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Whenever I’m invited to speak in a business conference, I jokingly introduce myself as a successful failure. Entrepreneurship has shown me flames, made serious losses, and above all learnt many lessons. A hungry stomach, an empty wallet, and a broken heart can teach you the best lessons in life. Adversity reveals character. It's the weight that sharpens the axe. Embrace the challenge, for without it, growth is impossible. Pain now, strength later. Pain precedes progress. It's the valleys that make the peaks so satisfying. Don't avoid pain. Embrace it. Lean into it. That's where growth lives. Comfort is the kiss of death. Discomfort is your friend. Lean into the resistance, the uneasiness, the fear. That's where growth lives. This year I had a privilege to visit USA for two months on an entrepreneurship speaking tour, across eight different states. I also visited the in Martinsburg Adventist Church where we held international day, celebrating different nationalities. The social event was a reminder of the soon coming beautiful day, by the sea of glass where multitudes from different nationalities will gather with the Lamb. The tour gave me time to reflect on so many things such as purpose, and alignment to the bigger wagon.
I later visited Detroit, where Afro Nations was taking place, in order to understand how events, can be scaled to global heights, function as a juggernaut beyond conversations, leading to corporate social investment. In 2023 alone, in Portugal, Afro Nation had a direct impact of around € 114 million, with around 40,000 people from over 40 countries in attendance. The electrifying festival has cut through boundaries, uniting people through the power of music and celebrating the rich diversity of African culture and dexterity. Coming back home, and attending ASI national convention, one of the igniting speakers, BGF CEO, Charles Chitambo, hammered something which resonated with me. I appreciated that leadership is other centered, not self centered. It is a privilege to improve other’s quality of life. The problems we are dealing with are quite complex and intractable. We need a multiplicity of solutions, and the advantage of viewing corporate social responsibility from an ecosystem approach. Business itself cannot continue to be an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty. Entrepreneurialism tends to inspire the problem-solving thinking that a country needs. Entrepreneurial activities create the potential to transform small enterprises into legacy businesses. So, then I decided to write down lessons that any of us can relate with, especially ASI members.
Lesson 1 Destiny: Some are born with greatness, and some thrive for it.
We now live in a hyper connected and competitive world; intelligence is no longer a reliable advantage. Talent is universal but opportunity is scarce. The important drivers of anything tied to money, is stories people tell themselves and the preference they have for goods and services. The quality of your work and the doors that open for you are heavily linked to your ability to Connect, Create Chemistry, which is a lifetime, Currency. Anything that keeps you in the game has a quantified advantage. Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. Your time is limited, so don't waste it. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles that he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.
Lesson 2 Leadership: smooth seas don’t make skilful sailors
Success is not final, failure is not fatal, and it is the courage to continue that count. To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you. Bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. The will to win, the desire to succeed, and the urge to reach your full potential, these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. The secret to success, it’s no secret. You need a winning attitude, honesty and integrity, and a burning desire to succeed. Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you. A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you. Behind the cloud, the sun is still shining. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end. There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.
Lesson 3 Compound Effect: Rome wasn’t built in a Day.
There are lots of overnight tragedies and there are rarely overnight miracles. Growth is driven by compounding, which takes time. Destruction is driven by single points of failure, which can happen in seconds, and loss of confidence, which can happen in an instant. It is easy to create a narrative around pessimism because the story pieces tend to be fresher and more recent. Optimistic narrative requires looking at a long stretch of history and developments, which people tend to forget and take more effort to piece together. And in careers, where reputations take a lifetime to build and a single email to destroy. The short sting of pessimism prevails while the powerful pull of optimism goes unnoticed. Successful entrepreneurs will tell you that profits are not made once off but through a cycle called repetition. The same customer coming again because of good services and experience will eventually influence others to join you. These entrepreneurs have a flair for creativity, an innate ability to create and innovate which is critical. Their approach to problem solving is informed by the perspective that no entrepreneur can solve all problems. Therefore, team work is important in problem solving, and the importance of the ability to ask the right questions.
Lesson 4 Risks: Measure twice but cut once.
What gives USA an unfair advantage in entrepreneurship over other regions.? Its capital risk culture. Founders can raise $15m for an idea with a 10% chance of success simply because Venture capitals have the dry powder and appetite for risk. Europe and Africa have failed to replicate this. The essence of entrepreneurship is problem solving a problem for a need that people are willing to pay a financial sum for. Stop innovating in a vacuum, become OK with a lot of things going wrong. You can be wrong half the time and still make a fortune. Define the cost of success and be ready to pay for it because nothing worthwhile is free. Remember that most entrepreneurial costs don't have a visible tag. Uncertainty, doubt, and regret are common costs in Entrepreneurship. You have to view them as fees. Worship room for error, it may look like conservative, but it will keep you in the game and it can pay itself many times over. Avoid extreme ends of financial decisions. Everyone's goals and desires will change over time, and the more extreme your past decisions were the more you may regret them as you evolve. You should like risk because it pays off over time. But you should be paranoid of ruinous risk because it prevents you from future risks that will pay off over time. Define the game you are playing, and make sure your actions are not influenced by people playing a different game. For example, risk is an integral part of any business but it is a hugely complex concept to understand, in fact it’s a language of its own. One mistake and the entire trajectory of life can change. It takes certain energy for you to be broke and still batting. Therefore, you must learn to use the weekend to design the life you choose, instead of escaping the life you have. You can run forever and still get nowhere because you cannot outrun memories.
Lesson 5 Humility: The sky will fall one day but not on everyone.
Some people are born in families which encourage education, others are against it. Some are born into flourishing economies encouraging entrepreneurship, some are born into war and destitution. I want you to be successful and I want you to earn it. But realize that not all success is tied to hard work, and not all poverty is due to laziness. Keep this in mind when judging others, including yourself. Go out of your way to find humility when things are right, and forgiveness/compassion when they go wrong. Because it is never as good or as bad as it looks. the world is big and complex. Luck and risk are both real and hard to identify. You are shaped by life’s darkest questions, but you are defined by your decision to voluntarily engage in the quest for answers. The starting point for any confused man is prayer. Do so when judging yourself and others. Respect the power of luck and risk, you will have a better chance of focusing on things you can actually control. You will have a better chance of finding the right role models. Time is the most powerful force in entrepreneurship, it makes small things grow big, and big mistakes fade away. It can't neutralize luck and risk, but it pushes results closer to what people deserve.
Written by
Elder Nkosana George Mazibisa
Entrepreneur/Speaker/Author
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