My Own Boss grand finale

founder Mr Nigel Chanakira, BancABC CEO Mr Doug Munatsi, AAG founding president Mr Phillip Chiyangwa, and Spiritage Group CEO Mr Zach Wazara.
Others include Big Grape CEO Mr John Bere, Trust Bank CEO Mr Nyevero Hlupo, One Turn Mining CEO Mr Chamu Chiwanza, National Foods managing director Mr Jeremy Brooke and Industrial Development Corporation general manager Mr Mike Ndudzo.
Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries managing director Eng Dawson Mareya, Africa Sun CEO Dr Shingi Munyeza, Christ Embassy Zimbabwe Pastor Ruth Musarurwa and ZNCC president and Buy Zimbabwe board trustee Mr Oswell Binha.
The big question on everyone’s lips right now is “is it going to be Godwin Gogwe (23) or Odert Kosimoni (27) who is going to join this league of extraordinary gentlemen and ladies and ultimately walk away with the grand prize of US$25 000 investment into their own business?
For those with a passion for clairvoyance and you feel you can predict the winner you stand a chance to also walk away with great prizes for simply following the show.
By simply sending an SMS with the name of the winning contestant to 15626 you stand to win an industrial hoover, a residential stand or US$1 000 prize money.
Now back from the stores. Godwin and Odert have clearly given a good account of themselves over the last three or so months making life-changing decisions not only for themselves but for the companies/industries whose tasks they executed.
Godwin was often the more solid, analytical individual while Odert got her grind on with every task.
The most important aspect about these two was that they brought the bacon home; their focus was always on money in the bank.
This ultimately was what separated them from the rest of the pack. There are critical lessons to learn from these two.
The season finale of My Own Boss 2012, however, has an interesting twist, THE CHALLENGERS.
As we announced Godwin and Odert as this year’s finalist our emails, phone and offices were inundated with young aspiring entrepreneurs who wished to challenge the two for the ultimate business investment.
Initially our reaction was that this would be unfair to Godwin and Odert and would cause a disruption to our model for grooming young entrepreneurs.
After much consultation and deliberation we eventually got really excited about the prospects.
Entrepreneurship is competitive and is also full of twists and turns. We then thought that this would actually bring an interesting twist to the show that would not only be exciting to viewers but also mirrors life.
Challengers Smanga Zhou, Munashe Mugarisanwa and Gladys Njagu are very passionate about entrepreneurship; moreover they are very passionate about taking the cake from Odert and Godwin’s hands.
However, our two finalists have not taken the introduction of the challengers lightly.
Looking at Odert and Godwin you can see that they have definitely put their game faces on and are ready to show Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa the true value of the mentorship, entrepreneurial training and practical business tasks that they received through their entire experience on the show.
The boardroom promises to be really tense following the introduction of these challengers.
It would be interesting to see the two finalists teach the challengers a lesson or two about business.
The interesting bit though is that the challengers are not just street smarts trying to score a TV moment; they are in actual fact entrepreneurs in their own right.
The reality, however, is that entrepreneurship is a lifelong learning process, sought of like on the job training which just never ends.
So, yes our challengers shall be schooled and this is the promise coming from Godwin and Odert.
I would thus like to encourage any entrepreneurship out there wishing to learn some valuable lessons from these two and ultimately from the show to join us at Celebration Centre tomorrow evening.
Tickets are going for US$50 a piece from the Buy Zimbabwe offices at 46 Lawson Avenue Milton Park or by simply calling 252027/9. Attending the grand finale of My Own Boss 2012 is an opportunity to understand some fundamental lessons about the entrepreneurial spirit which I feel business scientists have not yet been able to prove. The work output of these contestants is really amazing as evidenced by the results of the tasks that they carry out on the show.
On that score I would like to share that following the achievements of My Own Boss since season 1 where Zambian Zondo Chulu was launched into the entrepreneurial world, next year will see the launch of My Own Boss Institute.
It is designed to train young entrepreneurs outside the television show model. The great thing about My Own Boss is that it always gives birth to fresh new ideas and the training institute is the latest one.
The main thrust of the institute is to unpack                    some of the fundamental lessons coming from the show.
Before I sign off, I would just like to remind readers that they can be part of the action to win the great prizes by texting the name of their favourite contestant to 15626.
Remember, the challengers are also part of the race. Headline act at the grand finale, Gweru Duo Mabiribobi promise to be a rib cracker this Saturday. Anyone who is in for a good laugh should see these two                       boys.
Till next week.
God bless Robert Garai Muganda is the General Manager Media and Communications at Buy Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on 0772 714 233 email [email protected], Facebook: buy zimbabwe campaign