My view

Good Morning this wonderful Monday! Another opportunity to get to those targets set again. Today I want to talk about financial literacy. Financial literacy simply put is understanding how money works. I believe financial illiteracy is the reason behind many enterprises destruction, as the owners in the good times never prepare for bad times resulting in the death of the business at its first real stress. I have been following presentations by many entrepreneurs in Zambia, Zimbabwe and SA. In those presentations, what they have in common, they highlight financial indiscipline and failure to understand money as a key destroyer of not only businesses but also individual wealth. How many stories have you heard of that guy who used to be rich and fell on hard times and never got back? In Africa, I belive financial intelligence and literacy is much more important than the rest of the world as we don't have the support institutions that incubate support and assist wealth...

As an entrepreneur forced into business I have learnt over a short period that our mindset has to be very different to those of others. I will over the next few weeks try to start to focus my blog in a personal way so maybe someone can learn from my experiences. It is my hope that in sharing my experiences with you I too may learn from those who are generous enough to comment with your own views. I will begin with Debt.... 1. Debt is like a drug- *Banks are the drug dealers When beginning a business, you major financing will come from within your close spheres and yourself. Cash is usually tight; and those that lend or invest will do so because of the personal relationship of the entrepreneur ( more than the business itself). As you begin to grow the business and establish a track record, the more established sources of finance will seek to finance you. Be weary of this sudden interest in your business. In Africa, most financial institutions do not tak...