Stumbled on a Pot of Gold: An Entrepreneur's Entry Point

Entrepreneurship; the journey towards becoming a successful entrepreneur generally requires extensive preparation, planning, hard work, strategy and intelligent execution, amongst other things. That is the traditional path, the blueprint.

That said, there are countless case studies where normal individuals with little to no prior interest in entrepreneurship, stumbled into exceptional business opportunities either stemming from hobbies or even just starting businesses off a whim.

I recall how I purchased a camera solely because I enjoyed the art of visual storytelling. I soon learned that people wanted photography services. I would randomly walk about with my camera, taking pictures of birds, and macro images of insects and flowers, and people would ask if I took portraits. They would ask for my price. "How much do you charge?" At some point, I randomly assigned a value of R50 for pictures. A few years later, I can tell you that I have since revised my business model, and there is a far more structured and well-thought-out approach to pricing because the business has since grown.

Similarly, a friend of mine asked that I edit his Master's dissertation during my sophomore year; his dissertation was on nuclear physics and granted, I had no experience in that field of science, I read and wrote a lot of articles, research papers and participated in a lot of essay competitions, my writing skills were refined as a consequence. He liked the suggestions and changes I had made to his manuscript to the extent that he recommended me to a few of his friends in academia and a few businessmen who required copywriting services; that is how I began my business consultancy. Interestingly, my camera became a much-needed asset for the business profiles I would create.

I am still in the early stages of my consultancy, the scope of our work is still being explored and defined but for the most part, I stumbled into it. Stumbling into it may loosely be translated into maximising the returns of a hobby, or a personal interest, transforming it into a business; having the foresight to nurture and explore it in a much grander context. Walt Disney started drawing when he was a kid, creating animated figures in his spare time. That created an opportunity for him to land a role as a cartoonist, which ultimately inspired the vision to grow and start Walt Disney.

I was inspired to write this because, at a time when having multiple streams of income, self-sustenance, and independence is key, it can feel overwhelming to identify what that looks like in your own life. I know that I felt intimidated at a younger age when I would hear the word entrepreneur because it seemed larger than life, it seemed and felt far-fetched. You don't need to have a grand idea to start a business. You don't need to be an innovator. Sometimes, all it needs is the foresight to nurture and transform what you already love and do into something much bigger than what it is today. And once you have that foresight, a bit of vision, and imagination, then you can work on becoming an entrepreneur.

It is at this point where you should take the time to contextually visualise, research and plan. This includes conducting market research to identify your target customers and competitors, developing a business plan to outline your goals and strategies, and understanding the financial and legal aspects of starting and growing the business It's also at this point that you have to learn extensively and work on gathering the relevant experience or education in your chosen field or industry, it will help you develop the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed.

In short, there are opportunities for business everywhere. Your journey into entrepreneurship may very well start intentionally or because your friend liked your painting and inspired you to sell your paintings. Whatever the origin story, there are opportunities for you to participate in the global economy as an entrepreneur. You may have very well stumbled into it but once you do, once you have the foresight and the vision for what it can become, it is important to take the time to prepare, plan, and gain experience to mark yourself approved in the arena of entrepreneurship.