So you can blow the trumpet?

One of my many adventurous drives looking for land landed me somewhere in a place called Landless along Thika Garissa road. I can bet that some guys who were landless were settled there. I met Kamau, a land broker who never stops talking and chewing khat, his mouth is always green like that of a goat. The life that these fellows lead is sometimes amazing. And you would be quick to ignore them but you’d be surprised at how resourceful they can be. Think of a diamond in the rough. You see, this Kamau guy sometimes gets me some nice pieces of land and if I buy any of the land, I give him some good commission. The problem is that this fellow drinks himself silly, in fact if you attempt to call him an hour or so after you pay him any commission, you’ll find him already drunk and talking incoherently; it will be akin to talking to oneself. I think brokers have that mentality that the cash they get from land deals is almost painless or effortless.

Kamau and his problems aside, he showed me some few pieces off Thika Garissa road all the way up to some place called Magogoni, at the foot of Kilimambogo and bordering Ukambani. On our way back he remembered some nice land on sale near Thika Town and we headed there. I liked the land and I therefore requested to meet the owner, one Momanyi. The broker called him and he said he was too busy to meet me on short notice. He however agreed to meet me a week later.

I called my partner Paul and he agreed to accompany me to go meet Momanyi on that Saturday we were to meet. On our way to Town, I called Momanyi and requested him to meet us at Ambassadeur Hotel. His response was rather unexpected, “My friend, I don’t go to River Road. If you want to meet me, find your way to Serena”. I relayed the message to Paul and he laughed mischievously. I told him that I smelled a big rat coz I don’t like dealing with fellows who are all over themselves. Paul was insistent that we meet the fellow coz we might learn a few things from him.

When we packed at Serena, I called Momanyi and we linked up. Big bodied middle aged man with an average pot belly, dressed sharply and with designer shades to boot. We shoot hands introduced ourselves and ordered some drinks. His first question was whether we were serious we really wanted the land. We nodded to affirm so. He then asked us whether we have viewed the land and we replied in the affirmative. Then he cheekily made a comment to the effect that he hoped we could afford the land.

As we sipped our drinks the guy talked and talked big. Within twenty minutes or so he had mentioned of a very large development project he was undertaking in Karen for some 30 units each costing 30M and how he does it without any financing from a bank. He had mentioned how he finances politicians. “You see from here am dashing to chair a meeting, am financing my brother for the some parliamentary contest somewhere in Kisii. The other day I gave him 7 million for his campaigns. In fact am also supposed to clear some Land cruisers in Mombasa for the campaigns so you guys better be serious”, he said. It became a monologue and I was really struggling to listen to him.

After his self-adoration session, we asked for the paperwork to the land we were interested in. To our utter shock, the land was not even in his name. When we asked him why he is selling the land which does not bear his name, he said that he bought the land but decided to register it in his brother’s name now that during those days of the former regime big shots like him were being targeted by the powers that be. “Do you have the power of attorney or on what basis are you to sell the land?” we asked him. He did not have but said his brother is only a call away.

When we enquired for the price of the land, he told us it was worth 3M and non-negotiable. When we gave an offer of 2M, the guy was so irritated that he shot up from his seat and retorted; “Young boys, if you don’t have money, please take a walk, Mnafikiria shamba ni mkate? I don’t deal with people with no money “. He then yelled at one of the waiters and demanded for the bill. I realized that our talk was heading nowhere and I excused myself to go the gents.

By the time I came back I found Momanyi had already left but Paul had his smile back. “I hope when you become rich, you’ll not be as arrogant as this Momanyi guy”, Paul cautioned me. I however told Paul that my gut feeling was that the guy was a fake. You see, the majority of the filthy rich are generally humble people. You see the rich fellows in big cars are usually on the road very early and they have very good driving habits. After all they have no point to prove and their wealth speaks for itself. I am usually very skeptical of fellows who are always praising themselves. Even the good old book advises us in James 4:10: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up”

I suspect that most people are only humble simply because they are poor. Give them the money and overnight, they’d transform into very arrogant fellows. Next post we shall deal with a rather interesting concept “In business, do you act like a rabbit or a wise turtle?”

@marty, i have been following your posts,i am a young ambitious graduate.,i have been involved in business for "survival" . i have a long history in hustler-economics..i have been a tout at "machakos terminus",moved on to selling bags in Gikomba,got into campus,worked my way through it,got into a sales job after graduation,pushed too much,made too much,got screwed off my commissions, got into another stop gap sales job,am now getting 13k net saving 4k, surviving on the rest,i might access 250k in 6 months i want to get out of slavery for good.i would like some advice from you,coz for me this will be do or die..add me to your mailing list at (faitakim @ yahoo)please.

thanks guys for your advice.will take it into considerations. @New-farer pliz ve me ya email or email me at djane2013@gmail.com

you unknowingly inspired me...i think i will start hustling with the bags,maybe you should give me a few tips...

Rabbit or a Turtle?

We know that classic story of the rabbit (sungura Mjanja) and the turtle (mzee Kobe). The two met and agreed to have a race. When they raced for the first round, the turtle was slow as usual but steady, the rabbit was fast, but got distracted, took some rest in between, and explored around the sceneries, and even took a nap in between. Upon his perseverance, the turtle won the race (round one).

The Rabbit

So many businesses jump in the race too quickly where they hurriedly do things and don’t always think things through before they launch a product, service etc. They don’t stick to what their business is all about or they rush through things to beat the others without making sure all the ducks are in a row. To these companies the most important thing is to be front and center.

The Turtle

Then you have the happy, go-lucky turtle company that starts their business off with what they believe is a great model and start to set sail. They think through what they want others to think about their brand, they listen, they adapt while keeping a steady course to the finish line and end goal. They make sure they cover everything and are thorough with their plan. To them they want to finish strong, never take their eye off the goal but keep a steady pace.

How many businesses have you seen that start up and take off in the beginning but quickly deflate because of some issues they have or they didn’t quite think through? And how many businesses have you seen that don’t necessarily stand out at first but as time goes by the word of mouth travels and they are all over the place with a great format and concept? So this leads me to ask: “is your business the rabbit or the turtle?”

Lesson 1:
•For “Turtles”: It is ok to be slow, as long you persevere, don’t give up
•For “Rabbits”: Distraction and arrogance is often times the biggest obstacle of your success.
The rabbit with its ujanja thought to himself, now I know what I have done wrong, if I change my attitude, I should have a chance to win. So, he asked the turtle for the 2nd round; this time, he did exactly what he planned to do: very focused and changed attitude, he won the 2nd round.

Lesson 2:
It is possible to win if we are willing to humble ourselves and learn from the past mistakes. Then Turtle got thinking, “There must be a way I can do this!”. After careful inspecting different routes, he found one route would benefit him greatly. He asked rabbit for the 3rd round race. On this particular route--> there was a river in between. As you can imagine, for the Turtle, it was such an easy race, he swam so fast, outperformed Rabbit quite a bit. Turtle had a triumph!!!

Lesson 3:
When we know our gifts and talents well, and know how to use it wisely; we are unstoppable! By now, Rabbit and Turtle actually started to realize both of them have different strength and weakness. They thought what if they could work together as a team, they might achieve to finish the race faster together. So they decided to give it a try. They chose the exactly the same route of their last race. In some part of the race, since it was all dry land, Rabbit carried Turtle and ran fast, when it came to the river, Turtle let Rabbit sat upon his shell, and he swam fairly quickly. The result, they finished the race together in a much shorter time. They were thrilled!!!

Lesson 4:
When we are able to leverage each other’s strength and unite as a team, the result can be astounding!!! Now as buddies, Turtle and Rabbit put their head together again. They dreamed about helping other animal friends in the woods. Many of their friends had hard time to go from A to B fast enough for food, or had trouble to cross the river when they needed to; what if we could build something to transport them....thus, they built an innovative vehicle and achieved their dream of helping their friends to cross the land and the river safely and quickly. Also, this vehicle could be used by everyone after Rabbit and Turtle showed them how. The whole animal world was full of joy, because their pain/problem is solved!!!

Lesson 5:
An innovative “vehicle” or a “system” which is able to solve the pain/problem oftentimes is from dreamers; those who dare to dream and dream big.

Now think hard and long and deduce whether you are a turtle or a rabbit…by the way both are OK as long as they know their strengths and weaknesses and complement each other.

From a biological perspective, a tortoise is a kind of a turtle, but not all turtles are tortoises...or so I read somewhere

Opportunity in Crisis

Sometimes back my observant eye while driving along Thika road got me thinking. China man and his modus operandi while constructing the super highway sometimes brought unprecedented problems. What with his not so clear and misplaced signs; like a sign that is meant to inform you to turn left somewhere and it is placed right at the spot where you are supposed to be turning. If you are not that careful or you are the type that would drive under the influence of anti Mututho laws substances, you’d easily land into a ditch. Like someday I found some very young men whose vehicle had just landed into a ditch on an early freezing morning, I think the fellows were returning from a night of merry making. They were so drunk that they decided to sleep some inside the car, others on top of the car as opposed to struggling to get the car out of the ditch.

Some other day, the china man dug a very big trench somewhere around Kahawa Wendani. The trench covered a long distance oblivious of the places where pedestrian were using to cross from the other side. You could imagine the chaos especially affecting ladies who wanted to cross from one side to the other. Some very ingenuous and quick thinking men realized there was an opportunity to make a few bucks. As opposed to building a temporary bridge, the men would get inside the trench and assist ladies to cross; of course for a small fee of ten shillings. They actually spotted an opportunity in the crisis to make a few coins. This went on for days till China man built the temporary bridge.

In life we sometimes are faced with crisis and we hardly spot opportunities within the crisis. Most people must have really complained about this China man, after all it is all human to think along those lines, yet a more positive person could spot an opportunity.

So what's different for such a person?

Millionaires and billionaires are made in times of crisis; read when economies are on their low. Stock masters will tell you that you make most when u buy at the market’s lowest. Isn’t it obvious??

A lot of it comes down to attitude and beliefs. Yes, touchy feely stuff. But I do believe that how we perceive our world impacts our experience. Those who dare to swim against the current get the most rewards. Find a successful person and you'll often meet a positive, focused individual who is all about viewing the glass as half full or even overflowing, who sees opportunity in each and every situation, no matter how dark it may seem. They shine a light into the darkness; to them their world is bright, really bright.

What if adopting a positive viewpoint changes our crisis into opportunity?

In Chinese symbols, Crisis shares a common symbol with opportunity. The symbol for 'Crisis' contains two words, danger and opportunity. Taken together - the symbols mean 'opportunity in a time of danger'. Imagine that! Inherent in every crisis is the aspect of opportunity.

So what determines the outcome?

When a force intervenes to cause a 'turn for the better', the crisis transforms into an opportunity. We can be the force that causes that turn for the better. We can power the swing from crisis to opportunity.

How about our attitude!

When we look at life with a positive attitude - we're more likely to see new opportunities, to think in out-of-the-box ways, to create differently, to believe in our abilities to power a positive outcome. Those are the key ingredients for success - in business or our personal lives.

Are we the positive force that powers opportunity in crisis, or are we part of the crisis?

Peeps, sometimes going abroad is an itch that just has to be scratched. I can relate to what @choise is talking about, minus his english. My advice, go. This life is made bearable, even enjoyable, when we get our hearts desires.

But even as you go, take the advice you've been given in good stride. It clearly is not a bed of roses. Go knowing that this is where good life can be made. Go, scratch the itch, come back a sated man and start making that paper.

100 million Cheque Part 1

On that Saturday I was extremely tired after a drive to and from Nakuru together with my good friend and business partner Paul. When we were somewhere along the Northern By-pass, Paul suggested that we pass by his friend’s place somewhere at Ridgeways. I was really tired and all I wanted was to go home and have a rest. Somehow Paul convinced me otherwise coz he really wanted to see some guest houses his friend was doing.

When we entered his compound, Mark was on hand to receive us. A very talkative fellow who could not stop smiling. He took us round the magnificent 10 bedroom maissonette which occupied approximately 50% of his ½ acre land. The property boasts of two large living rooms, with double ceiling and feature staircase, two large modern design kitchens, with exquisite finish of granite and wood. There are ten ensuite bedrooms with external balconies whose bathrooms are fitted with hot water Jacuzzi bath tubs and separate shower cubicles. There is also an office study, prayer/gym room, TV room, and SQ with 4 rooms. I also noticed wooden pergolas over all balconies. A stunning property with exquisite gypsum ceilings throughout. A site to behold.

Externally, there is approximately 1/4 acres of mature garden with immaculate landscape and design the main entrance has bridge with water feature and fountains for a memorable welcome. There is also a stunning swimming pool with hot Jacuzzi, gazebo, changing and shower rooms. I also saw 4 covered car parks and additional open car park areas that could fit 8 or so cars.

The property had been converted into a guest house and Mark was very jovial narrating how the idea struck him. In fact, what was bothering his head was how to market his services. Inside the house, one of the rooms had been converted into his office. We finally sat inside his office and he started telling us of his immediate plans on how to market the guest house. While he was talking nonstop, I noted a bible on top of the table and my curiosity got the better of me. I took it and started flipping through. Somewhere stuck within the pages of the bible, I saw a cheque leaf, torn into two pieces but looking very very old. My eyes could'nt help but notice something weird about the cheque other than how tattered it was. It was a cheque drawn by Mark and to himself (drawer and payee were the same), done in 2007 and with a figure of One Hundred Million. Well, my head got thinking….and I finally gathered the courage to ask him what the cheque was all about.

He subconsciously rose from his seat and with a lot of excitement he started pacing around the office. It is like my question took him down memory lane and he remembered something. What followed was a story that has stuck in my head for some time coz it was not only amazing but I realized that Mark had gone through one roller coaster ride in his life.

The dude was once working for an insurance firm based in Nairobi, rose through the ranks and became a manager in 2006. As a manager he had a company vehicle, attended big meetings on behalf of the firm and everyone out there thought he was doing very well. The unfortunate thing is that despite his big position, his pay was a paltry 60k. He got so frustrated coz in his own words; his was a dog’s life; barking at the behest of the master and living from hand to mouth. He realized he was not heading anywhere in his life.

One day, he decided to call it quits. He wrote a resignation letter, dropped it at their HR office and left in a huff. When he reached home, he thought of his next steps but all was dark ahead of him. It is then that he pulled out his cheque book and wrote himself a cheque of 100 million. He put it inside his bible and went down on his knees in prayers.

“Lord God, I have written this cheque in total trust and belief. I am at the lowest point in my life but I know you can lift me up to the glory of your name.”

In his own words, he was to work extremely hard and pay himself 100 million in 5 years’ time and as to where the money was to come from, he had no clue. The story got juicier and I lost track of time as I listened to him…………..more on this in the next post.

The stories are real life, and I normally get them in my daily walk of life. I don't make them up. Many have suggested I write a book, but I am a firm believer that free and helpful information should be passed on without thinking a lot about the money element. This is also my way of giving back to the society.