In a culture that shames failure in entrepreneurship, with a banking environment that structurally impedes entrepreneurs with prior failures to raise funding, it is no wonder we have such a low re-entry rate, says Allon Raiz.

• For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.

Many people who have business ideas feel in some way that they are not ready to take the plunge, and one of the most convenient excuses is that they feel that they “are not entrepreneurs”. But this doesn’t take away the business idea smouldering at the back of their minds. To try and resolve their dilemma, they start looking around for answers as to whether entrepreneurs are born or made. As a result, this is a question that gets asked of experts almost continuously. As someone who is a strong proponent and campaigner for entrepreneurship, writing an article about why glamourising entrepreneurship is a problem may, on the face of it, seem a little hypocritical. Why would I write such a piece when I am so pro-entrepreneurship as an economic-development tool?

It’s simple. I believe that SA has developed a culture of glamourising entrepreneurship that is, in a sense, “false advertising”. The warning label is missing. It is widely accepted that around 96% of new businesses fail within a ten-year period the world over. That is a staggering statistic and not one that can be easily glossed over. If I may draw a comparison, how many kids would enlist in the army – despite those grand notions of honour and patriotism – if you told them that only four out of 100 would come back alive?

I believe that prospective entrepreneurs should know what the real risks are when starting a business. If, as a government, you view entrepreneurship as the “medicine” to treat high unemployment and a lack of growth in the economy and wealth creation, surely it should come with a warning label like any other “medicine”? Such a warning might read: “Starting your own business will likely lead to loss of money; loss of family; loss of friends; loss of fun; and loss of confidence.” And it should most probably also state that there is only a four percent chance of the “medicine” working!

First, let us unpack the concept of failure as it relates to entrepreneurship. We need to define whether we’re talking about the failure of the entrepreneur or the failure of the business. Unfortunately, the general view is that, if an endeavour we have started shuts down and ceases to be, we have failed. While it’s true that businesses do fail, it is also true that entrepreneurs can come back and try again. Entrepreneurs who come back and try again cannot be deemed to be failures. Remember, provided an entrepreneur makes use of the lessons learned, the networks created and the skills acquired during a failed business venture, her second endeavour will have a much higher likelihood of success.

But, when entrepreneurs try and fail and do not try again, that – to me – is the worst outcome. All that effort, money and time become fruitless and wasted. In my view, the real indicator to watch here is not the failure rate of businesses but the re-entry rate of entrepreneurs post the failure of a business.

A few years ago, I read a research paper that compared various countries’ entrepreneurial re-entry rates. In South Africa the rate was slightly over one time, while in the USA it was in the region of three and a half times. This means that the average South African “entrepreneur” tries entrepreneurship only once and then stops trying, and the average American tries again at least two and a half times after the first failure.

I believe that two of the largest contributors to South Africa’s low entrepreneurial re-entry rate are culture and character.

Culture

There is a widely known fable of the young American entrepreneur who goes to a would-be investor for money. The investor asks the entrepreneur how many times he has failed, to which the entrepreneur replies, “Never, sir.” The investor responds, “Son, go and fail three times and then come back to me.”

The South African version of the same story has the entrepreneur going to the investor to raise money. The investor asks, “How many times have you failed?” The entrepreneur responds that she has failed three times, to which the investor says, “Thank you for calling on me. We’ll be in touch.”

In a culture that shames failure in entrepreneurship, in a banking environment that structurally impedes entrepreneurs with prior failures to raise funding, in a community environment where failure is frowned upon and where negative gossip prevails, it is no wonder we have such a low re-entry rate.

Let’s also not forget the incredibly destructive myth that a good business plan accompanied by a good dose of funding (and, in South Africa, preferably grant funding) is the panacea to creating a vibrant start-up economy. The evidence does not support this delusion. When entrepreneurs are seen as two-minute noodles that can be processed on a weekend course – transforming them from unemployed youth on Friday to start-up entrepreneurs on Monday – it should come as no surprise that there is little evidence of success and, more importantly, no understanding of the deep damage to the entrepreneur’s self-confidence that this can create. Two-minute noodle “entrepreneurs” who have “failed” after becoming an “entrepreneur” are, in my experience, far less like to start another business.

Character – not everyone is an entrepreneur

We also need to realise that not everyone is an entrepreneur right now, and not everyone is an entrepreneur by choice. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor or GEM monitors the TEA (Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity) in first-world and emerging populations. First-world countries are generally characterised by rather low TEA rates of between one and two per cent of the population. Emerging economies tend to have a much larger TEA rate of between five and 20%. This type of economy is likely to have a disproportionate number of “necessity entrepreneurs” who, if given the opportunity for formal employment, would take it in a heartbeat.

In my experience, entrepreneurs precipitate given the right conditions and life circumstances. It is the government’s role to create an environment of opportunities and a tolerance of risk as well as a culture that allows the entrepreneurial precipitation of those with the right life circumstances, those with the ability to take risks, those with the ability to withstand pain, and those who believe they can muster the necessary resources.

You cannot create entrepreneurs in a weekend course and that is exactly what so many are trying to do. I think the saddest side effect of glamourising entrepreneurship is that, when people are led to believe that funding and a good business plan or a weekend course will lead to success in the shortest period possible, they are never ready for the reality of the journey – a journey which is hard work, has its ups and downs, needs perseverance, and which has a playing field that always seems to be tilted upward. I’ve watched thousands of entrepreneurs being wounded (some mortally) as they encounter a reality for which they are ill-prepared and about which, I might even say, they have been misled. By destroying confidence, we are destroying capital. We must stop this damaging behaviour and stop spreading the false mythology around business plans and funding being the magical elixir to success.

Allon Raiz is CEO of Raizcorp.

News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.

Newsletter

For Subscriber

Weekly

Business Briefing

A deep dive into the big business story of the week, as well as expert analysis of markets and trends.

Sign up

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred

Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.