South Africa “desperately needs” entrepreneurs, and the online sphere is the perfect environment for new startups to thrive, according to Karl Hammerschmidt, co-founder of RunwaySale.
In an interview with HumanIPO, Hammerschmidt argued South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem needs more entrants, explaining the online market is the ideal place to launch a new startup given the internet’s power to break down barriers to entry.
“I think that South Africa desperately needs entrepreneurs. I think we’ve got a great culture here… but I think it can only improve. The more entrepreneurs, the more the community, the more thriving the ecosystem is,” he said.
Through creating a competitive entrepreneurial ecosystem, he explains, more jobs will be created and more money will flow into the country.
“Entrepreneurship on the whole is so needed,” Hammerschmidt said.
In particular, entrepreneurs in South Africa and across the continent should think about launching online businesses, given the internet provides an equal playing field.
“I think online is awesome because it eliminates a lot of the barriers to entry. Online is awesome and I think within the South African environment it’s opening up so much to so many people,” he said.
“In terms of Africa… I think it follows the same trend, whereby we’ve had certain limitations in South Africa, and we haven’t necessarily been exposed to first world solutions, and I really feel like internet is the great equaliser.”
He said the attitude towards failed entreprises must change and people should come to appreciate the many potential benefits of online enterprise to South Africa and Africa as a whole.
“I think it’s [online commerce] absolutely necessary, it’s awesome. I think as long as it’s embraced and people get over the criticising of when things fail; as long as people just embrace the way you don’t even need that much money… I really think it can do great things for the country and the continent as a whole because it breaks down barriers.”
