Earlier this week I attended the SMME Opportunity Roadshow that took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). A plethora of different speakers shared their knowledge and experiences.
I particularly enjoyed Sihle Tshabalala, Co-Founder and CEO of Quircky 30 NPC and Quircky Innovations (Pty) Ltd's keynote address. Here's why:
Tshabalala enthralled the delegates and had them hanging on his lips with his quick wit as he shared his incredible entrepreneurship story. Tshabalala, a convicted felon served eleven years in prison for business robberies and heists. As an incredibly intelligent youngster, having started school at four and matriculated at the age of 16, he had no ambition to further his studies. He got involved in the wrong crowd and so was drawn into the life of crime. His entrepreneurial journey started when he was in prison, where he sold marijuana! He had quite a sophisticated supply chain he explains and said that he never ate any prison food, he lived off a diet of Nandos and KFC. He says, tongue in cheek, that our prisons are full of entrepreneurs. Criminals have a natural talent for hustling, courage to take risks and they know how to network. They have just chosen the wrong product...crime. When he was released from prison he taught himself three different computer languages in six weeks! Today he trains youngsters who have dropped out of schools, single moms and others who have no means to further their education how to code. Tshabalala is now a thriving businessman on the right side of the law.
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