The most innovative and creative people have the opportunity to sell their ideas large and wide without much struggles in the present business environment. When thinking of creativity, I think of nobody else but Shivani Siroya, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of InVenture (Tala). Siroya’s creative mind managed to solve financial problems affecting millions of people, especially from developing nations. The entrepreneur came up with an online microfinance system capable of loaning people money without having to look at the individual’s credit history. The company, presently known as Tala, operates in East and South Africa. I find it particularly fascinating how Siroya could manage to create a business idea through an android application that would allow borrowers to access loans without having any physical contact with the bank by just assessing the person’s physical habits, behavior patterns, and responsibilities through an online application.
Innovative entrepreneurs have a lot of passion and self-confident representing two key creative aspects that drive their success (Lussier, Corman, and Kimball, 2014). Shivani Siroya showed a lot of passion and confidence with his ideas making him successful in offering online microfinance loans. Another aspect of Siroya’s creativity skills worth inheriting is risk-taking. Siroya is the greatest risk taker in the business world. He saw an opportunity in the developing world because of the scarcity of banks and lack of good credit history for many people and decided to invest in their ability to use mobile phones. Siroya was quick to realize that traditional credit no longer works in the emerging market, but mobile does; hence, customers are free to access instant credits on Tala credit platform. The company offered loans to more than 150,000 borrowers in 2015 posting a revenue of 1.5 million U.S. dollars and a profit of half a million dollars (Rogers, 2016).
The innovative and creative skills demonstrated by Siroya plays a big role in influencing my future business dreams. He teaches me the importance of staying focused on one's ideas, having self-confidence, and taking risks. Creativity in emerging markets is all about recognizing an opportunity and working towards achieving personal goals with passion and self-confidence.
References
Lussier, N. Robert., Corman, J., and Kimball, D. C. (2014). Entrepreneurial new venture skills
(3rd Ed). New York, NY and London: Taylor & Francis Group.
Rogers, J. (2016, Aug. 30). Tala mobile comes up with a novel microfinancing concept. TWB.
Retrieved Sep 08, 2016 from http://www.theworldbeast.com/tala-mobile-data-range.html
