Karabo Che Mokoape - The 7 Things Every Young Black Entrepreneur Should Know

The 7 Things Every Young Black Entrepreneur Should Know

Published by Zebra Press

an imprint of Penguin Random House (Pty) Ltd

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www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za

First published 2019

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Publication Penguin Random House 2019

Text Karabo Che Mokoape 2019

Cover image Shutterstock

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.

ISBN 978 1 77609 433 2 (print)

ISBN 978 1 77609 434 9 (ePub)

For Thuli, Somila and Samora

I thank God for His Grace, my parents for their love, my wife and children for their sacrifices, and my friends for their encouragement

A HARD TRUTH

Black man, youre on your own. Believe it. Of all the things my parents taught me growing up, this one has proved most true of all. It has taken me a long time to make peace with this essential truth, but I can no longer deny it. Its true for me and its true for you. As black men and women, no one is going to give us anything. Life is not going to give us anything. White people are certainly not going to give us anything. Whatever we want, whatever we hope for, whatever we dream of, we will have to build it with our own hands. This book is written with the purpose of giving you practical and philosophical guidelines for how you can build your own future, overcoming the peculiar challenges that come with being young and black.

The truth is that business by its very nature is precarious. There is no such thing as guaranteed success. This is as true for you and me as it is for the trust fund heir to a hedge fund fortune. The real difference is that, when he fails, he still has his trust fund, while your and my failure will land us on the street. Moreover, the fact that business is one part skill, one part luck means that the more rolls of the dice you have, the better your odds of success. As black people, more often than not we dont have the luxury of a second, third and fourth roll of the entrepreneurial dice. It is with those narrow odds in mind that I have written this book. In life, half the trick is to know and understand the rules of the game youre playing. And in the game called entrepreneurship, the rules have not been formulated with the interests of the black entrepreneur in mind. But rather than lament that fact, it is incumbent on the black entrepreneur to make the best of their cards as they have been dealt. That is the task of the here and now. And that is the task of this book. That is to say, its express purpose is to help black entrepreneurs identify and apply a set of practical and philosophical techniques to survive and thrive in the hostile environment in which they find themselves.

In life, half the trick is to know and understand the rules of the game youre playing

What about the structural issues that continue to perpetuate the race-based inequalities that make it so very hard to succeed as a black entrepreneur? Surely, those cant be ignored or be accepted as faits accomplis? What can this book contribute to that discussion? These are fair questions. Indeed, they are essential questions. The answer, unsatisfying as it must surely be, is that those questions must largely be left for another day and another book. This is not because there is nothing to be said about these important structural issues. Quite the contrary! Its precisely because there is so very much to be said that one cannot possibly do justice to the subject matter in this short book. So, we limit the scope of our discussion in this book to the salient questions of the here and now, rather than those of the yearned-for future. We shall take the world as it is and build a framework that will improve our chances in the midst of the injustices that prevail. Suffice it to say that the author is among those completely persuaded that the status quo cannot prevail. The kind of structural, race-based and class-based inequality that undergirds our current economic system cannot stand. It must be overturned in favour of a more just and equitable model of economic growth that is more receptive to, and inclusive of, the needs of all citizens. Change is coming. Change must come. But between here and there, black people like you and me are left to find ways to thrive in the here and now. This book hopes to help guide you on your journey, to give you the best possible chance of succeeding. It is my hope that I can help you improve the odds in your favour, even if just a little.

Black man, youre on your own. This is an essential truth.

INTRODUCTION

I want to begin by telling you that I am an entrepreneur. That is to say, Ive woken up every day for the last ten years of my life concerned with how I was going to deliver my services better, hold onto my clients, cover the payroll at the end of the month and have enough left over to pay my personal bills. I understand budget deficits, short payments by customers and the many other daily risks that threaten to sink a business. I also understand what it feels like when your best efforts arent enough and you have to shut down a business.

Everything in this book, in particular the seven things you ought to know, I have learnt through heart-wrenching personal experience

This is the life of the entrepreneur. And it is my life. Over the past decade, Ive launched and run a number of businesses, including an HR firm, a development consulting firm, a software development firm and a telecommunications company, in addition to sitting on a number of commercial and non-profit boards. Ive seen the inner workings of many businesses and learnt a great many lessons in the process.

Everything in this book, in particular the seven things you ought to know, I have learnt through heart-wrenching personal experience. My insights into these seven lessons are a direct consequence of all the mistakes Ive made. I write this book to give you the benefit of what Ive learnt, to spare you the same painful experiences and to give you a better chance of success.

Its not easy knowing whether you really are that most rare of creatures, the Afrikanus entrepreneuricas, otherwise known as the black entrepreneur. And misjudging whether you are or arent can prove quite hazardous to your health and well-being. So, how do you determine whether you have the stuff not necessarily to succeed, but to have, at least, a real shot at success in the world of business? This is a difficult thought process for any person to go through and requires considerable self-awareness, flowing from a certain amount of life experience. And since this book is written for the benefit of the young and hungry, these two resources self-awareness and life experience may be in short supply. That said, there is a way of thinking about this question that can help you discern truth from self-delusion.