A morning of lessons in entrepreneurship and leadership. Some of South Africa’s most accomplished entrepreneurs, executives and leaders gathered at the Vodacom Dome on 17 August for the 2026 MANCOSA Jacaranda FM Business Breakfast, an event focused on questioning assumptions, embracing failure and building businesses and careers with purpose.
Held under the theme “Legacy Speaks”, the sold-out fourth annual event moved beyond conventional success stories, offering practical insights into leadership, entrepreneurship and personal growth.
Question assumptions, says Kimberley Taylor
For Kimberley Taylor, founder of delivery management platform Loop, one of the most important lessons in business is learning to question what everyone else assumes to be true.
Taylor explained how a mathematical problem known as the ‘travelling salesman’ inspired the idea behind Loop, which now operates across five countries and manages approximately 4.5 million deliveries a month for businesses including Woolworths Dash and Sixty60.
She urged entrepreneurs not to assume that a problem has already been solved simply because nobody appears to be talking about it.
“We think someone better has already solved something,” Taylor explained. “But if you ask questions and spend time in your environment, whether that’s a warehouse or wherever your problem exists, you realise there is still so much improvement to be made.”
She also encouraged business leaders to experiment and recognise when it is time to move on from an idea that is no longer working.
“Try new things,” she urged. “You find a problem, and then you have to allow yourself the time to try new things and allow yourself to let go of a part.”
Businesses need a clear destination
Entrepreneur and business growth specialist Pavlo Phitidis challenged business owners to step away from the day-to-day running of their companies and focus on where they ultimately want to go.
Using the analogy of a ship, Phitidis said business owners can either remain in the “engine room”, concentrating on daily and monthly operations, or move to the “bridge”, where leaders determine the organisation’s direction.
“Building a business is like sailing a ship,” he said. “You need a destination to plan towards.”
Phitidis identified three destinations for business owners to consider: the asset destination, which looks at what they want their business to become over the next five to 10 years; the growth destination, which focuses on what the business needs to achieve over the next three to five years; and the freedom destination, which considers the life the business should eventually enable them to live and the impact it should allow them to create.
His message was that growth should not be viewed as the ultimate goal, but rather as part of a deliberate journey towards creating something sustainable and meaningful.
Bryan Habana on discipline and resilience
Former Springbok and Rugby World Cup winner Bryan Habana brought a sporting perspective to the discussion, drawing parallels between elite performance and success in business.
Habana identified discipline, sacrifice, hard work, resilience and perseverance as five qualities he believes are essential for success.
“Whether you play rugby, whether you do sports, whether you’re an artist, whether you do music, whether you’re in business, those five principles applied correctly in the form of whatever you’re doing is critically important for success to be achieved,” he said.
Reflecting on his journey from aspiring rugby player to Springbok and World Cup winner, and later into the fintech sector through Paymenow, which he co-founded with his university roommate in 2019, Habana spoke about the importance of focusing on one’s own responsibilities.
“When I was in the changing room, I was surrounded by 14 other athletes who were the best in their positions,” he said. “All I could worry about was doing my job to the best of my ability.”
He has carried the same approach into his professional career.
“You have to unlearn to learn,” he adds, reflecting on one of the challenges he encountered throughout his career. “That was very difficult, but all I had to worry about was doing my job to the best of my ability.”
For Habana, success ultimately comes down to people.
“You can never put a price tag on the human element,” he said.
Basetsana Kumalo reflects on lessons from her mother
Businesswoman, media personality and entrepreneur Basetsana Kumalo shared one of the morning’s most personal stories, revealing that her entrepreneurial mindset was shaped long before she became Miss South Africa in 1994.
Kumalo recalled watching her mother build small businesses from her kitchen, selling sweets, eggs and sandwiches to generate an income.
“What I learned from my mother’s kitchen taught me more about business than any Ivy League school could,” she said.
Crowned Miss South Africa at 20, Kumalo understood that her reign would last only 12 months. Instead of seeing the crown as her final destination, she began considering what would come next and what kind of legacy she wanted to build.
That approach took her from television into production, mining, travel, fintech and property, establishing her as one of South Africa’s prominent serial entrepreneurs.
“I am a serial entrepreneur – that’s all I know,” she said. “If your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming big enough.”
Kumalo also spoke candidly about failure, urging entrepreneurs to change how they view setbacks.
“Don’t be afraid to fail. I have had remarkable failures in business,” she said. “Don’t let failures set you back. Treat them as a lesson.”
A focus on building lasting legacies
Across four very different careers, a common message emerged: success is rarely the result of a single breakthrough.
Instead, it is built through curiosity, discipline, resilience, calculated risk and the willingness to keep learning.
Over the past four years, the MANCOSA Jacaranda FM Business Breakfast has developed into more than a speaker event. It has become a platform for South Africans to exchange ideas, build relationships and draw practical inspiration from leaders who have experienced success, setbacks and reinvention.
The 2026 edition reinforced the appetite for meaningful conversations around business and leadership while highlighting the importance of bringing diverse voices together to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders.
