Know what you do. Do what you know

Back then when I was doing my residential house, a gentleman approached me while I was animatedly talking to the foreman about some work which was not satisfactory. He introduced himself as Oduor, the landscaper. I requested him to wait till I was done with the foreman.

Oduor is a soft spoken fellow, almost swallowing his words. He tried to explain to me how good a landscaper he is and he has done the work for years. He wanted me to give him that job because I had a spacious compound. I did not want to dismiss him because over the years I have learnt that the very best don’t look like it. We agreed that at a later date, he’d take me to sites that he had already done and was maintaining so that I could appreciate his work.

Two weeks later, Oduor showed up and with him an album containing pictures of sites he had landscaped. Very organized fellow, I later found out. So we went round the estate knocking of people’s doors and almost everyone we found was all smiles on seeing Oduor. Many instructions came his way regarding maintenance of those gardens. What I noted about Oduor’s work, it was not only marvelous but eye catching. A very meticulous hand like that of my Kinyozi. Cutting hedges to right angles, mixing flowers with a lot of thoughts. I could see that he was a man with a lot of passion for his job, after all the fruits were all there for me to see.

And so I asked him how he ended up in that business. It was a long story but its long and short was that he did a diploma but failed to acquire a job. He however used to work in their garden as a hobby. One day some neighbor visited their home and he was amazed when he saw the work Oduor had done. He ended up insisting that Oduor had to replicate the same at his home at a small fee. And as they say, the rest is history. The good word spread across the estate of a young man who does some extra ordinary landscaping. He never even bothered looking for any other job despite his diploma. The other day I met him he told me that he will not manage to maintain my garden any longer because he has so many homes in Karen and its environs. He however had trained some guy who inherited his interest in our estate. He is doing quite well I must say.

What lessons can we learn from Oduor?

1. He ended up doing what he loves and had lots of passion for….and he succeeded big time.

2. He discovered his real talent albeit under unexpected circumstances. As proverbs 18:16 says, "a man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men."

What is clear is that it is easier to succeed in a business that is in line with what one enjoys doing or has talent for.

More on start-ups in the next post.

Not every bus goes to your home

I had promised to advise first time business owners. I will start with basic concepts that are extremely important especially for first timers.

Back then when I was newly employed, I had all manner of business ideas; stocks, wheat farming in Narok, maize farming at the Rift, rearing chicken and rabbits in shags, I even though matatus were lucrative. And so I wanted to bite as many and I actually did. And I was still employed as a systems programmer and that comes with long nights of coding. Luckily I was still single and searching. My typical week would be packed from the first to the last hour. Monday to Friday dedicated to my employer and the weekend would be dedicated to running around and with benefit of hindsight. I can now say that I was just running around like a headless chicken just like many first-time entrepreneurs do. I actually would dash to Narok and check on my wheat, then pass by Njoro to check on the maize, then pass by my shags to check on the chicken and rabbits. Then I would realize that the weekend was over before he could get an opportunity to meet my girlfriend…a frustrated girl who could rarely meet her sabuni ya roho… I thought I was doing quite well in business until one day I collapsed on an afternoon and doctor told him to relax because I was running too fast.

I wanted to grab all opportunities and I never realized that the “opportunities” were wolves in sheep's clothing. I may have learned the hard way that juggling multiple ventures spread me thin and limited both my effectiveness and productivity. It actually dawned on me that all was not well when I made straight losses in two seasons of farming wheat. In between I had planted maize near Mau forest which had done so well till I got the shocker of my life when I went harvesting it only to find that half of it had been harvested the previous night. I attempted to recover my maize only to be frustrated by cops who favoured the local pastor cum shepherd who stole my maize; mind you we had assigned him the role of taking care of my crop.

After the aforementioned loss, I decided that I could only invest in businesses that needed the least of my time and minimal managerial issues. Now you know why I landed in real estate albeit confined to speculating with plots. Business only made sense to me when I decided to focus on one line and perfect it. You may want to know what I did with my chicken and rabbits. I got so mad with the guy who was in charge of them till I decided to donate the entire investment to his struggling brother back in the village.

What lesson can we learn from my not so good start to investing? You can never jump at all opportunities available. If you do you will be like that proverbial hyena who followed two roads in a junction until his legs broke because it could not make up its mind which road to follow. Just focus, focus and focus.

More lessons to come for first timers

The Lady’s touch

Guest post by Samuel G. Njenga

Continued from ‘Do you Know You Customers: Part 2’

Some day we were coming from Naivasha with my wife and kids and we opted to use the Tigoni route, just to see area. Midway the lush and green tea farms, I noted that my wife was quite excited seeing them. When I asked her what she was thinking, she smiled and asked me whether I was seeing what she was seeing. And so I asked her what it was she was seeing. Her response was expected. She was of the idea that in our old age we could actually settle around there. Very serene, fresh air, nice landscapes and leafy. Then I remembered sometimes back when I had proposed to her that we could actually built a house in Syokimau and was amazed by her when she flatly refused. Of course I already had bought a plot there and I realized that if I insisted on building there, I may have ended up living alone…jokes aside.

It gets interesting when a customer of the male gender views a plot and insists that the wife will have to come and view it and give a seal of approval or even rejection. 90% of the time, it is never a deal. This is how powerful ladies can be. How about when a lady views first and then requests her man to have a look and approve or disapprove, 90% of the time it is a sale.

When selling houses it is even trickier. In fact due to the power of ladies, we are normally forced to design a house with them in mind. Think of a big kitchen with a lot of storage space, think of a large lounge with some dining space, think of that master bedroom which as big as a football field with very nice finishes…then you will win them ladies. How about those interior designs? It pays to get an interior design with a lady’s eye.

I keep statistics as a strategy to inform me more about my customers. The other day, I was doing some analysis on all the properties I ever sold. It dawned on me that 60% of the sales are to ladies. Quite telling. It is my considered view that it is an extremely important market segment in real estate. I don’t know what else we can deduce from the said statistics but that is for another day.

An interesting customer I came across was a lady who was just about to get married. She had very clear instructions to me that I must not disclose any info to her husband to be who happened to know me. Then I asked her why? She told me that if the man ever discovered that she had 700k in her account; the guy would insist that they do a bigger wedding that the one they had planned. Then she said that I should not delay in executing the transfer, otherwise the property will be classified as matrimonial….rather interesting and strange. Duniani kuna mambo.

Big lesson: It is extremely important to know your customers if you want to succeed in Business. Loyalty is built over time and by giving consistent attention to your clients. Every client meeting or conversation should end with words like: “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

In the next several posts we shall advise first time business owners. Chances of failure are higher than those of succeeding, but with proper education, you increase your chances in a big big way.

Summary of the Science of Getting Rich

Continued from Chapter 16 – Some Cautions, and Concluding Observations

THERE is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.

A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

Man can form things in his thought, and by impressing his thought upon formless substance can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; otherwise he cannot be in harmony with the Formless Intelligence, which is always creative and never competitive in spirit.

Man may come into full harmony with the Formless Substance by entertaining a lively and sincere gratitude for the blessings it bestows upon him. Gratitude unifies the mind of man with the intelligence of Substance, so that man's thoughts are received by the Formless. Man can remain upon the creative plane only by uniting himself with the Formless Intelligence through a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.

Man must form a clear and definite mental image of the things he wishes to have, to do, or to become; and he must hold this mental image in his thoughts, while being deeply grateful to the Supreme that all his desires are granted to him. The man who wishes to get rich must spend his leisure hours in contemplating his Vision, and in earnest thanksgiving that the reality is being given to him. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of frequent contemplation of the mental image, coupled with unwavering faith and devout gratitude. This is the process by which the impression is given to the Formless, and the creative forces set in motion.

The creative energy works through the established channels of natural growth, and of the industrial and social order. All that is included in his mental image will surely be brought to the man who follows the instructions given above, and whose faith does not waver. What he wants will come to him through the ways of established trade and commerce.

In order to receive his own when it shall come to him, man must be active; and this activity can only consist in more than filling his present place. He must keep in mind the Purpose to get rich through the realization of his mental image. And he must do, every day, all that can be done that day, taking care to do each act in a successful manner. He must give to every man a use value in excess of the cash value he receives, so that each transaction makes for more life; and he must so hold the Advancing Thought that the impression of increase will be communicated to all with whom he comes in contact.

The men and women who practice the foregoing instructions will certainly get rich; and the riches they receive will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity of their purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude.

The End

Some Cautions, and Concluding Observations

Continued from Chapter 15 – The Advancing Man

MANY people will scoff at the idea that there is an exact science of getting rich; holding the impression that the supply of wealth is limited, they will insist that social and governmental institutions must be changed before even any considerable number of people can acquire a competence.

But this is not true.

It is true that existing governments keep the masses in poverty, but this is because the masses do not think and act in the Certain Way.

If the masses begin to move forward as suggested in this book, neither governments nor industrial systems can check them; all systems must be modified to accommodate the forward movement.

If the people have the Advancing Mind, have the Faith that they can become rich, and move forward with the fixed purpose to become rich, nothing can possibly keep them in poverty.

Individuals may enter upon the Certain Way at any time, and under any government, and make themselves rich; and when any considerable number of individuals do so under any government, they will cause the system to be so modified as to open the way for others.

The more men who get rich on the competitive plane, the worse for others; the more who get rich on the creative plane, the better for others.

The economic salvation of the masses can only be accomplished by getting a large number of people to practice the scientific method set down in this book, and become rich. These will show others the way, and inspire them with a desire for real life, with the faith that it can be attained, and with the purpose to attain it.

For the present, however, it is enough to know that neither the government under which you live nor the capitalistic or competitive system of industry can keep you from getting rich. When you enter upon the creative plane of thought you will rise above all these things and become a citizen of another kingdom.

But remember that your thought must be held upon the creative plane; you are never for an instant to be betrayed into regarding the supply as limited, or into acting on the moral level of competition.

Whenever you do fall into old ways of thought, correct yourself instantly; for when you are in the competitive mind, you have lost the cooperation of the Mind of the Whole.

Do not spend any time in planning as to how you will meet possible emergencies in the future, except as the necessary policies may affect your actions today. You are concerned with doing today's work in a perfectly successful manner, and not with emergencies which may arise tomorrow; you can attend to them as they come.

Do not concern yourself with questions as to how you shall surmount obstacles which may loom upon your business horizon, unless you can see plainly that your course must be altered today in order to avoid them.

No matter how tremendous an obstruction may appear at a distance, you will find that if you go on in the Certain Way it will disappear as you approach it, or that a way over, though, or around it will appear.

No possible combination of circumstances can defeat a man or woman who is proceeding to get rich along strictly scientific lines. No man or woman who obeys the law can fail to get rich, any more than one can multiply two by two and fail to get four.

Give no anxious thought to possible disasters, obstacles, panics, or unfavorable combinations of circumstances; it is time enough to meet such things when they present themselves before you in the immediate present, and you will find that every difficulty carries with it the wherewithal for its overcoming.

Guard your speech. Never speak of yourself, your affairs, or of anything else in a discouraged or discouraging way.

Never admit the possibility of failure, or speak in a way that infers failure as a possibility.

Never speak of the times as being hard, or of business conditions as being doubtful. Times may be hard and business doubtful for those who are on the competitive plane, but they can never be so for you; you can create what you want, and you are above fear.

When others are having hard times and poor business, you will find your greatest opportunities.

Train yourself to think of and to look upon the world as a something which is Becoming, which is growing; and to regard seeming evil as being only that which is undeveloped. Always speak in terms of advancement; to do otherwise is to deny your faith, and to deny your faith is to lose it.

Never allow yourself to feel disappointed. You may expect to have a certain thing at a certain time, and not get it at that time; and this will appear to you like failure.

But if you hold to your faith you will find that the failure is only apparent.

Go on in the certain way, and if you do not receive that thing, you will receive something so much better that you will see that the seeming failure was really a great success.

A student of this science had set his mind on making a certain business combination which seemed to him at the time to be very desirable, and he worked for some, weeks to bring it about. When the crucial time came, the thing failed in a perfectly inexplicable way; it was as if some unseen influence had been working secretly against him. He was not disappointed; on the contrary, he thanked God that his desire had been overruled, and went steadily on with a grateful mind. In a few weeks an opportunity so much better came his way that he would not have made the first deal on any account; and he saw that a Mind which knew more than he knew had prevented him from losing the greater good by entangling himself with the lesser.

That is the way every seeming failure will work out for you, if you keep your faith, hold to your purpose, have gratitude, and do, every day, all that can be done that day, doing each separate act in a successful manner.

When you make a failure, it is because you have not asked for enough; keep on, and a larger thing then you were seeking will certainly come to you. Remember this.

You will not fail because you lack the necessary talent to do what you wish to do. If you go on as I have directed, you will develop all the talent that is necessary to the doing of your work.

It is not within the scope of this book to deal with the science of cultivating talent; but it is as certain and simple as the process of getting rich.

However, do not hesitate or waver for fear that when you come to any certain place you will fail for lack of ability; keep right on, and when you come to that place, the ability will be furnished to you. The same source of Ability which enabled the untaught Lincoln to do the greatest work in government ever accomplished by a single man is open to you; you may draw upon all the mind there is for wisdom to use in meeting the responsibilities which are laid upon you. Go on in full faith.

Study this book. Make it your constant companion until you have mastered all the ideas contained in it. While you are getting firmly established in this faith, you will do well to give up most recreations and pleasure; and to stay away from places where ideas conflicting with these are advanced in lectures or sermons. Do not read pessimistic or conflicting literature, or get into arguments upon the matter. Do very little reading, outside of the writers mentioned in the Preface. Spend most of your leisure time in contemplating your vision, and in cultivating gratitude, and in reading this book. It contains all you need to know of the science of getting rich; and you will find all the essentials summed up in the following chapter.

The serialization of ‘The Science of Getting Rich’ ends with a summary in the next post.