Business
Developing An Entrepreneurial Mindset
By Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, CEO of AVATAR
When does the mind set of an entrepreneur start to develop? In the world of information technology there are many thirteen-year olds who are creating amazing apps and other technologically advanced systems from the seclusion of their bedrooms. Yet I am of the opinion that it is not the person that develops a certain mind set, but the circumstances around the individual that shapes such.
When I was around 13, my mother encouraged me to stay busy during school holidays and subsequently gave me a packet filled with sweets with the instruction to “go and sell the sweets”. Soon I became known as the sweet guy by the children at school. Because I were not particularly fond of this new nick name I started looking for a better way of selling the sweets; I encouraged one of my friends to start selling the sweets for me. In return I offered him 10 percent of the profit.
It did not take long before I moved from sweet selling to sweet management with about 20 friends as part of my sales force. It was this change from sales to management that defines the moment I started the journey as an entrepreneur.
But how does one develop the entrepreneurial spirit?
There is a common misperception that entrepreneurs are those people who make things happen by acting on impulse. It might look to the average person as if Sir Richard Branson is one crazy business man, but in fact everything he does is born out of careful planning with an objective in mind. Taking calculated risks are part of an entrepreneur’s make up. Yes, entrepreneurs generally have a bigger risk appetite; they know when to take a risk and when not to.
One of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs worldwide, but particularly in developing countries such as South Africa, is financial support. The tech environment is a prime example of the chicken-and-egg situation. An investor will not fund an idea which has not worked, but an entreprener needs money to make the idea work.
Thus the key lies in the entrepreneurial mindset where one would need to find a midpoint. The entrepreneur dedicates time and takes basic steps to make an idea happen to reduce the risk associated with investments. This action can be a simple thing such as building a user base for whatever the idea might be, showing progress and market adoption rates. Once one has established this user base it will be easier to find a partner who would be willing to invest in one’s business.
Not only are entrepreneurs great risk managers, they are also visionaries. A successful entrepreneur is not motivated by money, but by seeing the vision come together. Take Mark Zuckerberg as an example. He had a vision of connecting his peers who were all students at the same university.
