Red Tape

I have been an entrepreneur for all of 3 years now.  Not much hey.  Well believe me it feels like 30 years.  But surprisingly I am still at it. I have witnesses fear, frustration, worry, stress, hesitation, passion, disappointment, and best of all failure.  In one simple sentence I can say it’s been deep. I have a million reasons why it has been so challenging but what keeps me going is more worthy than those reasons. Literally what keeps me going is the fact that success is certain. Even after a hectic day with losses and zero balance in my bank account, I am still sure that success I certain.

Most of the reasons why success is a challenge are inside me really.  Has nothing to do with the economy and my history.  Don’t misunderstand me, those play a role too but they aren’t the main ones.  They are just the bonus problems this earthly life bestows upon you.  The rest are in you.  First of all to be an entrepreneur/self-employed you need to believe that you can.  The road to believing you can is such a challenging process. It took me all of 10 years. I would wonder what was so great about me that I didn’t want a corporate job. What would make people buy form me? And simply am I special enough to can? Do these sound familiar?  Today I ask who made me question myself that much.

After you answer I can to that question; you must ask how? After 12 years of formal schooling, a degree and job experience, I had no clue how to run my own business? This is after being part of a retail chain that was successful? What exactly had I learnt at school? In Business Economics class?  And my degree? Where do I start? Words like business plan traumatized me. I had no clue how to even read an income statement, let alone create one.  Mind you I wore that black gown with the belt and hat, there is a picture of me somewhere in my graduation garb, and according to people I am educated. But what education did I have that resulted in me not knowing how to sell a dress?

Finally you find out how.  You are trading. Well even. Everyone knows you and you are growing.  But wait, where is the profit?  And how do I record this profit. And what do I do with this profit? I need help too; it’s all getting too much! You need to hire a person and also pay them.  Continuously.  This raises questions on your pricing.  Pricing equals money.  Money.  Each one of us has their own attitude to this powerful piece of paper.  For me, I literally respected it.  I thought I didn’t deserve a lot of it, I mean who are you to be rich? And how dare you charge that much for a dress? This hurdle will take you long to overcome.  You will need to befriend an accountant so as to become your own company’s accountant, and do it well to see results.  You will also loose clients and friends because suddenly you are expensive.  It will be painful.

Oh look you have made a success of your SME. You are now on the profit making side of life.  It is not thousands, but there is something.  Now you need to move up again. Move forward. Maybe forward is opening a shop for you.  This week we went on a shop location expedition.  At the end of the day the conclusion was we need a lot of money.  I was even wondering why I hadn’t chosen a business in property!  You find yourself needing more space, but affording a small space. This is a level where you will have to jump or sink. 

In all you do as an entrepreneur remember why you started; and that success is certain.  It is highly impossible that you could’ve come up with such an idea without you planning to make it work.  Also remember you have to work twice as hard as a corporate employee, and 5 times harder than all other people just to make your first R1. Reporting from the other side I can honestly say it is worth it.  I have lost money, friends and family for my endeavor.  I don’t regret it all.  There is a goal I must achieve, and I will do anything to get it. Regardless of all the natural/unnatural red tape I meet. 

Oppressor vs Oppressed

So far I have heard about atleast 3 stories of racism in our country since the beginning of 2016. With each story I learn something new about the state of our country’s people.  Sometimes sadness, hurt and sometimes just frustration.  First of all the racism doesn’t move me much.  I completed high school at a former Afrikaans school.  Our class was the 2^nd English class in that school. When I arrived there, I was the first ‘black’ child in the boarding hostel, the school song was Afrikaans, assembly songs were Afrikaans...I mean they had the old blue, white and orange flag in the school hall.  This was in 1999. 

Isn’t it just sad that 4 years after democracy I experienced apartheid. The most interesting part was the fact that I didn’t know I was ‘black’ until I went to a multiracial school. I also didn’t know that there was something ‘not right’ about being ‘black’ until I made it to this high school.  My childhood was spent amongst people that looked like me, spoke like me, ate what I ate, and did the things I did.  We were just people.  ‘White’ people were on TV, and that was ok.

Today it is 22 years after democracy.  Yet there is no rainbow anywhere.  Apartheid now lives in peoples mind and hearts.  I believe in both ‘black’ and ‘white’ people. What is democracy? What was this dream that we were sold in 1994? What were the conditions of that contract? Because I do believe the contract is beginning to unravel at the corners.  Apartheid to me is a mental attack.  This is the main reason it still exists.  And it will not die until a mental shift takes place.  A mental shift for those who were oppressed by it and those who conducted it; and those who were told about it.  I am not able to even imagine which generation is free form apartheid.  My children (who aren’t even born yet) will hear about it.  This is mainly because I will have to explain Soweto to them one day.  Why does it exist and how was it formed?  The reasons link back to that time.  

I have also come to realize that there are a lot of people in South Africa who are not aware of what apartheid did and is still doing.  I think we call them previously privileged.  These people love to just move with ease, take what they want and walk past the person without a job begging for a job at the robot.  They are indifferent.  They will tell you oh we weren’t involved in apartheid, we didn’t experience it much.  How are you South African and was not involved in apartheid? You not knowing and then ignoring it after learning of it is also being involved. So many people’s speech is utterly shocking.  The level of arrogance is just amazing.  I didn’t struggle that much in my life, atleast I don’t think I did. But I am aware that my friend’s father worked in the mine far from home and made peanuts his entire life; so much so that my friend struggled financially. I am aware. I am involved.

The scariest thing for any ‘black’ person today is to be in a lift with a ‘white’ person. I mean after you hear a woman screaming ‘ I will get a gun and shoot them all’ you start wondering.  This fear that is being spread has always been there.  This is what apartheid was built from.  No one will devise such a good plan for a group of people that didn’t seem like a threat.  Apartheid was just a forward avoidance plan.  To ensure that a certain group of people never ever realize their full potential.  You demoralize the head of a family; you have killed all generations to follow.  Why was it important to kill future generations?

There is a revolution in motion though J we may not see it or feel it or understand it. But there is a revolution in motion.  For the first time in a long time a large amount of people are talking.  The oppressed has finally come into the room to support Steve Biko.  It is evident in Africa and across the ocean to America.  People are unapologetic about their opinions and getting all the closer to implementing that which they dream of.  I think it’s about time.  This is the reason why all the racist rants don’t move me.  For I can see change.  I think it is highly best for all the racists to be active in public. Better an enemy you know than one you don’t even suspect.  The entire country has freedom of speech, therefore we shall hear you.  Let’s talk. Let’s dissect.  Because we all have a lot to learn and deal with.  The oppressor has a lot to realize about their actions, and the oppressed has a lot to get off their chests. 

Take care of home

This week and entire month a lot has been happening in South Africa. I mean from burning buses, to lodge racism to videos of teachers being oppressed.  It’s too much.  It’s a lot. It feels like that part of the night just before the morning.  Unbearable. And you start wondering if South Africa was once rich by robbing other continents as well, that now we are paying for it.  A lot of it feels like change, and change is good but going through the process is not. 

I believe to change, we need to take care of your own.  There are so many social ills in our country.  Counting them will make us realize the others related to those.  The most important ones for me, which I want to discuss today is ‘charity begins at home’. When you want to change the world, you start by dealing with you first.  We want a different country, a better country and better conditions. We all have to take care of ourselves first and let that rub off on everyone around us.

On a larger scale, for South Africa to be taken seriously we need to look serious ourselves.  We need to raise our levels as we would say today.  The standards must be improved.  No one will take us seriously if we ourselves are mediocre.  This applies to everything we do. It applies to how we educate, police, nurse, serve and deal with each other.  We as South Africans need to teach the world how to deal with us.  I believe when you show the world your level, they will approach you with that same or even higher level.  We need to command respect.

I saw pictures of the state of a hospital this week. I was not necessarily surprised sadly.  I realized this problem a few years back when my own grandmother was in hospital.  The hospital she was in was a government hospital, and absolutely inhabitable. I cried that day. For my grandmother.  She deserved better.  They deserve better. We all deserve better. I realized that hospitals are now employing people who ‘need’ jobs, not those passionate about nursing people.  Then they pay them just enough to keep them in but unhappy.  What do you expect from a nurse that makes peanuts? Passion? Love? Nothing? How do you pay people that should take care of the sick and needy peanuts? They render a service so high but receive close to nothing.

The same picture exists with our police force. I don’t need to list the incidents with police. I’m sure everyone of us knows someone who has been asked for a bribe by a traffic cop or police officer. Sometimes, you feel wrong for denying them that bribe.  You see their struggle but also know the law. Again these are the people that protect the community.  But their salaries are nowhere near that of a CEO of a corporate company. What motivation must this person have when they wake up?  The deal is face our crime, attempt to fight it and we pay you peanuts? 

Third one is education.  This is by far my most concerning area.  This one is a huge one because we will see the results of this mistake in a few years, and unfortunately we will not be able to correct it.  This one is dependent on time and people.  I still wonder why the education system was changed.  Not to say it was acceptable before. But changed to an even more questionable process. What is OBE? Is it working? And who qualifies to be a teacher? Are we hiring people passionate to be teachers or are those all going to private schools that pay more but not reachable for most of our people?  What kind of a generation/s are we creating through this?  Also these soldiers are not paid enough. Yes according to me. 

I am summing up 3 major areas in one article. Books can be written on each.  I just want you to start thinking. Trigger something in you and may be you could be the next person to bring change.  These 3 are what I believe need urgent attention today.  I am in no way suggesting it will be easy or even profitable from step 1, but in the long run we will not regret this.   If we take care of our own, our own will take care of us.  If the world realizes how we take care of our own, they shall bestow such levels to our country.  If our hospitals are filled with nurses that are efficient and happy, that attracts more favorable investments from other nations.  If we have efficient and happy police, crime could drop just a bit, and other nations will think twice before coming here for criminal activity. And if we take care of our teachers, I mean only GOD know what talent we could see in our future.

Some issues in our country are not necessarily difficult to correct.  They are not formulas or long macro-economic situations. They are literally linked to how we condone ourselves in our families.  South Africa is your family.  What is the world saying about your family? Why? And what have you done about it?