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By Abigirl Phiri
Entrepreneurship is a calculated risk especially for those who dive in whole heartedly, taking it up as a fulltime job. Calculated risk is a large portion of what entrepreneurship is all about.
It must be clarified that there are many types of entrepreneurship forms that are present in this day and age. You might have the knack to be a technopreneur, agripreneur, academic entrepreneur, corporate entrepreneur, social entrepreneur or a green entrepreneur.
Whichever the case, the common characteristics are that these entrepreneurs are not only creative but also innovative. They always come up with new ways of doing things that will eventually make life easy for the people. They make the first move and stance before the rest of the people realize what it is going on. They are the first movers who strike the iron whilst it is still hot. This is a distinctive characteristic that sets them apart from other people. They thrive on this and is the reason why we end up having serial entrepreneurs jumping from this venture going to the next with much success. In this day and age there are many entrepreneurs that have brought wonders to the way we now live. Mark Zuckerberg is one such young entrepreneur who managed to connect the whole world through Facebook which this was a novel idea which made life easier for us all concerned.
Indeed, it’s noteworthy to point out that the forefathers of this discipline such as Schumpeter was right in indicating that some innovations have the power to creatively disrupt the current state of things. This is exactly what happened when digital photography disrupted film photography and shook things up for big giants such as Kodak. Evidently, this was the act and art of technopreneurs who up to now are not putting their guns down or lying idle for they are continuing with this good work.
Entrepreneurship is a word derived from French “enterprendre” which means to undertake or develop something thus they are staying true to this definition. Nowadays even university graduates are being exhorted to start their own small business that will help in wealth creation of the whole nation, improving the quality of life of the general people and creating employment through these new ventures. Therefore, you might like to try your hand at this in thing if you are passionate about something.
If you have what it takes, you need to bring it on and show the world what you are made of. Do not die with your brilliant ideas, try them out, put them to use and you never know what might happen. It’s not a good thing to have misgivings later in your life when someone else ends up implementing a similar idea to fruition.
Most entrepreneurs are driven by a vision that is the ability to have foresight in what you want to achieve. It might take long and the road might be a bumpy one but it’s rewarding to know you did it by yourself with your own blood, sweat and tears. Henceforth, the big question my dear readers is that do you have what it takes? Do you have the guts to defy all odds? And start something beautiful that will land you a place in history and the hallmark of fame like it did big names like that of Steve Jobs with his apple products.
Likewise, Page and Brin made history when they made the lives of those with the thirst for knowledge simpler through their brain child Google where you can get any type of information at any time of the day, ubiquitously. Hewlett and Packard also invented their HP brand which l am actually using to type this article not leaving out Bill Gates with his Microsoft.
Nonetheless, my all-time favorite is Jack Ma with his Ali Baba giant that has diversified into so many ventures. In Zimbabwe we have our own, now billionaire who achieved it all through entrepreneurship who is none other than Dr Strive Masiwa. He is also the brains behind the telecommunications giant “Econet” whilst in Nigeria there is the renowned Aliko Dangote. At one point all these entrepreneurs had only a dream and a vision in their heads but they took time to follow them out and “wala” they made it not on the first go but through countless try outs until fortune smiled on them.
This entrepreneurial culture should be inculcated in as young as the kindergarten kids so that by the time they are adults they have fast and running businesses generating income for themselves. In Africa we need more entrepreneurial minded people to propel the continent to greater heights. The 21st century requires fast thinking individuals that change with time that will take up the doctrine of flexibility and be living testimonies of it. If this paradigm shift is incorporated, of losing the conventional way of doing things, we will go far. Imitating innovations is not a bad thing but it’s high time we capacitate ourselves to come forth with fruitful novel ideas that will lead to even indigenous innovations.
