Lady’s touch

Some day we were coming from Naivasha with my wife and kids and we opted to use the Tigoni route, just to see area. Midway the lush and green tea farms, I noted that my wife was quite excited seeing them. When I asked her what she was thinking, she smiled and asked me whether I was seeing what she was seeing. And so I asked her what it was she was seeing. Her response was expected. She was of the idea that in our old age we could actually settle around there. Very serene, fresh air, nice landscapes and all. Then I remembered sometimes back when I had proposed to her that we could actually built a house in Syokimau and was amazed by her when she flatly refused. Of course I already had bought a plot there and I realized that if I insisted on building there, I may have ended up living alone…jokes aside.

It gets interesting when a customer of the male gender views a plot and insists that the wife will have to come and view it and give a seal of approval or even rejection. 90% of the time, it is never a deal. This is how powerful ladies can be. How about when a lady views first and then requests her man to have a look and approve or disapprove, 90% of the time it is a sale.

When selling houses it is even trickier. Infact due to the power of ladies, we are normally forced to design a house with them in mind. Think of a big kitchen with a lot of storage space, think of a large lounge with some dining space, think of that master bedroom which as big as a football field with very nice finishes…then you will win them ladies. How about those interior designs? It pays to get an interior design with a lady’s eye.

I keep statistics as a strategy to inform me more about my customers. The other day, I was doing some analysis on all the properties I ever sold. It dawned on me that 60% of the sales are to ladies. Quite telling. It is my considered view that it is an extremely important market segment in real estate. I don’t know what else we can deduce from the said statistics but that is for another day.

An interesting customer I came across was a lady who was just about to get married. She had very clear instructions to me that I must not disclose any info to her husband to be who happened to know me. Then I asked her why? She told me that if the man ever discovered that she had 700k in her account, the guy would insist that they do a bigger wedding that the one they had planned. Then she said that I should not delay in executing the transfer, otherwise the property will be classified as matrimonial….rather interesting and strange. Duniani kuna mambo.

Big lesson: It is extremely important to know your customers if you want to succeed in Business. Loyalty is built over time and by giving consistent attention to your clients. Every client meeting or conversation should end with words like: “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

In the next several posts we shall advise first time business owners. Chances of failure are higher than those of succeeding, but with proper education, you increase your chances in a big big way.

marty the guru, keep them coming

Yep, Mwalimu voted peaceful and was also in deep prayer for his motherland. He is back but trying to catch up on several issues and will definitely continue albeit later with his quest for knowledge searching and dissemination.

Mwalimu please do something.I am eagerly awaiting your incisive posts.

Not every bus goes to your home

Mwalimu has been rather busy but is now back. He had promised to advise first time business owners. He will start with basic concepts that are extremely important especially for first timers.

Back then when Mwalimu was newly employed, he had all manner of business ideas; stocks, wheat farming in Narok, maize farming at the Rift, rearing chicken and rabbits in his shags, he even thought matatus were lucrative. And so he wanted to bite as many and he actually did. And he was still employed as a systems programmer and that comes with long nights of coding. Luckily he was still single and searching. His typical week would be packed from the first to the last hour. Monday to Friday dedicated to his employer and the weekend would be dedicated to running around and with benefit of hindsight, the dude can now say that he was just running around like a headless chicken just like many first-time entrepreneurs do. He actually would dash to Narok and check on his wheat, then pass by Njoro to check on the maize, then pass by his shags to check on the chicken and rabbits. Then he would realize that the weekend was over before he could get an opportunity to meet his girlfriend…a frustrated girl who could rarely meet her sabuni ya roho… Mwalimu thought he was doing quite well in business until one day he collapsed on an afternoon and doctor told him to relax coz he was running too fast.

Mwalimu wanted to grab all opportunities and he never realized that the “opportunities” were wolves in sheep's clothing. He may have learned the hard way that juggling multiple ventures spread him thin and limited both his effectiveness and productivity. It actually dawned on him that all was not well when he made straight losses in two seasons of farming wheat. In between he had planted maize near Mau forest which had done so well till he got the shocker of his life when he went harvesting it only to find that half of it had been harvested the previous night. He attempted to recover his maize only to be frustrated by cops who favoured the local pastor cum shepherd who stole his maize; mind you we had assigned him the role of taking care of his crop.

After the aforementioned loss, the dude decided that he could only invest in businesses that needed the least of his time and minimal managerial issues. Now you know why he landed in real estate albeit confined to speculating with plots. Business only made sense to him when he decided to focus on one line and perfect it. You may want to know what he did with his chicken and rabbits. He got so mad with the guy who was in charge of them till he decided to donate the entire investment to his struggling brother back in the village.

What lesson can we learn from Mwalimu’s not so good start to investing? You can never jump at all opportunities available, if you do you will be like that proverbial hyena whose msamba pasukad. Just focus, focus and focus.

More lessons to come for first timers

Good c̶r̶i̶m̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ student

Quite nice and I believe having a passion for what one does is a good thing.Keep the posts flowing.

@Marty how you remind me of my class 9 math tutor, ms Naranyan. She would really simplify those seemingly impossible out of this world math problems in exactly the same way you manage to breakdown those abstract text book concepts with everyday life situations. Keep it

Know what you know, what you don't know and who knows what you don't

Njoki has a very sweet tongue and someone once said this: “By a sweet tongue and kindness, you can drag an elephant with a hair” She is the one who convinced my partner and I to buy our very first plots actually adjacent to each other. Those plots were in the bush somewhere coz I remember when we went to view them, we even saw some zebras and antelopes; trust Njoki to sell you anything. Roll over the year and her sweet story about how the place was to be in 5 years ringed true. Nowadays the place is quite prime.

What caught my eye about Njoki is her grasp for issues plots and the larger vision she seemed to clearly understand about their company. Talk about an ideal employee. When we bought those plots, we never had any idea that we will ever get involved in a real estate business. You see that time I was a member of a certain Sacco that was brought to its knees by some unscrupulous officials and I terminated my membership. My biggest problem that time was what I was to do with the cash in my budget which was earmarked for the Sacco’s monthly contribution. I convinced my partner we view the plots, by the way that time we were living together somewhere in Eastlands as young employees. I was very happy now that Njoki accepted our proposal to pay a deposit of 40k for the plots and the balance in 22 installments of 5k per month, a similar amount to the Sacco contribution. That time our core business was farming…which we did for 3 seasons to some disastrous results. It is at the end of the 3rd Season while licking our wounds that we decided to check out our plots in the woods only to be shocked by developments around there and the appreciation from 140k to around 600k, all in about 3 years. That very day, a business idea which is destined to culminate into a massive empire was born. After all, why bother thinking so much when an opportunity was right there before our very eyes.

That very day, I remembered Njoki and thanked God for having met her; I actually convinced myself she held my good omens. I called her and she confirmed that she quit the company she used to work for and set up a selling agency for properties. We set up a meeting with her coz I knew she held some keys to our new thoughts and line of business. She never disappoints. By the end of that meeting, we were very knowledgeable and wise fellows regarding matters real estate; information for free. I knew that she had to be part of our team; after all she knew what we did not know. If there is anyone who taught us the ropes of real estate, it is her…..wait…if there is anyone who has sold about half of all our properties, it is her….wait again…if there is anyone who has seen us grow from business toddlers to a teenager, it is her. Of course we are hoping to grow old in business.

For first timers, please note the following in relation to the above real life story:
1. No one knows everything, so never come off as a know-it-all. Surround yourself with advisors and mentors who will nurture you to become a better businessman.
2. Find successful, knowledgeable individuals with whom you share common interests and mutual business goals that see value in working with you for the long-term.
3. Search for knowledge; be it from professionals within your line of business or those who have been there and done it.
4. Get some serious mentor….we all need this irrespective of the stage you are in..

More for start-ups in the next post.

Capital, the biggest handicap?

Allow me to remind you of Alex, my bosom buddy back in our village. He is the dude I once wrote about who never finished his primary school, got involved in petty crimes and abuse of hard drugs, survived attempted suicides, got jailed only to later reform and become a pastor.

Alex always had brilliant ideas. He is a man you could sit down with and he’d tell you so many stories non-stop about how guys who have come across money and wasted it as opposed to seriously investing the cash. In fact I had started entertaining thoughts of getting into some joint venture where I could finance him. But my sixth sense always tells me to be wary of fellow who talk a lot…..most of the time they are clanging cymbals. In fact when I hear someone claim that his biggest challenge is capital, I trend carefully.

The last time I met Alex was early this year. I have been trying all along to reach him to no avail until he called me the other day and we talked for like 30 minutes. What he told me during the 30 minutes is what shocked me. I however like his honesty coz he never hides anything from me. Early in the year he received some 1M from his sister in Canada to finally start his dream business. He did not tell me why he was so lost but of course the cash he received in a way explained why he was not reachable.

I was very keen to understand what he did with the cash. He explained how he bought an old taxi and got into that business but somehow it did not work out well. When I enquired what happened, he claimed that he decided to employ a driver as he concentrated on church activities. The driver misused the vehicle and he was fleecing him of the proceeds of business till he finally dismissed him but the then the car was on its knees. In fact as we talked he claimed it was now an immobile junk parked outside his house. So the reason he was calling me was to request for my assistance so that he can revive it.

I realized that despite his talk and brilliant ideas, his biggest problem was never capital. In jest, I told him that his life story was like of that man who waded his way past a pack of dogs only to bitten by a goat. Or he was bewitched and the ‘bewitcher’ died. Seriously speaking, I expected him to do better with the 1M coz he always cried about capital and when he landed some he seemed not to have utilized it well.
Many times I meet guys who are convinced that capital is their biggest impediment towards starting a good business. Sometimes it could be, but in most cases it is never the biggest issue.

Most successful businesses were built on smallest of capital and in any case if you have a brilliant idea which may need substantial capital, my take is that the idea can be bought by a partner and you do a joint venture. You can even approach financiers though this is never the easiest route to take.

It is therefore extremely important to have a solid idea which you need to have a grip on before you invest your money. Worst case is where you get the money and you are wondering what to do with it. It is always better when good investment ideas precede the capital. Before you convince yourself that you need capital….think again…the capital might arrive and you start running around like a headless chicken.

More on start-ups in the next post.