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02 January 2024 | Story Igno van Niekerk | Photo Igno van Niekerk
Tafadzwa Maramura
Dr Tafadzwa Maramura participated in a study on couplepreneurs and ways in which they influence their children to become better entrepreneurs.

After years of hard work, the lonely entrepreneur rode off into the sunset. No family. No one to share the lived experience with. The entrepreneurial journey can be a recipe for loneliness. However, it does not have to be, you can enjoy an entrepreneurial family that leaves a legacy.

Dr Tafadzwa C Maramura, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Public Administration and Management at the UFS participated in a study with Drs Eugine Maziriri (University of Johannesburg), Miston Mapuranga (University of Pretoria), Brighton Nyagadza (Marondera University of Agricultural Sciences) on couplepreneurs and ways in which they influence their children to become better entrepreneurs. The interinstitutional study drew on several fields of expertise and was a fresh addition to the research on access to water that Dr Maramura is doing.

Couplepreneurship is a concept that explains businesses owned and operated by married and/or cohabiting couples. According to Dr Maramura: “The development of couplepreneurship in South Africa as an emerging economy has led to increasing interest in the study of how kids are inspired and/or influenced by their parents towards starting their own and to participate in the already existing family enterprises.”

Nurturing entrepreneurial potential

Couplepreneurs are in a great position to raise kidpreneurs. Who better to listen to the heroic stories of how mom and dad started off with a big dream, growth mindsets, and steadfast commitment to building their business than their offspring? Like teaching a person how to fish rather than giving them fish, couplepreneurs do not hand their kids a business, they teach them how to run and grow a business.

Dr Maramura believes that nurturing an entrepreneurial potential is the result of “encouraging resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace failure, even as a learning opportunity”. Combine this with an environment that promotes creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, and you have the recipe for a kidpreneur to become an entrepreneur. Now add more ingredients: parents who offer support, mentorship, and exposure to diverse experiences. Put it in the heated oven called business – and you have created the meal all entrepreneurs crave: Legacy.

News Archive

Americans want to strengthen ties with UFS
2011-04-06

Representatives from our university and Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Campus (UWM) in America met about possible collaborative agreements during the past week. Here are, from the left: Profs. Hannes Britz, the Provost (Academic); Tien-Chien Jen, UWM Dean of the College of Engineering; and Wade Hobgood, Dean of the Peck School of Art. In front sits Dr Nalize Marais from the Directorate for Institutional Research and Academic Planning.


Photo: Gerda-Marie Viviers

Academics from the University of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Campus (UWM) paid a visit to our university on 22 March 2011. The visit was earmarked to investigate possible research and collaborative agreements. Academic areas which were focused on prominently were engineering, water science, and education, specifically with regard to the disciplines of mathematics, science, technology and the arts. UFS lecturers representing the Faculties of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Education and Health Sciences participated in the discussions. According to Dr Nalize Marais from the Directorate for Institutional Research and Academic Planning, possible agreements relate to exchange students, teaching opportunities for academic staff and joint research projects. “Personally, I am going to work with them (UWM) on programme planning and curriculum design for six weeks starting next week.'' She said that other UFS staff would probably also travel to Milwaukee later this year for amongst others research, new programmes and teaching.

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