An Entrepreneurial Lesson from 50 Cent

A new steel giant, New Zim Steel Company,was launched yesterday. Indian giant Essar, is investing US$750m (a quarter of Zimbabwe’s national budget!) in reviving what will probably be the second largest steel works in Africa. All this in the face of a global recession, depressed economic activity, constrained liquidity and an uncertain political future. Some guts these people have!
In the face of the drive to empower indigenous Zimbabweans, it takes a foreign firm to kick-start Zimbabwe’s economic revival! How sad!
Zimbabweans are always waiting for someone else to rescue them: banks to give them loans, the government to give them land (and seeds, fertilizer, tractors, diesel), Savior Kasukuwere to give them free shares in foreign owned companies and Sithembiso Nyoni to give them factory shells …….
In the second chapter of 50 Cent’s book, entitled The 50th Law (co-authored with Dr. Robert Greene), some grim reality emerges: when you depend on others, you are at their mercy. They own you. It doesn’t matter whether you are working for someone, you have borrowed money from them, o they have loaned you a farm, you are their slave. Your employer / financier / government owns you, controls you. Your creative spirit is squashed. What keeps you in such positions is a fear of having to sink or swim on your own. Instead you should have a greater fear of what will happen to you if you remain dependent on others for power. Your goal in every maneuver in life must be ownership, working the corner for yourself. When it is yours, it is yours to lose – you are more motivated, more creative, more alive. The ultimate power in life is to be completely self-reliant, completely yourself.
It’s time we stopped this dependency syndrome and took responsibility for our own success and growth. Let’s start thinking like true entrepreneurs and we will move this country forward. We don’t have to wait for foreign investors, or for someone to remove the sanctions, or to give us lines of credit. All we need are brains that think. Be bold and start now! Read more excerpts from 50 Cent and Reobert Greene’s here.
My new book, Back to Business: Twelve Lessons for Entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe’s Transit Economy explores how successful entrepreneurs are managing in the tough US dollar economy and the lessons they learned in while doing business over the past two and a half years. Check this page on 12 August for information on how ton get your copy of the exciting book.
Join the SME BusinessLink Community now and connect with high performance entrepreneurs who are growing their businesses. Visit http://smebusinesslink.wordpress.com