Inspiring Quotes From Successful African entrepreneurs

It may be easy to get caught up in the startup and entrepreneurship buzz, however, it is going to take a lot more to start your own venture and keep your head above the water.

Wondering what it takes to become a better entrepreneur or build a successful business? Pay heed to the words of some of the finest African entrepreneurs.

Getting started on the entrepreneurship track

“Be prepared to sacrifice, and work harder than you’ve ever thought possible. Be prepared to work around the clock, to be laughed at, called a dreamer, and to be told several times that your ideas will not work.”—Nkemdilim Begho, Future Software Resources Limited, Nigeria. 

“If I had worried about everything that could go wrong, I would never have started. Sometimes, you just need to take a leap of faith.”— Ken Njoroge of Cellulant, Kenya

“Getting things done is better than having things perfect. Done is better than perfect. Whatever you have in your hands, get going with it. Just do it.”—Charles Igwe, Nollywood Global Media Group, Nigeria

“To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme”. —Aliko Dangote, Dangote group, Nigeria

“Dreaming is good. But now your dream must be profitable. For example, you cannot find investors who will put funds in your project without them seeing the potential for profitability.” – Olivier Madiba, founder of Kiro’o Games in Cameroon

“Businesses that are spoilt with too much capital make the wrong decisions. Constraints are the most wonderful things in business, because constraints allow you to be innovative and come up with different solutions.” – Michael Jordaan, South, MonteGray Capital, South Africa

If you are already in business, keep these in mind…

“Focus on making your product or service awesome. I see a lot of guys go into business with a ‘how can I make money’ approach. But if you go in there saying ‘how can I make something awesome’, the money will follow.” – Alex Fourie, iFix, South Africa

“Business is always a struggle. There are always obstacles and competitors. There is never an open road, except the wide road that leads to failure. Every great success has always been achieved by fight, every winner has scars. The men who succeed are the efficient few –they are the few who have the ambition and will-power to develop themselves. So choose to be among the few today.” – Chris Kirubi, Centum Investment, Kenya

“Nineteen people may love your work, but the twentieth one will hate it and will tell you so; you cannot allow that to affect you. That may sound trite, but there is huge risk in letting criticism get you down.”—Carrol Boyes, South Africa

“It’s crucial to listen to your customers. Deliver on time and don’t overpromise or underpromise or overpromise and underdeliver. I learnt to run my business very efficiently. It’s also important that you communicate and be responsive.”— Nkemdilim Begho, Future Software Resources Limited, Nigeria