Cape Town - As the South African government tries to empower more young entrepreneurs amid a high unemployment rate, one man is already growing his technological enterprise which he started out of the boot of his car 15 years ago and has expanded across the country.
He shared his incredible story of perseverance and resilience during his keynote address at the annual Association of African Business Schools Conference hosted by the University of Stellenbosch Business School earlier this month. “In a group of six, each would pay R400 a month and within six months each one of them would have a computer. In some schools, I would tell the teachers to give me 70 percent of R2,400 in order for me to buy the computer and they pay the remainder the following month. In dealing with the negativity, I developed a thicker skin and kept on going to the schools and built a relationship with some teachers. Some of these relationships are ones I have still maintained to this very day,” he said.
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to really focus on what they are doing. “Only once you have achieved success in this can you then go on to venture on new projects. Always remain as passionate as you can about what you do because you will face some extremely challenging times where passion will keep you sustained and breathe a fire to your spirit.