While his peers’ businesses struggled and collapsed, never to be resurrected, Vuyisa Qabaka dusted himself and embarked on a long journey along a bumpy road, until he reached the Promised Land of entrepreneurial breakthrough. It is quite tempting to compare his persistence to Nelson Mandela’s.
While entrepreneurship is often punted as the cure-all to the economic challenges that the country is facing – rising employment and slow growth – the harsh reality is that most aspiring entreprenuers are not prepared to go that extra mile and make things happen.
Start up capital, an innovative business idea and industry might not always just be enough to enable someone realise their dream of becoming the next Patrice Motsepe. So, what does it take?
Qabaka says: “It’s critically important to manage your emotions and energy. If you are unable to manage your emotions well, it becomes very to become frustrated by money, staff and partners. When that happens you get sick and break down, then it becomes difficult to recover. In the reverse, if you are unable to manage your energy, you overwork yourself and your body will break down. When your body breaks down, you begin to doubt yourself and struggle to trust others.
“When doubt creeps in, you get off-track and that’s when failure comes in. Have a healthy forecast of what you can achieve at a certain period of time. Don’t overestimate what you can achieve in a year and don’t underestimate what you can achieve in three years. Also have patience to see your business grow. “
Qabaka’s Abaphumeleli Business Consultants is focused on ecosystem development, stakeholder management and sector liaison. We specialise in transformation, BEE matching, supplier and enterprise development. its core objective is to find like-minded partners who want to grow thriving businesses. Its objective with the Entrepreneur Traction project is to develop and support technology start-ups. Another business which he owns is Socionext Africa, a high-impact innovative and social business incubator.
