By PASCAL Mwandambo
Ever sinceNectar began the process of acquiring a loan from a local women micro finance organisation, I have been hanging around her to ensure that not only the process is concluded successively but also that she does not make mistakes that could cost both of us dearly especially at this time when the Corona pandemic has dealt a death blow to many businesses.
You see outside the classroom I can also moonlight as a business consultant with limited levels of success.
In fact I can tell you for free that the reason most businesses collapsed under their own weight due to the corona crisis is because their proprietors were just ordinary business people gambling with business and not serious entrepreneurs.
You see the latter makes serious reckoning before embarking on any business, conducts market research and knows which side their bread is buttered. If push comes to shove, they still break even.
Think of a business of supplying water. You take a loan, purchase a water bowser and immediately you start the business, rain falls and there is water everywhere, or better still, a local project to supply water to locals is launched at the same time. Talk of miscalculation, and there is a loan to be repaid.
So when Nectar told me about plans to start a hair salon, I dissuaded her from that kind of business telling her that already competition was high in that hair sector.
I reminded her of the blunder that my cousin Timotheo did when he ventured into dairy farming with the wrong breed of cows. Cows that eat five sacks of grass and twenty litres of water only to give back half a litre of milk.
And should the lamb outrun you and get to the mother’s udder before you have cleaned the milking jug, rest assured you are taking tea without milk.
Though she did not like my kind of reasoning she took my advice with a pinch of salt.
You see much as she might claim that the loan is hers, should push come to shove both of us will bear the burden, not to mention the fact that I’m still reeling under the weight of another unpaid Sacco loan.
“So what do you suggest I do with the loan?” she asked with a heavy air of anxiety.
I told her to start a business that has a bearing with Covid-19 pandemic.
“Are you suggesting that I start selling masks and sanitizers?” she asked, slightly taken aback.
“Not necessarily, but that can be a subsidiary part of the business”, I opined.
I wore the face of a business consultant from Harvard University and advised her to start a business with a quarter of the loan and hold the rest as a security. That’s called taking a calculated risk.
“There is no serious green grocer around our estate .You can take that business and stock, among other things, lemons and garlic. These items have been selling well since the corona pandemic set in as they are believed to be immune boosters. As they say when nature gives you lemon make lemonade”
Nectar seemed to buy my idea. And though all has not been plain sailing, her business has begun picking up gradually.
I am sure Nectar Green Grocer will become the darling of many a neighbor.
Meanwhile I have advised her to be polite to customers especially those who pay promptly and have the potential of coming back.
The essence of business is making profit, improving relations and making new contacts.
From the look on Nectar’s face, my advice has been of value though she can’t admit that openly. They hardly do. It’s upon you to read the signals.
