Page 86 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 15

Economy

resulting not only in upgrading their the company. Some of the entre- exhibited and business opportu-
managerial skills and capabilities, preneurs have learnt this lesson in nities went unnoticed because no
but in also creating a process of a painful manner when financial one, apart from the entrepreneur,
personal transformation. Many of indiscipline nearly resulted in their was seriously concerned with the
the entrepreneurs we spoke with do bankruptcy. All the entrepreneurs in survival of the business. One of
attend professional development our study now keep their business the entrepreneurs reflected on the
conferences and seminars/work- accounts separate from their person- predicament this way:
shops to improve their managerial al accounts. They gave themselves “We African entrepreneurs are in a
capabilities and to network with salaries as regular employees in the perpetual debt of gratitude to those
people with similar ambitions. Oth- company, and maintained modest family members who have rendered
ers read about high profile entrepre- life style while their businesses were services to us or supported us in
neurs in other countries. Through growing. This approach has enabled one way or the other at any period
these sources, they are able to learn them to get financial support from in our lives. If your parents pay for
from the success stories and pitfalls banks and other financial institu- your education, they expect you to
of others. tions in order to grow their busi- pay for your brothers and sisters.
nesses. If they give you money to start a
In addition to their personal devel- business, they expect you to employ
opment through lifelong learning, Being mindful of predatory influ- the family. The more prosperous
the successful entrepreneurs are ences of the extended family the family considers you to be, the
aware that having a winning strategy While the family remains a key higher their expectations and the
also entails managing employees source of resources in Africa, family stronger their disappointment if you
well and choosing appropriate lead- obligations can be predatory as well. decide not to help”.
ership style. To do this effectively, That is, families can act as brakes on
they endeavor to treat employees as the growth of entrepreneurial activ- Another entrepreneur commented
if they were their customers. They ities. The superior performance of on the situation as follows:
never use threats when dealing with new entrepreneurs may therefore re- “African family members partici-
employees, since this will make quire shifts in the ordering of family pate with zeal in wealth consump-
them displeased, uncommitted and relations during the initial stages of tion, but not with the same zeal in
even turn them against the business. the enterprise. Studies have shown wealth creation”
Instead, they make them aware of that as a major breadwinner in the Many of the successful entrepre-
the negative consequences of not extended family, some of entrepre- neurs who faced such situations
getting the results they want in the neurs have been under immense and tended to think out-of-the-box to
company and communicate their persistent pressure to hire family find solutions to them, sometimes
expectations to them in positive members even when there are no even rejecting the presence of a box.
and inspiring manner. Similarly, they jobs for them. However, since the They have been mindful of tension
tend to put their customers at the family members employed come between the need to satisfy the
centre of their decisions. They are easily to the jobs and take their job expectations of the extended family
aware that it is because of custom- security for granted, they scarcely and the economic imperatives of
ers that their businesses exist. As feel obliged to improve their skills running a business. Many of them
such, they view and treat their cus- and do a good job. Non-family have demonstrated inner strengths
tomers as if they were members of employees tend to adopt the same and tact in navigating and negotiat-
a royal family – i.e. as kings, queens, attitude as the family members in ing the conflicts they experience in
princes and princesses. the business. After all, why should their endeavors. The book provides
they work harder and go the extra examples of the approaches they
Improving the Management mile if the family members do not have adopted to address the prob-
of Company Finances do so. lem.
One other major weakness of small
businesses in Africa is that their This is again a lesson that some of Lessons for Small Enterprise
owners appear to lack financial the entrepreneurs we spoke with Development in Africa
discipline. What makes businesses have learnt the hard way. They ex- Despite their achievements, several
grow is not how much their owners perienced that worker productivity of the entrepreneurs have informed
earn but how much of their earn- in their businesses went down due us that entrepreneurial success is
ings they save and plough back into to the attitude that family members not a given, even after many years

86 | we tell the true afrikan story