****Long but a worthwhile read. … An interesting piece from one of the many WhatAapp forwards doing rounds:
By Mr. John Githaka – Founder & CEO, Fountain Enterprises Program
With my pen and notebook (as usual) I put down some notes that were worth sharing…
Mr. Githaka says he was so ambitious from childhood that he achieved to join the only secondary school he ever wished of joining (while everybody selected 3 school, he only did did one school), went to the university he dreamt and pursued the career he ever wished.
But after becoming an architect (the only job he knows he could make money without struggling) he realized that still he didn’t have the clout and clamor of a billionaire.
He wanted to make more money.
So he listed down 10 billionaires in Kenya.
The likes of Njenga Karume, John Michuki, Chris Kirubi, Mwai Kibaki etc and embarked on a study about these people.
His main aim was to discover what happened with them.
When was their turning point?
What did they discover?
What do they do?
What don’t they do?
Obviously, these are normal men, with normal upbringing and faced same challenges as their peers but there came a time when the broke loose from their peers and ended up where they are. So in 3 years, he tried and met 9 out of the 10 billionaires just to try and discover them.
After interacting with them, he found 5 things about these guys that they have in common and that has made them be where an what they are.
5 Things Kenyan Billionaires Have in Common
What's Covered in This Article
1. They Understand The Power Of Many (Numbers)
The richer you are the further you go away from your business (the more you disassociate self from the business) but the poorer you are, the more you want to identify with your business.
Successful business people do not have “my business” they have “our business idea.”
That’s why when you go to a place like Silver Springs Hotel, chances are some employees there do not know who owns the place and have never seen him/her.
But when you go to a poor person’s business, that person is always there worse even as the cashier, accountant, attendant etc.
The trick of business success is in numbers not in self.
As long a you have a personal business called “mine” then be sure you are headed to poverty.
People die but companies don’t die.
2. They Are Serious Borrowers.
Borrowing money is their cup of tea and their signature.
If you have never borrowed money, you will never lend money.
And cant lend it if you don’t have it.
A bank is a broker between the poor and the rich.
The only place where the two meet is in a bank.
The poor brings the money and the rich takes it.
A poor person saves the money because they have more money than their thinking capacity.
So they keep the money there so they can go and think what to do with it… Rich people come to pick that money because they have many ideas than the money they have.
So they come to pick that money to go implement those great ideas.
Only poor people operate savings and fixed deposit accounts.
Fixed deposit accounts are for the living dead.
People who undertake and commit that they will not think about any idea for that money until the expiry of that period of time, and that if they end thinking and what that money, then they will be penalized.
Rich people operate current accounts.
Therefore, a bank exists purposely for 2 reasons:
- For the poor to bring in the money
- For the rich to come and take it away.
Banks make more money from borrowers than savers. Hence they respect the former more.
3. They Have High Level NETWORKS!
These people as explained in the 1st point believe the power of many.
As a result, they have many likeminded friends who can be of benefit to them.
They have friends all over. R
ich people have no age, tribal, geographical or gender boundaries.
It doesn’t matter who or what you are.
As long as you are of value to their ventures.
Building such networks need a lot of travelling and interacting with people.
People never get rich in their hometown.
Somebody who dreams of being rich, regardless of their age or status, must have:
- A Driving license (because they will own a car – its criminal to be seeing cars everyday but never own one.)
- A passport (because you must travel widely to expand your networks and to sharpen your mindset – If you have been buying a suit in Kenya for Ksh. 30, 000) and find it in China at Ksh. 800, your language and ideas change.)
- and you must know how to swim because you will be riding yachts.
4. They Are Great Risk Takers!
As long as you avoid taking risks, you are headed to the grave a poor fellow.
Taking risks is like walking in the dark.
You know where you are going but can’t see there.
Better still, you are more confident and secure when you are accompanied than when alone.
The more people you are the more secure hence the 1st point.
Risk taking is about numbers.
5. They Have Read The BIBLE!
They understand and make use of the parable of the sower. The seed is the shilling. They put the shilling on the fertile land. They simply know where to put their money and where not to put their money. They understand the current business trends and make business decisions with this in mind. If you bought a plot 5 years ago at Ksh. 500, 000 you are worth nothing 5 years later but that plot even if it will be worth 2M.
A rich person will invest that same money somewhere where it will be worth 2B within the same period of time. That’s why you find a 2-bedroom house varying from Ksh. 2,000 to Sh. 80,00 or even more from one place to another. Or a cup of tea ranging from Ksh. 5 bob to Ksh. 1,000. Yet when you ask all these business people, you will discover that each of them decided the price. Why the variance? They know the value chain.
In business “the Higher you go, the cooler it becomes…..and the lesser the pressure.” A landlord collecting Ksh. 2,000 for a 2-bedroom house has more problems than his colleague collecting Ksh. 80,000 for the same house elsewhere. While one has to literally come collecting payments at 4am every 1st day of the month (lest the tenant escapes), the other’s money is safely banked in his account even before the month ends.
While one can even bargain with the tenant about the rent, the other is fixed, and you either or leave it. While one regardless of the cheap rent has few tenants, the other has a problem of too many tenants coming to look for housing. Same with the tea business. The one for Ksh. 5bob, the cup is bigger than the Ksh. 1,000. Yet the 5bob one can even “choma” you if you are not full or even can pay later if you don’t have cash. Unlike the Ksh. 1,000 one. Chances are the Ksh. 5 bob businessman doesn’t even have a bank account or goes to save. And he does everything in his business.
Know where to put your money. Create value for your cash don’t battle with market prices. They are not your limit. Its better to be the last among the rich than to be the 1st among the poor.
A Poor (POOR) Person Is One Who Passes Over Opportunity
