The One Question Everyone Keeps Asking Me
“Why don’t you just start your own thing?”
Yes, I am 28 and unmarried but this is the FAQ of my life. How blessed am I?
I went to spend the weekend at my aunt’s house and we spoke about how I am leaving my current job and that I want to take a three-month vacation. She didn’t grill me about being an adult, perseverance, endurance or none of that. She said to me, “You can move in with me if you’d like and whatever you need to start your own thing just let me know and I’ll make a plan to get it to you.”
Lately, it’s all people keep asking me about. I consult on plenty start-ups and brands. This makes me happy. I am in my zone when I am thinking of how to make stuff better. Anyway, to answer this frequently asked question, there are two things involved.
Fear of Failure
This is the enemy of progress. I am terrified of failing. I have tons of ideas in my Agribank diary from dad and most of them are feasable but I am scared to death. I am not afraid of being embarassed that I failed at something. I got over this fear when I wrote O level maths. I am afraid of the time wasted. Rihanna tattoo talking about “Never a failure, always a lesson.” Or the story about how Coca Cola only sold 25 bottles in its first year. These do not make me feel any better at all. I am always racing against time and I dislike wasting it. I don’t take it well.
Lack of Adequate Support
I am an ideas person. Implementation not so much. Technical know-how of making the plan come to life, I haven’t a clue. So, I need a team that has strengths in my weaknesses. Finding the right people to make a team is difficult especially creatives. They all have ideas and sometimes trying to merge those ideas can be a grueling process. I have begun to handpick the people I want to work with and by 2018, the dream team should be complete.
Due to public demand, I have decided to focus on growing my own projects. Most of them will be done independetly from my brand becasuse my mentor says I risk overbranding. Also, tying my name to all these projects is a huge risk. My brand is very ‘explorative’ and should it tank, it could possibly tank with all my projects. So I must manage them from a safe distance.
What’s the one question you have always wanted to ask me?
By Thembi Terry Zulu
Read more from her here.
