2 | INVERSK MAGAZINE 012 | AUGUST 2017
AUGUST 2017 06 #LifeHacks Time Management Hacks To Help You Earn Extra Cash 09: Rebranding Quickstart Guide to Rebranding Your Business 12: Motivation
Just Do It! 14: Feature Story Lawrence Kagema: Spectacular Mindset 18: #FinancialFitness Hacks To Debt Freedom
23: Success Story Wilkings Fadhili: How To StartupNow and Remain Focused
INVERSK MAGAZINE 011 | AUGUST 2017 | 3
trust in God The “My Ultimate Resourceto make a difference in the For Entrepreneurs
world is my first priority. I aim to transform Publisher and Editor-In-Chief life Kimanisomeone’s Patrick kimani@inversk.co.ke and to make them Operations Manager smile. Brenda Ndwiga I want to va@inversk.co.ke make the world a Marketing and Advertising better place Angela Wanja Mwangi growth@inversk.co.ke before I die. This Special thanks to this Edition’s Contributing Writers, isand theDesigners reason why Editors Sarah Mwangi I Onyango put my money Selfine Henry Ozianyi on the Maureen Viola Boniface Mutinda environment and Sarah Munyi Inverskyoung Magazine people.” www.inversk.co.ke Feedback and Ideas ideas@inversk.co.ke
4 | INVERSK MAGAZINE 012 | AUGUST 2017
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uilding a business as a first time entrepreneur is never easy. It is coupled with a lot of mistakes, experiences, difficult decisions to make and invaluable lessons. This was not an exception for me because I started building Inversk when I was a young campus student. I didn’t know anything about building a business as I was just learning, I still am.
We are faced with a lot of these challenges and it is very difficult for someone to concede that they have gone through some challenges. Entrepreneurs are known to be strong people, strong willed, who are immune to challenges. That’s exactly what happened to us at Inversk but we are back. That’s the most exciting news after a wholesome of getting lost. We are back stronger and better, exciting feature stories and articles, and strategies that we are going to share with you. First things first, on this issue we are bringing you two youngsters; Lawrence Kagema and Wilkings Fadhili who have defied all odds, gone the extra mile and are building great businesses. At 22, Lawrence was a university student and had to make a decision of either launching his business or continuing with his campus life. Just guess what he did. He sold everything from his carpet, phone, and his microwave so that he can get enough money to register his business. This earned him just forty thousand shillings. Wilkings Fadhili shares on how he built Fashion torch and StartupNow by Wilkings and how he is supporting young entrepreneurs and just how he got started. These guys went into trenches with us sharing every step of their journey.
Other sections we have shared on rebranding your business, time management, overcoming debt and living a life of financial independence plus much more of course.
KIMANI PATRICK INVERSK MAGAZINE 012 | AUGUST 2017 | 5
E
#LifeHacks
Time Management Hacks To Help You Earn Extra Cash
By Gathoni Kinuthia
T
he time to create multiple streams of income has never been more urgent.
The challenge that people with ‘regular jobs’ face is to find time to actually do that. I put regular in quotes to distinguish eight to
job and side hustle. Since he
have to meet for your
A regular job demands set
job. You can go an extra
time in a work space doing
step and fill in a perfor-
assigned tasks. And so a regular
mance review form every
worker will have to set aside time
week to keep track of
and make sacrifices to be able to earn from other streams of income.
getting excited about a side hustle
Make sure you review your contract because this delicate balancing act involves you dedicating at least eight hours for work.
and set daily goals you
neurs.
have to be considered before
learned how to artfully
Be meticulous in this
five-ers from full-time entrepre-
Work place terms and conditions
or self-improvement program.
your work life. John, 38 is the Head of Operations at an electronics store in the city centre. He has
manage his time between his does most of his hustle online, it doesn’t take away too much of his time. He reckons employment is not the ideal way to live because of uncertainty and encourages people to take on one or two income generating hustles if they can manage to do them well. Online work could be what you need to do to supplement your income. In fact most of the time you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home >>
INVERSK MAGAZINE 011 | AUGUST 2017 | 6
#LifeHacks
“
>> since you just need access to a computer and an internet connection. You could do product reviews, write academic papers, contribute to online magazines or rate apps
employment is not the ideal way to live because of uncertainty
�
for a small but steady income. Sites like the controversial Public
Likes has taken over this type of hustle by storm though you might want to exercise caution there. When reviewing terms you could decide to renegotiate your employment contract. Blended work forces today have seen permanent employees and freelancers work hand in hand. This could free up some time for you to take on a side hustle or go back to school. Make realistic goals for what freelancing could mean for you. It could take a while before you see returns from the work you do. Be ready to do many free jobs or earn meagre wages before you can establish
your reputation as being good at what you do.
Lydia, 27 an Office Administrator at an upmarket security firm, has been attending evening classes to get her degree in Finance. She has come to an agreement with her employer who lets her off early so that she can do that. When considering a career upgrade that will consume, save for it. This money will help you avoid dipping into your regular income which could then strain you financially. There are many ways to go on about this, the most popular one this season has been the fifty-two week savings challenge (#52weeksavingchallenge). The challenge ensures you put aside money on a weekly basis so that it accrues to a huge sum by the end of the year. The beauty of it is that it is small amounts of money that you could be using to do other things anyway. A vibrant community has been built around this challenge to help you stay motivated and to keep you accountable.
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The path to #LifeHacks
security 1. Ask
People are often afraid of uncertainty and what it could mean to their job security. The worst that could happen when you ask for help is they say ‘no’, in which case you can look for alternative ways to carve out time. That will prepare you to seek out shorter courses with flexible time schedules. You could carefully select a variety of free online courses being offered by prestigious universities around the world.
3. The Pareto
principle This principle was coined by management strategist Joseph M. Juran, emphasizes on the 80/20 rule which when dissected states that less causes more. That 20% or your effort results in 80% of the result. Hence targeting your energy on only the things that matter gives you the best results. Virtual organisers can help you sort through your 20% so that you can focus energy for maximum result.
2. Work towards
sustainability. The economic binds in the report I mentioned earlier bring consequences that could be felt for many months. It is important to consider evaluating the sustainability of the income you get on the side. Is it taking money out of your pocket more than you can get it back? My experience comes from working side jobs creating content, self-improvement courses with a full-time job as well. In some instances, when time is not managed well, the hustle suffers or work suffers and that is normal. I have learnt to say ‘no’ to opportunities that would benefit less in comparison to others that would build me more. Gathoni Kinuthia is an accomplished writer with four years writing experience. Her works have been featured in corporate blogs, local and international newspapers and magazines. She enjoys creating and curating content. Email: gathonikinuthia@gmail.com
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Quickstart Guide to
Rebranding Your Business By Selfine Onyango
Rebranding
ou took a bold step and started your own business. Well done! And congratulations for turning your dreams into reality. However, you realize that this is when the work commences, staying afloat and keeping up with your competitors is not an easy task.
As a startup, building a client base, maintaining them and gaining new customers is a hurdle. The need to resonate with these sets of clients requires your startup to package itself in a way that is easily understood by your target audience and this we refer to branding. The father of advertising Philip Kotler, defined branding as a name, term, sign or symbol or a combination of these that identify the maker or seller of a product. Stop! And for a second think of any company that you can easily identify what their business is about. You’ll agree with me that not only can you identify their product or service but also their logo, name of the company, the company colors and exactly what they offer.
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As What’s in a
Rebranding
a startup you should aim to be identified as easily as companies such as Coca-Cola and Safaricom. To achieve this, re-branding is your bridge to cross to that destination and if effectively executed, can elevate your business into greater success. Rebranding is not something to cringe at but rather an exciting opportunity leading your start-up to a higher level of growth. If you master some key aspects in your re-branding strategy, you will succeed and have an edge over your competitors.
name? The name of your business is important as it reflects your clients and target audience’s perception of your company and the products or services it offers. For one, you would not want a name that presents you as a joke if your business is more conservative such as the banking industry.
Aim to have a name that is simple, clear, and easy to remember and one that communicates the message you want it to, otherwise you risk losing your audience to an identity crisis brought about by something as simple as your name. Play around with a variety of names and share them with the employees or even ask your audience if they would prefer a different name they can even suggest names. You would be surprised at the feedback. Sometimes, the company name or logo does not need to be changed while rebranding a business. In that case, do not fix what is not broken.
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Rebranding
Inform your existing customers
The Process
“The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer,” Theodore Levitt. Theodore’s quote could not be any more accurate. It is imperative to inform your existing clients that you are re-branding while assuring them that services will remain the same if not better. If you introduce new products or services, keep them in the loop as well and keep your eyes and ears open to understand their reception to the same. Remember, it is easier to retain an old customer than to gain a new one.
Create a captivating story
Invest in media training
A compelling story will appeal to your clients emotions while being helpful at the same time. This simply means that your messaging should be relatable, clear and avoid jargon. Consumers like reading messages that are easy to digest.
As your start-up grows so will the challenges you face, crises are not new businesses both big and small. Unfortunately, if not properly managed, they can make or break a business.
Your story should answer the answer five Ws and H which are Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? Having clear answers to these questions allows your audience to connect with you and understand what your business is about. In every communication with them, boldly refer to these answers and your audience is sure to tell your story for you. These responses also help determine your start-up’s vision and mission statements. Garnering a great story will not only help in showcasing how you are solving a problem, it but also aid your company in gaining media attention for your work.
Investing in some form of media training on how to handle complaints professionally and how to prevent crises from happening. This training should include the before, during and after a crisis occurs, it can also include the types of crises a start-up in your industry is prone to and provide mitigation measures on the same. It is better to be prepared than not be prepared at all. The training should involve key members of your company to ensure that all employees are on the same page while answering questions from various stakeholders. Selfine is a Pr Practitioner and freelance writer with experience editing, in client strategy, research, event management and media relations.. She can be reached on selfineo@gmail.com
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Just Do It!
By Sarah Munyi
W
Motivation
e read in the bible that in the beginning God created the world or the universe and everything in it. And how did he do it? He spoke a word that created it. He said, let there be light , and there was light! No sooner had that word left his mouth than there was light. The word in its very essence was light. The word had in it the power to execute! God did not just speak. He created. I want to therefore rightly say 'he was not speaking, he was creating'. Could that therefore mean that until there is creation, until there is action, until there is application, until there is activity the word is not 'finished'? I came across a quote that said 'Thoughts are cheap, execution is king!' You will find that between thoughts and execution there lay two very important steps. But let’s start with thoughts. It is good to think big, to dream, to visualize and to have good intentions. In fact, every visible thing started as a thought, an idea, a dream. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Very true and practical! They have indeed created the world. Dreams and thoughts can be very fascinating and its easy to just live
a fascinated life with wishes that never materialize. You can't plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind. Here's my clarion call, don’t dream your life, live your dream! There is talk talk talk! Ooh how we love to talk. Now, I always love it on election times when politicians all of a sudden find the need to visit people market to market, home to home with untold promises and motivated talks on how they will make the lives of the citizens better. Okay, some get elected. I remember one politician who after being elected and the only thing he had done five years later was building 2 cattle dips. Am damn serious. While the roads were in tatters and every other important thing in shambles. To add insult to injury he was vying again with the same ill promises. Was he elected again? No need to answer. I am not the complaining type it's just that I came across a saying that goes, 'I wonder why people say they can't complain maybe they aren’t trying harder', so am just trying.
that slapped me into reality that when all is said and done, will you have said more than you have done? Okay am still recovering.
Let’s imagine that after asking myself the question above I took a step forward and put my dream not just on the mouth but on paper. Before I cast the Let’s say I went further and fifth stone to our wrote down my dream on a politician, wisdom piece of paper, compels me to take a well-structured step by step, long good look in my own life. Could there be in a good business plan. Now, that’s just a plan. Its a politician in me? So far in my life many are just a plan because it's not done. Life is what happens to the things I have you when you are busy makspoken with such zeal ing plans to live. It's good to and gusto but I never plan but what will get you pursued them they are there is initiative, action! >> but empty words. I read a question somewhere
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Motivation may not very much want to know what you think Action speaks We or you to use many words to tell or show many solid but a single act, just one deed will tell us louder than plans, everything you didn't say! The holy book tells us that by their acts you shall know them. That's the power words! of an action. two years now I've been struggling to lose That’s right? For weight, a doctor told me that I should lose at least 8kgs to be fit and I can tell you right now I have 3 fitness apps on my phone, subscribed to 2 diet programs and am still here struggling why? Getting it done aih weh ni ngumu! I need torrents of grace! Recently I came across an interesting quote that said; while others were dreaming, I was busy getting it done. There is nothing that sets a man's dignity so high than the discipline of getting things done. One single decisive act is the only
difference between where you are and where you want to be. Pepe Minambo, one of the leading motivational speakers in Kenya once said... “In life, lots of people know what to do but few people actually do what they know.” Here's your action plan, instead of just thinking about what you want to do, instead of talking about it, just do it! Thoughts are cheap, talk is cheap, plans are cheap but execution is king! Don’t spend half your life telling us what you want to do and the remaining half telling us what you didn’t do it.
Sarah Munyi is a Life Coach, Corporate Speaker, Trainer and Writer in Change Management and Leadership! She coaches, mentors and trains individuals, companies and organizations to embrace change and live to excellence! She can be reached on sarahmunyi@outlook.com
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Feature Story
In 2014, he sold all his personal items to start a real estate firm and moved in with a friend.
Lawrence Kagema
Spectacular
Mindset By Kimani Patrick
18 | INVERSK MAGAZINE 012 | AUGUST 2017
The beginnings
He was not steered towards business by a particular person or mentor, his inner drive and yearning to venture into business vastly intrigued him. It was something inborn of which he had to develop himself. Kagema is a 25 year-old, self-born and bred entrepreneur born in the coastal town of Mombasa.
With no exposure to an entrepreneurial upbringing or any steering factors, Kagema had always been drawn to the business aspect of life since the very start. He always had an entrepreneurial mind, constantly thinking about businesses and looking for avenues to venture his interest into. He would read about business, biographies of great entrepreneurs and leaders, their histories, their journeys and interests. For Kagema, there was a fire in his soul that he was unable to contain. The fire was to venture into
business one day. From as early as class eight, Kagema had already set out as an entrepreneur. Identifying a business opportunity and grasping at it. This was the beginning of his ventures that he did not know would spring into his present day successes. The hotels in his neighborhood did not have freezers because the minimal electricity only went on when dusk set in. Kagema would buy polythene bags at 5 shillings each, put water in them then place them in the fridge at home overnight allowing them to freeze.>>
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The hotels in his neighborhood did not have freezers because the minimal electricity only went on when dusk set in. Kagema would buy polythene bags at 5 shillings each, put water in them then place them in the fridge at home overnight allowing them to freeze. They would then freeze into hard blocks of ice which he would deliver to the nearby hotels using his bicycle at a cost of 10 shillings per block of ice.
Learning B
The Basics
When he joined high school, Kagema discovered Business Studies. This further perked his interest. He enjoyed and excelled at it, becoming the best in his class in the subject. Despite all this, all he wanted was to be a doctor. “Whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be, I’d say a doctor. Because it was something conventional.” It was only when an Asian man pointed out to the now teenage boy that medicine required him to be good in more than Business Studies did he realize that medicine was not his path. In form two, Kagema already had his business name figured out, he knew ‘Spectacular’ was his trade mark. The name spectacular came to his mind and stuck. The seeds of business had finally begun germinating and when he joined a University in Eldoret, his path was set. He had always been fascinated by property and he would frequent construction sites, speak to the workers, learn from them and even pretend to construct his own structures.
ecause of his lack of knowledge in accounting and finance, the boy would spend all his hard earned cash and not save any. At this stage, he had a girlfriend of whom he would write down and show his business ideas to. All this worked towards growing his interest in business.
The Hard Nut In his third year at the University, Kagema made a very controversial decision; He sold all his personal items in order to raise capital for his company registration. This was in 2014 and without an alternative to realize his passion for business, he had to sell all he owned; bed, gas cylinder, carpet, smart phone and everything else he had in his room. Kagema then moved in with a friend who stayed in the campus hostels, where he resided until he completed his university studies. The sale of the items fetched him about Ksh. 40, 000, an amount which was only enough to register the company and leave a few coins in balance. With the spare change, Kagema printed fliers to market his company.
Building a startup for the first time is never easy and it was not either for his new business. After clearing his University education in Eldoret, Kagema had to decide to either fold up his business or relocate with it to Mombasa. Letting go of his few clients in Eldoret was a heart breaking set back. However, Kagema was determined to explore greater heights.
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It was not a smooth ride for him in Mombasa, but about a year later, his company landed a good deal which was a step in the positive direction.
Kagema had ventured into a series of other projects even while still in University. He experienced a bit of successes and even move failures which he chronicles each day in a book. The book, he says, helps him to reflect at things he could have done differently. He puts all down and reflects on these things each day. This helps him grow and become better. “Property business is a ruthless one with major risks. The industry requires a lot of patience as things do not fall in place in a day. One must be willing to exercise patience and hard work.”
Kagema puts in that despite the fact that employment creates security, most times one has to sacrifice their true passions for security. The fear of financial insecurity causes many young people to settle for less and become comfortable while living short of their full potential. “Young people have fluid minds that should be utilized before the currents of life sweeps them over.” As a company owner of a successful property firm, Kagema stresses that with the right drive, anyone can realize their dreams and live to their maximum potential.
Kimani Patrick is the Founder and Publisher of Inversk Magazine, a motivational speaker and entrepreneur with deep interests in human potential
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Hacks To
Debt
Freedom 9
Tips On How To
Rise Majestically From Debt Into
Financial
Independence With Henry Ozianyi
Th
e financial scene is littered with fallen soldiers. They entered the battle field with an intention to conquer, but they got waylaid, cornered, outwitted and finally broken. I am talking about money. I am talking about borrowing. These soldiers did not go down without a fight, they were courageous and gallant. In the last battle, they needed support, they needed urgent emergency help. It did not arrive on time. This article is a last-minute support for you who is struggling with debt, but it also provides vital cautionary skills for those just entering the financial battle field.
How Do You
Get Into Debt? More often than not, a need arises out of the blues and impulse tells you that it must be satisfied now even if you do not have the resources to do so right away, leaving you with no option but to borrow. We humans are wired to be lazy and to take the easy way out, therefore instead of thinking of alternative solutions to meeting the arisen need, we think of the fastest way out, which usually turns out to be borrowing. You borrow because you did not have an emergency kitty in the first place, and most of the time your expenses are always ahead of your income.
time and the pressure will mount till you are forced to borrow elsewhere. There is a real awkward positive correlation between urgency to borrow and interest rates, hence each new lender will notice your desperation and charge you more. This increased interest is an additional expense on your already miserable income verses expenses situation. And the cycle continues till you are buried in the heap of debts and become a statistic of this deadly dragon called borrowing on the financial mine field. The stigma from society does not help the situation either and most individuals would rather keep quiet than talk about their financial difficulties.
Once you have borrowed, your need is met, leaving you momentarily satisfied, but soon this bubble is busted, for the lender comes How do you avoid this and majestically rise knocking, demanding to collect more than what out of this heap and trod the financial was lent to you, in the name of interest. landscape like a colossus again in less than six to twelve months? Below are some tips to On the first attempt by the lender to collect include in your plan, in addition to personal money from you, you may turn him away sucfocus and resilience while handling debt. cessfully, but he will come back stronger each
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CALCULATE BORROWING COSTS
YOU ARE IN A SHIT HOLE, STOP DIGGING DEEPER. You have debt, big or small it is still a debt that you must service. However, on the other hand, life must continue, and needs will keep jumping at you out of the blues. Before borrowing again, it is important to ask whether the arisen need is a matter of life and death. Can you postpone this need or must you have it now? If a need is not life and death, good judgment dictates that you postpone it and find better ways of financing like saving and or working for it.
MAKE YOUR PAYMENTS ON TIME If you are delaying or missing on your bills and loan repayments, this is exactly a red flag symptom that you are struggling with debts and expenses. Unlike expenses which you can avoid by stopping to consume completely, debt is a fixed outflow till you have completely repaid it. Calendarize your repayments and set reminders a week before payment date.
and use the information to your advantage. To borrow, you must be aware of a few important concepts like the difference between annual and monthly interest rates, principal and interest repayment amounts, and even the difference between lenders such as shylocks, Sacco’s and Banks. How are interest and monthly repayments calculated, what is the difference between simple and compound interest and what are the consequences of defaulting on your repayments? If you must wait for your financier to calculate any of the above financial parameters for you, you are still a toddler in matters borrowing and you should not be borrowing, but rather joining a financial education class to grow your capability in this matter. Knowing your borrowing costs is extremely important because the nature of the lender and the interest rate increases your risk to default significantly. If you borrow from a shylock at a rate of 20% per month, your repayment to him will be double in less than 4months. It means if you borrowed Ksh100k, you will pay him Ksh200k in 3 months. Compare that to borrowing from a bank at 14% per annum! This information provides an opportunity to identify friendly and cost effective lenders where you can swap expensive debt for cheaper debt.
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PRIORITIZE WHICH DEBTS AND BILLS TO PAY FIRST
KNOW WHO AND HOW MUCH YOU OWE
Start with the most expensive debts and pay your most needed bills. Cancel subscriptions that you do not need and where a lender allows you to pay a minimum amount, consider utilizing that facility to reduce on the risk of defaulting on other repayments.
This should be the first tip right. Do you have a list of your lenders and how much you owe them? In Chinua Achebe’s book titled “Things Fall Apart”, Unoka, a borrower, had drawn lines on the wall as a record of his debts. The longer lines indicated lenders whom he owed more and the shorter ones those whose debts were little. He is reported to have used these lines to taunt his lenders when they came to collect by showing them that their lines were shorter hence they should wait till he has paid the longer lines which represented bigger and more important borrowers.
Defaulting is expensive as it comes with late payment fees and penalties plus additional interest charges that you would rather avoid now.
RECOGNIZE AND APPRECIATE THE DANGER IN BORROWING In a state where you are pressured by a need, be it physical like hunger or external like school fees, you are not reasoning with your head, but rather, you are looking at the problem at hand and trying to resolve it with the most minimum mental effort. You stupidly count yourself lucky because there is a lender willing to bail you out, yet you are welcoming yourself into a debt trap, which will take you years to overcome, because your income is not going to grow overnight for you to afford to handle the repayment and the interest thereof, especially where you have borrowed for consumption purposes.
USE A BUDGET TO MANAGE YOUR EXPENSES AND DEBT REPAYMENTS WISELY. Maintaining a budget helps you allocate enough money to cover all your expenses month by month. By having an annual budget and tracking it on a monthly basis, you can take early action like borrowing or saving if it looks like you won't have enough money for your bills in any future period. A budget also helps you plan to utilize any extra money you have left optimally after expenses are covered. You can use this extra money to pay off debt faster.
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KEEP YOUR LENDERS CLOSE. These guys have financed you, but they may not necessarily be your friends. Most of the time they are profiteers who will do anything to recover their funds from you. Take the case for Jona.
Jona's office till the employer decided enough was enough and last month, Jona got sacked to face the unfamiliar world of hustling. What's next for Jona?
By being in constant touch and communication with your lenders, you can avert some Few months ago, Jona borrowed money from a extreme actions from the lender by negotiating for time and as well as forgiveness or reducshylock who promptly started collecting 20% tions on interest. interest from him after 30 days of advancing the money. The shylock kept pushing Jona for THE FUNDAMENTALS OF interest payment every other month till Jona BORROWING. started borrowing from his colleagues and friends to repay the shylock. Why are you borrowing? Are you borrowing to spend or to invest? If you are borrowing to The situation got worse when the colleagues started demanding their payment till he could spend on luxuries and entertainment, you are effectively living beyond your means and this not afford food for his own family. His wife herded their son and left him for a neighbor (I is a recipe for debt problems.
guess the neighbor could buy food and meet her financial needs).
Borrow to finance life and death needs.
Jona got into depression and couldn't continue being productive at work at the rate he's expected. His boss quickly put him into a performance management program meaning that he could not access bonuses, pay increments, loans or advances, compounding his money woos.
Borrowing is a very effective way of building capital because it’s the only way that owners of capital share this economic resource with owners of ideas, who then use these funds to convert the ideas into useful products and services for sale at a profit, effectively redistributing wealth and capital within the populace and reducing poverty.
In his state of depression, Jona has not been By borrowing wisely, you can bridge the timing able to keep up the pressure and he no longer gap between income and expenses and get receiving calls as he does not know which lie or continuous business operations, because lack promise to give to his lenders. of working capital means no production in business. Both the shylock and colleagues have been agitated and have continued to chase and load interest on the uncollected amounts. Colleagues have made it obvious to other staff that he owed them, compounding Jona's stigma. The shylock had, after realizing that he could no longer collect the repayments, promptly wrote to Jona's employer and kept reminding the employer that Jona had not paid him. He continuously sent auctioneers and police to
Henry Ozianyi has over 15 years experience in the financial sector. She is the current regional manager at Stanbic Bank. He can be reached on ozianyihenry@gmail.com
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Wilkings
Fadhili on how to StartupNow and Stay Focused By Maureen Viola 24 | INVERSK MAGAZINE 012 | AUGUST 2017
W
e are no longer locked out from a world we do not even know. How can we have blurred visions when the day is well lit? The sluggish, old-fashioned methods of networking are well replaced with an era of internet and new found technology. About a decade ago, smartphones gained such popularity. With a highly portable, internetenabled device the world would no longer be an endless expanse of land but a global village. Well, I know that has been clichéd but what I do not know is how many people actually know how to use internet constructively. How many of entrepreneurs know how to see clearly on a well-lit day! How can one spot opportunities in the middle of the fun of social media and to actively take advantage of them?
not the case with the then 24 years old Wilkings Fadhili. Wilkings had clearly mastered the key rule of entrepreneurship “you will never start if you wait to have all the resources needed.” In an interview with Inversk, the self-made man recalls how he started off with five hundred shillings which he used to buy a modem and Ksh 50 internet bundles. With this, the self-driven man would constructively use Facebook to get the word out and contact key people who would later contribute to making his dream come true. A desire to make his parents proud and be a great person in the society burnt deep within him and he would not stop at any challenge, not even capital!
“The other challenge was funding but I stopped looking for that when I released I Most of us in our 20’s dream of starting business- can use what I had to make my es and become successful, these dreams get dreams come true.” threatened when the thought of lacking enough capital and other resources needed. Well, that was
The Hawk-Eyed Problem Solver The idea of a platform that would incubate ideas in fashion and transform them into viable businesses dawned on Wilkings one day at a fashion event where he was a model. The hawk-eyed problem solver could not help but notice how backward the fashion and style of his own people was. With this in mind, Wilkings needed not look further, he started Fashiontorch Africa. INVERSK MAGAZINE 012 | AUGUST 2017 | 25
Stepping Up
“My idea was so unique that people doubted if it would ever work out, I had to work so hard to prove that my idea can work.”
Being a model was not at all going to fulfil the vision Wilkings had for East Africa. He was determined to resign from modelling and go convince the people that he had such a game-changing dream for East Africa.
In October 2016, Fashiontorch lab met her breakthrough. A time had come and headlines telling about how a 24 year-old bagged 16.5 million from U.S firm flooded the internet. This was to help scale up the company. With the new-found investor, things would never be the same again for Fashiontorch Africa. He had believed in himself enough, and now it was time for others to believe in him and this was going to be the game-changer for Fashiontorch.
During his resignation, about two months down the line, Wilkings was invited to a fashion show at the French Embassy. While every other model socialized with each other and talking about how good they felt being models, our man was busy trying to make This grant came after he caught the attention quality connections with key people at the fashion show in case something good came out of a U.S based firm, 1608 Creatives. Wilkings was speaking at Safaricom`s Blaze of any of them. Mentorship Summit. The C.E.O of 1608 During the networking session, he met the wife creatives was streaming the event live on of the French Ambassador to Kenya, Celine Facebook. Having identified Wilkings, the Merachaux. Amidst their talk, Wilkings spoke C.E.O made a move and sent an inbox to to her about his vision about an incubation hub Wilkings. that would bring creative people with an interest in fashion together, offer training and When he received a message that the C.E.O 1608 Creatives wanted to meet him, Wilkings mentorship and prepare them with ideas to never thought it was serious. He finished his fully exploit the many opportunities he had talk and headed to his seat. seen in the industry.
According to Wilkings, what was lacking in the local fashion industry was a place that would allow people to meet, share their ideas and network, something his idea was set to provide. The well presented idea had Celine Merachaux offer him Ksh. 150,000 to start on his vision; Fashiontorch. “When we have an idea we are at times afraid to share it with someone else with the fear that they could steal it from us, well, there are people who just want to listen to your brilliant idea and help you start out.” While everyone sat waiting to party on weekends, Wilkings worked so hard to prove his idea to an audience who could hardly believe it. This was his major challenge.
However, he agreed and left to a meeting that would be the turning point for his big dream. And with the opportunity, the story of Fashiontorch would not be written the same again. Each door opened with a master key to unlock the next, and with this, the story of a proud son of Kenya had reached the most coveted climax. "This grant made me realize that the secret is to work hard, be the best version of yourself and God will send an angel to faithfully hold your hand through." 1608 Creatives also partnered with Fashiontorch in enabling entrepreneurs to do internship in the United States.
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The Bigger Picture Wilkings is keen on taking big risks and venturing in unknown pastures: Fashiontorch has been doing quite well, we just rebranded to StartupNow to make sure we are working with entrepreneurs from almost all sectors. We have only focused on public relations, marketing, concepts creation and creative events management and production. With StartupNow lab, everyone is covered." Wilkings says. StartupNow lab launched early this month. His idea to rebrand came not only from the desire to help startup founders in building globally sustainable brands but also to address the problems that Africa faces. The passionate gentleman has big plans and target for his new brand. In the first year, Wilkings targets to help around 100 startups grow and become viable while successfully competing with other high profile companies in Africa at large.
“StartupNow is an innovative space that will give startups and entrepreneurs access to training, brand design, product development, investors and funding. Being the first company of its kind in the region, both Fashiontorch and its rebrand are predicted to grow really big and bring such change to the region.
With a team of 10 able team mates, Wilkings is looking into truly living his dream of serving and making proud the society from which he hails. He likes to work with people who learns fast like me and you. Apart from that, our man likes a person with great capability to innovate and passionate about what they do.
To him, travelling around the country sharing his story and inspiring youths is the best part of the tour. He loves to inspire young people and show them how possible it is to live their dream at such a tender age. This has enabled him to be selected to be amongst Blaze by Safaricom mentors. “I was approached by Safaricom based on the platform I create in helping young people design their ideas to businesses.� At the age of 25, Wilkings has lived most of a young ambitious man`s dreams: Founder and CEO of his own company, a number of startups he is currently incubating at the new rebrand of Fashiontorch, Startup Now lab. As they traverse the country inspiring the youths with a story so captivating, Wilkings recalls his campus days when he never thought he would ever venture into entrepreneurship. As a journalism student at Daystar University, he absolutely had no plans to change his course or career just yet. Despite the pressure that comes with challenges, Wilkings loves challenges as they come with progress. He feels he is the person to usher Kenya`s Fashion industry to international Standards and he will stop at nothing less. Maureen Viola is a freelance writer, commercial model and urban planner. She loves adventure, meeting new people and watching movies. You can reach her on mviola12@gmail.com
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