Marty. Really, you rock. you are simply amazing, a blessed guy. Thank you for the good work.

I know this sounds silly but The more I read your posts, I keep asking myself things like How old is Mwalimu Marty? Does he have Kids? How Many? Which church does he attend? Where does Mwalimu stay? Which High scool did he attend? Why cant' he open a college or something and teach these things? etc, etc.

God Bless you.

We'll definitely deal with this at some point.

Hello am very happy with wazua forum.i must say in kenya this is the best and most real invetment forum i have come across.congrats to all those who ve made their first M before 30yrs.am 29yrs and am only worth 100k i workd at two banks and things didnt workout well so amnt workng.though i got sm 500k from a family relative to start a business.so am importing some baby staff and am hoping it really works out becoz its the only form of income that am lookng forward to i dont want formal employment.my rent food and transport are catered for.i have seen that most business start ups fail before they turn 5yrs am hoping mine will be the 10% that succeeds.I love moving abroad whether am rich or not i ve a degree and hope to start a business there but dnt have the closest ida of how ill move there dont have relatives bt have a strong desire to move there.

Also how do you know which stocks to buy and when to sell i bought the kengen shares bt never sold them now they are selling for so little bought east africa cables at 78sh and lost.and also how do i invest offshore.
last questions i have save 100k i want to buy land in kajiado for like 30k per acre is it possible and is it a good investment coz i cant afford expensive lands and i really want to buy land.
being too honest ADVICE PLEASE

If your rent, food and transport are catered for and a relative has 'loaned' you 500k to start a business, why are you looking to go abroad? My take, concentrate on making the business work (sounds a like a viable one btw), keep the 100k as your rainy day umbrella.

You'll be going to start from scratch abroad without the advantages you mention above.

very true....

You have been advised by several people. I may not dwell on the issue of emigrating coz I don't have any experiences on that but you better listen to those who are already there.

As regards the business you are doing and it chances of success, I'd say the most important thing is to have passion for what you are doing. Get to know important info regarding the business and how best you can maneuver. You stand a higher chance of success if you invest in the relevant practical knowledge around that business.

I have a feeling that in Kenya we are experiencing exciting times as regards to availability of opportunities and it could be the best time in a long while for investors...you just need to open you eyes wide. I have a feeling you got the ingridients for success.

As regards stocks I think there is a lot of info in Wazua but be careful with what you read coz not all advise is good.

My advice regarding buying land, I guess the good time would be after you other business stabilizes and you can then channel some of the profits to land..remember land is not a liquid investment and works well when you are not in a hurry to sell. All the best and it is my prayer that you succeed in your ventures.

Njuguna, aren’t you working too hard part 2?

Njuguna worked quite hard and he must have realized that by working harder he was doing better. He must have have gotten sucked into long working hours maybe without noticing. Most likely other areas of his life got neglected. He was most likely eating poorly and probably never exercising. If this continues unchecked the guy will run into health problems and he’ll wish that he found a better balance in his life.

The biggest error of omission or is it commission is failure to create a system that works for him. How do you create such a system? He needed to have gradually let go of his direct involvement in running the businesses:

1. You need to spot talents and build a team that shares your dream. The team will get you to your goals faster. He ought to have a manager for the hardware who deals with operational issues. The manager would probably have some sales person, procurement person, a person in charge of delivery, person in charge of receiving cash, etc. Njuguna would maybe be getting some periodic briefings and he’d probably concentrate on looking for new ventures and generally strategizing on the business and where it moves.

2. But how would Njuguna trust that these fellows won’t steal from him? He ought to create controls at different levels to assist tighten any loopholes in the system.

3. How about his land business? I see no reason why Njuguna would be chasing clerks at Kajiado when he can get someone to do such errands for him. I am sure he can afford to a person or people to take clients to site, chase documentation at lands office, chase consents with DO, etc. Most of these operational tasks need to be delegated.

4. He should also take advantage of having people in his team who specialize in some areas. The jack of all trade mentality never works well. Isn’t it better to know everything about something as opposed to knowing something small about everything?

5. At that higher level, Njuguna should be able to organize his days in such a manner that he will cover all the facets of his businesses and spare some time for his family and he should rest more. Probably eat better and exercise. That way he’ll be a more complete person.
Let’s get deeper into what Njuguna ought to be doing?

1. High Level Strategic planning : Setting realistic goals and tracking the attainment of the goals

2. Looking for new ventures and investment options: How about going around the outskirts of Nairobi and looking for land…at the state he was in..he thought that the best land deals are only found in Kitengela… How about exploring other areas where timber is available? How about expansion into new areas…replicating the Kitengela success say in Rongai or Ruiru?

3. Strengthening his team to help achieve his vision faster and spotting new talents. He can also build on the strengths of the existing staff and resolve some weaknesses.

4. Creation of sales and marketing strategies…after all his business is sales driven.

If all this is in place, I think Friday afternoon he can join a member’s club and play golf. After all this life is short and he can afford the nice things in life.

I never got the chance to talk to him and I am sure this message may have never reached him before he collapses in a heap due to exhaustion and weariness. I hope someday I’ll bump into him and talk some sense into him. I hope he can listen to me...he sounded too arrogant to listen to some young man who may not be as successful as him…That reminds me of some businessman I met who was so arrogant and was really blowing his imaginary trumpet….Next post I’ll touch on that topic.

I am enlightened.@Marty thanks.

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