That glorified donkey is important

Isaiah 1: 3: The ox knows its master, the donkey it owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.

Otieno, the master welder is the technician who turned into a business owner overnight. He was all of a sudden a big man wearing big shoes. The technician (donkey), manager (glorified donkey) and business owner (master) all rolled into one.
Mistake No. 2: He entered into the business world with the technician’s perspective; the donkey mentality.

He was escaping from a master but forgot that he was to be his own master. He had to take the responsibilities of not only the technician but the manager and the business owner. We all know the work of the technician. Just wake up, receive instructions from the manager who in most cases barks them out and do the work, in this case make windows and doors. This is what Otieno used to do for a living before he got ideas of becoming a master. How many of us have come across those managers who talk with that scary tone and so loudly you’d think they are talking to someone who is 50m away and that time you are just next to them.

Let us analyse the manager. His typical day in the welding workshop is to distribute different tasks to the technicians and probably supervise them, to call suppliers of materials and ensure they have delivered, ensure their payments are done in good time, receive new orders from clients and probably negotiate with them etc. Otieno was expected to do all this as well as the dirty work. He was quick to realize that he needed some assistance. He therefore employed two welders. Orders were coming in droves and by the time I went to his workshop to negotiate the cost for my order, the workshop was a beehive of activities. One day when I had gone to see the progress of my order, I found a 22 wheeler being loaded with windows and doors. When I asked Otieno he told me they were going to Southern Sudan, some contractor had ordered them. That is the time I realized that Otieno was sitting on a gold mine…the gold mine ought to have exploded right before his very eyes.

However after some time, problems started creeping in: delayed deliveries, substandard work (the other welders would hardly match Otieno’s quality),un-satisfied and angry clients, unpaid suppliers, unhappy employees, name it. You can imagine, the fellow could sell some of the finished products to passers-by and the customers who had placed orders would find their stuff is not there. The workshop mutated from a beehive of activities to a sea of confusion, sometimes playing hide and seek with clients. I wveas a victim of the confusion and you can imagine the many references I gave but with a caution. I could tell anyone who saw the nice gate that the fellow is good but be ready to go through hell before you get what you want. This is how you lose customers.

The master welder was clearly overwhelmed. He was ill prepared for the expansion of the business. Did he even have a clue about expansion? Despite sometimes working for long hours, he never really staffed his business appropriately. Sometimes in an attempt to maintain quality, he would do almost all the work by himself. You can imagine a 1 horse power engine producing the output of 10 horse power engine. If you didn’t know in the 18th Century, some Scottish fellow was comparing the output of steam engines and the power of horse, hence horse power we use today.

For Otieno the manager in him was totally asleep, the strategic person in him was non-existent. Otieno and his employees were all donkeys without a master, hence the confusion. What would the manager in him have done differently?

1. He would have seen the need to have enough welders to satisfy the many orders that were streaming in.
2. He would have taken time to train the welders to ensure they are attaining similar quality to what he used to produce. After all, most of his clients came to him because of the quality.
3. He would have ensured that the raw materials are received in good time and are of right quality.
4. He’d ensure suppliers are paid in good time and even negotiate credit periods.
5. He’d ensure that customers are given truthful information in regards to delivery timelines. How about talking nicely to them and giving them updates. If he does not possess the sweet voice (ya kutoa nyoka pangoni), then a cute customer service lady is all he needed.
6. etc

Maybe he needed a manager to take care of all these issues as he concentrated on the strategic aspects of his business.

He failed big time in one very important aspect of business: Business owners are meant to create systems that survive them. It is more of ensuring others do the work for you and satisfactorily so. It means that you may start the business and do the donkey work but you must outgrow that and let someone do it for you as you move on. In short the business must move from infancy to teenage hood and to maturity.

In the next post we shall talk about the creative element in business; the dreamer. Of course am yet to tell you whether Otieno’s business survived.

ditto, guy should consider writing a book one day. The kiyosakis of this world have given us books with parts which are not suitable for Kenyan investors, we need more of this

Much as you were annoyed because of your order, didn't lose a business opportunity to partner with Otieno?

The Dreamer

Joel 2:28: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”

From where I come from there is a proverb which when loosely translated says “An old man seated on a three legged stool see farther than a young man atop a tree” In business you must have that element of the young man who sees visions on one part and the element of the old man who dreams dreams and who see far on the other part.

Let us talk about the dreamer.

I see myself owning a conglomerate of welding workshops that spreads across all the major towns of Kenya and beyond. Think Southern Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Egypt and South Africa. I see myself as the president of the group of companies running the workshops. Under me is a think tank of sharp minds who deal with the strategy of the business, a set of crème de la crème top notch managers reporting to me. And that private chartered plane that enables me to hop from one city to the other, one country to the other. And you know I love playing golf. Windsor golf and country will just be my local, so you will once in a while find me in the cascades at Soma bay in Egypt, Heritage Gold club in Mauritius, Lemuria Golf courses in Seychelles and once in a blue moon the Pine Valley Golf Club at New Jersey. And the top notch managers need not see me to report to me, with technology I can just meet them via teleconference and also get those high level reports through any of the myriad of gadgets at my disposal.

Otieno, it is time to wake up, you have dreamt enough. The reality is that Otieno does not even have a passport, the farthest he went beyond Kenyan border is the contentious island Migingo. But dreaming he ought to have dreamt. The voice of the dreamer in every entrepreneur is as wild as it gets. Someone said that the dreamer imagines what might be possible, is an opportunist, believes in the dream and finds creative outlets. And a healthy dreamer knows ways to make that dream come true. Dreamers talk about their dreams in a powerful way, with clarity and intention. Serious dreamers build Dream Teams as they get others excited about their vision. And most importantly, dreamers take action to make their dreams a reality.

Let us not talk about Martin Luther King, for you know he dreamt and he articulated his dream with a lot of clarity…..I have a dream………….

Then a small voice is heard from a far off saying “I don't think that's a good idea. ….bla bla bla ". Now, if you crank up the volume of that small voice from a far……it gets clearer and you realize the voice is boldly saying "Are you out of your mind?"

Shakespeare once said:, "Our doubts are traitors."

Carlos Casteneda said, "In order to experience the magic of life, you must banish the doubt."

Kahlil Gibran said, "Doubt is a feeling too lonely to know that Faith is its twin brother."

Marty says: “Ïf you jumble together the small voices of doubt and project them into your dream, the dream will be dead before you tell the story.”

What is your dream? Next post we shall talk about the important companion of the dreamer, the thinker.

The Thinker


“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” – Pamela Vaull Starr

The Thinker is The Dreamer's most important companion. The Dreamer represents the "what" and The Thinker represents the methodical "how." He compliments The Dreamer by knowing the special role he plays in the manifestation of The Dreamer's vision. He is the one who asks the questions essential to formulate the business plan.

After the exciting dream, it is time to sober up and formulate plans geared towards attaining your dream. For Otieno’s business, he needed to formulate plans that would gravitate towards the success on a single workshop for a start. How about the growth plan for the conglomerate of workshops spread across key towns in Kenya and later Africa?

How about formulating a 5year business plan that stipulates at a strategic level how he intends to run the business? Those strategy figures that we are afraid to document…. How comfortable are we with turnovers, residual incomes and ROIs of this world? Isn’t is easier to operate a business on auto-pilot mode? That business plan should capture your dream at a higher level. You must then come up with yearly operating plans that are a derivative of the strategy figures.

But how did u expect Otieno to draw a business plan and outline the expected ROIs when he never went past high school. The only accounting knowledge he has was the one acquired in primary school…remember Business education subject? How then would he navigate the world of figures? Maybe he needed help. May be this is the help I ought to have given him….Maybe I ought to have picked him under my wings and assist him nurture his dream..Somebody asked me whether I missed an opportunity here….maybe I did, maybe I did not. In this world full of opportunities, it serves you well to pick your opportunities well.

How many of us know this story. This man who presented a charcoal buying and selling business proposal to his buddy who happened to be an accountant. Of course the accountant dismissed the idea. The man went home disappointed but soldiered on with that business and later grew an empire only to employ the accountant later…well well…..believe in your dream.

The thinker element in the entrepreneur sometimes can actually kill a dream. It is the element that does analysis. For the clever and educated fellows (like the accountant above), too much analysis leads to something they call analysis paralysis…..followed by doubts…followed by confusion..inaction…non-belief..then death of a dream… That fellow who never went past primary education simply does basic maths: income, expenditure, profit and bang..he is in business.

Lesson: Let the thinker element support the dream. Let him ask questions around the dream and find solutions. Let him analyse the risks of the business and get the mitigating strategies….Simply let him do his job and assist actualize the dream.

My father used to give me words of wisdom, he once told me that a man was requested to climb a tree and cut some branches for a small pay. He got so excited coz of the small pay till he forgot to remove his shoes which made him slip and break his leg. The other one was requested to cut a banana stem and he went for an axe as opposed to a panga. With one heavy cut of an axe, he not only cut the stem but also part of his leg. Both shared a characteristic of foolishness because neither took time to think through the task to be done and prepare themselves adequately. Look before you leap.

Next lesson, we shall talk about the storyteller….him who conveys the dream with clarity and precision…the singer of your song.

hey guys i know this place at city standium it called agro owned by mhindi,my question is was mhindi gave him bad engine or the workers replaced with bad engine,iwant to get into this business and will apprenciate my email cathywagi13@yahoo.com.thankx

The Storyteller


Proverbs 18: 21; The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Tell me your story…….

He is probably one of the biggest estate developers in Kenya. He inspires me and I admire his ways. Success is written all over his life. He once gave me his compelling story, a classic from rags to riches story.

An architect by profession, he set out to venture into the estate developers’ world. A practicing architect without a penny but with a big dream. He approached a land owner and sold the idea of a joint venture. He created the concept; high end residential estate in a serene environment approx. 10km from Nairobi’s CBD. It is never easy to convince these old Wazee to get into such ventures but with a sweet tongue he convinced this old man.

Next stop was the bank. He sat down with the credit officer and took him through the concept. The officer gave him a long list of requirements including what they call developer’s equity; capital investment he ought to bring forth and the bank to finance the rest. Of course he never had a penny and so the officer dismissed him. Bank 2, 3 ,4 and 5 same story till he almost gave up. Then someone told him to visit one of the so called ‘small banks’ and some guy with some huge targets to meet somehow bought his story and convinced the manager that his idea was worth the risk and a try. So he finally nailed the financing and delivered his maiden project; quite successful it was. They say the rest is history. As we speak he does projects worth billions.

He believed in his dream. He told his story in a compelling way. As we speak, banks are all over him to finance his ventures. Infact, he one day forced one of the big banks to write him an apology having dismissed him when he really needed financing. You can imagine a bank apologizing to an individual. He is worth so much and the banks know it. He really values the partnership with the so called small bank. A valued friend; like the one my dad used to tell me about; one who made him one day slaughter a hen which was in the process of incubating eggs; quite a sacrifice for any farmer.

The Storyteller element invokes excitement in others when conveying the dream. He knows that without encouragement and excitement no dream has a chance to become reality. He begins to "speak" the dream or to "sing" the song. The Storyteller in essence represents life and is where The Dreamer and The Thinker find voice.
Back to Otieno. So sad to say that his dream died and he recoiled to working in a welding workshop as an employee. This was after all his comfort zone. The owner of the workshop will deal with the business issues and him he will do what he is best at; manufacturing the nice products. In short, his business idea died and Otieno boomeranged to the technician mode….he froze to his shell of comfort.

He failed in many areas but one key one is the Leader element; the executor of the dream. We will look at the leader element in the next post.

How Financially Healthy Are You? Find Out Using 4 Ratios

1. Monthly Surplus/Monthly Income
2. Cash and Liquid Assets/Monthly Expenses
3. Cash and Liquid Assets/Net Worth
4. Monthly Debt/Monthly Income
http://wallstcheatsheet....ut-using-4-ratios.html/

@Marty, great stuff.

As you prepare the next lesson, kindly say something about guys who invest millions and forget to take care of the most important aspect of the business I.e. customers.

An example will suffice; I once went to a fast food restaurant selling chips and chicken. I was pleasantly surprised that the quality of their chicken could rival Galitos. And this was a locally owned outfit. So next time I convinced my clan that we can support a local brand and we went there. It was a sad story. We had to leave half of the food on the table. Two customers were at the counter demanding a refund.

Someone has put up a very classy and elegant barbershop in my neighbourhood. I decided to try it at the expense of my usual place. Another sad story. Pathetic service, with the lady in charge shouting at her subordinates in a very demeaning way. I ain't going back there. But I really feel for the hapless investor who has put in so much money in the venture.