In 2017, I lost my beloved aunt. It was a very painful ordeal. It was so sudden and happened so fast, one of the most painful moments of my life because she was one of my greatest aunts.
We clicked in every way possible.
My aunt had always complained about headache from time to time. Take pain killers they advised. You must be having migraines they suggested. You must be taking little water they pointed out.
Nebbi is just a hot place some reasoned. This went on and on for some time and never did she bother to go see a doctor about it.
I mean it was that headache that came and went and I bet with time she learned to live with it.
One day as she did house work on a weekend she just fainted. She was rushed to hospital and that marked the journey to her end.
From the hospital in Nebbi they tried but somehow she was getting worse rather than better by the day. Quickly she was rushed to Mulago where she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
I don't want to narrate the final painful days (like how they had to fixe tubes through her nose for feeding) of her life but it was very painful to watch.
I am a strong guy those who know me will say that moment got to me. We lost her after we'd tried all we could and sent her off to rest in peace with the angels till the day we meet again.
What hurt us is that all that time we never knew she had something developing in her brain. We blamed our selves for not knowing because if we did may be something would have been done earlier.
Since we lost her as a family, we try to go for general medical checks whenever we can. My other aunt especially calls me to remind me until I do and show her proof of doing so. That's the biggest lesson the sudden death of my aunt left us with.
Now you'd ask why I am telling you this. You know I love teaching about business using life's relatable experiences.
I am sure many of us have been in such a position where some medical condition of a loved one no one knew of not even themselves turned fatal and maybe even claimed their life.
This can happen to your business too, that it will collapse/die without you seeing it coming.This doesn't mean whatever killed the business came over night, no.
It was there but was just undetected because neither you as the owner or those working in the business had the ability to do so.
I know most of us think things like audits are luxuries we can live without in business but trust me they are not.
Audits allow you to understand the health of your business. Identify any diseases developing before they become fatal or cause damage that's irreversible.
It's always good to get an external eye to look into your business every once in a while to assess it's operations and see if every thing is in order and incase there things slowly developing that may turn into a life threatening issue for the business so that they're addressed before they get out of hand.
Learn to do a thorough check up of your business every once in a long while (at least once a year). Don't wait to be taken by surprise by the iceberg because as your titanic draws nearer it can no longer dodge it.
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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