“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in the person’s determination.”-Tommy Larsoda.
It’s interesting how students during their final year in colleges and universities craft attractive Resumes and send them to various blue chip companies for a chance of employment. What they fail to know is that somebody somewhere took the risk of starting the company. They would jittery compete amongst themselves applying for various positions in different companies by sending their CVs either by mail or hand delivery. Many of them believe in getting white collar jobs. For those who have not gone through the higher learning institutions, most of them do not have anywhere to apply since they do not have the required education. This group of young Kenyans results to doing manual work and sometimes end up being exploited by their employers. With or without education does not guarantee a good life. It’s your attitude towards your life. I have a friend of mine who did not have the privilege of going to high school but this guy has mastered so well the business of stock exchange. Once in a while I joke with him how those with university education work for him without recognizing it.
To be an entrepreneur, you must start with what you have on the ground and pick up the rest along the way. You do not have to accumulate a lot of capital to start a business in a big way. You don’t have to wait until you get married, have children, and have educated all your children, built your own house or paid all your debts before you can venture into that risky venture laced with good prospects. You must start from somewhere.
You can start something that will earn you money right now from where you are. You can start it right in your house while you are working or studying. All you need to do is to be creative and focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have. One of the greatest enemies of success in business is fear. Often people tell me that they would like to start a business but they fear to fail. I always tell them boldly what I believe; that entrepreneurs don’t fail. It is enterprises that fail. The first thing you should do from the moment you start the entrepreneurial journey is to disengage yourself from the business in a way. Do not be too emotionally attached to business. Let your business have its own life. This means that in the event the business collapses, you do not collapse with it. Don’t venture into business with expectations of becoming fabulously wealthy like some Kenyan entrepreneurs you know or hear about. Your desire and inspiration should be something higher than money. Oprah Winfrey once said, “You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not get paid for it.” In other words your motivation in business should be giving your customers with solutions to their problems. Your rewards, not wages will be money.
Recently I was going through the profiles of some of the most profitable companies in Kenya and I was shocked to note that most of these companies started their operations less than 30 years ago. These companies form the basis of employment in Kenya. I also took my time going through the personal profiles of some entrepreneurs who took the risk of starting these companies and I came to realize that the world of business is not meant for the faint hearted. Take an example of Equity Bank or even Family Bank in the banking sector, Jamii Telecom in the telecommunication sector, Seven Seas in the Software development sector, Takaful Insurance of Africa in the insurance sector, Hass Consult in the Real estate, Royal Media Services in Media sector etc. All these examples indicate dedication, hard work, and smartness among other virtues that are required to make them successful. My organizational management lecturers once told us that “the higher the risk, the higher the returns.”
In the business world, the kind of friends that one keeps also influences one’s character and the decisions one makes. There is an African saying that says; “if an eagle hangs out with chickens it forgets how to fly.” It is imperative for one to have business mentors who act as mentors, role models and advisors. Without these people’s support it becomes so hard to succeed. This raises the question; who then should be a business mentor? According to the dictionary a mentor is an experienced adviser and supporter: somebody, usually older and more experienced, who advises and guides a younger, less experienced person. One should consider a Mentor who has excelled well in his/her career field, business, talent etc. This person should be able to dedicate his/her time to listen to you and advise you accordingly. If need be he/she should also assist you financially to achieve your goals.
There are many businesses that one can consider to start as a young person. Many factors should be able to influence your decision. This factors should include; talent (if one is able to recognise his/her talent early in life), area of study, community needs, availability of raw materials, interests etc. All these factors can play an important part to determine the success rate of the business. In addition it is necessary to do a lot of research on the type of business one is likely to start. This research should be done in order to know all the requirements needed to achieve a certain kind of business. These requirements should include; legal requirements, raw materials requirements, financial requirements, personal requirements and health requirements. Care should be taken to ensure all these factors are well tackled.
Always remember these words by Henry Ford “The way to succeed is to double your failure rate. Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.”
Tech enthusiast and Techpreneur. 