Redefining Success Beyond Loud Cars and Fake Suits – And Rediscovering the Real Fortune
We were told to chase symbols.
Loud cars. Flashy suits. Social media stardom.
Even poverty now wants to be photogenic.
And while we chased those crumbs of attention, we missed the truth sitting right in front of us:
There is fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.
But not the kind you post about.
The kind you build quietly.
While township youth argue about “white monopoly capital,”
Indian, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani shopkeepers quietly built empires on:
One banana
One sewing machine
One tin of curry
One R5 profit at a time
They didn’t cry for government funding.
They didn’t demand recognition.
They didn’t care for applause.
They saw the bottom — the R10 customer, the barefoot child, the informal trader —
as the beginning of an empire.
Meanwhile, our people look up.
They look to Sandton for salvation.
They look to the ANC for handouts.
They look to social grants for survival.
They look to Shoprite for food — but never ask how Shoprite started in a house garage.
They mock the hawker.
They disrespect the herbalist.
They ignore the street vendor.
And yet, they depend on all of them to live.
We were trained to look up for wealth — when it was under our shoes the whole time.
The problem isn’t apartheid anymore.
The problem is this diseased mentality that says:
“I’d rather look rich than become rich.”
What Does Real Fortune Look Like?
It looks like a woman who sells vetkoek and owns two rooms behind her shack
It looks like a teenage boy who built a R20,000/month delivery system on WhatsApp
It looks like a furniture maker who recycles tyres and feeds his whole family
It looks like a couple that sells curry powder from a corner shop and paid for their daughter’s degree in cash
They are not in the magazines.
They are not trending.
They are not invited to panels.
But they are sitting on the gold.
This is what C.K. Prahalad meant:
“The poor are not a problem to be solved. They are a market to be served. A power to be unlocked. A fortune waiting to rise.”
But that only works if they stop waiting and start trading.
So Here’s the Real Question:
Do you want to be SEEN as successful?
Or do you want to quietly own the engine room that runs the real economy?
Do you want likes?
Or land?
Do you want fake clothes?
Or real clients?
Do you want attention from people who are broke like you?
Or revenue from people who need what you sell?
Because this new movement is not for showoffs.
It’s for builders.
For those who are tired of pretending.
And ready to plant.
Quietly. Consistently. Powerfully.
Final Word: The Silent Millionaire Sees Gold Where Others See Dust
Let others dream of Range Rovers.
You build delivery routes.
Let others fight for government grants.
You find R10 profits and scale it with dignity.
Let others complain at the bottom of the pyramid.
You rise from it.
Because the fortune is there — but only for those who know:
Success doesn’t shout. It shows up.