Fear of failure? Rather the effects of failure!

In todays edition of the Nation newspaper, First Merchant Bank vice chairman Hitesh Anadkat has decried the poor risk taking culture amongst Malawians. He noted that the country has a lack of entrepreneurs who are ready to risk it all for fear of failure. He pointed out other things like the need for people to sacrifice and save and also the need for the country to encourage entrepreneurs regardless of colour.

Mr Anadkat raised important issues in the paper he delivered to an accountants meeting worth noting. However he seems to oversimplify the issues as well. Here is a situation I put myself in if I were to take this risk. I save a few thousands of kwacha's, say K300,000, and venture into a business. I have a near excellent business plan and have the technical knowhow to get things going. Two months down the line the environment has changed and the market is not responding as anticipated. I go to a bank, for arguments sake it's First Merchant Bank, to get an overdraft facility. I have been a personal account holder for a few years but my business account is just two months old. I have no business track record worth talking about. My application for an overdraft is rejected, this is despite having a near excellent business plan. The reason it's not excellent is because I just didn't factor in one or two external environmental factors that could affect my whole business plan. So with no overdraft, my business folds. I go to a string of banks with a revised business plan to get a loan but it is rejected. Why? I failed before, am bankrupt so to say, am likely to fail again. After all, I have no business track record worth writing home about. So am basically screwed. Tail between legs, I start applying for a job. No one wants to take me because am high risk. I could leave anytime to go and restart another business. Am condemned to the growing list of the unemployed!

I know of a project under Absa Bank called the Incubator Fund where the bank will provide loans to people who intend to start a business but lack one skill necessary for business. Say a bartender with many years experience would get a loan and a person to help him with the finances for an agreed period of time. The person would handle procurement, marketing and customer service as he has the experience doing that. This way the business is definitely assured of short term survival while accounts skills are transferred to the owner or a partner/family member he will run the bar with. At the end of the day Absa Bank is happy it has empowered another entrepreneur who in the medium to long term will have full control over his business and make the necessary repayments back to them.

I think putting the blame squarely on fear of failure is not right. The domino effect from failure is not a pleasant one. It's torture!

Blues of the Malawian tenant

The other day I received a letter from my estate agents that my rentals were going to be raised by 20%, an annual increase applied to all rentals regardless of whether it is necessary to do so or not.

I have no problems with rentals being increased. I have a problem when no justification is given. If I look at the indicators around me, the percentage is not justified. Firstly Bakili Muluzi is no longer the president of Malawi i.e. the inflation rate hit the single digit months ago and things are looking up. Secondly repairs that were supposed to take place to some fixtures in the house have not been done nine months down the line. Thirdly, it's just not cool to raise rents!! After all I only got a 10% raise on my salary this year!!

Malawi calling fashion police!

I must admit am not the most fashionable person around town but never the less I try. I have seen fashion rules being broken around me left, right and centre but I guess without such offenders, life would be dull. However I have just met one who deserves the maximum penalty the fashion police can mete out. Some guy, and a tough tall one too like Jeff from Big Brother, had the audacity to carry around a pink cellphone. And to add a little flavour, it was not hidden in his pocket. He very happily fiddling with it in his hand!! Fashion Disaster trophy goes to ....

RIP Musamude Fumulani

Death has robbed yet again us of a talented and entertaining musician, Musamude Fumulani. The band leader of Black Missionaries succumbed to TB yesterday in Blantyre. Rest in peace homeboy.

Silver fans, how dare you?

Recently Reserve Bank announced that it would stop bank rolling Silver Strikers football club in addition to selling the stadium and club house. This was sad news for the well financed club, it's supporters and the football loving public in general. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see the troubles teams like Michiru Castles and Big Bullets are through.

However what I find absurd and totally out of line was the demand by fans and/or supporters that called on the RBM Governor to resign for pulling the plug on sponsorship! Excuse me but where on earth do they get the mandate to call for his head? He explained that the central bank is not in the business of running a football team. He has put his facts on the table and they make proper business sense. Can the supporters give more convincing facts for the governor to resign other than the feeble excuse that previous governors continued to sponsor the team? If they can't I would advise them to use their remaining energies on fund raising or finding a new sponsor. Time is not on their side!

Symptoms of insanity

There is a saying that when you see a person carrying pot and pans around a village, that person is on the verge of going mad. And there is no better way to explain the former presidents behaviour other than that of a man on the verge. He has been carrying around iron sheets, bags of cement, buckets, bars of soap, you name it to his public rallies. The aim? To tell the people that commodity prices have gone through the roof during Bingu's reign unlike under his corrupt rule! Well ministry of commerce has published figures and statics to show that his understanding of economics is very shallow.

But what has really made me laugh was his pronouncement in the lake district of Mangochi that the district does not need the maize silo's government has just built because they are a fishing community. Now I have not heard such a feeble statement in a long time but it does not surprise me at all. After all it was under his rule that people starved after government sold of strategic grain reserves to Kenya when there were clear indications of poor rainfall that year.

Symptoms of insanity couldn't be more clearer!!