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Entrepreneurs are always hard-working people. Running a business is not a walk in the park. Ultimately, they put in the hours to get the job done and make sure that the business achieves its full potential. With time, a clever entrepreneur delegates to reliable employees.

You need to build a top-notch business team.No one person can build a successful business alone. It's a task that requires a team that is as committed as you to the business and its success. Of course the most important team members will be your customers or clients. Any or all may have a say in how your business will function and a stake in your business future.

A big driver to starting one's own business is the desire to work for oneself; what I’d call loosely call independence. Entrepreneurs are notorious for this characteristic. They generally hate having a boss and having to report to someone else. They want to call the shots and make their own "destiny."

Entrepreneurs have an uncanny ability to take strategic risks while reducing risks in day-to-day operations. Few people in this world take as much personal and professional risk as small-business owners do. But that doesn’t mean small-business owners are reckless or without calculation. The most successful entrepreneurs cover their bases whenever possible. What vulnerabilities does your business have?

The reality of owning a business is much more daunting today than it was even a generation ago. The most successful entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to navigate change, and they can thrive on it. Many small retailers have found it difficult to take advantage of technological advancements. How equipped is your business to change?

Planning every aspect of your business is not only a must, but also builds habits that every business owner should develop, implement, and maintain. The act of business planning is so important because it requires you to analyze each business situation, research and compile data, and make conclusions based mainly on the facts as revealed through the research. Business planning also serves a second function, which is having your goals and how you will achieve them, on paper. You can use the plan that you create both as map to take you from point A to Z and as a yardstick to measure the success of each individual plan or segment within the plan.

The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash flow management. You need it to buy inventory, pay for services, promote and market your business, repair and replace tools and equipment, and pay yourself so that you can continue to work. Therefore, all home business owners must become wise money managers to ensure that the cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid. There are two aspects to wise money management.
1. The money you receive from clients in exchange for your goods and services you provide (income)
2. The money you spend on inventory, supplies, wages and other items required to keep your business operating. (expenses)


You have but a passing moment to make a positive and memorable impression on people with whom you intend to do business. Business owners must go out of their way and make a conscious effort to always project the most professional business image possible. The majority of business owners do not have the advantage of elaborate offices or elegant stores and showrooms to wow prospects and impress customers. Instead, they must rely on imagination, creativity and attention to the smallest detail when creating and maintaining a professional image for their business.

Entrepreneurs ought to create a competitive advantage. A business must have a clearly defined unique selling proposition. This is nothing more than a fancy way of asking the vital question, "Why will people choose to do business with you or purchase your product or service instead of doing business with a competitor and buying his product or service?" In other words, what one aspect or combination of aspects is going to separate your business from your competition? Will it be better service, better selection, longer business hours, more flexible payment options, lowest price, personalized service, better customer service, better return and exchange policies or a combination of several of these?

You must remain cognizant of the fact that few people will work hard, go out of their way, or be inconvenienced just for the privilege of giving you their hard-earned money. The shoe is always on the other foot. Making it easy for people to do business with you means that you must be accessible and knowledgeable about your products and services. You must be able to provide customers with what they want, when they want it.

It's difficult for most business owners not to take a hands-on approach. They try to do as much as possible and tackle as many tasks as possible in their business. The ability to multitask, in fact, is a common trait shared by successful entrepreneurs. However, once in a while you have to stand back and look beyond today to determine what's in the best interest of your business and yourself over the long run. Most highly successful entrepreneurs will tell you that from the time they started out, they knew what they were good at and what tasks to delegate to others.

Constant contact, follow-up, and follow-through with customers, prospects, and business alliances should be the mantra of every home business owner, new or established. Constant and consistent follow-up enables you to turn prospects into customers, increase the value of each sale and buying frequency from existing customers, and build stronger business relationships with suppliers and your core business team. Follow-up is especially important with your existing customer base, as the real work begins after the sale. It's easy to sell one product or service, but it takes work to retain customers and keep them coming back.

You may have realized that most of these traits are not in-born but more or less acquired. Success doesn’t come easy but once you understand how to operate, it becomes much easier.

Next several posts will dwell on pooling resources in groups: chama, ingredients of success and / or failure.

Great info here.
@Marty can you please do a blog and share more such topics. In exchange for the info, I'll do the blog and provide hosting services. geykure [at] gmail [dot] com is my mail. Please send the lessons.

niko mashinani til monday nxt wk. Wil talk to u then.

Pooling resources part 1

Soon after I got my first job and in the heat of exciting times of joining the working class, we formed a Christian social grouping together with former campus mates (5 of them). We used to read the bible together as well as organize outings inviting our girlfriends (most of them became wives, others fell by the wayside). Soon we started feeling like we needed to nurture some investment ideas together; after all we needed to live well in this world and beyond. We were newly employed young men bubbling with lots of energy but lacking in finances. Simply put, we were at the same level of financial ability and no-one seemed bigger that the other. We also had a unity of purpose and we shared a lot in common. We could move in the same direction and obviously we respected each other’s view from the onset.

We held a series of meetings that culminated into a decision to be contributing some small cash (4k per month) towards investing. 4k for a guy earning 20k was 20% of my income, but the more I saved / invested, the happier I’d get.
We then realized we did not have an account to put the money, neither did we know what exactly to do with the money. We also realized that we were not sure which form to take; company, welfare group or remain as an amorphous group. In a nutshell we needed proper structures in place to get going.

What is supposed to have guided the form we take? Akin to climbing a tree from the bottom, what we wanted to venture into was to guide our decision on this matter. My love for real estate started way back and it was easy to sell to the group the idea of venturing into some form of real estate investment(s). At least we agreed in that regards; though we felt this was more futuristic than anything else. Back then, the idea of owning plots seemed very distant of course with the kind of incomes we had. But wait, Rome was never built in a day; at least we dreamt big.

A decision was made that we register a limited liability company; after all plots and houses could only be registered in the name of the company whose shareholding we thought was prudent to be equal for all shareholders. The people to lead this young company to glory was the next big question. A chairman, treasurer and secretary perhaps?? A starting point it was. Would we then say that the initial structure was in place? By the way, I look at the minutes of our first meeting and we clearly came from very far.

Six young men armed with a registered company and contributions worth 60k and raring to go. Next big question? How to venture into real estate business with 60k? This is where it gets tricky, but as they say where there is a will, there is a way. Ultimately a decision was made that we do stocks for at least one year as we strategize on real estate investments. Stocks for novices and buying interesting counters with no real facts guiding the decisions. Stuff made of nightmares, running around like headless chicken was the order of the day. The learning curve was massive and wrong decisions made but nevertheless we were doing something. We went ahead and pumped in cash for 1 year buying several counters but making no headway in terms of making money. Swimming in the deep perhaps and expecting things to work.

The stock market went south and we soon we realized that we had contributed a lot more money that the market value of our stocks. Time to pack and try something else?? Probably adopt a different strategy. At least we were sure something had to change. A strategy meeting was called and lots of brainstorming done. Hard decisions had to be made. These were the decisions.
1. Ship out of the stock market by way of selling all the counters; after all it was not working.
2. Look for a few more members to join the group to accelerate the growth and get more capital.
3. Move to real estate which was our initial idea; thus use the cash from stocks to pay for a plot somewhere and speculate.

After sale of the stocks, the very first plot was bought in Kitengela. Quite a milestone; after all we had started living the big dream; albeit in a small way.

Recruiting an additional 4 members was the next task. We decided that we could only recruit members who would buy into our vision. Members proposed their friends but a stern condition was set that they prepare a business proposal to be evaluated by the existing members. The potential members were subject to vetting just to make sure they have a clear vision for the group and will add value. With benefit of hindsight, it was a marvelous move coz it separated wheat from chaff. We let down several guys by out-rightly rejecting their wish to join us. After all this is business and we never really wanted joy riders.

Something was telling me that this group is headed for greatness. Take note of very important points so far:

1. Strong urge to invest together by way of pooling resources was the starting point. Unity of purpose was also evident.
2. The members were of the same age-set and financial ability, they could thus identify with each other’s challenges especially financial.
3. The members agreed in principle on what they wanted to pursue. The big deal was how to get going.
4. Structures (albeit simple ones) were put in place.
5. When things did not work, a change of direction was proposed and pursued.
6. Recruitment of new members was not only based on financial ability but they were meant to add value to existing membership. One of the most important considerations was the characters of the individuals and how well they plan their finances at a personal level.

Sounds like ingredients for a successful chama. The work had begun in earnest and a lot of hope was in the air.

Most chamas fail due to a myriad of reasons but that happens way before the chama even gets going. There is nothing as frustrating as having members who are not progressive; those who argue for no reason and of course those who are not committed. Monetary contributions in most cases is considered the most important thing from members; but we get it all wrong. After all money cannot make itself; a lot of things must be right.

Next post will be on how this great chama mutated into a well-managed real estate firm that is doing wonders and will soon be a multi-billion investment.

Very informative. Asante sana @Marty.

We incorporated the company in 2005. The 10 of us are still together. We actually set very strict conditions for leaving before 6 years are over but as you can see it is now 7 yrs and no-one is even thinking of leaving. It is also extremely hard for a new member to join in...coz of the share value.

Regarding a business plan, you may need to do a bit more research and probably get some samples on the net. Alternatively you if you need one, you can engage financial planners and they'll gladly prepare one for you at a fee.

Inspiring to say the least, i salute you @Marty

BTW, i'm the young guy you were those 7 years ago ...raring to go. Serves as a good starter for anyone who wants to achieve their goals/dreams. Thanks a lot & looking forward to upcoming posts .

Add me to you mailing list forester05(at)rocketmail(dot)com.

This is the best time to acquire the financial education. This will definitely hold you in good stead as you venture into the world of investing. I'll send the first summary to you. The next summary will be circulated next week.

We started with 4k per month in 2005 but later upped it to 8k by 2007 and by 2010 we were doing 15k. Currently, we don't do monthly contributions coz they company became self sustaining and the monthly contribution's became kinda insignificant when we looked at the bigger picture.

We are now getting dividends albeit very small amounts. We prepare the business plan together (all members) and of course the documents has been used in seeking financing. We have formed a good relationship with one financier over time.