Embark on a career as a self-employed solopreneur
WITH current youth unemployment of 65.5% in South Africa, it is clear most young people will not get a formal job.
Realistically, only a small proportion of them could potentially develop into high-growth entrepreneurs. Michelle Matthews discusses how solopreneurship might offer opportunities for South Africa’s unemployed youth.
Our idealised notions of entrepreneurship are not the antidote to joblessness. Only a handful of people can build a fast-growing business able to employ hundreds of people. But what if we could create a million one-person businesses? We should get as many individuals earning an income as possible; participating in the economy and starting to spend, creating markets for other small businesses.
Young people with skills and grit should be taught how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to their careers. If they look to the digital economy, they don’t even need to be constrained by what’s available locally.
As many South African graduates have discovered, a degree won’t make anybody’s life magically unfold. Relevant practical skills, a flexible and opportunistic approach to making work happen, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks are far more effective. These individuals could become confident operating as a business of one: a solopreneur.
We can have a lot more people managing themselves as small businesses and participating in the global economy. Yet, the regular Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (Gem) regularly reports a relatively low amount of entrepreneurial activity among South Africans (although we are increasingly looking more favourably on entrepreneurship as a desirable career path). Does this mean South Africans are not entrepreneurial? Perhaps.
Arguably, the reason for this is deeply rooted in our South African history and psyches. Decades of systematic disempowerment have likely led to a general erosion of self-efficacy. South Africans struggle to believe they can take control of their circumstances and influence the world around them.
To solve our youth unemployment crisis, the first thing we would need to do is work with young people to increase their confidence in their ability to execute their own plans. In some schools and environments, this type of thinking is actively discouraged, let alone positively taught. But it is counter-productive to tell young adults what to do: what happens when we’re not around? What happens when we’re wrong?
Michelle Matthews is a director at Viridian, a consultancy that works with development agencies, government departments and corporates to African entrepreneurial ecosystems.
For more information, visit: https:// launchleague.co.za/https://www.viridian.africa/