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ENTREPRENEURSHIP: following close behind Open Sesame and Abracadabra, the new magic word. Entrepreneurs will save us from all our woes.
And, specifically, by taking on the mantle of Entrepreneurship, young people will be saved from the abyss. I hear this and read it all the time: how do we engender a spirit of entrepreneurship in the Yoof?
How do we make them go out and start their own small businesses instead of lazing around after passing Matric or graduating from university?
I’ve often wondered about these blanket statements. I may work for myself, but I definitely don’t have an entrepreneurial soul. The thought of employing other people, of managing and driving staff and seeing that admin is done (oh, worst fate an unkind world can dish out!) makes me feel all pale and shivery.
But perhaps I’m unusual? Perhaps most youngsters charge out of the school gates snorting like broncos, raring to sell their ideas in the marketplace?
Recently, I had a chance to speak to Yershen Pillay, who heads up the National Youth Development Agency (under new management since the fiasco of the kissing competition).
I was impressed by what the NDYA was up to, but interested to note that the organisation has shifted its focus; instead of putting a major effort into funding young would-be entrepreneurs, it now is looking to help people train and qualify themselves, while maintaining a grant system for those keen on starting their own businesses.
The shift happened because they realised, said Pillay, that “Only about 4.6% of young people want to be entrepreneurs.”
That made sense to me. First off, even in a world tailor-made for entrepreneurs, the bulk of people are surely going to remain employees (each small business, on average, employs 11 people, I heard recently – so the ratio of entrepreneur to employee is 1:11).
Second, how many young people have a) the work experience and skills; b) the brilliant entrepreneurial idea; and c) the character traits that make an entrepreneur? When I look back at myself in the years between Matric and leaving university, I see what can best be described as a half-baked scone, totally lacking in colour, not full-grown and pretty vague mentally.
I sort of went along with the idea of becoming a teacher until I just couldn’t bear the thought any more. I ended up in short-term insurance, and by the time I emerged from my 20s, I’d become a journalist who was just beginning to understand her strengths and interests.
So instead of encouraging young people to see themselves as entrepreneurs, to rush out and try – and probably fail, at some cost to their pockets and their self-esteem – why don’t we help them to gain the life experience and skills and self-knowledge that will nurture the potential entrepreneur in them (or the happy employee, if that’s their personal bent)?
This is where I come to something controversial. I edit a magazine for physiotherapists, and I well remember the upset when the idea of community service – by then already in place for new doctors – was first mooted. However, the South African Society of Physiotherapy decided not to resist, but to work to make it the best possible experience for new graduates.
When I approached young physiotherapists at the end of the year they’d dreaded, “stuck out in some deep rural area” as one described it in advance, I was amazed to discover that for many, this had been a turning point in their lives. Some had even decided to stay in that rural area, hooked on the kick of making a difference and the peaceful outdoorsy life.
Others came back to the cities gladly, but told me that the challenges they’d faced had given them life and work skills which had matured them and prepared them well for the future.
So the idea of community service isn’t terrifying. It’s lately been suggested for all graduates, and I think that could be a grand plan.
Since it’s only in specific areas that you can expect to walk out of university or any other tertiary education and find a job with ease, the concept of sending our young, qualified people off to assist the public service seems sound to me: a graduate with a year of doing admin, accounts or IT in a small town’s municipality, or on-the-job training surveying and constructing roads, is a far better prospect for a company to employ than some green kid who think’s he’s the shizness and has no idea about real corporate life.
In fact, I think we could consider offering community service on a voluntary basis to all matriculants. Any of you who know young people in poorer homes will know how demoralising the job search is: sitting around, day after day, waiting for calls and getting none, or walking the streets with your CV to no avail; it eats at the spirit.
Certainly the teenagers I’ve known would have preferred to be given a small income and a chance to get their teeth into some real work. At that age, it’s a huge adventure - and you would emerge with some real-life skills that put you ahead of the pack.
And maybe, just maybe, this would generate more small businesses than urging kids to start their own businesses while wet behind the ears. You’re more likely to see opportunities and be realistic about your chances when you’ve tasted the real working world, aren’t you?
- Fin24
*Mandi Smallhorne is a versatile journalist and editor. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on twitter.
And, specifically, by taking on the mantle of Entrepreneurship, young people will be saved from the abyss. I hear this and read it all the time: how do we engender a spirit of entrepreneurship in the Yoof?
How do we make them go out and start their own small businesses instead of lazing around after passing Matric or graduating from university?
I’ve often wondered about these blanket statements. I may work for myself, but I definitely don’t have an entrepreneurial soul. The thought of employing other people, of managing and driving staff and seeing that admin is done (oh, worst fate an unkind world can dish out!) makes me feel all pale and shivery.
But perhaps I’m unusual? Perhaps most youngsters charge out of the school gates snorting like broncos, raring to sell their ideas in the marketplace?
Recently, I had a chance to speak to Yershen Pillay, who heads up the National Youth Development Agency (under new management since the fiasco of the kissing competition).
I was impressed by what the NDYA was up to, but interested to note that the organisation has shifted its focus; instead of putting a major effort into funding young would-be entrepreneurs, it now is looking to help people train and qualify themselves, while maintaining a grant system for those keen on starting their own businesses.
The shift happened because they realised, said Pillay, that “Only about 4.6% of young people want to be entrepreneurs.”
That made sense to me. First off, even in a world tailor-made for entrepreneurs, the bulk of people are surely going to remain employees (each small business, on average, employs 11 people, I heard recently – so the ratio of entrepreneur to employee is 1:11).
Second, how many young people have a) the work experience and skills; b) the brilliant entrepreneurial idea; and c) the character traits that make an entrepreneur? When I look back at myself in the years between Matric and leaving university, I see what can best be described as a half-baked scone, totally lacking in colour, not full-grown and pretty vague mentally.
I sort of went along with the idea of becoming a teacher until I just couldn’t bear the thought any more. I ended up in short-term insurance, and by the time I emerged from my 20s, I’d become a journalist who was just beginning to understand her strengths and interests.
So instead of encouraging young people to see themselves as entrepreneurs, to rush out and try – and probably fail, at some cost to their pockets and their self-esteem – why don’t we help them to gain the life experience and skills and self-knowledge that will nurture the potential entrepreneur in them (or the happy employee, if that’s their personal bent)?
This is where I come to something controversial. I edit a magazine for physiotherapists, and I well remember the upset when the idea of community service – by then already in place for new doctors – was first mooted. However, the South African Society of Physiotherapy decided not to resist, but to work to make it the best possible experience for new graduates.
When I approached young physiotherapists at the end of the year they’d dreaded, “stuck out in some deep rural area” as one described it in advance, I was amazed to discover that for many, this had been a turning point in their lives. Some had even decided to stay in that rural area, hooked on the kick of making a difference and the peaceful outdoorsy life.
Others came back to the cities gladly, but told me that the challenges they’d faced had given them life and work skills which had matured them and prepared them well for the future.
So the idea of community service isn’t terrifying. It’s lately been suggested for all graduates, and I think that could be a grand plan.
Since it’s only in specific areas that you can expect to walk out of university or any other tertiary education and find a job with ease, the concept of sending our young, qualified people off to assist the public service seems sound to me: a graduate with a year of doing admin, accounts or IT in a small town’s municipality, or on-the-job training surveying and constructing roads, is a far better prospect for a company to employ than some green kid who think’s he’s the shizness and has no idea about real corporate life.
In fact, I think we could consider offering community service on a voluntary basis to all matriculants. Any of you who know young people in poorer homes will know how demoralising the job search is: sitting around, day after day, waiting for calls and getting none, or walking the streets with your CV to no avail; it eats at the spirit.
Certainly the teenagers I’ve known would have preferred to be given a small income and a chance to get their teeth into some real work. At that age, it’s a huge adventure - and you would emerge with some real-life skills that put you ahead of the pack.
And maybe, just maybe, this would generate more small businesses than urging kids to start their own businesses while wet behind the ears. You’re more likely to see opportunities and be realistic about your chances when you’ve tasted the real working world, aren’t you?
- Fin24
*Mandi Smallhorne is a versatile journalist and editor. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on twitter.
