ACCESS TO SUCCESS: THE WAY OUT

Many of us dream of a world of financial prosperity where whatever we need would always be within
reach. A world where we would be free from financial distress and threats of liquidity chaos. A world
where we would dictate our financial direction and not have to depend on anyone for anything. Well,
such a world can be a reality but not without conditions. A grand march to financial success is a
lengthy tiresome process, which ordinarily delivers more victims than victors. Whether you become a
victor or a victim is up to you, for destiny is not something you wait for; it is something you go for.
Before we proceed I believe a little disclaimer is in order. This article is not written for those looking
for the keys to success; it is written for those who have chosen the way of success. If we had the keys
we would be writing from the inside; most likely, we wouldnt even be writing in the first place.
While the key may not exist, there are lessons we must learn if we are to wage a successful campaign
against financial misery. Some of the lessons are discussed below.

Pursuit of financial success is not a splint it is a marathon. Many people approach the pursuit of
financial success with completely misguided expectations. Many young entrepreneurs get into
business thinking that it is a kind of a jackpot whose chance of being hit are extremely high and the
time in between extremely short. When these expectations are unmet they become frustrated and quit
forgetting that quitters dont win and winners dont quit. When the going gets tough the tough gets
going and the weak go out. You should always bear in mind that any venture aimed at financial
success is a long-term endeavour. We use the term long-term deliberately because no one knows how
long is long. My long may be 2 years and your long may as well be 20 years. If we choose the way of
financial success, we must be ready to pursue the venture to its most logical conclusion and not to its
most possible destination. Be warned that the road to success is full of parking lots.

We must exert ourselves optimally and employ a crafty mix of key ingredients namely vision, passion
and provision. We need a vision to know where we are going so that we can know how to get there
and when we get there. We need passion so that when things get tough we can choose to give on
rather than give up. We need provision because in life there can be no results without resources.

The essence of patience is a fundamental concept in accessing financial success. In life it is said
that women look for financially stable men and men look for financially patient women. To many
people, these are just contradictions and it is not a wonder then that most of you reading this article
are still single and still seeking. Financial patience is the root to financial stability. To make the
transition from a financial struggler to survivor, from a survivor to stable, from stable to successful
and from successful to significant requires the patience of an oil prospector. Very few people will ever
reach the pinnacle of financial success which is financial significance. Many will give up somewhere
in between. How many people in Kenya do you think are financially significant?

The other key thing is that we should dream big, but start small. The only successful exercise that
begins from the top is grave digging. If you want to kill a dream, aim to start from the top. One of the
most common complaints about the Youth Enterprise Development Fund is that it is too small. If you
cant start a multimillion business with KShs 100 you probably cant start a KShs 100 business with 1
million shillings. When we started the Kenya Association of Young Entrepreneurs, one of our key
advisers Mrs Margaret Pearson always told us start small, keep it small, get it right. A few years
later, definitely older and probably wiser, I have come to cherish this advice. We must never fear to
start however small. Every tree starts with a seed not a weed. When a man stops dreaming he starts
dying and if a man dreams and never starts, dreams for him are just another kind of sleeping pills.
Dreaming and doing nothing is like having 80% percent ball possession and scoring no goals. An idea
must move from conceptualisation, to initialisation, to actualisation and to commercialisation,
otherwise it remains a beautiful statement of good intentions: Useless in life and even more useless in
death.

The fear of failure is the beginning of financial failure. Many of us fear confronting our financially
challenged lives because we fear failure with all the humiliation and pain that accompanies it. If we
are not ready to try we should be ready for financial trials. As one lecturer once said; I would rather
listen to a person who sat an exam and failed rather listen to one who has never failed an exam
because they have never sat any. In life all of us are failures the only difference is the degree of
failure. In an exam everybody fails because the only person who succeeds is the one with 100%. The
rest of us it can be a 0% failure or a 99% failure but it is failure nevertheless. A common slogan in
most Matatus reads; either die rich or die trying.

Do not curse the rich learn from them. Most of us find solace in believing that our financial miseries
are caused by others e.g. our employers, relatives, the government etc. The sooner you wake up and
smell the coffee the better for you. You are responsible for your financial woes. The ability to take
that responsibility is a crucial step on your way out. Many of us are so financially irresponsible that
we are not even responsible for our irresponsibility. Wake up and do something after all a million is
just 10,000 multiplied by 100 and vice-versa. If you can sell something and make a profit of 100 and
repeat that 10,000 times you are already a millionaire. Believe it or not!!!

Pass the past to face the future. Some of us were born with a silver spoon, others a plastic one and
the rest only saw a spoon ten years latter. As far us financial success is concerned it may surprise you
that all of us have an equal chance. Dont blame the past for that will only make you financially lame.
Forget the past and get the future. Even God cannot change our past He only makes our future better.
Who are you to be preoccupied with the past?

Organise or agonise there is no two way about it. If you are financially disorganised you will always
be in financial agony. There can be no property without strategy and approaching financial success
without a strategy is to say the least a tragedy. An idea without a plan is like a gun without bullets.
You can fire but you cant expect any results. Without a strategy many of us will continue to fire
financially but we will never shoot anything. Stop screaming at poverty and start scheming against it.

Poverty eradication will lead to poverty escalation. Have you ever heard of the poverty eradication
commission? It is found in KICC. It has been there fore years but we will never hear victory songs.
Poverty eradication is a fallacy perpetuated by a losers mentality. Never think of poverty eradication;
always think of wealth creation. Poverty cannot be eradicated but wealthy can be created and where
there is wealthy there can be no poverty.

Last but not least; Business is not a bonanza but it is the only known way of wealth creation;
employment is just wealth addition. Wealth creation also means wealth multiplication. Employment
is like a pain killer while business is a cure for liquidity challenges. Use employment to earn and learn
and then start a business. It is a selfish thing to spend all your days in employment. How will others
be employed? If your employer never took the risk where would you be? For those of us in business,
let us patiently and carefully engage intelligent manoeuvres towards financial significance. We may
cry at the moment but we will have the last laugh; .. ha..ha..haa. God bless Kenya.

Contributed by Ephraim Njega
Chairman, Kenya Association of Young Entrepreneurs
www.kayekenya.com