My Business
Journey
By
Phumlani Eddy Bhila
My
name is Eddie. I run a Chess Academy called The
Coach Chess Academy. We aim to make Chess more visible and accessible to
all who are interested in this game of strategies. In this essay I will share
with you how I became exposed to Chess and why I thought it would make a great
business idea. In essence, I will share with you what problems I believe my
business is solving. I will share with you my journey in this Chess business.
I grew
up in Msogwaba, an area that was once referred to as one of the most dangerous places in South Africa by then President of the Country Mr. Thabo Mbeki. I grew up in
a time when my uncles where some of the most wanted criminals in the country
and any adult male in the community was either a robber, a murderer or a
nobody! It was inevitable that our role models as boys where the fearless
criminals who seemed to have everything they wanted.
We grew older as boys
playing “guns and robbers”, pretend-drinking and smoking, mimicking our
superheroes. It’s not like we had any more options as far as recreational
activities where concerned, especially since we were either not old enough or
not good enough to join the local soccer team. Well you guessed it, soccer was
the only sport available in the community.
As we
grew older, some of our peers took an early initiation into the life of night-time-hustling
while some of us stayed on the “righteous path”. I was fortunate enough to make
it to tertiary and have a change in environment which offered a new perspective
on life.
While in
University I met this friend, a girl, who liked so much to talk about Chess and
I always felt embarrassed to say “I have no idea what that is” so I always pretended
I had no care in discussing useless board games that had no relevance to my
situation. My situation was that of a student struggling to stay up at night
studying large volumes of works and still having to wake early mornings to
attend classes. In attempt to convince me that there is value in this Chess
game of hers, she claimed “well, Chess helps build mental endurance which will
help you study for longer without getting tired too quickly”.
 |
| Eddie Bhila (The Coach, The Author) |
Eventually
I allowed myself to be taught by this girl how to play Chess and it was nothing
like I had expected it to be. Of course it looked boring to watch; but the
feeling when you are in the game playing, is nothing like anything I had ever
felt. The feeling of both fear and excitement simultaneously aroused by the
anticipation of your opponent’s next move; the constant surge of emotions as
you wonder if your opponents next move might end the game before you have the
chance to play your killer move; the continuous calculations of “if she plays
there, I will play there and then she will play this piece here and I will have
a chance to play here and finish the game. But what if she plays here instead
of there and I will have no chance to escape the attack and lose?”. This is the
type of unsurpassed mental stimulation that is offered by the game of Chess. The
opportunity to come up with a winning strategy, try it out on the board and
experience the results first-hand. If the strategy fails, you feel it instantly
and it hurts. You deal with the pain and immediately attempt to modify your strategy
and make some improvements then get a chance to try it out again. If it works,
the feeling of insurmountable pleasure just takes over your brain and you are
the happiest person on earth for that moment. This mental stimulation is
believed to be what makes Chess so addictive.
I played
Chess since then experiencing many defeats and victories; the defeats made me
start reading Chess books and learn about chess principles; the victories made
me feel like I could teach someone else how to play and pay it forward.
After completing
my studies, I was back home after having disappeared for a few years hardly
ever visiting on holidays. I had a single Chess board and planned to teach a
few of my old friends this ‘mysterious strategic thinking game’ that I had
brought from Gauteng. I asked about my one friend, Pinto, the smartest young
man I had ever known personally. This boy created a radio using metal scraps
and old batteries he picked up from rubbish pits. This boy made a helicopter
for his Primary School Science project and it could actually fly. I remember
promising him that we would work together when we grow up and my role would be
to get funding for his designs and we would get rich the right way.
When I
asked where Pinto was, I was told he had been killed in a shoot-out with the
police just a few months back. He had been a wanted ‘criminal’ for a while for
a murder he had allegedly committed. It had been alleged that he had shot and
killed the man who had murdered his mother. Our dream died with him and a
community lost out on a potential positive role model. I proceeded to ask about
other friends and found that some had been in prison doing time for multiple
robberies and other crimes. Those that were not in prison were either walking
around in dirty rags hardly recognizable while picking up scraps or begging for
change (the wrong kind!). of course there were those that looked like they
still had it under control; drinking expensive alcohol any day of the week,
dressed in expensive looking clothes and yet no one would say how they made
their money. Those were the role models.
After seeing
the impact of having these kinds of role models in our community, I decided to
commit myself to the mission of creating positive role models that the community
would be proud of. I decided I was going to introduce the young people of
Msogwaba to this powerful game of Chess. It was my hope that the lessons they
would learn over the Chess board would be extrapolated to their circumstances
in life. You think before you make a move! You consider the consequences of
each move before you make it, then decide if you are willing to live with them.
You do not play a game without a plan, a strategy. Each move you make must be
leading you closer to your goal, in line with your strategy. That is Chess, and
I was sure the kids in Msogwaba needed it more than it needed them.
I visited
Msogwaba Primary school where I had gone as a kid and asked Principal Mathebula
if I could be allowed to impart the skill of Chess to the kids in her school. She
welcomed me with open arms. The kids also welcomed the new sport which
presented them an alternative to the usual soccer. Unfortunately, I only had
one board and could only teach a few at a time so some had to be side-lined. In
about three months of training, the kids seem like they already knew what they
were doing. Chess almost seemed natural to them. I tried to find out about
Chess competitions for them to compete in and discovered there was a local
federation that held tournaments every month. Though the entry fees were too
expensive, we thought we should at least try out and see if the kids could
actually handle the pressure of playing in a formal setting. The school agreed
to pay for a few of them and I created an internal competition to select the
best to represent us.
We hired
a taxi and took ten kids to a chess tournament. The tournament grouped them
according to their age groups and we had three kids playing under 10, five
under 12 and two under 14. We won a gold medal in the under 10, a gold medal
under 12 and a bronze medal under 14. This was quite assuring. Our team was
entered in the National Schools’ team Chess Championship in 2014. We won the
sub-regional, we won the regionals and eventually won the provincials to become
the Provincial Schools Teams Chess Champions. This meant that we had the
opportunity to represent the province in the National Schools Teams Chess
Championship in Pretoria.
The personal
impact of all these results in the kids was something special; their confidence
levels improved significantly. They could finally look you in the eye when you
talk; they could speak up with confidence now and raise rational concerns with
substantial reasons. Even the conversations with them where finally
interesting, they had substance and spoke about relevant issues. They could
analyse the news; question information and make up their minds about their own
views. The transformation was amazing. I had experienced first-hand what Chess
can do to a child’s mental development and I planned to provide that
opportunity to every child in my reach.
 |
| Lindokuhle Bhila Mpumalanga Schools Chess Champion 2015 to 2019 SAJCC National WildCard Chess Champion 2016 |
Maybe I
have to state that we never won the National Championship but we did put up an
impressive fight. However, some of the players in the team went on to win
Individual National Chess Championships. Some of them even had the opportunity
to play for Team South Africa in international Chess Championships in Sri
Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Kenya and other countries, all carrying the name of
Msogwaba in positive light. One of the proudest moments was when the Mpumalanga
Sports Star of the Year was announced and it happened to be one of the kids in
my team. That’s when I felt that we had done it. The Mpumalanga Sports Star of
the Year 2019 comes from Msogwaba and I had everything to do with it! We had
created positive role models for our communities, people that our kids can look
up to and try to emulate. Not only that, two of our players are now at University pursuing their Bachelors degrees while a few others are in Matric aiming to surpass the high standard set by their team mates before them.
 |
| From left: Simphiwe Mbuyane, Banele Mhango, Eddie Bhila, Adolph Nkosi |
Now back
to why I believe this Chess interest would make a great business idea. I have read somewhere
that entrepreneurship should be about making positive social impact. I have
also learned that the best entrepreneurs are the ones who are able to turn
their passions into profit. I am passionate about social development and I
believe Chess provides the most necessary development in any society, and that
is the development of the youths’ mental capacity.
I have
considered that if I continue doing Chess coaching as a charity or a pass-time hobby, I would likely
lose my drive when suddenly I have to prioritize my time for things that pay
the bills. This would compromise the quality of the lessons and the quality of
the players I produce. The one thing that impacts the learners more than the
information I provide, is the passion with which I deliver the information. I
cannot afford to lose that. Plus, I have a vision of creating the biggest Chess
League in the Province with the best prizes for the Champions and runner-ups. This
is not something one can do as a hobby. I aim to make Chess one of the most
rewarding sports in the province, especially since the best Chess Players in the
province are my own students. The Coach
Chess Academy will be a name synonymous to Chess excellence in Mpumalanga, and that is a promise!
 |
| Mpumalanga Sports Star of the year (2019) FM Banele Mhango SAJCCC National Chess Champion 2018-2019 |
If you are interested in reading our story extensively, purchase a copy of my book titled: The Coach~ Life Adventures Through Chess available on takealot.com through the link below:
We also have a Chess Manual published on takealot to help you learn how to play Chess from anywhere in the country
https://www.takealot.com/the-coach-chess-manual/PLID69487127
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