People have to stay Hungry
THERE are quite a lot of new initiatives aimed at educating South African youth about managing their finances, but sometimes the simplest form of advice actually comes from parents not pandering to their every demand. I have only known a world where there were 110% bonds on houses, and credit cards were expected rather than a nice-to-have. I was stumped - what the hell was a deposit, and where was I going to get R150k in cash on hand? When it didn’t materialise, I called him back, worried that perhaps I hadn’t given him the right account number or that he didn’t realise the meaning of the word “urgent”. Be cruel to be kind, it can be the greatest gift He pointed to an example he knew, where the father had been asked by one of his kids to stand surety on a business property she wanted. Much to the child’s dismay, the father refused but went out to make an alternative plan and sure enough, with a bit of digging he came up with a far more suitable and cost-effective property. Do we want the next generation of South Africans growing up like that and, more importantly, can we ourselves afford to just give indiscriminately?
At 29 I am a “parent” to four kids - one step-daughter and three foster children. I spend a lot of time trying to work out how we are going to afford things for them like education, accommodation and even a car for the step-daughter in five years’ time.
The flip side of that is that at 29 I am young enough to have grown up in 20 years of bull market conditions, in a place where I have never really had to think of anything except take it for granted that life was driven by credit.
Two years ago, we took the decision to move into a bigger house and rent out our smaller place. When we applied for finance at the banks, they came back asking us for a 10% deposit; then we also needed to cover roughly R50 000 in transfer fees.
Of course, I followed that time-old tradition of my generation and dialled daddy.
I explained my requirements, sent him my bank account details, hung up the phone and then waited, expecting the money to arrive in my account.
His response left me absolutely gobsmacked: “You get the first two-thirds of it and I’ll give you the balance as an interest-bearing loan.”
Say what?!
Didn’t he understand that one-third did me no good? I needed it all.
Long story short, it took us a year longer to raise the money. Eventually we did it and we got the house, but not without some serious sweat and discipline.
It didn’t feel like it at the time, but it was actually a very important lesson for me to learn and in hindsight I am grateful for the experience.
In December the shoe was on the other foot, when the cousin of one of the foster kids came through looking for R10 000 to do a course at Damelin. Do I just roll over and say it is a nice thing to do, or do I follow my dad’s example?
While interviewing Mark Barnes from Purple Capital, I brought up the subject and he said something which I thought was very true: “People have to stay hungry. If everything is given to them, they will never know what it is like to be hungry.”
If we look at the way the Greeks have reacted to the proposed austerity measures in their country, we start to realise what happens when nobody stays hungry.
By Marc Ashton - Fin24
Dare to dream
WHEN young South Africans wake up in the morning, they need to have faith that their dreams and aspirations for a better life can be achieved. His eight-minute address gave me faith that if this is the calibre of person coming through, there is hope for this country. It is not my place to tell anybody what to do with their money, but at least think in context. The R4 000 you’re planning to spend on an Xbox Kinect for your 13-year-old could put a child through school for a year, or teach an adult to read or write. Come on, do your bit! Think twice before waving away that woman who comes to your gate with a tablecloth she’s made, or the guy with a portrait he’s painted. Last year he was failing every subject and achieved a 13% average. A year later, with an opportunity to dream, he is achieving a C average and passing maths, science and business - and he has a chance of a tertiary education. He pointed out that when a trade delegation from one of France’s top 10 industrialists gets on a plane to attend a trade meeting in China, every single person on that plane knows why he or she is there - it is not just a case of seeing how many hangers-on you can attach to a delegation. If you create a poor example at the highest level or give an impression that the fulfilment of dreams is out of reach and only for the elite, the younger generation will always feel disenfranchised.
Looking back over my notes from the Foresight 2011 event held at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) on Tuesday night, this was probably the most telling message that came out of the presentation.
When I say “young South Africans” I don’t mean those who can afford an MBA at Gibs or one of the other business colleges, but rather those among the broader population who don’t have the same access to opportunities and in many ways are written off before they even start.
I had never heard Shaka Sisulu speak before and, truth be told, when he came on to speak at the event I was ogling the great legs on the blonde next to me rather than really listening. But after about 30 seconds he had my attention.
For those who don’t know, Sisulu is an entrepreneur and - for want of a better word - a youth activist involved in a variety of social responsibility as well as ANC and ANC Youth League structures.
His message was really well put across: there is a growing youthful population coming into the global economy and irrespective of whether you are in France or South Africa, if these young people do not have realistic dreams to aspire to there will be a sense of restlessness and uncertainty.
Lyal White from Gibs pointed out that Africa’s greatest opportunity and threat was probably the fact that we have 1 billion people under the age of 35 all jostling for their place in society.
Would you rather have a billion people vulnerable to rhetoric from Julius Malema, or the same billion gravitating towards education, innovation and entrepreneurship?
We see phrases like “social entrepreneurship” and “enterprise development” thrown around as some of the solutions to addressing our woes - but I’d argue that this is still making it somebody else’s problem.
Instead of ploughing money into Apple, Sony and Microsoft imports, can you not put what you were going to spend on these products into supporting local entrepreneurs and manufacturers?
You want to make somebody’s dream come true? Then make it worthwhile for those entrepreneurs who toil day in and day out to get themselves going by making a South African product.
You can’t even begin to contemplate the “pay it forward” multiplier effect of supporting that entrepreneur, or helping that young person get started.
For those who dismiss this as little more than happy clappy stuff and wishful thinking, I’ll quickly sum up the situation of a 16-year-old we have been sponsoring through high school.
Did somebody say “dare to dream”?
Before I sign off, I have an indirect parting shot via Phutuma Nhleko, the MTN CEO who also spoke at the Gibs event. Nhleko raised an important point in the question-and-answer session afterwards, which I think contains a lesson government role models should heed.
A lesson we still need to learn.
Achievable dreams and the culture of realistic dreaming start at the top, and need to be an inspiration to the generations coming through.
By Marc Ashton - Fin24.com
Backing brilliance
I think, is a huge problem with the approach to entrepreneurship in South Africa at the moment: there is a lot of high-level talk and a lot of grassroots activity - but not enough coordination between the various parties. In other words, there is no shortage of position papers and projects, yet the results are still shaky. Throwing money at entrepreneurship and the small business sector is not working - you need smart entrepreneurs building smart businesses. A worthy project to punt Go and check out the website of the Awethu Project and watch the video on the site to get some idea of what they do. They are not talking about supporting a basket-making business or a boerewors stand, but rather the entrepreneurial qualities that got the guys started in running their own businesses. They are throwing resources at entrepreneurs who are smart enough to evolve from running a survival business to managing fully-fledged commercial enterprises. No offence to those who write position papers, but you can’t capture the spirit these individuals possess.
I chat to quite a few funders and entrepreneurs and the same discussions come up regularly - we can’t bridge this gap, there are good entrepreneurs out there but we can’t find them and back them.
Reading over the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report on SA released in May 2010, I picked up some interesting comments on the low education levels of the country and how this is still holding back small business growth.
So with those two factors in mind, I have done the legwork and found the project you need to back in 2011.
If you are a corporate funder, angel investor or entrepreneur then this message is for you.
When I first heard of Awethu I didn’t give it more than a cursory glance. It sounded like a nice project by some highly educated guys who were doing good, but part of me said I had heard it all before.
However, I sat down for drinks with Yusuf who runs Awethu and he explained it to me in more detail. These guys are not backing small businesses, they’re backing entrepreneurs.
The principles that apply to Silicon Cape, where the same entrepreneurs regularly secure venture capital funding because they’ve developed track records as quality business managers and owners, could hold good for the people coming through Awethu.
Yusuf was talking about some of the entrepreneurs they have already backed - young South Africans out of the townships who outscore actuaries on business tests, or the guy who risked everything to move from Rustenburg to Johannesburg to equip himself with skills to launch his business.
These people want to scale up the project in 2011 and if corporate South Africa backs them, they can do it - fast.
So what are you waiting for? Check out the video on their site and listen to the entrepreneurial stories.
If South Africa needs a new generation of entrepreneurship champions, you’ll find them at Awethu.
By Marc Ashton from - Fin24,com
An article informing us about new thinking about personal hygiene. This shows why consumers would be receptive to a novel product such as DryBath.
DryBath- First glimpse
The attached pictures are of the innovative packaging that DryBath™ will be sold in. A sachet will have 20ml of DryBath™ (enough for to substitute one bath), and we would like to sell it for a very cheap price of R5-00 per sachet to charities. The other image is a picture of the label for the sachets. NB- the “snap and squeeze” trademark is property of Easy Packaging SA.
The official Headboy Industries logo
news about interview on Cape Talk/702 radio
OVERNIGHT LIVE 06 September 2009 1:05 AM
PRESENTED BY DAVID DONDE
Ludwick Marishane, an 18-year-old inventor and entrepreneur, spoke to David about a product in the pipeline which can substitute taking a bath. It will clean and sanitise the body and is directed at communities who still await running water, so do not have the privilege of showers or baths. Information will be available shortly on http://headboyindustries.tumblr.com .
Student Entrepreneurs Showcase DryBathTM -from UCT RCIPS
Student Entrepreneurs Showcase DryBathTM -from UCT RCIPS
News
Student Entrepreneurs Showcase DryBathTM
18 June 2009
UCT student entrepreneurs Keoikantse Marungwana and Ludwick Marishane showcased their product DryBathTM at the Water and Sanitation Conference at the V&A Hotel Waterfront between 26 and 27 May 2009. Following the event Keoikantse said that “It was a very good platform and allowed us to get important contacts which we can now engage with directly.” They certainly obtained important feedback regarding their product from the diverse range of conference attendees who included various NGO’s. Dr Andrew Bailey of RCIPS mentioned that “the students have written an already impressive business plan and they have put a great deal of thought and effort into researching, developing and testing their product. The conference attendance has also highlighted important areas that will need to be addressed before their product can enter the market”. RCIPS funded the students’ attendance at the event from prize money awarded to RCIPS in 2008 by the Innovation Fund as part of their Innovative Higher Education Institution Competition.
