The Sunday Mail
Entrepreneurship Matters
Dr Kudzanai Vere
THE world will never benefit from ideas that will remain concealed.
People eat, drink, wear and drive products and services — not ideas.
Anyone who wants to succeed in business must be a doer.
Zimbabwe is renowned for producing intelligent people, yet this is not quite apparent when you consider what they produce.
The missing link is execution or implementation.
Providing a solution
The world is faced with a myriad of challenges and we need to provide the solutions.
No one will come from Pluto, Mars or Jupiter with solutions to our challenges.
We know them and are better positioned to solve them.
Every business provides a solution to some challenges people face.
The issue is identifying challenges that align with our passion, expertise, profession or endowments (natural gifting or talent).
Capital is not always an impediment to success in business.
We have almost everything we need to succeed in life and business but, usually, our major undoing is our mental disposition.
We have to be open-minded, desist from complaining and do something about it.
We also need to see opportunities as they present themselves.
Arise and shine
No one knows what is planted in a field until it germinates.
Sharing or implementing your ideas is the only way people will become exposed to them.
That our people are very educated is the key starting point.
Can we not use what we learnt in college to industrialise?
We cannot all be entrepreneurs but those who appear to have the capacity to start businesses are seemingly complacent.
We have future businesspeople who remain entrapped by the paycheque mentality.
Keep your identity
Every seed, no matter how similar it is to others, has its own unique DNA.
Do not be consumed by others by becoming a renowned imitator.
Diversity brings variety to business.
We cannot all be selling the same item.
You cannot be everywhere and for everyone.
The same applies to business.
You need to concentrate on your niche and grow big.
Yes, it is possible to diversify, but investing in businesses that are linked assists in creating beneficial synergies and resource allocation.
We have people with a tendency of leaving incomplete projects by moving to the next before the initial one even turns its first wheel.
What you focus on grows.
It definitely pays off if it is given time and effort.
Nothing happens until you do it.
Let us all rise to solve challenges bedevilling our planet.
◆ Dr Kudzanai Vere is a published author and director of programmes at the Institute of Entrepreneurs Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on [email protected] or +263719592232
