Why you need to change strategy to achieve something new

NAIROBI, KENYA:  If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old, said Peter Drucker, a man who contributed to the foundation of the modern business.

When I first told my mom that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, she told me that’s just another name for unemployed.

Most in our parents’ generation had a formula for life – go to school, get good grades, graduate, apply for a job and get employed. That was the path the perfect son or daughter took. Anyone who tried a different path was either an outcast or just an average child.

Now, with the Internet and the 100 years of industrialisation having been shortened, opportunities are everywhere. 

After months of trying to take my mother through this training that is entrepreneurship, I told myself to put in the time and let my work speak for me. And the math that she failed to understand was that I had graduated and even got a job. But after a week, I called it quits.

Lessons from Elizabeth

Not the Queen of England, but the same mom who said entrepreneurship meant unemployed.

Growing up, I used to wonder how she raised three boys from her business. She was really dedicated, woke up by 4:30am, got breakfast ready and by 5:30, she was out. She had trained my big brother to take care of us, so by 7am, we were in school.

She would go to Nairobi’s Gikomba market, buy fruits and by 8:30am, be at Industrial Area with a bread crate selling fruit salad.

So with income as low as Sh5, she managed to pay rent, pay school fees and give us a relatively good life. I was watching TV the other day and it hit me: I have never seen an advert for Sh1,000 airtime on TV or a 20-kilogramme packet of washing powder on sale.

Mostly, it’s the small quantity. The unit of the house is the brick. One brick.

I usually attend entrepreneurship meetings where we exchange ideas and motivate each other. One of the participants recently made my night.

She introduced herself this way: “My name is Lisa and I am a five-time business failure and I am willing to learn, with five years’ experience.”

Great quotes and titles were thrown after that, but I was still intrigued by her introduction.

After the meeting ends, we usually have tea and people engage one-on-one. I asked for her audience and we started talking.

It came out that she had actually tried different businesses over the years, and eventually she cracked the code.

Remember this: the key that works on this door, doesn’t always work on the next door.

Lisa told me that when she wanted to venture into business, a friend of hers advised her on what to do.

She was so excited about the idea that she quit her job. She managed to get some rain money and invested in the business plan.

After a few months, however, she had to close down.

Profit is a process and we need to respect the process. When we listen to stories of entrepreneurs who are making great profits and we are tempted to join their field, already that’s a failure.

I have been in the music business for nine years, and in those years, I failed so many times before I cracked the code in the seventh year.

And the code has another code to the other code – which simply means learning never stops. We turn different corners every time for entrepreneurship has no global rule.

The math

Lisa’s friend had been in the import business for eight years and since friends talk, she bragged about her profits.

Most times Lisa would be frustrated, knowing the kind of pay she was getting from her employer.

The temptation grew and eventually she asked her friend how much she needed to start the same kind of business.

Lisa quit and bought stock. What she didn’t factor in was the amount of years her friend took to research, the experience, loss and profits, learning the tricks of the trade, and most importantly, the networks she built. No particular formula could calculate for this eight-year gap, but here Lisa was trying to achieve something similar in a few months.

But after we talked for a few days, she mentioned that passion for what you want to do plays a really major role. Follow your passion and it will automatically follow the money.

Since then, Lisa has been starting small with every venture, and that mentality has seen her run very successful businesses around the country.

And to sum it up, my mom called me the other night and confessed that she was an entrepreneur. We laughed hard.

The writer is an award-winning artiste and entrepreneur.