Opinion: Why you need that small Mulokoni business as you pursue bigger goals
Investment is like farming.
You need to plant greens that will grow in a month, rice that will grow in 6 months, bananas that will grow in 2 years and trees that will grow in over 10 years.
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That's how you should think of investment too so that you will have something for today, tomorrow and years to come.
Some friends usually wonder why I keep putting money in ventures that may not make money for the next 2-3 years for example, Campus Doctor.
We have been investing in Campus Doctor for the past 2 years running and its yet to make a single penny despite having injected over 40M into it and injecting more.
Many don't understand why but its a long term investment and we know how long we have to wait. It's been growing and going in the right direction however.
So you need to have that kind of investment.
You need to invest in something big in that when it finally works out, it's impact will be unimaginable. You also have to have something that brings in money daily. That's your food on the table investment. The one that will feed you and guarantee you are on a full stomach.
Remember the best decisions are made on a full not empty stomach. Its also easier to be patient without the pains of hunger.
For me these can be things like a car washing bay, a Mulokoni business or a pork joint.
I am using examples of things I am doing myself. You can find ideas you can work on too.
Then you need something that will bring you money monthly and for me that's my consulting business Young Treps that pays me a monthly salary and also affords me annual dividends as a shareholder.
This is the money I use to inject into projects like Campus Doctor, Boroboro to keep them going as we look for investors since these are very huge capital intensive projects in the offing.
I recall trying to work with a friend on something. I literally brought money and bought into his business. It was a promising products business he had inherited from his late father but was struggling to grow/take to the next level. He called me to get on board something I agreed to, on seeing the prospects.
I bought some shares and took over the mantle as the business development lead. Of course the place was a mess and vigorous changes had to be implemented.
But he was not comfortable with the changes. I recall he said to me, "the things you are introducing are for big companies. We haven't yet reached there." That was it for me. I told him I wasn't here trying to look for daily bread, I had that covered already. I wanted us to build something big for the future.
The truth is the business made Shs 2-5 million in sales every month and had vast potential. We needed 3-5 years to be one of the biggest players in the sector. We clashed ideologically and I chose to pull out.
About 5 years later the business is still the way I left it, putting food on the table and yet I was past the food war and looking to build long term. It's important to spread out your investment into things that have daily returns so you'll be guaranteed what to eat daily.
Things that have monthly returns so that you'll have money to take care of your monthly needs.
Things that have annual returns so you'll have money to work with on other investments or big projects and things that will give your returns for the rest of your life/long term.
That's how you should spread out your investment, short term, mid term and long term. The short term creates the comfort you need to wait on the mid term, the mid term does the same for the long term and the long term covers you forever.
Jaluum Herberts Luwizza is a Speaker,Writer and Business Columnist with the Nile Post.He is also a Business Consultant at YOUNG TREP East Africa's No.1 Business Management and Consultancy firm that helps people start and grow profitable businesses.
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