Economic theory states that wealth is created when scarce resources are transformed into marketable products or services.  A resource becomes scarce when it has a value or a price attached to it. The traditional resources; land, capital, labour and management/entrepreneurship could be classified as scarce because they all have a monetary value attached. However, when we analyse these resources from an individual perspective, entrepreneurship is the only “scarce resource” that is in fact “not scarce”. Individual entrepreneurship is like oxygen available in abundance. Each of us has an abundance of entrepreneurship stored in our minds, which is free to our disposal and we do not need money to buy it. From a personal point of view will entrepreneurship for own use not cost any money and is therefore not a scarce resource.

With zero mineral and very, very limited agricultural resources, the community of Hong Kong proved once again that a free market climate where each person is free and willing to utilise his/her entrepreneurial abilities miracles can happen. The economic success achieved by Hong Kong is indeed one of the biggest success stories of the twentieth century.

It should also be interesting to the people thinking that a democratic government can create wealth. The fact is that Hong Kong did not have a democracy, not even government. Law and order was provided by Britain thousands of miles away. This remarkable success was largely the work of a large number of entrepreneurial minded refugees from mainland China.  They were in search for economic freedom and fled from the bondage of a communistic regime.  Hong Kong provided the right climate, in which they could apply their entrepreneurial talents for their own benefit. It is now history, but these people with their entrepreneurial mindsets, managed to create a world-class city from nothing.  It all started very small but as economic activity (the trading in solutions) started to snowball, Hong Kong grew into a monument of economic success.  The example of what happened in Hong Kong, has not only inspired the so-called free world to greater freedom, it has also inspired their gigantic communistic neighbour, China. This giant is now in the process of providing more and more economic freedom to its people. China is indeed starting to emerge from poverty, and is expected to fully become a true free market economy within the next decade or two. How wonderful it will be, if more people could also be free to use their talents to solve problems and to trade their solutions with us. The wakening of this giant, will surely add substantially to the creation of wealth in the world. We can also start looking forward to the contributions of Russia, India and Africa in the near future. This will mainly happen when the success of China starts to influence the mindsets and perceptions of a critical mass of people. This critical mass will help the free world to reach the tipping point, and the world economic scale will swing away from poverty to prosperity.  The mindsets of people will then have changed accordingly, and they will start thinking abundance as apposed to scarcity.  This new mindset of giving and not taking will only start developing when people realise the creation of wealth, is in fact a process of solving problems and trading in solutions. We need to understand that the creation of wealth is not accomplished by exploitation or by taking from others – it is created by the process of effective problem solving and putting more and better “economic” solutions on the market.

The more you give the more you will receive, is indeed the golden rule needed for economic success. The more and better ‘economic solutions” you “give to the economy”, the more money you will receive. These “economic solutions” are simply in the form of marketable products or services.

Democracy and the politics which is part and parcel there off are therefore not capable to create any wealth. A democratic society which do not provide it’s members with the very needed free market environment in which entrepreneurs can flourish, will stay a poor community.

The first world has shown that they can over-produce food at will. By applying their minds via new technology, it sometimes happens that food have to be destroyed in “wealthy” economies. This is done in order to prevent surpluses. This proves the fact that nothing needs to be scarce, not even food.  If the human mind has the ability to formulate a problem, it automatically has the ability to solve it as well.  It is estimated that the average human, at present, is only using a very small portion of their brain potential.  We are created with huge and diverse talents, and should start to use more of our potential.  It seems if we are only utilising the tip of the iceberg in relation of what we are capable of. We are indeed designed and capable to move mountains.

We are all born as highly innovative beings who love to explore, invent and create.  We are also provided with numerous problems, screaming for innovative and creative solutions.  All we need is the freedom to apply our talents in solving these problems.  We therefore need a climate of basic law and order on the one hand, but critically important on the other hand, we also need economic freedom.  It is during this creative problem-solving process that entrepreneurs normally experience self-actualisation.  We are all blessed with different talents, begging to be utilized to the benefit of all on this planet. If we could all apply these gifts, we would not only be able to satisfy the ego, but also benefit one another in an optimum manner.  By using our God-given abilities to solve problems, we will, in effect, not only benefit man, but we will also benefit our planet as a whole. Human and environmental problems are one and the same.  Man needs the planet in order to survive.

Economic growth needs to occur in order to create a better standard of living for all. The general perception of the average person is unfortunately that economic prosperity is a function of resources like oil, gold, copper, etc.  Today, in the modern economy, the importance of these kinds of resources has largely been marginalized. There was however, a time in history, when the wealth of countries, governments and kings, were determined by the amounts of land they owed, and the mineral wealth their countries possessed. It is the strong memory of these historic times, which is the cause for the current illusion regarding the importance of resources. This mindset was also the driving force behind colonialism, and the indicator of power and wealth right up to the early and even the middle part of the last century.

Prosperity in the new economy is not achieved by the richness of the minerals owned, but rather by the transformation of these resources into problem solving products and services artefacts.  Entrepreneurs applying creativity innovation are necessary to turn minerals and metal into valuable problem solving articles.  These resources are totally useless, unless they are transformed into problem-solving articles and artefacts like motorcars, aeroplanes computers and machines. Wealth is created by entrepreneurs who had the abilities to  transform minerals, metals and oil into something useful.

In the new economy today, some of the wealthiest countries in terms of mineral resources are rated as very poor.  The general standard of living is sometimes below the breadline. These countries are also normally characterised by violent political fraction fighting, diseases, hunger and general poverty.  Examples are most African countries, most Middle Eastern countries, parts of South America, Russia, as well as others in Eastern Europe.  Russia and most countries in the Middle East possess massive mineral wealth, but the great majority of people living there are desperately poor. Why are these countries so poor?  The simple truth is that prosperity is created by creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and not by resources per se.

Prosperity is the primary result of the natural abilities of the human mind to solve problems.  The major problem-solving instrument, utilised effectively in the prosperous economies of the world, is called business. Businesses compete with one another in their quest to make money by solving customers’ problems.  The businesses providing the more effective and efficient solutions, will make the most money.  The businesses that fail to satisfy customers’ needs optimally will go out of business. Any business can therefore only survive, if it can effectively and efficiently manage to solve problems for people, and/or organisations.  These problems have also to be solved in such a way, that the receivers of these solutions are willing to pay for it. This willingness to pay is the acid test, determining the real value of the solution.  The word “business” is synonym for the action of trading – “you give me something I want, and I will give you something you want.” If both parties give and receive satisfactorily, they have done business.  Business, however, is more than the trading of articles or artefacts – business is also the trading of talents in the form of services. Businesses are created and grown by entrepreneurs.

Therefore if we are serious about economic growth we have train more people to become entrepreneurs!

There is an ongoing academic debate regarding the difference between these two concepts. Many theories have been developed ranging from, the one is the flip side of the other, up to a model aiming at describing all the dimensions and inter actions of strategic thinking.

Practicing entrepreneurs will however know that that strategic thinking is simply strategic planning at a very high pace.

Your ability to think strategically is of utmost importance in order to manage and to grow your enterprise. The ability to think strategically is not rocket science; it is simply something you have to do, if you know how to do it.

Strategic thinking is the high pace process of looking at the bigger picture surrounding your business.  You must make a habit of scanning the various “external environments” (economic, political, social, legal and technological) by looking for opportunities, as well as for threats.  You will be amazed how many new opportunities you’ll see when you start focusing on the various external environments.

You will, as a matter of fact, also become aware of possible threats, which will enable you to make plans to counter them before it is too late. In countering threats, it could be necessary to change direction and/or diversify by adding new related products/services.

Your ability to focus, as well as your ability to make Paradigm Shifts, are the most important and also critical factors in the strategic thinking process

If you have to change direction and/or diversify, always remember to do it within your domain of passion and interest.  You will also see when you start focusing and manage to shift old paradigms, that there is never a shortage of new opportunities.

You must also remember that business opportunities are simply viable solutions to problems, and problems are everywhere, begging to be solved. Develop the ability to listen to people as we all love to talk about our problems. Each problem is like a diamond waiting to be mined and where the mining process represents the solution to the problem.

The second part of strategic thinking will be driven by a focus on your business and business processes, as well as on your competitors.  In this focus, you’ll be looking at strengths and weaknesses.  Always search for possible ways of building on your strengths and eliminating your weaknesses in relation to your competitors.  You must also never forget to do the same exercise with your customers in mind.

Always strive to eliminate the weaknesses of your products/services and to build on their strengths.  You’ll have to do this on a continuous basis in order to provide a better solution for your customers and optimize your profits at the same time.

With the introduction of money, a new method of determining the values of products and services had to be invented.  In a simple bartering transaction, values were determined by consensus between the bartering parties.  Auctions were probably then invented to determine values of products and services through mass consensus.  In the auction process, the price of a product/service was determined by demand and supply, which could be viewed as a process of mass consensus regarding price determination. It was only after the discovery of money, the introduction of auctions where demand and supply determine prices that entrepreneurship activities started to get momentum. The term entrepreneurship has for the 1^st time been described in the 1800’s when the French economist Jean Baptiste Say produced the following definition:

 “An entrepreneur is a person who shifts economic resources out of an area of low productivity into an area of higher productivity and greater yield”.

Economic Evolution

The economy of the world evolved through major phases, starting with the extraction phase where Man discovered how to extract metal from rock.  This phase was followed by the artisan phase where, man made artefacts from the various metals.  The artefact phase was followed by the industrial phase (late 18^th and early 19^th century), which had a huge impact on the general standard of living.  In this phase, entrepreneurs managed to build machines, which were capable of producing in mass.  As machines replaced artisans and workers, many people lost their jobs.  The demand for crafty hands was fortunately soon replaced by a huge demand for administrative skills.

The next phases to follow emerged due to increased competition between mass producers.  Marketing (principles and concepts) was invented by entrepreneurial producers to create a competitive advantage, and to gain market share.

The marketing phase then paved the way for customisation and niche marketing.

The so-called new economy emerged when information technology replaced many administrative skills.  This is a mirror image of what happened during the industrial revolution when manual jobs were taken over by machines

At this point, producers started searching for new markets.  These “new” markets have also reached saturation, and the “new economy” is now in need of revolutionary new products/services and therefore new economic solutions. Entrepreneurship has now become a key driving force in this new economy and is accurately described by the following definition:

“Entrepreneurs are those people who manage to create/develop/ supply new and/or better economic solutions.  These solutions are in the form of goods/products/services, created to solve problems for customers in various target markets”.

Real entrepreneurs are, however, only individuals who manage to create new and/or better “economic solutions” for the market. New venture creators are definitely viewed as real entrepreneurs, but many other individuals could also fit this description.

These individuals were and still are responsible for the improvement of the standard of living of mankind.

This new economic phase will require more lateral (intuitive) thinking, not only vertical (logical) thinking, which was perceived to dominate during the industrial economy.  New revolutionary products and services need to be created.

In my opinion, education institutions are unfortunately still producing “administrators” and not entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs are the key-driving forces in the “new economy”.

We therefore need a “fundamental rethinking of what education systems are actually supposed to deliver”.

- Compiled and written by Entrepreneurial Business School -

The contents of our courses are based on our research on how to create business innovators. We started with a study on all the research in this field that has already been done in the world.  From this, we identified 6 common areas of attributes and skills that successful business leaders have in common.  These common denominators are:

1.   Business start-up and management skills.

2.   Creativity and innovation.

3.   Work passion.

4.   A strong developed  sixth sense (intuition).

5.   A specific psychological profile of personal qualities like confidence, comfortable with uncertainty, perseverance, goal orientation and they also thrive on feedback – positive or negative, to name but a few.

6.   A proper understanding of the mechanics of the Free Market System.

From our research, we realised that if we can teach people these 6 atributes and skills successfully, we could create entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs. Our research also convinced us that the only way to teach people these skills and atributes in a successful way is by means of experiential learning.

1. Business Management Skills

Lets start with the easy one – business management skills.  The challenge here is to motivate the student to apply the theory in practice.  We knew from our research, that 90% of people do not apply theory in practice even if they know the theory.  The reason being that as soon as a person applies some theory in practice and it does not work, they are inclined to chuck everything away by automatically assuming that theory does not work in practice.  We managed to overcome this stumbling block by firstly, only teaching people theory that we know from practical experience works, and secondly, by integrating theory and practice by presenting the business management part in project the form of a business design.

2. Creativity and Innovation

The question many people ask is: “Are we born creative, or can we develop creativity?” According to studies, done by Dr Cobus Neethling, our own “creativity guru”, we are all born highly creative.  As a matter of fact, 98% of toddlers tested creative superior, but sadly, at the age of 22, only 2% of people were tested as such.  The explanation for this fact is that our education system only developed the so-called “left side of the brain”, namely the Linguistic, Mathematical and Logical side.  The right side, the creative and intuitive side, is not that well developed.  The result is then that the left-brain dominates the right and we loose our natural creative abilities.  A lot of people before us, like Edward de Bono, John Adair and our own Dr Cobus Neethling, have already addressed this problem, and we specifically make use of their techniques and exercises in our course.  The ability to tap into and activate the right brain is however the primary technique to master.

3. It’s crucial to have a passion for what you are doing

The challenge here is to find your real passion in life and to choose a career synchronised with what you really love doing.  In an extensive literal research, we came across various works on this topic and out of this, we have developed a series of exercises that will help you to successfully identify your passion in life.  This passion becomes like an internal driving force that will eventually take you to high levels of success on the long run.

4. Develop your “gut feel”

The ability to develop the next attribute, a well-developed gut feel or sixth sense, was the next challenge to overcome.  In our quest to find answers, we moved from the traditional psychology through the disciplines of quantum-physics and meta-physics to Para-psychology.  We were indeed fortunate to come across the work of Allen Vaughn.  Allen was a researcher at the Institute of Para-psychology in the United States, with a passionate interest in human intuition or sixth sense, or so-called gut feel.

Allen proved that we are all born with intuitive abilities.  Similar to our creative abilities, this talent is also a right brain function.  Allen, a dominant left-brain person, managed to develop exercises, which enabled him to utilise his natural talents.  He applied these exercises and later became known as a person with exceptional intuitive abilities.  These exercises are uncomplicated and easy to use.  We can all develop this valuable life skill, called intuition or gut feel.

5. The development of ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

In the development of a entrepreneurial profile, containing specific traits like confidence, perseverance, goal orientation, etc, answers came from both traditional and non-traditional psychology.  A person’s psychological profile is simply a function of what has been programmed in the sub-conscious mind.  The sub-conscious mind does not ask questions, it simply re-acts to programmed instructions.  Any phobia is a classic example of how the sub-conscious mind functions.  By the same token is confidence or the lack of confidence – a programmed instruction in the sub-conscious mind.  The wonderful news, however, is that we can actually re-program the sub-conscious and replace a negative instruction with a positive one.  We can therefore create any psychological profile of our choice, by simply following certain procedures and exercises.  These techniques are commonly known as “Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).

6. Understand the mechanics of the Free Market System

The successful entrepreneur needs a crystal clear understanding of the foundation and principles of the Free Market System.  This is similar to the analogue of understanding the dimensions of the playing field and the rules of the game before you can start to develop your skills in order to become a professional player in any sport.  A limited understanding of the Free Market System will block out and curb the vast number of freely available business opportunities.