African Entrepreneurs - 50 Success Stories , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Iwa Adetunji

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

178 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

African Entrepreneurs: 50 Success Stories is a celebration of notable achievements of select Africans and how they have managed to excel in their chosen fields despite all odds. Each profile showcases the entrepreneur and their area of endeavor, including an exclusive interview in a question-and-answer format. Whether you are young or old, already in business or aspiring to get your feet wet, African Entrepreneurs: 50 Success Stories will encourage you. Although this book focuses on African business leaders, you will find that the core-ingredients of successful entrepreneurs are universal. You will be inspired, enthralled and above all motivated by how these savvy men and women overcame their personal challenges to get to where they are now. While some people are natural entrepreneurs, anyone can pursue entrepreneurship successfully if they put in what it takes. If you have a goal, you have to go for it - don't wait for success to come to you.

Sujets

Accounting

Economie gestion

Accountancy

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	08 juin 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781787050921
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0674€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

African Entrepreneurs
50 Success Stories
Iwa Adetunji

First edition published in 2017 by
MX Publishing
335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive
London, N11 3GX
www.mxpublishing.com
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2017 Iwa Adetunji
The right of Iwa Adetunji to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book, as of the date of publication, nothing herein should be construed as giving advice. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of MX Publishing or Andrews UK Limited.
Cover design by Brian Belanger

This book is dedicated to my lovely wife and wonderful daughters, who are my inspirational and greatest teachers.

Foreword
Dream and steps to fulfil it
For a successful entrepreneur, passion comes before the money. Aspiring entrepreneurs should not allow thoughts about business to remain a dream, but go out and take the first step to fulfil that dream.
An entrepreneur is someone that is looking for freedom, has the confidence and someone that wants to do something for him or herself. To fulfil a dream, one has to take it one day at a time. The most important thing is to take the first step. That will show what the second step should be.
While the product and service offered must be of the highest quality, it must be affordable. A profit must be made, but do not exceed limits. There must be fair value for money. To be a successful entrepreneur one must also have a competitive advantage. To achieve this, one should look carefully at why people are prepared to buy a product or service and make adjustments if necessary.
Aspiring entrepreneurs should decide on what they want to do and achieve in life, and then make sure to become a master in what they want to do. Once a master, make sure there is a market for the product or service and be realistic about what can be achieved.
The vision and company strategy must be as simple as possible to communicate, so that everybody can understand it.
Remember that nothing in life begins ‘big’. To make it big, one should keep to a dream. A dream should be written on a piece of paper to look at, and to remind you of it. Do not just sing about it in the shower, otherwise it will fade away. Entrepreneurs should dream big and not think that big things are not for them.
Hang on to a dream, even when there are setbacks. Research has shown that the well-known business leaders in the world have accomplished success by hanging on to a dream. Success takes time.
In the entrepreneurial world it is accepted that talent alone is not enough to be successful. More attributes are needed like faith, enthusiasm, initiative, focus, physical exercise, perseverance, an inquiring mind, character, relationships, responsibility and confidence.
Talent does not mean anything without that important first step to accomplish something. Success with the first step energises one to go on to the next.
Dr Chris van der Merwe [1]
Chief Executive Officer
Curro Holdings

1 Dr Van der Merwe is a well-known educationalist and entrepreneur who started the successful Curro independent school group in 1998 with 28 learners in the vestry of a church in Durbanville, South Africa. The schools have now grown to nearly 50 in all provinces of South Africa.

Introduction
African Entrepreneurs 50 Success Stories is by no means a comprehensive story on the select African entrepreneurs. However, the basic premise is to give few pages synopsis of each of them and their chosen field of endeavours. It’s a sort of snappy reference and useful guide.
It is already a fact worth repeating that there is an entrepreneurial boom taking place in Africa now. A steady rise of young businessmen and women who are building successful, fast growing companies in all fields of endeavours, and that is still growing exponentially. In fact, in many African countries today, it’s quite easy to compile hundreds of such emerging and successful entrepreneurs.
It is particularly important for young Africans to meet, on the pages of this book, some of the positive role models in our midst; be inspired by the success stories of other African entrepreneurs who have overcome barriers to achieve success.
It is often said that if you produce something of value, you will reap a handsome return. Said in another way, some people make less money for doing certain things simply because many people can do similar things, whereas others make enormous money for rendering certain service or work simply because not too many people can do so in such a way as to impact or add value to much more people. This can be said of these select Africans in this book.

The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.
- Amelia Earhart, Aviator

About This Book
African Entrepreneurs, 50 Success Stories is a celebration of notable achievements of select Africans and how they have managed to excel in their chosen fields despite all odds. It is also to spur other Africans, especially the younger ones to have a steadfast focus on their goals and aspirations. Each profile showcase the entrepreneur, area of endeavour as well as an interview in a question and answer format to give readers a broader view with a photo to illustrate it.

Who Should Read This Book?
If you are a young or not so young aspiring entrepreneur or if you are already one facing what appears to be insurmountable business related challenges, this book is for you. It is as well good for Africans as it is for other races as the core-ingredients of successful entrepreneurs are universal.

What Readers Will Learn
Whether you are young or old, in business or aspiring to get your feet wet, this book will not disappoint you. It will inspire you, it will enthral you and it will motivate you. You will not only read about success stories, but how these savvy men and women evolved to be effectively where they are now. It is essential to know that Africans, with even more daunting challenges and notwithstanding their background can overcome and surpass entrepreneur related issues. You will find that while some people are natural entrepreneurs, anyone can pursue entrepreneurship successfully if they put in what it takes. As Desiderius Erasmus, the Dutch Social Critic and Scholar once said, “Fortune favours the audacious.” In short, the common denominator of all these entrepreneurs is - if you have a goal, you have to go for it and not wait for it to come to you.

Why I Wrote This Book
In my 15 years as a media owner and executive, I have come in direct and indirect contact with many African success stories. Many are iconic and unsung. These African trailblazers are filling up big holes in the labour market by providing huge pool of jobs for others. This negates the narratives bounded around by some that Africans are mere consumers instead of creators and producers. It’s therefore a fulfilment of a nagging feeling to highlight some of these men and women who are striving daily, using their business acumen to play pivotal roles in solving socio-economic problems for positive change.

Book Structure & Format
It’s written in a two-column format which makes it simple and readable. The first part on each entrepreneur has the photo, name and business, followed by a brief write-up about the entrepreneur and the business; concluding in a question and answer interview format. These diverse questions range from 15 to 20. Most of them include their favourite quote which is quite fascinating and says a lot about them. Sprinkled between each profile is an inspiring and thought provoking quote by past or present visionaries that relates well with the subject of this book.

Enjoy the Journey
Through the pages, you are going to meet incredible and visionary Africans both in Africa and in the diaspora, with inspiring stories that lend credence to the saying by Jesse Jackson, the African-American leader that, “If my eyes can see it, if my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.”

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.
- Bruce Lee, Martial Artist & Actor

Abisola Kola-Daisi
Florence H Boutique

Abisola Kola-Daisi is the Chief Executive Officer of Florence H Boutique, a luxury shoe and accessories store in Lagos, Nigeria. Her store is known to be the prime location in Lagos for some of the most sought after high-end fashion designers. She is also a Luxury Lifestyle Influencer across a digital platform through her online blog, AbiKD.com and through her social media presence. She curates content that evokes style, class, and culture through her travels across iconic cities.
The Interview:
How did the idea for your business come about?
The idea for