Page 9 - Dainfern Precinct Living 9 2020

PRECINCT LIVING
suggested by Mongi, one of the lead “
cost price, selling eggs would be both a
cheap source of protein for customers and
There are so
a viable entrepreneurial strategy.
many people around
And thus Siyakha was born. The name—
meaning ‘we are building’ in isiZulu - was
variety of skills. All we
volunteers in Thabo Mbeki. In order to get us with such a wide
involved, prospective participants first had have to do is access
to submit an application about the nature
of their business, their motivations to start the resources hiding in
it, their relevant experience, and what they plain sight. “
might need in order to make the business
a success. Thereafter, Siyakha connects
applicants with mentors and provides
them with workshops in order to nurture
the skills that can turn business ideas into Nqobile spoke about the importance of
entrepreneurial successes. entrepreneurship, especially in places like
townships and informal settlements. At a
We decided that a good starting point time when big, established industries such
would be a series of workshops where as banking have grown to fill the available
we could get to know the entrepreneurs space in a given market, new economic
better, and where they could learn from growth and employment could only come
and meet one another. The inaugural from the creativity of entrepreneurs. “It might
workshop on that September morning not sound like much to you, but if you’re
began with a series of comments from talking about employing six people, then
some of the people leading the initiative. you’re talking about supporting six families.
Ceren, who was also the MC, began And if you’re talking about six families then
by encouraging the attendees to think you’re talking about twelve kids that are
hard about why they wanted to be going to school, twelve kids that are fed.”
entrepreneurs: What do you think people
need and why? What critical skills might Willem, through a series of amusing
make you the best person to fill that need? anecdotes, highlighted the importance of
And what passions do you have that will persistence and of getting out of one’s own
sustain your resolve through the ups and way. So often, it’s the small things that
downs of running a business? keep us stagnant; learning what holds us
back and building momentum despite that
“You should dream big. But start small,” is the key to success. Of particular interest
she said. to those assembled was Willem’s nascent
business providing solar solutions to places
SIYAKHA, WE Margaret encouraged resilience
like Thabo Mbeki.
and creativity in the face of seeming
impossibility. “A lack of capital is never
ARE BUILDING a good enough reason to not start a
business. Adaptability and strategy are
the keys to overcoming challenges. Most
importantly: leave your customers with a
reason to come back.”
My contribution to the session was to
interview Mary and Bobs, a couple that
had already been trying their hand at
entrepreneurship. While Bobs tried to start
a garden services business, Mary sold
scones. She had already differentiated her
product by making her scones with milk
rather than water - a difference that she
said her customers appreciated. (We all got
to taste the difference as we’d supported
Mary by buying her scones for that
morning’s tea break.) More impressively,
she had overcome her lack of access to
electricity by selling her labour for the use
of an oven until she could afford to buy
her own small oven. Together, the couple
aspire to bring low-cost solar solutions to
their home country, Malawi.
Marlese closed the meeting on an
encouraging note: “There are so many
people around us with such a wide variety
of skills. All we have to do is access the
resources hiding in plain sight.”

Initiatives like these are full of challenges,
but none of them are insurmountable.
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DPL