Sundaymail Editor
Entrepreneurship Matters-Dr Kudzanai Vere
Global contribution by technopreneurs remain central to entrepreneurship and the entire economic ecosystem. There is every need for mention and recognition of the great revolutionary exploits which have necessitated the authoring of this article. Work and life in general has been made easy by them.
Technopreneurs are entrepreneurs doing exploits in the technology industry. For those following my articles, you will recall that entrepreneurs are visible in every economic sector and thus those whose interests are in technology are called technopreneurs.
The word technopreneurship is an amalgamation of two most powerful words, entrepreneurship and technology. An entrepreneur is a person who identifies an opportunity in the market and converts it into a product or service through the creation of a successful and viable business. The whole process of opportunity identification and the conversion of such opportunities into a sustainable business is called entrepreneurship. On the other hand, technology means hands on use and application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
Technopreneurs brain storm ideas after opportunity identification, challenges conventional systems and practices by coming up with a creative and better way of doing things using technology. They defy the status quo by identifying a product or service that uses technological solutions to change traditional ways of doing tasks. Often times technopreneurship endeavours are customer driven. You get to know what customers are looking for and give them not just what they want, but even more than that.
Exploring technopreneurship exploits
Technopreneurs are continuously making life easy for many. Just last week on July 11, 2021 the United States maverick Richard Branson took it to space with his first batch of customers on his newly found Virgin Galactic Unity rocket plane. Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing US$250 000 apiece. What a business opportunity to the billionaire! Others who are in the space tourism business are Elton Musk and Jeff Bizzos. These are trending technopreneurs of our time.
Imagine the letter, envelop, stamp and post office era where we used to write business letters for orders, informative letters to relatives and friends which would take one week to a month to reach their destination. What an inconvenience it was.
We need to appreciate works of Alexander Graham Bell, the Scottish born American scientist and inventor of the first dial-up telephone.
Such invention made business easier otherwise business, casual and social communication could have remained a challenge though the mobile phone quickly took over the space.
Traditionally people used smoke as a way of communication, it worked then. But it was replaced by technopreneurship exploits which brought in the current faster methods of sending through information.
Take a look at the progression from the first mobile phone which was bulky and heavy to the current slim and more portable mobile devices, the first vehicle attempt, look at the long journey haulage trucks, the aeroplane idea and businesses are all testimony to the great works by technopreneurs.
The banking industry has seen quite a number of tech minds coming up with thriving complimentary systems and devices to support the banking operations which on their own became big industries. The mobile money transfers and the recent Chabot’s which are now rampant in banks where all drawings, balance enquiries and money transfers are now done on WhatsApp. What a technopreneurship industry that has been brought about by innovative exploits!
Tech minds made exciting business endeavours which are now big industries to talk about. The television set was a development from what we used to know as bhaisikopos in our vernacular where a visionised light would be projected on the walls and films would be seen from there. To date, there has been numerous developed television models making it a viable business.
Technopreneurs are always searching for better ways of doing things, minimising on the time spend on projects while producing the best results in a business set-up.
Our own Takwana from Zimbabwe innovated around sending money from anywhere in the world through his Senditoo company and application. Their company is now trending in the market joining other giants in the industry such as Mukuru, Western Union and others.
These technopreneurship innovations need institutional support and I am glad that Harare Institute of Technology has a dedicated faculty and department that specialises in breeding and incubating technopreneurs. I challenge every institution to incorporate technopreneurship among their courses so that graduates have an appreciation of how technology can transform lives.
If you look into global operations, almost everything is being merchanised. Technological advancement makes work easier and faster though it is quickly replacing a number of employees rendering them jobless. The replaced people need to be creative and should learn from the systems and operations to be able to start their own entrepreneurship endeavours.
Look at how you spend your day and the number of times you are rubbing with technology. Imagine if such kind of technology was not in place, how were you going to achieve all that you do in a day’s time.
Although we might be thrilled into wanting to join the technopreneurship bandwagon, not everyone can be a successful technopreneur. Others will remain inventors while some will take on the inventions and develop their businesses.
We have a good number passionately pursuing other entrepreneurship endeavours in other sectors other than the technology industry. You, therefore, need to take stock of your endowments and decide which route is suitable and convenient to you.
Technopreneurs are disruptive innovators who are not afraid to take the risk of starting and running their tech-based business regardless of situations and circumstances. They make the current technology irrelevant by introducing faster, efficient and effective ways of handling tasks and doing business. Let us continue to embrace technology and support our technopreneurs.
The writer Dr Kudzanai Vere, the founder of Kudfort, Tengesa Online, Premium Business Network International and the Institute of Entrepreneurs Zimbabwe is an entrepreneur, author and transformational speaker in the areas of entrepreneurship and personal development. Dr Vere has trained more than 5 000 entrepreneurs globally in the areas of innovation, organisation development, practical business management and ideation. You can contact him on +263719592232 or email [email protected]
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