Business: Stick to your goal and you will succeed
Life is a process and you can't rush it. Success is a process and you can't rush it. You have to plan it well and stick to the script, make certain sacrifice and go through the process.
Now I know there those who want to jump the process. There those who want to take the lift on their way to success unfortunately there's no lift you have to take the stares.
As a young man seeing a lot that's going on a round me, living under the pressure of making it real quick, I know what it means. I know how hard it is to keep grounded.
Many succumb to the social pressure of quick gratification and it takes a strong personality and high level of discipline to stay the course.
When you look around, every one seems to be moving but you. Every one seems to be making progress but you. Nothing messes up a young man/woman's head like this. At this stage is where the real test comes and most succumb to the pressure. They ditch the plan and take a detour.
I've seen this with my friends and those around me. Let me share one of the many stories I have with you.
Some time back I had a close friend who was in printing. What he did was go out there, find work and go down to Nasser road have it done and he'd add his small margin.
In short he was a middle man because he owned no tools of operation. So I told him, look here start building slowly. Write down a list of the things you need and start putting them together gradually.
The most important thing he needed was a printer and a second hand one went for about Shs 7 million.
So we kept talking about it and how it was vital. If he got it, not only would he be doing his work but other people's work too as 80% of those who work on Nasser road never have equipment, they operated more less like middle men.
I told him that was a good idea. Then he got a gig that gave him just about that money. I don't recall the figure but I recall he bought a car of about Shs 6 million. I couldn't believe it after about 6-8 months of talking about this printer, how did the priorities change over night?
He drove the car for about 4 months and before we knew it he was looking to sell it. It was in poor mechanical shape, he'd spent lots of money on it in repairs in the short while he'd driven it. The car just never left the garage.
I don't know what happened to car because I just didn't want to talk about it. How do we spend all that time planing to buy a printer for your business then you do that.
When I started my business, the one thing I kept reminding my self was my financial position had changed. As an employee I could easily access credit thanks to the credit rating of my employer. Now I had to build my own credit rating so that maybe one day my employers too can have easy access to credit thanks to my business's credit rating.
This realisation helped me understand that I was in no position to be in a competition of any sorts with my employed friends at that stage. I wouldn't want to buy a new car because so and so had bought a new one. Actually I had to sell what I had to keep the business a float.
Financial freedom is a process and it comes with a high level of financial literacy and discipline. You have to learn how money works and also be disciplined enough to let it work.
Wealth is built over time unless you inherit it. So you can spend your life trying to look rich or work to actually get rich or even wealthy. It's an either or situation you can't have it both ways.
It's easier to go to the tap when you need water than build a well but in the long run building your own well makes much more sense but like I said, it's easier to just go to the tap and in many cases it's only human nature to go for the easier option at any given time.
It takes an extra ordinary character to go for the longer route however more rewarding it could be in the future.
This is what I've seen many young people struggle with. This is what I've struggled with personally and remaining on course hasn't been easy. Extraordinary results come with extraordinary effort and sacrifices.
That's just the way it is. Once you understand this, make peace with it you can then get down to work and put in the required work.
Jaluum Herberts Luwizza is a speaker, writer and contributor 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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