If You Want a Certain Future, Go Out & Create It
Just deemed one of Africa’s most successful women, Divine Ndhlukula runs one of Zimbabwe’s largest security groups, SECURICO, as founder and Managing Director.
“I am a firm believer of the philosophy that there is no easy road to anywhere worth going to, especially business, in particular in Africa,” Ndhlukula said. She credits tenacity, creativity, and determination to SECURICO’s growth and success.
Ndhlukula’s company has more than 3,400 employees – 900 of whom are women, $13 million in revenue, and won the prestigious Legatum Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship in December 2011. All of this accomplished in less than 15 years.
Ndhlukula said she knew from a young age that she wanted to start and run her own business. Her education and experiences, from working for the government, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, an insurance company, running her own small business on the side all the while, and finally taking an Entrepreneurial Development Program, prepared her for SECURICO. She learned key qualities like networking, business planning, goal setting and opportunity seeking, that paved the way.
While she had hardly any capital and no security background, she saw a gap in the security field. She saw opportunity: “I was armed with passion and determination to succeed in a hitherto male area.” And in December of 1998 she founded SECURICO.
“I have now had to learn that the secret of success is found in one’s daily schedule,” Ndhlukula said. “My advice to women all the time is: If you want a certain future, go out and create it. Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women. Opportunities are now galore. We just need to roll up our sleeves, life our feet, and walk through the door as no one will carry us.”
Read the full Forbes article and connect with Divine on LinkedIn.
