Risk & reward: Start and run a successful business in South Africa
By Thabani Zulu
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Risk & reward - Thabani Zulu
Chapter 3
Deciding on your business
Am I made for this?
Do I have the time?
What business must I start?
Does this business have a market?
What about the competition?
Will I make money doing this?
Setting up a business is not easy. It requires a lot of planning, financial resources and emotional investment. By the time you realise that you have entered into a wrong venture, it may be too late. Therefore, it is critical that you make the right choice when deciding on a business venture. Be careful not to be a Jack of all trades
, and venture into everything at the risk of not being seen as a specialist, and failing to attract a specific market. There is a dangerous surge in South Africa of companies being registered that purport to be able to do everything, such as ABC Enterprise CC selling stationery, road construction, building, catering services, facilitation and training. The old adage Jack of all trades, master of none
still holds true. There are many ventures that you can enter into, for example:
property development;
catering;
maize production;
security; or
business consulting.
In this chapter, I want us to explore some of the critical factors that you should take into consideration before deciding which business to enter into.
Your personal aspirations
In this discussion, it is important to realise upfront that you may not be alone in the business you intend starting. We will look at this issue in more detail in Chapter 5: Choosing your partners. But whether you are alone or in a group, the sum total of you
must possess the attributes that we will discuss in this section.
Most businesses fail because of the owner or owners. They set it up because they believed it would be profitable, and ignored the fact that they would have to run it to profitability. Perhaps it is not in line with their interests, they lack the time and energy to manage it, and they generally find it boring
to run. Running your own business takes up more time than being employed, therefore you need to ask yourself if you have the time. If you don’t, do not bother getting into business, because it simply will not work. It will take you to make your business survive and succeed.
One of my acquaintances decided to take the leap and resign from work to start a business. What transpired later were his fundamental reasons for taking such a step. He was angry with his employer and thought he was underpaid and not being promoted to a position of power. His motivations were power and greed. He did not have the energy, in fact he was simply too lazy to run a business, even though he wanted to own one. All he prided himself on was that he had a business of his own and could produce proof of this in the form of business cards and company profiles. That gave him the glory, but it was short-lived.
Area of interest
Choose an area that you have a passion for and enjoy engaging in. Do not get into agriculture if you find it too dirty and hope you will employ a manager to run the business for you. Your hands must get dirty. After all, it is your business!
Have you noticed how successful you become in areas that really interest you? As a schoolboy I used to know a song by heart from the day it was released, yet never managed to memorise significant history dates and events. My history marks were abysmal, but my musical knowledge was superb! That was my area of interest, and it became my area of excellence. Business is not so dissimilar. You become great and successful at what you enjoy waking up in the morning to do. Your passion becomes easy to spot and will gain you the support of clients and other business