BANZA February 2016 Issue | Page 46

OPPORTUNITY OF TIME Opportunity of Time Maatla Kgasa In 1935 , there was a type writer manufacturing company called Smith Corona which was the world's largest company by turnover. A young man by called Richard walked into the offices of Smith Corona to pitch an idea of making a computer the size of a typewriter. They turned him down. He went on to start his company. His last name was Dell. Richard Dell started Dell Computers which went on to become the largest private company ever. My point is a simple one; the extent at which we are ready to cannibalize our business innovation happens when something we know meets with what we don't know. It's high time we stop asking our kids what they want to be when they grow up and instead switch the question to what problems do they want to solve. In that manner, we are challenging them to look for opportunities that lie in these problems and capitalize on that.