adminNow, I will commend the young entrepreneur for his efforts, however, there’s something that we as a Zimbabwean society must not forget, especially when all of these other THINGS, seem to stare at us like opportunities. It’s called mastery. It is the mastery of one gift or one skill, the craft that you’ve so viciously pursued with all of your energy that gives you a firm diving board of which to jump into other pools of opportunities.
Serial entrepreneurs always start off with a craft — whether it’s communication, IT, finance or graphic design — they always start off somewhere and understand their art completely.
Only once they have that down pat do they expand into other areas, using the principles they have mastered to enable them to succeed in new ventures.
If you look closely at what they do, you will see the handiwork of their previously obtained mastery throughout these new endeavours. Have you ever found yourself running the list of things that you do and it’s almost as if you can’t get through it all?
The listener (friend, girlfriend, wife, partner or new colleague) looks at you and if you watch closely he checks out mentally after about three minutes.
People can only fathom so much and the old adage “Jack of all trades and a master of none” has a loud ring in this type of conversation. No one wants to hear a list of the 17 different companies/jobs/skills that you have, because in reality you are probably not attending enough to each one to make it into a real skill or viable business.
Mastery takes time and intention. It involves seeking out opportunities for improving yourself and your business. It takes a devotion to learning, to feedback and to look yourself in the face and say “I can do better”.
It also takes another skill, learning to identify and put aside those areas of involvement that are not going to help you become a master. There is a word for the things that you may never master, but enjoy doing and that never make money. They are called hobbies. They are done in your spare time, after everything else. Rarely, they may become a viable business of their own.
Get past the idea of the quick rich scheme. Get over it. There’s no short-cut to mastery. There are no shortcuts to building an exceptional business. And there are no overnight successes that will survive unless they are underpinned by solid character . . . and developing character is an aspect of mastery.
Master your craft and then master your expansion. Don’t try to do everything and don’t . . . please for the love of everyone in the nation . . . take good money for a job that you know you haven’t mastered.
It becomes a downward spiral, both in you and your proposed client.
Zimbabwe needs more masters. Be one. Don’t worry about the other thing.
Feedback: [email protected].
Online Reporter