Ideas on Matters Money: The Startup View

Long ago in a certain village, the people decided to build a water pipeline so that every household could have access to clean water for drinking and domestic use. The people agreed to dig the piping tunnel and use concerted effort in taking the water to each household. Something interesting developed on the way though; that after water reached the first household, the owner withdrew and left the rest to work alone. After the piping reached the second household, the owner too withdrew and that continued until the last person was left to take the piping to his own house alone. The illustration, when given in writing merely means very little as opposed to visualizing the scenario in our minds. Typically on matters to do with business ventures, the same takes place. In this case, a twist of events happen in that those people who have a short vision take their business ventures like all the others who kept leaving on the way. The last man on the end of the street though becomes a champion. He keeps helping all the others knowing critically that at the end they are helping him reach his vision. Even though he remained alone to finish the pipeline to his house, this man, kept ablaze by the determination to have water remained patient with the tunnel digging and finally reaped the fruits.

The startup

Being a start up in the field of business means being knew and trying to find you own niche in the entrepreneurial world. First let’s define who a businessman is. A businessman is the person who sees an opportunity and immediately exploits for the short run returns while an entrepreneur sees an opportunity and explores it with an intention of reaping the fruits on the long run. The returns might not be big now but he/she believes in the venture and grows with it patiently. It should be understood that not all businessmen are entrepreneurs but most entrepreneurs at the end are businessmen. The primary objective of going into business is get returns, to earn a profit. Startups from the information provided above means they are people who are not looking at going into business today and earning returns tomorrow, no, they are people who go into business with an aim of getting returns over a longer period of time.

Starting up is the toughest thing for any person. Breaking free from the dogma that keeps us rocked to chains of disbelieve that we are not as good as the other men who already made it. It should be clearly known that all big businesses we see today or even in the old started small. From the Carnegie steel in America, the Rockefellers to the likes of J B Morgan; all these men started small. Think of great sites likes Alibaba, Facebook to technologies like Microsoft and Apple, to manufacturing companies like Ford, Mercedes, Fuso, Unilever, Johnson, Tata; all this companies started small some days back and today we can see how far they have come just but to mention a few. We in our lives too have the abilities to build super brands like those already mentioned. As a matter of fact, all the companies mentioned were started by men who were ordinary just like us. The only difference is that these men looked at the ideas they had differently, they believed in them and this gave birth to products that have made life better as it is today. This is the all time motivation we need as startups in this age.

Ideas on money

money

Kenya as a country has a myriad opportunities from which we can make money from. Every idea can be transformed to money however small it may seem. We only need to change the perspective of look. If you have enough cash, investing in technology will bring in good returns. E-commerce where online sites are used for marketing goods and providing specialized services is a hot cake. These are sites like Jumia which are bringing in huge returns. Getting the same sites with specialized service provision and meeting the local demands with prowess can help in transforming how we trade everything . Doing smart farming is the next form of opportunity we have to explore and e-commerce will be central in matching the buyers and sellers.

Smart agriculture demands that we practice highly managed forms of ranching for beef and dairy farming. Giving food and mineral supplements with real time veterinary services. Planting drought resistant crops in drought affected areas and improving our irrigation systems will provide a good business idea. Remember, our population is growing at an alarming rate and much of it is in the cities. This demands for more food. The very reason why agribusiness is a very good opportunity to think about.

Heavy industry manufacturing is also another good investment area. We are doing much mining in Kenya with few refining Facilities. Providing these services and investing in manufacturing of heavy metals such as steel, iron, copper and aluminum will transform help our economy. We need to do well in value addition for our minerals.

Above all, investing in FMCG’s in special consumer goods provides another very good opportunity for you. This is better coupled with rising need for custom based consumer services and goods. The demand for these are in a way growing rapidly in the region and the continent as whole. The only secret however lies in differentiating yourself.

A whole holiday package in terms of private jets and destination with special offers in terms of night outs, sea voyages are likely to grow rapidly in the near future. Investing in them now is a very good move for securing tomorrow. Technology is at the heart of it all. Technology in the manufacturing sector, in the service delivery, in smart agriculture and farming section. If you can; think big, start big and finish big. If you can too; start small, persevere on the way, fail and learn and the stars will be your limit.