In politics as in business: Nothing ventured, nothing gained
In politics as in business, there is a popular idiom that has particular relevance to today’s uncertain times: nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The newly-minted government of national unity is a case in point, with South Africa about to embark on what would appear to be a necessary experiment – a coalition of parties that up until a few weeks ago were flinging insults at each other but must now join forces to run a country.
Another case in point is the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront which has just signed a power purchase agreement with electricity trader Etana Energy to acquire 43 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy a year. The deal forms part of the V&A’s sustainability strategy and ambition of net-zero carbon emissions by 2035.
It is just one of numerous bold V&A ventures as the famous mixed-use precinct leads by example in growing its footprint and entrenching its reputation as one of South Africa’s best commercial success stories. Within a relatively short space of time it has injected billions into the local economy and generated thousands of jobs, with much more to come as it looks ahead to a R20-billion Granger Bay expansion project.
Success can become a habit, and there are reasons why this is so. Innovators and business pioneers are not afraid to put plans into action, to persevere even when there are setbacks, and to make the most of forward momentum which takes on a life of its own.
A success story also attracts others with a taste for success. People like Cape Town businessman Keith Lindsay who has literally taken the plunge into a deep and unexplored gap in the market – amphibious tourism.
The growth of Waterfront tourism has inspired Lindsay to launched an amphibious bus venture, the Waterfront Duck Company, which is the first of its kind in Africa.
Earlier this year the V&A also unveiled the country’s first commercial building made almost entirely out of recycled material. The Portswood Café even has a wine bottle wall and building columns made from material salvaged from demolition sites.
The V&A continues to venture, and continues to gain.
It should not go unnoticed, particularly among those about to chart our economic future, that the V&A did not realise its enormous success by fretting over what it can’t do, but rather by envisioning what nobody has done before. It is a success story that feeds off itself, taking everybody along for the ride.
If there’s one certainty about living in uncertain times, it is that it is never too late to be pleasantly surprised.
John Lawson
CEO of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry