Zetech students trained to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset

In an enlightening afternoon of learning and interaction, the University auditorium was filled with students eager to learn how to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset. This was occasioned by a public lecture by celebrated entrepreneur and author Esther Muchemi who is a household name in the Country following continued success in business.

The Samchi Group CEO captured the minds and hearts of the audience as she took them through what it takes to succeed in entrepreneurship and the attitude required for one to overcome obstacles and excel.

“There is no magical formula for entrepreneurship,” said Ms Muchemi as she kicked off her talk on “How to cultivate an Entrepreneurial Mindset, the GMMM approach.” She highlighted that entrepreneurs must train themselves to spot opportunities around them and provide solutions for the world.

Speaking on the traits of an entrepreneur, she noted that entrepreneurs must be driven by passion, not money. “An entrepreneur must be passionate to achieve success and press on until they make it. Challenges will come, failure will be inevitable at the beginning but a real business person will overcome and arise again.” She said. The CEO, who runs over eight companies in real estate, hospitality management, telecommunications and business, added that entrepreneurs are self-starters who set smart goals and have strong work ethic.

As the students and faculty, led by Vice Chancellor Prof. Njenga Munene, listened to the lecture, nuggets on how to ask for help from investors and how to conquer environments to progress in business were unleashed by the charismatic mentor.

Working on her Give Me My Mountain campaign anchored on her recently launched book, Give Me My Mountain, Ms Muchemi emphasised that Kenyans need to connect with authentic entrepreneurs who have a journey. “I feel that the media needs to highlight genuine business men and women who can share their struggles and successes with young people to motivate them to invest and persist in entrepreneurship.’ She said.

According to the University management, such engagements underline the need to merge education and entrepreneurship to train students to develop solutions for the world and become employers. VC Prof Munene said, “Our mission is to ensure students get to put theory into practice; we want to produce entrepreneurial graduates who can start their own businesses and succeed. Through such interaction and our MOU with Samchi to provide internship to Zetech students, we believe our trainees will be exceptional and will be easily absorbed in the market.”

The gathering ended with an informative question and answer session where students and staff enjoyed an opportunity to have all their unanswered queries responded to, in relation to succeeding in business. As the University endeavors to be one of the best business universities in Kenya, students appreciated that such lectures play a key part in preparing them for the world and through entrepreneurship, students and guardians can effectively participate in financing higher education in Kenya.