100 million Cheque: Final Part

Continued from part 2

The Merc was no more and off it went with the flashy life. Mark thus got a bit of cash from the proceeds of the sale. He knew that the small cash available to him would make or break him; it could tip the scale between absolute poverty and recovery. Remember the story of that widow of Zarephath and Elijah and that handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug? After much thinking, it took Mark a week or so to decide what to do with the cash. It finally dawned on him that his recovery was pegged in reviving the fortunes of his ailing firm. He thus decided to revamp the firm by investing in advertising and popularizing his services.

He went knocking on doors of companies seeking to sell his services; after all this is a skill he had acquired while selling insurance to strangers. Of course it was never easy but the guy is kinda convincing; the type that would remove a snake from its hiding (kutoa nyoka pangoni). In a few months his marketing drives started to pay off and clients starting coming. His fortunes started to change for the better. He had a clear plan on his business and set targets. On a good week, he’d make as much as half a million after expenses because he started getting high profile clients (managers and business owners).

Mark went to the back to the basics of financial prudence. He embraced the basic but simple concepts of financial management. You know most people fail to understand that the road to financial freedom is one that requires very basic knowledge. Isn't it easy to understand that you must spend less than you earn?? Anyway, he managed to dramatically improve his finances by embracing frugality.

The other big change he had in his life was to become a staunch Christian. He quit drinking and left the bad company. Actually most of his friends had already left him. He slowly got better friends and soon after walked down the aisle. Sometimes we underestimate the strength of friends and the motivation one can derive from a supportive spouse.

With better fortunes he managed to buy 2 plots at Garden estate. He built his family’s abode in one of them. The other plot he did the guest houses which were almost completed from what I saw. I noted how positive the man had become. He was constantly pausing to remind us of how God has blessed him. He could radiate the feel good factor to the two of us and I could from his tone that this was a man who had deep lying passion that can only be seen in people destined for greatness.

Then out of blues I asked him whether he finally paid himself the 100M. He looked up and told us that indeed he has never had cash in the bank anywhere close to 100M. However, the valuation of the guest houses alone together with the land was around 120M. So in his own words his wealth more than showed that he had earned the 100 Million.

Paul jokingly asked him why he was driving a Toyota Wish being that wealthy. The man rose from his seat and his response was telling, “My friends, I have driven the big ones and I can assure you that it is no big deal. In fact sometimes back I met one of my former drinking buddies who asked me what I was wishing for now that am driving a Toyota wish. Someday I’ll drive the big ones again but I need to ensure that systems are in place that generates enough to sustain the big ones”.

I realized the transformation the man had gone through and it was amazing. It took him as many as 9 years to hit the target but at least he did. I noticed how he had a grip of his life and how he had rediscovered his dream and kept it alive despite falling. Often we fall but we forget to rise up, dust ourselves and proceed with our journey with lessons to boot.

We finally left Mark’s place at 9.00 pm and it is then I remembered how tired I was but the absorbing story more than refreshed me. I left knowing that there was need to stretch my imaginations and pay myself big….a few hundred millions would do for starters…QED, isn't it?

Next post we'll talk about misers, I know one and his story is out of this world.

100 million Cheque: Part 2

Continued from part 1

After writing the 100M cheque and saying the big prayer, Mark got thinking. He always had the urge to get into consultancy of some sort and he thought it was a good opportunity to try something. After thorough thinking, he decided he’d venture into training managers and business owner from all walks of life on matters corporate governance. He however didn't have a clue how and where to start. As he was thinking up of setting a firm, he decided to apply for scholarships abroad with a view of acquiring some skills in his line of interest.

Two months after sending many applications, he got a positive response from some University in Australia. Lucky for him, the scholarship was fully paid for. He therefore, held his thoughts and plans of setting up the firm and decided to go study first. He found himself in Australia and studied for 3 years. Upon graduation he was lucky to get some job there, a contract for two years. He really worked his socks off and saved a lot of money. At the expiry of the contract he returned to Kenya as a loaded man with approx. 15M. A tidy sum for a young man in his mid-thirties. This, coupled with newly acquired skills on corporate governance and training, he was raring to go.

On landing in Kenya, his immediate thoughts were to actualize his dream and set up his firm and get going. Blame the devil if you may but the rich fool mentality caught up with him. He assumed that the money was too much for him to finish in his lifetime. He bought a big car and started to indulge in alcohol together with some friends. Talk of bad company. To make it worse he was still single and girls started milling around him. He thought that overnight he had become ‘tall dark and handsome’ now that the girls were looking for him. You know some of us who are as short as Zacchaeus of the bible and not so good looking get worried when all of a sudden girls get interested in you. Of course when you sit on a fat wallet you can become very tall and good looking.

No money is big money if all you are doing is spending it. Mark lost his dream and money too. One day one time, he realized that his money was tending towards zero at an alarming rate. But then it was too late when he realized so, because by the then it was only the big car remaining and some tens of thousands. He also realized that he forgot God; you see when all is bliss, it is very easy to forget your Maker especially in the days of your youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Someday, as frustrations started getting in, he took his bible and as he was flipping through he saw the 100M cheque. It made him more frustrated and in the heat of the moment he tore the cheque into two and threw it in the dustbin.

That night he tried to sleep but somehow he could not. In the dark of the night, he had an opportunity to look at roller coaster of a life he had lived, mistakes made, opportunities missed and lesson to be learnt. He knew that he had goofed big time. It was on this night that in my humble opinion he experienced a transformation. He rose from his bed, went looking for the torn cheque in the dustbin, took it and returned it inside his bible. This explained why the cheque I saw was in two pieces. It was a time of re-awakening his dream, at time when he asked God for a second chance on bended knees. Prodigal son returning to his father and promising to behave and become a good steward.

By then his drinking buddies had left his life, and the gold prospectors too had realized that no more gold was available. This time, the lessons were finally and painfully learnt. He was evidently at the rock bottom of a sinusoidal wave. You know they taught me about y = sin x to be the sinusoidal wave.

Mark embarked on immediate transformation by first offloading the state of the art Mercedes Benz. It had to go……after all where else would he get any reasonable cash to rebuild his life?

The final part details how he managed to rebuild his life to his present state which left me in awe. He not only became a strong Christian believer but he also adopted a business bible, same to the one adopted by Fai Amarios (he of kata pingu fame), RIP. He also walked down the aisle and he kept saying his family is a big inspiration. Curious to know whether he finally earned the right to cash the 100M cheque?

100 million Cheque: Part 1

 Guest post by Samuel G. Njenga

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 because 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 maisonette 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 en-suite 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 acre 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 couldn't 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 because 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 because 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. Amen”

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 onthis in the next post.

The ‘Mama Uji’ who saved to buy a house

Article by FRANCIS AYIEKO Source: Daily Nation, Posted Thursday, November 22  2012 at  20:00

http://tinyurl.com/c4uy4xa

Beaming with pride, the woman appeared to be in dreamland as she showed visitors her new two-bedroom house.

Although the house lacks the trappings of up-market apartments such as a bathtub, sauna, in-built wardrobes, stylish floors and wall finishing, elegantly done granite-surface kitchen or top gas cookers, it was decent enough to be any renter’s envy.

Until last week, the middle-aged woman lived in a shanty in Kawangware estate, where she had stayed with her late husband (she said he died recently because of stress) since the 2007/2008 post-election violence that uprooted them from their former home.

She has been selling porridge to make ends meet. For the past four years, she has been saving part of the proceeds from her business through a chama affiliated to the NationalCooperative Housing Union (Nachu).

Her savings helped her to get a loan from Nachu that was enough to construct the Sh1.2 million house she now owns in Kiambu County, just a few kilometres from Nairobi’s central business district.

Dozens of other women in her chama also benefited from the loan and are now proud owners of houses like hers under the same project.

This woman could not hide her joy last week as she showed journalists and guests who had come for the official handing over of the houses by Nachu to the owners.

The common thread among the beneficiaries of the new houses was that they were all small-scale traders.

Lesson one: Owning a house starts with saving diligently.

Lesson two: No amount of income is too small to lead to home ownership. What is important is the will and determination to work towards realising your dream house.

Of course many may argue that it is almost impossible to save for a house in Kenya because of rapidly rising prices.

True, housing prices are rising rapidly, but if you want it bad enough, you will save and look for creative ways to achieve your dream. The case of the Mama Uji mentioned above is proof enough.

The thing is, you do not necessarily have to go through the formal mortgage market to own a home.

In fact, in its latest survey report, The Mortgage Company (TMC) says that the formal mortgage market is facing stiff competition from the alternative market, thanks to the high-interest-rates regime that dogged the country’s financial sector for almost one year until three months ago.

The mortgage brokerage firm said that more and more Kenyans are turning to saccos and microfinance institutions to finance housing development.

“The profound shift in mortgage rates of last year has led to the acceleration in the development of the alternative mortgage market, expanding the funds coming into mortgage finance and the options available to Kenyans,” said TMC managing director Caroline Kariuki.

Notable, she said, was the way the diaspora is becoming organised setting up saccos, a trend that could see them become significant players in the mortgage and property sectors.

“This kind of engagement additionally opens up a good vetting avenue to provide the lenders with credible partners. Altogether, this is a trend worth watching closely,” said Ms Kariuki.

I have heard HousingFinance managing director Frank Ireri say that competition is becoming stiff in the country’s mortgage market because of the entrance of commercial banks, saccos, and insurance firms, forcing stand-alone mortgage firms to “be creative” to stay afloat.

The truth of the matter is that borrowing for the full value of a complete house, as required under mortgage, does not suit most aspiring home owners. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that over 90 per cent of Kenyan home owners did not take the mortgage route.

The most common route is staged development or what is popularly referred to as incremental approach to building, where beneficiaries stage out the development of the house and borrow for those stages based on their capacity.

With this approach, nobody is left out of home ownership bandwagon.

Do you desire to own a house…what are you doing about it? Our next post, 100 million cheque?

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.