Open letter to Fellow Black Entrepreneurs

You know when it comes to business we must take things serious... i am looking at the hype around business in South Africa at the moment... We don't encourage value driven black businesses.. we encourage get rich quick businesses that promise heaven and earth and businesses looking for likes on Facebook but not making money and not growing... Then when you turn to the government you get empty promises and just time wasting workshops that keep teaching you the same thing over and over again.. i speak from experience... i have been a part of entrepreneurship accelerators and fellowships, conferences, expos and markets... you want to talk about putting business plans together "i did that" talk about registering businesses "i did that" i know SARS buildings by smell and design before you even say the words "tax clearance" i did the whole BEE thing and i went to school and i am done... and i realised that the only way that i am going to be in business and stay in business is to start it by myself with the little i got and in 2016 i did that... i saved up R10 000 and i gave myself the funding to start me up and that grew me into a self made entrepreneur and in under a year i have had a backing of R479 000 of money that belongs to other people and no government came to help me... I did my little thing in my little corner and showed my seriousness and respected my customers and made sure i deliver no matter what... and i now get referrals and clients who find me on Facebook and social media, but you know why? Because i have delivered before, and i have a product that people can touch, feel and see... my work is visible and my work is growing... the only thing that keeps me standing is that i keep my promises in business.. and i do get a few people here and there that let me down on payments and sometimes suppliers that don't deliver on time or as promised and sometimes they hurt my business but i keep on keeping on... i am growing... There are nights i wake up with anxiety of things that are difficult to overcome but still i show up and i try to keep my clients happy because they didn't ask me to be in business, i chose this path... and it makes me so mad to meet entrepreneurs who take my money and don't deliver on their promise... Don't be that entrepreneur... rather go look for a job if you are not going to deliver in business.. it is not an easy road... in business we play a different game.. you become 3 people in one until you find people to share the work with you... you become the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician... all at once... Dont quit your job thinking you can go into business bearing only one of those three elements... You need all three... That is why talent is not enough even a trade is not enough.. you need to know;

1. How to do it (to solve the problem in the market) -Entrepreneurship

2. How to do it again everyday -Manage

3. How to get it done - Technician 

We need to show up in business and we should not expect pity and feel sorry for what we do. We must mean business and not expect to be given funding from heaven... we must work on value and people will bring their money for that value and that is the only way you are going to be rich without having to steal money and expect free funding and think we need to be given things even when we dont deserve them. 

We as entrepreneurs must tell each other the truth and inspire one another and share our knowledge and collaborate on capacity to empower one another and build on each other's strengths... we can be from different businesses but we can't run far in business on our own... and we will be able to deliver if we work together... we all want to be successful and we can do it together... it is possible... 

Words from Sharon Rapetswa .... from Diary of a Black Entrepreneur