By Strive Masiyiwa
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones…”
During one of the Olympics, my wife and I went to watch the diving competitions. As we learnt about this amazing sport, we realized there were different types of “dives,” and each was marked on the basis of “Degree of Difficulty”. A difficult dive got more points if you could do it, even badly!
Which got me thinking!
For investors and entrepreneurs alike, Africa is considered the “Highest Degree of Difficulty” in the world! The lowest is probably the United States.
It is much easier to start a business and get investor backing in the US than anywhere else in the world. Everyone knows that!
In terms of lowering the perception of Degree of Difficulty, it is important for us to do everything we can to remove those obstacles which are of our own making—and there are many!
For you as an entrepreneur, you must understand that you must be willing to perform at a much higher level than entrepreneurs from other regions, just to be able to get a shot.
“A job well done looks simple until another person tries also to do it,” advised one of my professors when I was studying in the UK for my engineering degree.
Every day we watch professionals do different things, and who make it all look so simple that we often forget what it took for them to be able to do that!
When I was at Varsity, for instance, there was a British student in my residence who was training to swim in the Olympics. There was absolutely no way that I was ever willing to live the way he did—day in, day out—early morning training, his diet, his entire lifestyle, just for a medal—which he did not even get!
Now listen!
Unless you are going to steal the money, getting to the top as an entrepreneur will require exactly the same from you!
Just to be able to get a shot at this requires a complete transformation of your mindset, your values, and your priorities. It requires you to #SkillUp in a way that you have not even imagined today.
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.” John Maynard Keynes
If I don’t tell you these things, then who will?
• Strive Masiyiwa is a successful entrepreneur and founder of Econet.