MARNUS BROODRYK PRESENTATION
Marnus Broodryk is the founder of The Beancounter, an accounting firm in South Africa, and made his first million at 24. He is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and speaker.
CMV and Perseus VC1 were privileged to host a discussion with Marnus on Wednesday, 5 February 2020, in front of over 200 people. He shared several highly insightful thoughts on topics such as entrepreneurship, mindset, and South Africa, which we have highlighted below.
In 2017, Marnus hosted a launch for his book, 90 Rules for Entrepreneurs, where he was asked to share his biggest secret and the most valuable thing he applies in life and business. He shared that his biggest learning is that we think that life is happening to us, whereas life is 100% coming from us.
15 years ago, whilst Marnus was attending Harrismith High School, he was cutting grass and washing cars to pay for his school and university fees. Once he had completed his degree, he drove to Johannesburg with a dream to achieve 3 things:
- To own his own business
- Have an apartment in Sandton
- Earn R30 000 a month (at the time, he thought that this would enable him to be financially free)
10 years later, he has been on an incredible journey as an entrepreneur. He started and sold many businesses and was the youngest investor ever to be on the international TV show, Shark Tank. The R30 000 he wanted to achieve initially became a lot more than R30 000, and he believes that the Harrismith Marnus would have been proud.
However, the Marnus of today doesn’t care about that. The media will tell you about the successes, but never about the failures. What has become very important to him, and to other business owners he interacts with, is success, which means different things to different people. For some people, it is the cash or the balance sheet, but for others, it’s just a happy life or being super fit.
Marnus confesses that he is obsessed with success and successful people. He studies successful people and he likes to talk to them and to try and find that “something” that all successful people possesses. He asked whether it’s the smartest person, or the person with the best education, or the hardest workers. However, we all know a few less than intelligent rich people, we see boys and girls with limited education rising from the townships in South Africa to become great success stories, and some of the hardest working people earn the lowest salaries. No, the one thing that every successful person has in common is that they think that they can achieve it.
Against all odds, even when people are against them, or when people think that they are crazy, they have an inherent belief in themselves. Elon Musk is a prime example as many people told him that he would never succeed with Tesla. He proved them all wrong, however, when he quadrupled his net worth in 3 months.
The biggest thing Marnus has learnt and applied in his life and business, he learned from Michael Roach, an American non-traditional teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. At the age of 18, Michael’s mother passed away from cancer and he started questioning life. He went on a sabbatical to India where he started connecting with people and experiencing a different way of life away from the rat race. He wanted to stay there and learn from the monks, but they convinced him that the biggest way to reach people and make a difference was through business in America. He, therefore, returned to America and started a business during the day, and in the evening the monks thought him the principles they applied in their own life to achieve happiness. One year later, they became the fastest growing business in New York, which later sold to Warren Buffett for $250 million.
Michael Roach wrote books about his journey and Marnus became a big fan. He was presented with an opportunity to spend 3 days with Michael in Vietnam, which he seized. Marnus asked Michael what the biggest lesson was that he received to help him create a successful business. That concept was Emptiness, which became the biggest lesson in Marnus’s life. He believes that, if you can grasp the concept, you can have anything you want.
Emptiness can be explained through the following example: everyone has someone that they find very irritating, someone that they can’t stand. However, that person that we find so irritating has friends, or a spouse, or children who love them. Therefore, the person that you find irritating is not, by themselves, irritating – the irritation comes from you.
The concept of Emptiness is thus: nothing has any value until we step in with our perceptions, past experiences, or conditioning and we apply our own value to it. For example, consider an economy that is not growing or currency with junk status. Some entrepreneurs will look at that and say, “Oh wow, what an opportunity to create something!” While other people will buy an air ticket to Australia. Since 2008, when the South African economy hasn’t grown, some people became millionaires, and some businesses went bust. Marnus believes that it was never the economy because if it was, everyone would have gone bust. It’s perceptions that influence success.
Marnus states that it doesn’t matter what life gives you, you need to reframe it and turn it into something positive. It doesn’t matter if you’re losing your biggest client or the economy is bad, you must turn it around and refocus and reframe it. If you don’t, no one cares. No one cares that your business went bust, it’s only you who experiences it. We think life is happening to us, it’s not, life is 100% coming from us. What we focus on and think about becomes our reality.
Let’s think about business. If you leave the house thinking about how bad the economy is and how corrupt the politicians are, that’s what you will see and experience every single moment of the day. If you drive out of your driveway and you think about the possibilities and opportunities in this country, you will see it around every single corner
Many people tell Marnus that South Africa is going the same way as Zimbabwe, but he doesn’t believe that it is. He believes that there are opportunities in South Africa despite the challenges, and because he believes that there are opportunities, he is experiencing the opportunities. South Africa has survived worse times, such as the Rivonia Trials in the 60s and the uprisings and sanctions in the 70s and 80s. He posed the question: Do we really think, in 2020, that we are in the worst place this country has ever been in?
Marnus shared interviews that he conducted with Richard Branson, Margaret Hirsch from Hirsch’s, Gideon Galloway from King Price Insurance, and Albe Geldenhuys from USN, and they all agreed that there are always enormous opportunities in challenges and that South Africa is a land of wealth and opportunity.
Marnus believes that our thoughts do become our reality. So why are business owners and entrepreneurs so negative about this country when we know that those thoughts will become our reality? He believes that the answer lies in Emptiness because we get conditioned by the media, past thoughts, and experiences. To attain a great body is not a secret, just eat well and train. It’s very difficult to attain, but not a secret. Just as with businesses. Building a great business is not a secret, there are a few key fundamental things that you must do, but we don’t do it. All the great entrepreneurs do small things well over time and that changes the concept of Emptiness as it enables them to see the world differently. Therefore, because you see the world differently, you can create something exceptional.
Marnus shared 5 things that have helped him on his journey:
- Surround Yourself with Giants
Jim Rohn said that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” For most of us, this is disastrous. When Marnus stands next to his successful friends at a braai and they are talking about their new deals, all the opportunities in this country, and all the good work that they’re doing, he feels so inspired to achieve the same.
- Meditation
Although this is almost a swear word in the Western World, Marnus explains that it means to just sit and think. As business owners, we are always rushing from one place to the next and we don’t think anymore. If we could just sit down and think about what we want from the day, it will change our lives.
- 5-Minute Rule
Whenever you don’t want to do something, just start and spend 5 minutes on it. If you don’t want to do it anymore after 5 minutes, you can stop. However, you’ll find that once you’ve started it you will carry on and complete it.
- One-Page Plan
No one uses a business plan actively, whilst a one-page plan can be used daily. It states what you want to achieve and helps you to know your journey.
- No Business is an Island
We depend on great staff, relationships, and teams to build a business. If you’re a white South African only having meetings with white South Africans, then the economy is not the problem, your mindset is the problem. Marnus states that it is the biggest stack of cards on the table. We need to work on transformation, partner with black entrepreneurs, and come up with great ideas. The majority of white South Africans don’t do that, we say BEE is bad, we don’t like it, so we appoint our gardener as our main shareholder and 4 years later when we go bust, we blame the economy.
All of this made Marnus think about his journey over the past few years and how little things have shaped him to think differently. When he was 18-years old, he remained positive despite his challenges as he knew that something great was happening and he should continue to hammer away at it every single day. Today, he reiterates that message as he believes that, regardless of what is happening out there, we can create something amazing.
Through his own experience with working with people like Richard Branson, he can tell you that their success didn’t come before their attitude. Their attitude came before their success. That is the biggest lesson he wants to share – that life isn’t happening to you; life is 100% coming from you.
After Marnus’ presentation, there was a discussion between Marnus and the Perseus Directors. Here are some of the questions that were raised:
Q: Is Perseus registered at the FSB and SARS?
A: Yes, Perseus is registered at the FSB with number 48973 and SARS VCC – 0113. Perseus has appointed a key individual who is responsible for monthly audits and for the submission of the findings to the FSB and SARS.
Q: What Tax benefit is there for the investor?
A: The total amount of the investment is tax deductible and SARS will refund you up to 45% of your investment, depending on your tax bracket.
Q: What returns can be expected?
A: A dividend of between 8% and 12% can be expected with a return of investment as high as 20%. Section 12J is venture capital, so no returns can be guaranteed on the investment.
Q: What is the process to invest?
A: Perseus will need the following:
- Proof of address
- Copy of your ID
- Last ITA34
- Proof of payment of investment amount
To read more about Perseus VC1 Ltd, please click here for more information.
This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied upon as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your financial adviser for specific and detailed advice. Errors and omissions excepted (E&OE)