simply judging from what I grasped from the contestants and the 300strong audience attending that event.

The facilitator of the workshop is no longer Allon Raiz as was the case last year, it is Eugene who happens to have much in common with Allon Raiz (the main entrepreneur behind Raizcorp). This struck me because it stood in agreement with Allon’s personal philosophy that growth entrepreneurs create systems that help their companies remain lucrative investments even when they are gone, as systems provide reasonable assurance that though they (the entrepreneurs/founders) may be gone but expectations are still met by results and performance will not be compromised.

I attended the workshop expecting him to be the facilitator again but was surprised to find an equally effective individual holding the ties. I observed how systematic the presentation of the workshop was as it didn’t deviate much from the initial workshop.

This idea of creating systems is what has held companies like Microsoft in good stead against their competitors because they’ve remained consistent. They build on what they already have and they don’t randomly change their formulas. Microsoft is comparable with with Raizcorp who, judging from the workshop, have made some improvements yet still delivered as expected this still maintaining their identity. In other words I didn’t see a different Raizcorp but an improved one.

The ‘Pitch and Polish’ concept encourages entrepreneurs to have less dependence on their business plans and more dependence on themselves; implying that their concepts must be organised in their minds not on paper; as planning is not, in reality, a once off fixation but a daily process.

What I saw in the entrepreneurs was immense passion and not much emphasis was given to their level of education (refer to Wits vs wits: a topic on the blog). In the workshop Eugene( our facilitator) alluded to his 25 years experience in the corporate world and how his 2degrees couldn’t do much for him at his darkest of periods in his life; a period so difficult that it almost cost him his life. Even though his degrees where initially what mainly made him stand out and highly respectable; his two degrees couldn’t save him from getting fired and kicked out of his fancy corner office. In essence what he taught us is that an entrepreneur needs much more than just 2degrees, TENACITY was one of the traits he mentioned.

My personal favourite highlight was the 5P’s of marketing; Place, Product, Promotion, Price and PRAYER.


And yes! we all received a free copy of Allon Raiz’s most recent bestseller: ‘What To Do When You Want To Give Up’ available at all leading bookstores.

Follow Allon Raiz on http://www.twitter.com/allonraiz

I was on page 60 in less than 3hours and I am not a heavy reader – it is packed full of surprises!

 

INDIANS WHAT MAKES YOU SO SPECIAL?

What makes the Indian community so special in the South African entrepreneurial context?

Views expressed in this article are not meant to offend, degrade or marginalize any racial, political, social or economic group or individual, but are meant to merely serve as a commentary of unrefined personal perspectives which may be open to review and constructive criticism.

Indians and Pakistanis are the most prejudiced group in terms of how their entrepreneurial ethics are generally perceived in my opinion, because I am one to believe that they use nepotism as a tool to elevate themselves in their respective business environments but we know that small and micro business(with 1-50 employees) in the formal sector in South Africa is the main employment creator and accounts for 68% of the private sector employment in South Africa. the Indian community is in my opinion the most visible demographic in that level of business.

The unemployment rate is very high in South Africa but I am one to believe that there are communities in South Africa that are generally not affected by it namely; jewish and Indian and Portuguese. Why? They simply have a culture of entrepreneurship and nepotism, Quite frankly I have never seen an Indian, Portuguese or Jewish hawker before anywhere in South Africa. They are all neatly tucked away in petite establishments like the one shown below if not in big business.

Looking at the landscape of business in Johannesburg CBD we see a lot of businessmen of Asian descent particularly of Pakistani origin. Most of those businesses are thriving businesses, although they are perceivable to be survivalist in nature, but they are sustainable!Bbusinesmen from these communities are mostly running independent establishments but they are all in close proximity with each other, selling almost the same products thus they suffocate their competition easily anywhere they go because they flock together"Uncles and Aunties". Something they call “specialisation” in business economics.

Why do I call it “specialisation”? When consumers, especially those from the black community, go to their establishments they don’t recognise the name of their entities before their race(which automatically become their brand) and that to some extent provides them with reasonable assurance. So in reality when an Indian opens a shop next to an Indian it becomes “Combination” not just “specialisation” because when one doesn't have something available in stock they can always refer you to their Aunty or Uncle next door.

 

One thing that makes Indians stand out in their business in South Africa is their openness to negotiation, hence they never lose a sale. The Indian community has been around for ages in South Africa since the Dutch East Indian Company was established in South Africa way back in the days, even their first ever trip to South Africa was for business!

Where would South African business be without them?
The question is:

•  are Indians really entrepreneurs?

•  Do the close family relations compromise their integrity as entrepreneurs?

•  or are they really as resourceful as any other entrepreneurs?

Now I have a case which should convince you that Indian INDIVIDUALS are just as resourceful as anybody else.


SEDA, which is the Small Enterprise Development Agency, is an organisation which helps small businesses have a better value proposition in South Africa and provides a myriad of services that helps start ups to big business grow and get off the ground.

They recently initiated the biggest entrepreneurs’ competition in South Africa which offered a prize pool worth 5.5million rand and hauled more than 5000 valid applications from entrepreneurs from all around South Africa.

The Seda competition, according to one of the speakers at the national award gala event, ranks among the top ten business and entrepreneurial contests in the World in terms of prize money.

The winner of the competition happens to be an Indian but the merits of his business concept are real and his sincere passion for his business is what the judges emphasised to be the main reason for his win. Adesh Naidoo owner of “Clean Streets” in KZN was announced SEDA small business stars competition overall winner at the National Award Ceremony at Focus Rooms in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.

Photo taken 22May2012 by Thato Molefe Above: from left Hlonela Lapuwana(Seda CEO), Adesh Naidoo(National winner), Linda Ngomezulu(Seda chairman)

To echo my new sentiments that our beloved Indian community is as opportune in business as any other community all the three National runner ups of the 2012 leg of the competition are women, two of them being of black descent.

References http://www.seda.org.za/Happening/LatestNews/PressReleases/Pages/SEDAannounceswinners.aspx

 

left:Xolani Gwala(MC) with one of the talented entrepreneurs who graced the occasion

 

 Photos taken 22May2012 by Thato Molefe



Above: key speakers at the event: with the Director general of the DTI shown below addressing on behalf of the deputy minister.

Wits vs wits 2

Post #2
Robert Kyosaki

Well it is safe to say that Robert Kyosaki is against the current and former formal education system particularly with respect to wealth creation that is why he established his own brand of financial literacy products under the banner of the Rich Dad Company.

Well one can wonder what happens in the mind of this man, is he just a businessman exploiting a niche and trying to get attention or is his pursuit well founded and based on real passion, revelation and experience.

The education system as we know it has (in my opinion) sustained our civilisation for years but is this sheer coincidence?

He believes that one can never acquire true wealth as an employee, self employee or small business owner; fair enough but what is the validity of him saying that formal education is not for business owners and investors whom he believes are the custodians of “real wealth”.

One can’t make such an irrelevant conclusion because one can interpret this puff as a pass at the employers and investors themselves; does it mean that wealthy people are primarily not educated by the formal education system?

One can ask where if not at the formal education institutions did they learn how to study the markets and know about demand and supply, about markets and inflation is it logical to bastardise the system in this way?


In his book: “ If you want to be Rich and Happy don’t go to school” – which is in my opinion a very attractive and sensationalist title.

Well in his book he presented a number of arguments and I will quote and analyse some of them without disputing on their validity.

current(1993 in America) education system is fraught.

- He says that educators undermine the development of creative and independent thinking with emphasis on the one right answer.
• I say that without emphasis on the right or best answer the independent thinker is more prone to settle for mediocrity and indecisiveness. Kyosaki’s reasoning is flawed because as with all things, it depends on the context, in economics or law for instance; the merits of ones reasoning is weighed against a logical arrangement of facts and in mathematics there is indeed a definite answer but you can’t find it if you don’t memorize the mathematical rules.

- He further generalizes by saying that students are ill equipped to deal with complex and dynamic realities of our society
• I say that students are better equipped to tackle dynamic and complex issues because they have a systematic way of thinking that allows them to see and filter out the ambiguities and identify the real patterns. For instance a history student who has studied the Russian revolution would be better capable of identifying political tactics that are characteristic to totalitarian leadership, and is better capable to blow the whistle before things deteriorate further.

OK I am not going to entertain the arguments in his book any further because I think it is just propaganda as he constantly appeals to his audience’s emotions and is grossly subjective in his arguments; he also misrepresents the formal education system as there is an obvious gap between fact and fiction.

He suggests that his alternative education system is better than the current one. And I don’t think that there is much difference in the 1993 and 2012 system of education considering that I am speaking from the backdrop of a third world country and he speaks from a developed country - which is blessed with prestigious educational institutions which consistently produce world class businessmen.

I think that the creation of wealth is a contextual issue and the relevance of acquiring a degree in order to achieve wealth might depend on geographical or political location among other things.

He argues that people go for formal education in order to be employed or self employed. But how many graduates are not employed in the profession of their choice.

Maybe the failure in the formal education system is really in customising education to complement individual talent from an early age, although it might be flawed but it would mean that people wouldn’t have to go by trial and error when choosing which course to take.

But then again how does one determine talent and what does this have to do with entrepreneurship and wealth or is “talent” just an excuse not to excel in something else? This as I consider why we still see some students excel in all their subjects, and I think that the significance of formal education in wealth creation is that it is where most people develop their work ethic and using the above argument I would say that a polished work ethic surpasses raw talent.

Statistics show that a majority of graduates do not end up working in their fields of study.

I think that it would be foolish to ignore the merits of formal education in a person’s ability to assert him /herself in a business environment and attain wealth. It would be foolish to think that Oprah’s acquisition of a communication degree through formal education did not contribute to her relevance and success as a public speaker (in the casual definition of the word).

On my next posts ( post Wits vs wits) I will delve much deeper into the subject of other factors that contribute to wealth and thus whether formal education deserves to hold such prominence in the wealth creation argument.

Is there a relation between success in sport to economic success, for instance in soccer; the world’s biggest sport many European teams dominate the top 10 world rankings and leagues and there aren’t any African countries. Of course there has to be an imminent interest but what are the merits of economic growth in sports. We will look at the ascent of many nations in sports in relation to their economic ascension looking at a few isolated cases.

Common physical features theories of entrepreneurs and leaders, eg forehead etc.

Or let’s observe the unemployment rate versus the self-employment rate is entrepreneurial flair borne out of economic need for survival?

Is it more volatile in unpalatable circumstances where one develops a survival instinct? or is it rather borne out of a place of comfort where you are privileged to have peace of mind and the resources to make the ideas materialise?

Resourcefulness is the key when it comes to wealth creation there are more self made Billionaires on the top ten of the Forbes list. That must say something about how essential it is for one to bear one’s own authentic entrepreneurial vision and Unique Selling Proposition.


The richest men in all their respective continents are self made and the successors are growing substantially compared to their predecessors.

I will still do more research regarding the above mentioned questions while I continue with my next topic for the month: “The role of unity in wealth creation…”

I will analyse the things that make most partnerships fail and I will zoom in on communities like the Indian community which relatively knows little about nepotism but much about the power of unity in wealth creation.

Wits vs wits

About WITS vs wits: formal education vs charisma in wealth creation

This article is not meant to condone dependence on formal education in wealth creation and it is also not meant to condone the voluntary reluctance to attain formal education.

The fact is; everyone wants to know what is that which distinguishes the poor from the wealthy besides money.

Formal education’s role in the the advent of Oprah Winfrey

Oprah for example is one of the richest women in the world and has never denied the fact that her education was instrumental in launching her career as a world renowned public figure. She even established an academy for girls practically right behind my back yard in South Africa this indeed shows how much she values education.

She studied a course in Tennessee University through a scholarship which is testament to her academic brilliance. Considering that Oprah was in that time an “black American” in a Caucasian dominated environment she needed to have a bargaining tool that would atone the stereotypes surrounding her and that tool was her education.

The advent of Oprah is quite similar to that of black people in South Africa; a country which was plagued by racial segregation, political and economic repression. “Education is the key” – this is a phrase coined by many South African households particularly black households as education is deemed as a guaranteed way to overcome poverty for the black majority in South Africa. Along with historical inequities in South Africa; black Africans where deprived of that one commodity which is “education”, and this deprivation was the only way to pacify blacks from revolting against the system and a new type of education was introduced which was known as Bantu education (which was later abolished), which is an inferior; slave type of education that was meant to marginalize blacks structurally, till today the ripple effects of the apartheid regime are seen even in the corporate world where black executives are seen as ‘special cases’ and their skills are relatively doubted in comparison to their white predecessors and counterparts.

The fear
Today being in the month of January 2012 with the Matric results having just been released we see thousands of hopeful youths flocking to various institutions of learning; particularly the universities hoping to be admitted. This is a tradition which has now been at it’s peak as each year we see a surge of matriculants qualifying for University admission and likewise we still see a surge in unemployment.

Today there was a headline stating that one student died and 17 injured in a stampede at one of the country’s Universities those involved being late registrars. This not only reflects the desperation people have for acquiring formal education in my country but the fear associated with not being formally educated particularly at a tertiary institution. Although I am indeed among the lucky few who are studying at university, I am also interested in unravelling whether or not education is the only premium for obtaining security and financial prosperity.

Leadership and formal education

Even in politics we see that the most prolific figures like Nelson Mandela (Fort Hare and Witwatersrand University graduate), Karl Marx(who studied at the university of Bonn and Berlin), Martin Luther King (Morehouse College and Boston University) Steve Biko (University of Natal) and many more where formally educated or at least received a bit of tertiary education.

The ability to reason effectively made these martyrs of their own liberation struggles blossom and today we see them as icons of history.

Causality and causation
Is the above just a matter of “correlation doesn't imply causation? maybe by narrowing it down to education, we are not looking at the right variable or we are just looking at a drop and not the entire ocean. Maybe it is an innate character for most leaders to be endeared to receiving formal education among other things but this interest for acquiring knowledge might not necessarily mean that their effectiveness in leadership is completely related to their education.

In my experience education has definitely been an eye opener; as it helped me to see things from a different light, a motivator; as it helped me groom discipline and diligence in order to succeed and ultimately a confidence booster; as it gives me a sense of entitlement to claim my stake in the world.

Role of education in entrepreneurship
What has been the truth over the years is that in entrepreneurship for instance formal education holds a low premium as we see self confessed high school and college drop outs and people with learning disorders claiming high corporate positions.

We also have people like Robert Kyosaki who has practically dedicated most of his life to criticising the formal education system and he explains that among other things that it is tailored in a way that doesn't adequately train one for the real world.

But with the sophistication of formal education these days and the easy accessibility of information through IT, does it mean that today's breed of entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed in business through formal education. Looking at figures such as Harvard educated Mark Zuckerburg, Masters graduates at Stanford university - Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google.

The salutation
On the next post we will try to analyze the flaws in reasoning of the extreme anti vs. pro formal education activists in the creation of wealth. And see if we can strike a balance.

But before I call it a day I would like to salute Aliko Dangote a self made billionaire who earned the status of richest man in Africa and is hailed as the richest African in the world.

This is particularly fascinating because he epitomizes what I believe distinguishes the poor man from the rich man; which is "working faith".

What struck me most about his business philosophy is his sole investment in his country of origin; which is Nigeria, while many of his fellow citizens are moving out of the country seeking for greener pastures.

Who would imagine that the 51st richest man in the world comes from Africa this without aid from foreign countries? His business model was not abstract and complicated as he gradually diversified into the tertiary sector. His philosophy can simply be defined as passionate simplicity.

Although he has acquired a University degree in Cairo his entrepreneurial story reinforces the philosophy that all one needs to become a success is already at one's disposal and that you don't have to look afar reach to find opportunities