While we are all chilling, rwe le within #dinweledladleng, 1st Oct has me thinking.. gone mme why do we tend to chase small industries and leave the ones that control the economy to “others” ? yea it’s another thread.

4 years ago I started a journey to try list my company in BSE as a way to raise money for the grand plan. Needless to say the efforts fell flat but I learnt a few things about the types of businesses we are in.

Financial services, your top audit firms until last year or so where run and led by others. Not yet that re kganetswe but what seemed clear is that we tend to chase the quick paycheck without strategy to position our businesses to be corporations

Tax and transactional advisers are “others” because we don’t seem to take the time, to build our profiles and brands to be subject experts in areas that determine disposal and procurement of major national assets.

In 2018 i got interested in the diamond industry, fortunately I met someone in the high echelons of this industry, he was kind enough to explain to me, why beneficiation in the format that it is will never truly benefit Batswana.

He explained, Diamonds are a cash industry and if you don’t have the balance sheet that gives you cash to trade, forget about making money. He was kind enough to give me an opportunity to see if I can sell diamonds, said to me if you can

Find the market, without a network, a balance sheet, we would be happy to supply your setup. Then he tested me, showed me a diamond and asked me how much I’d sell it for - dololo ka idea. Another industry we need to invest in if we are serious.

A friend of mine from Kenya came to visit for a week, tech founder had just sold part of his business to MasterCard, wanted to understand the beef industry before investing in it. He knew more about BMC operations and origins than I did.

I’m sure many of you know more than me in this industry of course but I was intrigued by the level of research he was doing before even buying a cow. Let’s admit we learn as we go, and some lessons sink us beyond return.

I find that we like to be at the retail end of any industry chain, we are happy to buy and sell, to be distributors and consumers than we are to patiently grow to own our key sectors

Since this thought has percolated in my head I find it hard to be excited for us to be happy to run tour guide and booking companies, where is the REAL money.

I understand that we have to start somewhere but let our start be the beginning of a journey to own the industry. Run your finances professionally, register for tax, audit your financials, get legal advice, document your processes

You cannot build a 5 stair hotel on a foundation ya 2nhalf! Let’s start with a grand plan from the get go and start where we are knowing where we are going. Let’s take our businesses seriously.

I take mine very seriously, and that’s why any reference to me as a hustler, any reference to my business as an idea, or project, is offensive to me! Wake up! Let’s build strong real magnificent foundations of the economy we want!