I Once Started A Business, and It FAILED

Envisioning the end of a matter is such a delight. Starting a business elicits both adrenaline and dopamine, sustaining that business is the hurricane storm. Entrepreneurs call that “the trough of sorrow”.

This year has had my eyes flip open to what the nooks of starting and managing a business are. I have never had a liking for entrepreneurship. In my school years, I had to choose between literature(rolls eyes; like I could ever give it up) and entrepreneurship and you should know by now what I settled for.

Despite the derogatory truth above, I have always harbored a dream to open up and run a restaurant– I have loudly shared this calling. I love food and taking people on a trip with spaces, art and taste. This has always been my dream investment. And to Invest I did.

For me, it took an imagination that I realize now, I didn’t give as much time as I should have–I should have constructed some more however when I saw the beginning and the end, out I came and determined to start. I had me some Dollar savings that I quickly changed into Shillings as the business was targeting a Ugandan market. I had quite a lump-sum amount of money, far and above the budget I had drawn up(or thought I needed).

My product was pizza and the target market was University Students,—the assumption was that students tend to love pizza so much and since my prices were much cheaper than what was offered in restaurants, I was on the road to enviable profit margins and success… Hallelujahhhhhh

At about this time, I had the support of my best friend who had pursued accounting and was very excited that I had entrusted her to run the business. We were on a Spiral, you should have seen how our faces shimmered.

My price list was as follows;

1. An 8-slices Pizza would cost UGX. 15000 while on the market, it costs UGX. 25,000
2. A slice would cost UGX. 2000, UGX. 1500 lesser than a slice piece on the market.

I willed myself to start; it was such a deep desire, it burned like a feisty romance.

On the day of Launch, I had printed out posters, and hired young ladies that would aid in the advertisement through word of mouth at the campus premises.

I had come to the judgement that Lunch period on-wards were peak hours to sell the product as most students were hungry, and would scamper for cheap pizza. I don’t want to go into the details of what happened during the hours until close of business at 9:00 pm.

But with us were 6 cold unsold Whole pizzas even after an attempt to sell each pizza at UGX. 10,000. The team was overworked with some of their voices gone with the wind, some of them were drenched in sweat, dirt and bad odor. My imagined profit had been UGX. 150,000 after investing in 10 Pizzas however I walked home with UGX. 60,000, 6 stone hard pizzas and 4 slices that my friends and I ate on the journey back home– Such a plenteous waste!!

I didn’t give up.. I was at this investing journey for 2 whole weeks each time with more losses than profits. Until I closed shop. My heart couldn’t take the disappointment and cold leftover Pizza anymore. (I love Pizza now, but not as much as before I started this business, I ate so much pizza to the point that my I reeked of it).

Working with various entrepreneurs has had me realize what loops I missed out then. I considered Downstream Marketing than I did Upstream Marketing. And if you are wondering what these stand for, Upstream Marketing involves what you would do before you start a business, like developing a clear market segmentation map and then identifying and precisely defining which customer segments to focus on. It analyzes how the end-user uses the product or service and what competitive advantage will be required to win the customer and at what price point.

On the other hand, Down-stream marketing involves advertising, promotion, brand-building and communicating with customers through public relations, trade shows and in-store displays. Downstream Marketing enhances the acceptance of a product or service that already exists.

Also, while I didn’t prepare myself as I should have. I didn’t have some of the requirements that I needed to run a successful pizza business. I hadn’t purchased a microwave neither did I have a kitchen kind of setting so things were just about as anywhere. Would you buy cold pizza? Would you trust if you didn’t see its preparation process?— All these things I didn’t consider (I actually had but I deemed them insignificant to my desire to succeed).

Since taking on my role at The Innovation Village, I have since learned a few lessons about starting and maintaining businesses.

Uganda is known as the world’s number one entrepreneurial destination, however 95% of businesses and ideas die out in their first year. My Pizza business (Until I breathe over those dead bones) is part of that static.

Also I bless the Lord for this year, the beauty with the Lord is when you ask Him, He shows you the end of the matter. Just because the Lord has shown you the end of the matter doesn’t mean that you should take the control in getting there faster. He who has shown you, shall be faithful in getting you there. Prophet Elvis Mbonye while sharing the time he was called/shown his path of life by the Lord, said that the Lord shall you the end just so you can trust him enough to lead you there without forsaking the seasons, signs and lessons.

That above is my entrepreneurship story, but it shouldn’t define yours. As a matter of fact, I know people who have started off on a great and profitable note and that can be you as well. Sometimes the thorn of pride in you may outgrow all the roses, so it needs to be cut off.

Do not let what you read here, strangle your vision, keep at it, focus on it. I could swear that the business failed because I had my focus spread out thin. I still kept my 9-5pm job (and I don’t mean to say that you can’t have a business and employment, but for who I know myself to be, I will focus so much on a particular thing that it will leave me burnt out for the next) and withheld attention from the that baby needed to grow.

Here are my 5 key lessons.

Focus; and this comes back to concentrating on a particular thing. Give it all your energy. Spreading yourself out too thin will not only wear you out, but shall leave you with little achievement. Also don’t lose sight of what you envisioned for your business.

Keep the company of those whose drive is as your own, whose journey is as your own: Proverbs 4:7-8 puts it in such a great way “Escape quickly from the company of fools; they’re a waste of your time, a waste of your words. The wisdom of the wise keeps life on track; the foolishness of fools lands them in the ditch”. If you want to be a publicist, ever so often hang and learn from the company of publicists, whatever you want to be, keep company of!

If you wouldn’t want/eat/use it, the market doesn’t need it; This means you need to be the first lab test of your idea, business or product. If you don’t see how it solves a particular need, or adds value, then your target market will not see/use it as well

Meditate fully on the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit; I want to stress this out for you. You will need these more than anything else. (How about you research this for yourself so that you can read all the different versions of what these gifts are, and how they will help you uphold your business).

Lastly, let your business have accountability partners. It could be your man of God, your business-minded friend/parent, your mentor etc.. Let them know of your plans, and be accountable at every stage of criticism. Accountability are what writers would call Editors. Editors will blatantly tell you that the book you spent sleepless nights putting together is trash or grammatically unfitting(hurting right?) but will advise you on what you can do to get better (the growth once you heed shall leave you above aptitude).

And that is it from me.. Go start your business, you have been sitting on that idea way too long. Don’t forget to share your lessons and experiences too.

Adieu. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

 

 

 

 

 

So You Won’t Leave Work On Time Because You Will Be “JUDGED”.

Do you get moments when you are right on time with your day’s tasks, and excitedly look forward to your end of office time? Do you just get ready to leave, apply some lipstick just in-case you walk into a future fling or Ex flame. All I am trying to say is do you ever get ready to leave, and just as you are about to pick up your bag and go, you take a look around office, and no one is flinching, no one is showing a sign of leaving, in-fact their heads are bent into their computers as though it is just the start of day?

When this happens, do you always go ahead and leave?, or do you decide to wait another hour, look for work to get busier, and not look like the lazy, uncommitted and unproductive employee? What do you do?

I have seen a high number of employees get done with their portion of work as early as 4-5 hours into their 9-hour working schedule. They then tend to “switch off” and revert to doing other things like scrolling their phones, watching YouTube videos, make endless trips around the office, engage in conversation etc, this group of employees does not exclude me, neither you.. “Insert grin”.

The way life is, work systems engineer us into believing that busy is the dope. We live in a society that equates being busy and working long hours as important and commitment to our jobs. It does not need a complex formula for one to realize that the busier we are with work/ the longer we spend at work spaces, the less time we give to things outside of work. This distorts the boundaries between work and life

When we don’t contain our work hours, we sacrifice the time we need for the activities that replenish our energy stores. Things like exercise, family dinners, meeting up with friends, and even spending time in nature, all which are imperative for long-term mental and physical health, and, ultimately, our productivity.

My whole point here is not the hours you put into work, it is the apprehensiveness that comes with leaving at the time stated in your contract. It is no secret that some employees stay longer at their work desks, beyond their working hours with the thought that it will impress the boss, or immediate supervisor. Besides impression, employees also live with the fear of what they will be thought of once they are the ones constantly walking out of the office at 5pm dot.

You have probably heard it before, but hear it from me once more;

Working long hours is bad for your health, and bad for your work. This is not to state that there should be a limit to how long one should work, however, anything that is excessively done obliterates passion. We have growing cases of mental health, depression, stress, heart attack, dementia, optical issues etc… rising up in Uganda’s health trends because Ugandans are working more than they care to spend time with their loved ones, doing the activities that help them see a different side of life. For some, work is an escape route from the world (and maybe I should soon write about this, God give me Grace) that they feel has them encamped and lost. So they work more than they live.

According to research and shared experiences, working extra hours affects your productivity. As the day goes on, your productivity lessens by the hour. I will give an example of myself, I am more upbeat in the morning hours or if I am working late long hours, however after lunch, I am a bag of sleep and boredom. I cannot tolerate meetings after lunch because digestion is happening and my body demands rest, so slowly my eyes start to do a shut down. I can honestly doze in-between a presentation—This has happened several times, I am not even trying to be funny. Some presentations just sound like lullabies honestly.

Here is a blunt truth, if your boss or supervisor hasn’t noticed you during working hours, they probably never will. You are hired to show your creative abilities and critical analytic skills within the stipulated time. You don’t have to sacrifice your life proving your commitment to your job by staying long hours. In-fact employees should become the radical lot that question their employers as to why they are being stretched into boundaries that weren’t agreed upon during the recruitment process.

How to ditch the stay long at office routine

Get started. It is one thing to declare you are going to be different, and a totally different thing to be different. Therefore getting started produces momentum and later Motivation. If you leave work by 5pm, make sure to start preparing your whole mindset by 4:30pm. Pack up, write your to-do list for tomorrow, clean your work-space etc etc

Do what is important first, and embark on scheduling the unimportant stuff for later. That is why I suggest you have a day schedule. We shouldn’t be making a show of working overtime and filling our after-work hours with stuff we could easily do tomorrow between the hours of nine ’til five. We shouldn’t be feeling guilty for leaving at the time our contracts state we’re allowed to walk out. And powering on past our working hours shouldn’t be the norm. It’s not healthy, and it needs to stop.

Judgement is on your mind. Stop thinking people are drawing conclusions to your principles. You therefore need to get the guilt and worry that comes with standing up from your desk at five on the dot. If you have done your days’ worth, you aren’t ditching the office and leaving other people to do work that needs to be done. You aren’t lazy, uncommitted, or unfit for the job as the people that are sticking around late. So don’t be tempted to stay later than you should.

Mentally think about why it is important to leave work on time. Like we said earlier, leaving work on time is good for your health and productivity, good for your relationships and friendships, good for the much needed lone time, needed for evaluation. Remind yourself that it’s more important to work better than to work longer. You need to remember that there’s no way you can be creative, great at solving problems, and generally brilliant if you’re overworked and exhausted. The quality of the work you produce is more important than the amount of time you spend at your desk.

Lastly, set the example, you’re contributing to a workplace culture where it’s entirely okay to leave on time and have a life outside of work, where people don’t feel shamed into skulking out at 5.40 when they finished their work an hour ago. Which is a brilliant thing. Stay late on those occasions that you need to. Leave on time when there’s really no need to stick around. And stop feeling guilty for doing it.

Starting today, at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm  GO HOME…. LEAVE THE OFFICE