Andrew
Sunday Mail Correspondent
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe group chief executive officer, Dr Douglas Mboweni, has called on young entrepreneurs and aspiring business leaders to value integrity as they seek to establish and grow their businesses.
“Integrity in business is one of the key distinguishing characteristics between entrepreneurs who reach success and those who fade into obscurity.
“You may offer a better product, but if you are known to lack integrity, it will adversely impact your company and your business,” he said.
Dr Mboweni was addressing a group of young entrepreneurs at a Strategy, Transformation, Incubation and Release (STIR) programme held in Harare recently.
He said there was a gap between emerging entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe today, and those of yesteryear, “because of structural changes in Zimbabwe’s economy in recent years.”
“There’s a gap in our market in terms of how most business enterprises are run now — especially start-ups and new, emerging businesses — compared to the past.
“In the past, businesses were built on strong foundations, had working models and people believed in hard work. However, in the modern era, some emerging entrepreneurs do not have exposure to formal business systems, and so they generally find it difficult to lead their companies when confronted with different challenges,” he said.
Zimbabwe has a large informal sector thriving on the back of enterprising individuals who start their own small businesses.
However, only a few manage to scale their businesses and transition into formal enterprises that drive economic growth.
Dr Mboweni said many years ago he had decided to “contribute by mentoring young people” so as to prepare them for the future.
“Since 2008, my wife and I decided to take some young people under our wings, so that we could mentor and equip them with life skills and how to start and run businesses.
This was after realising that some of the most successful entrepreneurs have had mentors,” he said, citing successful global business people, such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as having had mentors in their lives.
He said he has over the years tremendously benefited from the mentorship from the Econet Group founder Dr Strive Masiyiwa.
As a result, he said he felt it was important for him to give back by sharing his own life and business experiences with younger people, as his contribution to “sustained future business and economic growth in the country”.
“My heart bleeds when I see of a lot of talented and enthusiastic young men and women failing to succeed in business, despite having brilliant ideas.
“Of course, many fail to make it because they want to cut corners, or because they lack resilience when the going gets tough.
“But it’s down to them not having had anyone to support and mentor them,” he added.
“But if you have an experienced mentor, it can be life-changing and extremely valuable to your personal development and your business.
“Whether your relationship is just for one year, or ongoing throughout your business journey, mentorship can empower you and drastically increase the chance of your business succeeding,” he said.
A ‘Professor of Practice’ at the University of Johannesburg’s Business School, Dr Mboweni said mentorship helps shape future business leaders “by imparting to them knowledge gained through experience, and by nurturing their confidence as they continue the entrepreneurial journey.”
In his recently released book titled, “A Dusty Road To Success: Principles of an extraordinary life”, Dr Mboweni attempts to inspire young people to discover their God-given purpose and unleash their potential as he chronicles his own journey, from humble beginnings to a place of influence while underlining the importance of focused determination and living a principled life.
STIR was developed to create linkages between students and leading captains of industry.
Its curriculum was designed to inspire, start, accelerate and grow initiatives by participants of the mentorship programme
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