By By Xiletelo Mabasa
In the big city, people have to compete with each other for the best available opportunities, DJ Sbu said on Tuesday.
“This is Jo’burg. So if you are here, you are here to fight. This is war,” he said in a room packed with students. “We’re all here for a fight; you guys are here for degrees.”
DJ Sbu was discussing his new book, Billionaires under Construction: The Mindset of an entrepreneur, at the Chinua Achebe Auditorium in the UJ APK Library.
The businessman, whose real name is Sbusiso Leope, revealed to the young audience that he had to drop out of university due to a lack of funds and then he joined a company called Worldwide Wholesalers Industry (WWI). This is where he learned basic entrepreneurial skills.
“They give you stock on consignment . . . but they teach you how to sell. They taught me a system called the five steps to sale,” Leope explained.
The steps that he was referring to include introduction, presentation, short story, close and rehash. This five-step system was meant to guide trainees to approach a potential customer and make a sale.
Simsile Myeni, a second-year Human Resource student, was very impressed with what the media personality had to say. “I was very inspired today; DJ Sbu is amazing. I feel like he’s just fearless. He really inspired me a lot,” she said.
Leope runs an NGO called the Sbusiso Leope Education Foundation, which gives educational bursaries to underprivileged students. Leope created the Mo Fayabrand as a means to fund this organisation.
“Some of the proceeds that come from the brand…finance the foundation; so, it’s self-sustainable and that automatically makes me a social entrepreneur,” he told The Open Journal.
As a social entrepreneur, the radio veteran uses his social media pages to encourage people to buy cases of the energy drink to sell and make a living. “I’m an entrepreneur who’s creative and makes money but [who also helps] people,” he said. “So people know that when they buy the product they are supporting themselves.”
Nqobile Dlhadlha, a student at UJ who also sells the energy drink at the traffic lights of Kingsway Avenue outside the university, said that Leope gave advice that was easy to act on.
“I felt like he told us the truth,” Dhladhla said. “He’s telling you something that you can apply now and I feel like it’s practical.”
The book gives insight into Leope’s personal life and his journey as an entrepreneur. It was launched on the 21st of June and is available in all major book stores. TOJ
Youth Chronicle 