Enterpreneurship

Just Go With It

I used to sell a lot of things in the township when I was young. I sold everything from 10c sweets and lunchtime snacks to a few second-hand appliances. My customers were teachers, classmates and the nurses at the hospital where my mother worked. The extra income helped our single-parent household. I loved business; I still do. I saw opportunities and went for them, turning a handsome profit. But I never saw myself as a traditional “entrepreneur”. Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a scary and elusive thing. You must have completed an in-depth market analysis. You need an amazing idea to get there. You should be a born risk-taker. A bold, super-special being. These “requirements” clearly meant that I did not fit the entrepreneurial mould. So, like many, I initially opted for the safety of a corporate job, even though I was running a profitable small business in-between lectures at the University of...

Work not just to earn, but to learn widely

I recently revisited a set of childhood parables on financial independence written by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter in the bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad. I remain intrigued that, almost 20 years after its initial publication and worldwide success, the majority of the book’s simple and relevant insights remain widely underutilised. Even though many of us aspire to achieve wealth and financial independence, few of us choose the path that could get us there, such as owning a business or making strategic investments. As a result, our economy continues to suffer from low levels of entrepreneurship and high levels of unemployment. Our society continues to define getting a job as a sign of success, when jobs should be seen as a means to an end, not the final destination. In fact, we should be choosing to be in a job because we want to learn certain skills that will help us...