Many of Eswatini’s youth have brilliant business ideas but for one reason or the other fail to start sustainable and successful businesses. Lack of business management skills and capital as well as regulatory red-tape are among the popular cited bottlenecks that impede the proliferation of start-up businesses among the youth. However, a young entrepreneur Jay Du Pont sees things differently and has some invaluable insights to share with Eswatini’s youth on how to break into and survive the cut-throat business world.
Jay Du Pont is a media company owner, organic farmer, and owner of a property company who has experienced both success and failure within the Eswatini business environment. In a seminar hosted by Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC) on the 06th December 2019, at the Mbabane Theatre Club, Du Pont cautioned aspiring young entrepreneurs that starting a business is not a plain sailing game but needs entrepreneurs with some heart and commitment. He emphasised that in all businesses, whether big or small, new or well-established, there are serious ups and downs to contend with. He argued that the making of a successful business depends on a passionate entrepreneur.
Like many entrepreneurs Du Pont started his business with limited capital. In his first business adventure, he was lucky enough to get some seed capital bequeathed to him by his late father so that he was able to start his business from scratch. Unfortunately, his luck did not carry the day for his business. At first he made lots of money but being an inexperienced and perhaps immature entrepreneur at the time, his business quickly took a nose dive such that he lost everything and ending up in financial ruin.
But hitting rock bottom did not take away Jay’s drive and passion for business. He kept on it, trying this and that in order to pick himself up little by little until he was able to land onto another promising business in which he was selling organic fertiliser within the Kingdom of Eswatini. Rising from the ashes of financial ruin, Jay had to make more sacrifices and employ creative methods just to prevent his organic fertiliser start-up from going belly up. For example, he used his old and beat up small car to transport cement and other building materials to cut costs on transportation. Today, this business has given birth to other businesses so that Jay now owns a leading media company (Omny Media) and a savvy and growing real estate company, REMAX.
Even with seed capital, entrepreneurs run the risk of losing it all within a short space of time from the inception point of the business. The question for aspiring young entrepreneurs is how did Jay do it? How can young people in Eswatini from all walks of life venture into innovative businesses that can grow and give birth to other spin-off companies?
In the seminar, Jay advised entrepreneurs that integrity is a critical ingredient for any successful business, yet most local business owners take this attribute for granted. He explained that entrepreneurs should be reliable, honest, and honour their promises to customers, suppliers, investors at all times. Beyond the integrity, Jay also offered that for anyone who wants to survive the business world, they need to know and trust that sales networking is important component of keeping any business alive. In his words, Jay stressed that as a business person, “You must learn to sell your business!!!” An entrepreneur has to have the power to influence and become generally interested in people. They must live everyday of their lives finding out what people want and need, which in turn, will become a springboard for practical ideas and innovative business that will serve people needs and have an instant and sustainable market. As he made his closing remarks during the seminar, Du Pont provided some profound food for thought as he pointed out that “people will always remember you for how you make them feel and will always be drawn towards somebody who is interested in them”.