Mighty things always start from a small beginning, By Strive Masiyiwa
Mighty things from small beginnings grow”… [John Dryden]
Today was great as fans, students, and followers of Strive Masiyiwa enjoy yet another masterpiece from the Zimbabwean businessman and billionaire
In his words, He Writes
My mother once took me to a marketplace to sell second-hand furniture. Noticing that I was embarrassed, she said to me: “You must stoop to conquer; get rid of your pride and let’s do what puts food and school fees on the table. When you have those fancy qualifications, then you can look for jobs in newspapers!”
Give God something to amplify: Start something small, and start today! often time I tell most of my Africa brothers and sisters that God’s time for everything is now.
Having an idea about business, start-up, etc is great, but taking action to start is yet another thing unless you have the humility to start small and forget about your degrees, needing millions of naira or dollars to kickstart
Simply by believing in yourself, your ability, and [other than the knowledge they give you], you will not do the things that build capital.
Women like my mother worked the markets, saved every penny, and built themselves up until they sent people like me to study overseas. That is where you should draw your inspiration, and not on the hope of someone coming to save us, by whatever title. Stop hoping on others to do things you can easily start and grow to success in a matter of time
If you wait for someone to create the “right environment, facilities, good policies…” you might be waiting a very, very long time.
I coined the phrase: “As entrepreneurs, we fight to build our businesses and build our lives, in the conditions, not against the conditions we happen to find ourselves in.”
Once you get into the mindset that governments or donors must do something to make the conditions better, then you are paralyzed from taking any steps to solve problems
In Africa, we have poor sectors, including poor health system and most African nationals, has been for long waiting on the government to build world-class health systems, improved the life of health works, and many more, this dream of having a better health system when compared to what is obtainable across Europe, America and elsewhere
It’s high time we the natives of Africa learn to leverage on the problems surrounding us:
Everything is also relative; for example, someone in South Africa thinks the condition is terrible, but someone in Liberia would say what amazing opportunities they have!
Someone in Somalia is wishing to be in Nigeria, while those in Nigeria are saying what a hell being in West Africa Nigeria
If I start comparing conditions of America with conditions in Africa, all I will manage to do is organize a “self-pity party”! And by evening, some of you will be planning to cross the Sahara Desert! that is just how things are seen
I believe that God allowed me to tackle some of the worst obstacles so that I can one day say to you: “You can start and prosper even in the worst conditions right from any environment including across Africa. Even without a cent of capital to your name, you can start.” with the help of innovative technology ”the internet” you can get started right from your humble home
So how does one get started solving any problem [as an entrepreneur]?
#1. You need to understand the problem. Being able to see a problem, and even commenting about it, is not the level of understanding necessary to emerge with an entrepreneurial solution:
You read your study, you look at what others have done, or are already doing, to try to solve it. Your search for problems around you, around your community, nation, around Africa, or the world at larger and try to provide solutions to them
The fact that Africa is so big, the likelihood that someone else out of 1,3bn people that make up Africa population, is also looking at it, is very high! That’s okay. #Imagining solutions is one thing [and a good start] then you must take the next step of course, with the 3Ps in mind.
#2: Understand the solutions that are already being tried by others. See if you can contribute to the Solution Think!
#3. Start Small: Practical people are always those looking for a way to start small on a big problem! Even if you believe that God will use you to solve a big problem [as I do] and I know God can, which can only happen if you start
Then you will know from scripture that He likes you to pitch up with something in your hand, like the little boy with the fishes and bread that fed 5,000!
Starting has always been the hardest for many people, the same way a lot of dreams, ideas are buried because one failed to started, this is the reason is important for you to take action and start with whatever you have, and then work both hard and smarter
Now some of you have asked me here recently if I think schools should add “entrepreneurship” to the classroom curriculum as early as grade school.
Why not? Ideally, of course, the answer is yes
But the sad fact is: there’s already a shortage of science and maths teachers [and many other subjects, too]. Where would national education departments find enough excellent entrepreneurship teachers? It’s food for thought and worth considering, all through
Why not first start at home? Without changing a school curriculum, introducing a solution-seeking mindset can start very young. If you’re a parent or teacher, for example: Talk to your kids [at whatever age] like my mom talked to me at that marketplace.
All of you here know what an entrepreneur mindset is by now. Even as our communities nation, Africans struggle deeply to put this pandemic behind us, please urgent your kids
BOTH boys and girl children, to look through to the other side of problems, to imagine solutions, tell them that if only they can solve problems they all stand a better chance of becoming a millionaire or billionaire in the shortest time
Even as children! and never be too proud or too fearful to start very small right where they are, even while they may already be riding big unicorns in their dreams.
Let think peace, be positive, work hands to hands in finding solutions to problems around us, with action, hard-working and smart moves we can together make our world better.
End.
Credit: Strive Masiyiwa
ASLO READ: How I solved my problem in Nigeria. Strive Masiyiwa
