25/03/2026
To build a big business you can scale, you must lean on
__"Entrepreneurship is about building something that works without you!"*
The family of a very well-known elderly businessman came to see me one evening in a desperate state: “As you know, our father has been hospitalised, and he cannot sign cheques for us to pay our suppliers and our staff. Could you please lend us some money?”
“Your father’s business is quite large," I said gently. "Why is he the one who signs the cheques?”
“Baba signs all the cheques; he is old school, not like you, Mr Masiyiwa. As you can see from the bank statements, we have money, but we just can’t access it.”
And it was true, they had a lot of money!
I provided the money without adding to their stress because he was a good friend.
When the old man recovered, he paid me back, but wisdom told me not to raise the issue at that point.
An opportunity arose many months later when he told me he couldn’t understand why, despite his “tight personal controls,” he was still being “robbed blind." Then he asked:
“Young man, everyone knows that your business is very big, and they say you don’t sign cheques, and none of your relatives are involved in running your business. How do you do it?”
I then gently and patiently explained the principle of the “Three Ps”: , , and .
“Having a lot of relatives, most of whom are not skilled, is a form of self-deception. It has nothing to do with having the best . If you really want ‘control,’ you focus on what we call .”
It was then that I showed him how we organise payments and the signing of cheques.
“You mean you don’t sign cheques?!”
“No,” I said quietly and firmly. “I have no time for such things.”
“Here is another thing: I don’t recruit 98% of the people who work for us.”
“How do you stop them putting in their relatives?”
“Process should take care of that.”
Finally, I said, “I don’t set the prices for what we sell. I don’t know what we charge for airtime or data. Those decisions are taken by the CEO and his management team.“
“You don’t hire people, you don’t set the prices, and you don’t approve payments. So what do you actually do?” he asked, completely flabbergasted.
“If I did those things myself personally, I would be totally exhausted, and our business would not grow big. I focus on developing and deploying the processes that are used by the biggest companies in the world," I shared.
He nodded thoughtfully.
I will never stop hammering home to you the importance of the “3Ps”! Whether your company is high-tech or no-tech, they always apply.
A few of you may have heard me tell this story before. That's what I mean when I say that I will never stop hammering!
Image credit: KWB - Ubuntu Hope via AI.
Subtitle quote is adapted from Michael Ge**er: "Entrepreneurship is not about working harder. It's about building something that works without you..."
