On Tito Mboweni, banking and building your own empire
www.ourlongwalk.com
Business mogul of the future? Tito Mboweni and the business of empowerment banking When I was young I had this vision that I would one day own my own publishing house. The dream withered as I grew older, studied economics and realised that there are more rewarding (financially, and otherwise) careers to pursue. But it never completely vanished. So soon after I started lecturing at Stellenbosch, I had a business idea: why not write and publish a book about what students should know before they go to university. When the writing turned out to be a pain, I got experts to do the writing for me. (I still don't know why people like Ruda Landman, Jonathan Jansen and Tim Noakes agreed.) I then proceeded to publish the book, and founded a publishing house (with the help of two friends). Gabbema Books. In 2007 we published the first Afrikaans edition with an English edition following in 2009. But to print the 3000 copies that I hoped would sell out easily, I needed to afford the considerable printing costs of more than R70 000, a massive amount for someone with student debt and a Junior Lecturer salary. So I approached the bank. I drafted an impressive business plan. My Accounting friend helped tweak the numbers so that financial success seemed inevitable. And I put on my best business suit and smile.
On Tito Mboweni, banking and building your own empire
On Tito Mboweni, banking and building your…
On Tito Mboweni, banking and building your own empire
Business mogul of the future? Tito Mboweni and the business of empowerment banking When I was young I had this vision that I would one day own my own publishing house. The dream withered as I grew older, studied economics and realised that there are more rewarding (financially, and otherwise) careers to pursue. But it never completely vanished. So soon after I started lecturing at Stellenbosch, I had a business idea: why not write and publish a book about what students should know before they go to university. When the writing turned out to be a pain, I got experts to do the writing for me. (I still don't know why people like Ruda Landman, Jonathan Jansen and Tim Noakes agreed.) I then proceeded to publish the book, and founded a publishing house (with the help of two friends). Gabbema Books. In 2007 we published the first Afrikaans edition with an English edition following in 2009. But to print the 3000 copies that I hoped would sell out easily, I needed to afford the considerable printing costs of more than R70 000, a massive amount for someone with student debt and a Junior Lecturer salary. So I approached the bank. I drafted an impressive business plan. My Accounting friend helped tweak the numbers so that financial success seemed inevitable. And I put on my best business suit and smile.