Sabiiti Herbert

Uganda is and has always been ranked as one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries. It’s however sad to note that these startups never make it to their 1st, 2nd or 3rd birthdays. The reasons- aside the lockdown, are quite many that they could be paraded in a book that boasts of a bigger volume than your KJV Bible…the big sized one. Well, today am compelled to share snippets into wrong motives of starting businesses to get rich quickly.

We’re living in a rather fast evolving world; from fast foods, fast trains, hotspots on the go etc everything is as if running on a timer…this has created anxiety and a feeling of inadequacy in some people’s minds that they want to find shorter ways around… this coupled with corruption that has enabled few individuals (young men and women) gaining riches as if in fast forward mode.

Some folks of this generation want to start business on a similar principle -“Getting rich on sprinting speed” [faster than Joshua Cheptegei] yet they’re going for a Marathon run. Joshua is the man of the moment [I congratulate him for breaking 5000m world record and in so doing setting a new one]

But to begin with, this is a wrong motive because it won’t allow your business to grow through the right metamorphosis just like a butterfly. This wrong, yet burning desire has made some people “business prostitutes” – jumping from one business to another and some drain all their energy and resources in the valley, the very energy that should have been reserved for the uphill strides.

Here in Uganda, I have crossed paths with young and intelligent men and women spending their valuable time on sports betting, network marketing and others onto the rolling chain of ponzi schemes, only because they want to get rich quickly and effortlessly. Proverbs 13:11 “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; Wealth from hard work grows over time”.

If you read about the companies that have stood the test of time, they started their businesses on core principles without minding about making quick money. 3M Company is an example, one of the greatest. The company has lasted for a century. 3M company was founded as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, it struggled for over 14 years and this is not a typo or a streetwise story. 14 bundled years without making any money. Let me ask, how many of us can be patient for even 5 years? The multiple crises that rocked 3M a century ago could have easily destroyed it if it was not about perseverance and patience. As a matter of fact, the company that failed to pay the CEO for over 12 years is now 100 years old and registers net profit of over USD 30Billion every single year that goes by. If you’re wondering what this company is about, they’re the minds behind the N95 brand of surgical masks and many other businesses in almost all sectors of the economy.

Have you “aborted” or killed many businesses, stop lamenting, pick your mat and start over again. You may not necessarily remain in the same business that has failed you but the core principles remain. Keep trying and do not forget to learn lessons from your failures. I have always told people that I have started and killed many businesses but am not about to give up. I still have an ambition of employing 30,000 heads directly or indirectly before I retire.

I hope this tickles your interest in some field, a tickling strong enough to push you…to pick you mat and go!
Sabiiti10@gmail.com