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Be patient to start small while thinking big - Vusi Thembekwayo
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all right I am warning you after this uh
interview you're going to have a new
crush I can promise you that much not on
just the looks but the mind as well VY
tber quo I'm sure you've heard of him
the 32-year-old self-made millionaire is
on a New Journey of changing The
Narrative of Entrepreneurship in South
Africa he says his aim is to establish
and develop high growth black
entrepreneurs in the rural and Township
markets of South Africa uh this he will
do by finding and nurturing
entrepreneurs through funding incubation
and developing developing them into
Enterprises uh some of that passion was
seen during the sa Dragon's Den program
VY is here he's in studio with us so
nice to see you again wel to see you so
good to see you again Le okay so let's
let's talk cuz there's too much to talk
about in such a short amount of time 32
years old we still got your your age
right so okay we're still 32 years old
um although I do feel bad cuz I'm on the
other side of 39 so I don't feel feel
like an old soul yeah listen if you've
done this much by 32 how did you do this
I'm I'm I'm dying to speak to you when
you hit the 40s and 50s what how did you
do this yeah I'm 5 years behind my own
timeline right so I should have been
here much sooner but I I think I was
lucky I was lucky out of the starting
block so I knew what I wanted to do with
my life very early on and there was no
doubt in my mind about what my life
looked like and so all I had to do was
just do it and and the challenge was the
just doing part it took a while to get
out of the starting blocks so AF is a
difficult country to do business
especially if you're not the kind of
entrepreneur that we're used to in this
country yeah and obviously it's
identifying the gaps and that's that's
kind of what we as entrepreneurs as
South Africans need to do is find that
Gap but how do you find that Gap I mean
there's there's so many things happening
around us yeah so I mean so the study of
gapy which is effectively what
entrepreneurs do it's interesting you
know entrepreneurship is not something
you can teach people either have it or
they don't which is just the ability to
come in and see opportunities where they
don't exist but um so the question
around how do you find the Gap it's
typically around three things it's you
got to find something people are willing
to pay for that they need now and they
have the money to pay for it the minute
you tick those three boxes you you're in
business so it doesn't matter what it is
you could be uh selling water you could
be selling ice cream you you could be
doing anything is the minute you
understand those three things you
effectively have found a gap in the
market and you can start servicing that
market yeah and and that's the that's
the the thing that you do know now I
mean you were part of the stragon den
program um identifying successful
entrepreneurs and uh investing in those
businesses so you know how do you you
know when somebody is a successful
entrepreneur obviously their characters
their traits that you're looking for in
people yeah yeah so that typically for
me I look for three things first thing I
look for is somebody who's failed before
so I've never back my money or put my
money in somebody who hasn't tried
something and hasn't failed because if
you haven't failed the theory of failure
you know entrepreneurship is interesting
it's a lot like uh it's a lot like
swimming so if I gave you a textbook on
how to swim
and you read it for 3 years and then I
took you and chucked you in the ocean
you you you you'd sink because swimming
isn't a theory thing it's a practice
thing you have to do it to know how to
do it so the first thing I'd say is it's
somebody who's failed I love people who
failed because they've proven they've
tried something and that they know
what's on the other side of not
succeeding which is this failure thing
uh the second is somebody who believes
in themselves even when there's
ridiculous odds to suggest it's not
going to work you I always say
entrepreneurs are crazy you have to be
crazy to be an entrepreneur you got
believe you're going to make money month
end which often you're not you got to
believe you can compete with big
companies which often you can't you got
to believe you can reach all your
customers which often you won't and you
have to believe you can do so cheaply
and cost effectively and make a profit
which in the early days you probably
won't do if you don't believe those four
things you're not going to succeed as an
entrepreneur so you've absolutely got to
be certifiable absolutely crazy and then
the third thing is just people who are
passionate like you got to love what you
do because I remember in the early days
the only thing that fed me was my
passion there was there was no money at
the end of the month in fact there was
too much money at the end of the money
so um you just got to be passionate you
got to love what you do yeah I love that
uh too much month at the end of the
money I've been in a situation like that
before and it's not a nice place to be
it really isn't but I want to I want to
talk a little bit about color now
because you know this is this is I mean
it's there it's in in in black and white
excuse the pun but out of the 16
businesses on this Dragons Den program
um only uh the of those funded only four
went to blacks and one was to a female
yes what is going wrong I mean when you
look at the population that is not
representative of the population but
obviously it's not about color at that
time it's about entrepreneurship and
that way of thinking what is wrong with
with the black part of communities let
me juxtapose that by then saying
remember of the five of us who are
investing four are black so just to be
clear you've got you've got 80%
investors who are black but the
investment complexion doesn't reflect
the people investing or the Dynamics of
the country and money does not know
color does it 100% which is the thing
right so we in this country we've taken
a and this is a I'm very unpopular for
having this view by the way but
entrepreneurship is not a race thing
you're either going to do it or you're
not let me put it to you this way nobody
has ever shown me favor in business
because I was black I was in business
because I was in business the fact that
I was black then became an added
Advantage so if you want to be in
business because you're black odds are
you're not going to survive it because
at the end of the month the debit order
doesn't ask you are you black or white
so am I debiting your account and not
debiting it at the end of the month the
the the the the your customer doesn't go
are you black or white so am I paying
you today or at the end of 30 days
they're going to pay you by their
payment terms so you know you asked the
question around why was that the
investment complexion it's typically
because we have a very big problem in
this country around developing real
black entrepreneurs but I mean real
entrepreneurs not the guy who registers
a company gets a tax care certificate
opens a bank account then goes and
starts applying then goes and starts
filling in database registration forms
to wait for somebody to say Supply me
that's not entrepreneurship that's being
a businessman those are the same things
nor no so we don't have that what we
also don't have and the other thing
we've done is we've taken in the main
very talented black people and have done
two things to them gave them very highp
paying jobs in corporate so there's no
incentives to start a business because I
can go get an education and get a good
job in corporate and live comfortably or
and this is the worst thing we did is we
then said well here's be transactions so
you can take 26% of a company you played
no role in building and tomorrow you can
buy a Range Rover just like that so the
minute you distort the the reward risk
system which is what entrepreneurship is
I take a risk in future I'm going to get
a reward the minute you distort it
people then don't flock to this thing
called entrepreneurship you I spent a
lot of time in Kenya and I've often said
I will fund a Kenyan entrepreneur of
South African yesterday because the
Kenyans boy are in this thing for the
Long Haul like when they build a
business they're building this business
not for today or for tomorrow they
building it for their children three
generations from now that's what we're
not getting right right I keep saying
this to people like
do you know there's nowhere in the world
where the Jewish communities by in
wholesale poor nowhere on planet Earth
will you ever find a poor Jewish
Community doesn't happen and it's not
because Jewish people come from another
planet or they're Celestial beings it's
because they simply have understood over
Generations the institution of building
a business so the father starts making
cookies he leaves the cookies business
to his son and the son makes cookies and
then he opens a grocery business now
they make cookies and they have a
grocery business and then the other son
comes and he opens a hardware store so
three four generations down you you've
got four five generations of money
that's been circulated in the system and
they've taught each other business okay
so let's bring that into the South
African system because we don't have
four five generations of business and
money been circulating in families we
haven't got that we've got principles of
affirmative action we've got black black
economic empowerment and what you're
speaking is almost saying those aren't
working no that's not what I'm saying no
no no that's not what I'm saying so I
think you need to understand so remember
be is a very complex machine it's a very
complex mechanism it has elements of
Enterprise development shop shop Supply
development absolutely necessary
affirmative action and the development
of employment Equity Black Talent and
organizations move them higher up their
rung expose them to operational levels
so they know how to run businesses
absolutely necessary what I'm not in
agreement with is taking wholesale
shares and just giving it to people
because they're politically connected
we've done that for 20 something years
it hasn't worked for us my mother worked
in a company I'll tell you a funny story
she worked in a company that did a be
transaction for 4 billion my mother was
in that company for 30 years she can get
a cent to the 4 billion so so what
you've now done is you've got black
people who've worked in the business
who've built the business who don't get
any access to the Future growth of that
business just because they don't carry
the light the right card of a political
organization and then when the company
goes through a difficult time it turns
around and says to the black staff no
wait wait we're not making profits
please don't ask us for higher wages the
stuff go but why we're not participating
in the profit growth of this business so
why must I let you make profits in
future when you're not letting me be a
part of the dream so we there's a
there's a big conversation to be had on
both sides around how we build real
entrepreneurship South Africa in my view
is that a is that a Crux now we at a we
we at a turning point we're are going to
do one of two things we're going to keep
doing what we're doing say the populist
things that sound good and earn people
votes in 20 years time yours and my
children will meet in the workplace and
we would not have changed this country
at all or we're going to start doing the
real things and letting entrepreneurs
real entrepreneurs get access to finance
and access to real opportunities so we
can actually build this country that's
what we need to do so we're talking
today about developing black
industrialists how many black people own
factories that employ more than 100
people and I'm not talking about bought
a factory from a white man that employs
100 people I'm talking about started it
from the ground I started my business 15
years ago everybody thought I was crazy
and now I've just sold it to an American
investor group and I've got my own money
and as a result I'm saying let me invest
in another entrepreneurs so I'm not
saying this for Theory I've done it
you've done it you know how it work and
I didn't ask for pity I didn't say to
people give me the business cuz I was
black or give me the no I said give me
the business cuz I'm the best at what I
do you come against V you better have
your wits about you cuz I'm going to
take you out in any space yeah and that
kind of belief I think is necessary we
had this belief in the ' 80s when black
people ran spa shops right we had it in
our own townships economies but we've
you've losted somewhere along the line
yeah cuz we just sold this thing about
pity now now all of a sudden we're all
looking for pity I don't want pity don't
give me business for pity give it to me
because I'm the best at what I do I
promise you you come against me you will
not win win that's amazing and if you if
and if you come against me and win then
I'm willing to concede you know what you
were better at this let me try something
else that's what we need to do to really
build this country that's you that's you
you you're one in a million you really
are I mean you've got this passion
burning inside of you you've got a mind
no don't look at me like that cuz you
not many people that are like you and
there are some people that are a little
bit you know they own that spaza shop
and they work tirelessly every single
day they approach for more funding they
don't get it they want to expend they
don't get it um their women sitting
beaing and they are so talented nobody
recognizes that Talent nobody Taps into
it and allows them to empower their
families 100% weing somewhere along the
line someone's not helping because the
let me just this I feel very passionate
about this I think the biggest lie we
ever sold that was ever sold to black
people specifically and I can only speak
for blacks because I'm black the biggest
lie that was oversold to black people
was this thing about small business I
hate the term hate it absolutely hate it
you know my mother belongs to a Stockell
she's been in it for 30 years the
Stockell 30 years ago when she joined
the Stockell there was a bank that was
formed called Absa around the same time
a stock fell is a group of people who
come together put money together in a
depository and later take the money and
loan it to each other well that's
exactly what a bank does what do you
think my mother's stock fell value is
today very little how big is Absa listed
on the stock exchange so the the first
thing we have to do to get the
conditioning right is to teach black
people that actually stop thinking small
you can start small but don't think
small you know there's no difference
between the mama who runs as pzza shop
and shoppr right both are the same you
have a business in a physical building
branding at the front and stock that our
customers come and byy every single
morning so it's about us realizing we
have to do the small things to start
doing the big things and state
institutions by the way and this is
important state funding institutions
have to stop looking for the easy way
out you know in this country it's easier
to get money to open a franchise than it
is to start a real business why because
franchises don't lose money it's a
franchise steers gives you the formula
and say go and open there sell that at
that price but what's entrepreneurship
now if you're telling me what Burger I'm
a sell and at what price and by the way
you control my till and at the end of
the month I give you 20% of my money
where's the entrepreneurship in this how
am I really creating intergenerational
wealth if I'm just giving more money to
Kevin hedwick I'm not let's be honest
about it give people money to start
their own things and if they fail then
let's be honest about the fact that we
failed and keep doing it the africanas
did it after they took part from the
British the Jews did it in Israel we
need to do the same thing which is just
do the hard work ABS absolutely I love
your way of
thinking I'm tired for you yeah I your
brain is moving okay just quickly we're
going to we're going to take a break
here on the program and afterwards we'll
uh tell you how VY is giving away 40 um
in inviting applicants for uh 40
businesses but I I'll tell you about
that in a in a short while Ry thank you
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