10 Business Traits Young People Can Learn From 24 Year Old Farmer Njabulo Mbokane
10 Business Traits Young People Can Learn From 24 Year Old Farmer Njabulo Mbokane. Young people are definitely doing it for themselves. One of them is young female farmer Njabulo Mbokane. The inspirational farmer is running 200ha of farmland. Talk about getting that land. Learn a few business traits from her below;
1. Start Small
Njabulo started off selling fish and chips to scratch out a living and take care of her son. Her family didn’t have the means to pay for her education. Despite all these obstacles, at 24 years of age, she is a celebrated businesswoman.
2. Start Immediately
A lot of the times procrastination kills us. Njabulo knew what she wanted to do and took the bull by it’s horns. She didn’t want to study, but wanted to own a farm. The best way she knew how to achieve her dream was to start immediately and not wait for a university qualification.
3. Gain The Right Experience
Njabulo began working at a local school’s vegetable garden. The school’s garden had effectively stopped operating because of financial constraints but Njabulo offered to cover the costs to reboot the operation, so she could gain more farming experience.
4. Receive The Right Training
Njabulo was able to grow a variety of foods, including lettuce, spinach, carrots and cauliflower. Njabulo knew she could do even more but she needed more training. She was fortunate to receive assistance to study at an agricultural training institute.
5. Be Available To Learn More
One of the things that helped her most in understanding farming, especially maize farming, was constantly seeking information, attending workshops, and farmers’ days. So as a young person get as much information as you can about the business you want to venture in.
6. Partnership Is Key
Njabulo started by leasing five acres to grow soy beans which failed. Next she partnered with a commercial farmer, who was able to provide machinery and other inputs. Njabulo took on an additional 37 acres and this time it worked.
7. Don’t Give Up
Although Njabulo’s first Soya beans project failed. She did not harvest on time and knew nothing about the market, Njabulo didn’t give up. In 2017 she was fortunate enough to land a learnership to study at Peritum Agri Institute which was funded by agriculture company.
8. Don’t Listen To Doubters
Just like most of us, Njabulo also received criticism from some people. When she first started there were a lot of people who kept questioning her choices, but deep down Njabulo knew what she wanted and how she was going to get it.
9. Some Risks are Worth Taking
In business sometimes one has to take risks. It is quite evident that Njabulo is a risk-taker and it has paid off. In 2018, she took the biggest risk when she rented another 200-hectare farm in Ermelo which was closer to where she lives and it’s bigger.
10. Hard Work Pays
Njabulo has since won the SAB Young Emerging Farmer of the Year Award for 2019 and one of the requirements of joining the program was that entrants had to produce yellow maize corn.
