The Visit That Changed Everything: How 'Think and Grow Rich' Sparked My Entrepreneurial Journey
On a Tuesday morning in April 1989, I received a call from security at the Old Mutual head office. In those days, a visitor meant seeking permission from your manager, taking the lift from the 6th floor, and hoping the interruption wasn't frowned upon. My frequent visitors, a mix of friends and church colleagues, were a source of constant chagrin for my boss.
Little did I know that one such casual visit was about to change the course of my life.
A Life-Changing Encounter
Waiting for me in the foyer was my cousin, George Mufandaedza, a student at Rhodes University. After some pleasantries, he handed me a spiral-bound photocopy of a book. “Sekuru,” he said, “this is a life-changing book. I know you like reading, and I know it will change your life.” The book was Napoleon Hill’s *Think and Grow Rich*.
I promised to read it, and once I started, I couldn’t put it down. I read it from cover to cover in just a few days, then reread it, internalizing its lessons. This book, combined with earlier advice from my schoolmate Godfrey Mubaiwa to study marketing, became the toolkit that would shape my mind and my future. I will forever be grateful to them for exposing me to these tools for mental development.
Inspired by my reading and newfound mindset, I introduced a new fundraising method in my role as Projects Chairperson for the United Methodist Youth Fellowship (UMYF), selling custom-branded neckties—a first for church youth groups. The success of this small venture ignited a bigger idea.
I shared my thoughts with nine of my friends, proposing we form a collective savings group called "Syndicate." The group included Gutsikanai Nyamupanda, Morgan Machikiti, Tafadzwa Mazarura, Joseph Mataranyika, Raphael Mujuru, Farai Mashonganyika, David Kapende, Edmore Magara, and Wonder Kanyimo. Our goal was to mobilize our savings, invest, and eventually start a business of our own.
We opened a savings account, contributed ZW$50 each per month, and after a year, we had ZW$6,000—a huge sum in those days. We bought shares on the stock market and even purchased shoes from Superior Footwear for resale, making sizeable margins. We grew our capital, bought a club car, and took holidays together with our partners. Impressed by our organization, our wives formed their own group, "Ruvimbo," which survives to this day. For guidance, we invited church elders Ernest Mupfunya and Never Chirokote to be our patrons—men who would become my mentors when I later became a sales representative at Old Mutual.
The Seed of an Unfashionable Idea
Though I didn't realize it at the time, these experiences—fundraising at church, leading the Syndicate, investing and selling—were character-building moments, transforming me into the businessperson I am today.
So, when I first started talking about starting a funeral assurance and services business, my Syndicate colleagues must have thought I was going bonkers. It was an unfashionable, almost enigmatic idea back then. But I was thinking it. I intended to unmask it, unpack it, and so I continued, albeit subconsciously, to connect the dots.
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Kuda (Borehole)