Sheldon Adelson, American Billionaire businessman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, grew up as son of taxi driver in a rough part of Boston. He worked at a young age selling newspapers on street corners and owned his first business at a young 12 years of age. Once rated as one of the best Finance Ministers in the world and often called the best finance minister that this country has ever had, Minister Trevor Manuel said that unlocking entrepreneurship and improving the skills in the economy would lead to more people starting their own businesses and contributing to higher economic growth. Minister Manuel also said that entrepreneurship levels and skills in South Africa were low. This statement was made in 2005.
Li Ka-shing, the richest person from Asian descent in the world left school at the age of 15, after his father died, to look after his family. He worked 16 hours a day in a plastics trading company. He started his first company in 1950 at the age of 22 and grew it to a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong. As you dig into the beginnings of so many successful entrepreneurs it becomes clear that the educational level and the amount of money they had simply didn’t play a role in the successes that these super entrepreneurs had.
With an official unemployment rate of 23,5% in 2005 South Africa has the 13th highest unemployment rate in the world. This means that, just as Minister Manuel stated, South Africa has a great need for entrepreneurs. Entinology teaches us that Internet entrepreneurship offers low start-up costs internationally. This in itself offers South Africans a great benefit as South Africans often do not have the cash to finance entrepreneurship. But with as little as R200 ($25) a month you can start an internet business and run it from home with very little overheads. With open source you do not even need to know much about website design and development.
An interesting fact is that 67,3% of business owners indicated that unemployment was the main reason they started their own businesses. Only a tiny 2,6% said they started an own business for the high income. South Africa had an official unemployment rate of 23,5% in 2005, therefore with 67,3% of business owners stating that unemployment was there key motivator for starting their business, that the potential for South Africa to explode entrepreneurship is very good, given the right political environment. Despite having amongst the most expensive telecommunications costs in the world, there is one place where the playing field can be regarded as a platform where size and bank accounts do not count. The Internet!
In Entinology, the study of entrepreneurship on the internet, one of the key factors to entrepreneurial success is low risk and high return. A complete contradiction to what people across the world are being taught. You need money to make money simply doesn’t apply to the Internet. A further benefit that the Internet offers is worldwide coverage to more than a quarter of the world’s population. Still the Internet hasn’t exploded in South Africa yet, meaning that it is untouched in so many ways.
Educating people in business and finance management, simply equip existing entrepreneurs to improve their chances of success, however the real science of entrepreneurship which is required for wealth creation, runs much deeper. The systems that entrepreneurs use and their psychological profiles are what make them truly successful. No amount of money or university degrees can teach an entrepreneur to be successful. It is learning and applying the systems of entrepreneurship that does.
South Africans have a choice. Do they wish to stand with 77% of battling employees or beg with 23% of unemployed people in the country, or do they want to be wealthy leaders of the entrepreneurial world. It simply takes action and making the decision to make this dream a reality. The choice is in your hands, simply learn the systems that you require, the Internet is filled with these skills and knowledge, a true gold mine of information. Just take the decision and stick to the systems.
Learn more about Entrepreneurship on the Internet. Stop by webmentor.co.za and find more entrepreneur training course information or book your seat in their next Training course.
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