I was talking with a friend of mine on what it takes to get rich. He thought for a while and gave me his story. He has ideas. He would want to invest in real estate because it has wonderful returns. He would get $1000 per month. He even did some calculations, estimations and margin errors and I too discovered that he was good in math. Moreover, he added that agribusiness was also another venture in his mind. Having an acre of tomatoes and other greens would make him wealthy while still young. This guy is incredibly smart! But I asked him one question: what is holding you back from reaching all these perfect dreams? What is dragging you behind while time seems to run at swift speed? His answer was very simple: cash. He has no money to start any meaningful project. He was 27 by the time we were talking.
fig. 1 Change mentality and build wealth
I thought hard about cash and whether it was the real cause of
his dreamer but non-doer situation. I know you have joined me in this
conversation. Is cash the real challenge that many youths experience and put as
an excuse for their inability to perform? I like challenging youths whom I see
being potent of success yet; they are wallowing in abject poverty. Another
friend of mine told me that in two years ago, he had set a strategy of saving
KES. 100 on a daily basis, only to invest in the end of the year. The amount
would be (100 * 365) amounting to KES. 36,500. Again, he saw that the amount
would be small after being a disciplined saver for a whole year. He called it a
waste of time and resources. I asked him, now that it is two years from then,
how much have you saved? The answer was nothing. I advised him that if he had
strictly followed his strategy, it would be KES. 73,000. With such money, one
can buy a plot of land in a somehow interior but developing region. He can also
invest in appreciating stocks like Safaricom and earn annual dividends besides
the initial capital gain. Why do people think that KES.100 cannot make you
rich? Alternatively, he could also invest in m-akiba, the government bond, and
earn 10% annually, KES. 7,300, payable twice a year. Let me not concentrate on
him because I feel like slapping him on the face… all one needs to know is that
you will create wealth through accumulation of small amounts. Again, if you
look for 10 years and think that the little will earn you less by the end of
such lengthy period, 10 years will come. And hopefully, you will be alive and
will have nothing. Save small and invest because what matter is discipline. If
you cannot save and invest in small amount, why do you think that you will
invest much even when you will earn it?
Back to my initial story. At last, I had an answer. Owning the
first rental house is the only challenge. Buying the first matatu is the
biggest breakthrough. Because, if you can manage it, you can buy 10 or even
more. You can just leverage on OPM ‘other people’s money’ such
as bank loans or angel money and build your investment portfolio. So, the
question is; how will you get the first ‘thing’ and finally stream towards more
of it. My answer is simple and has been answered in the paragraph above. Save
even if it is little and invest in areas that might not need high initial
capital. Buying a lorry may require high capital. Buying a land to construct
rental flats needs high capital. Investing in m-akiba or other fund investments
is for everyone. For instance, the guy who bought m-akiba with
KES.20, 000 in May 2017 will earn KES 6000 in the 3-year period of maturity.
May seem small, but incremental and sure! 3 year will come and those who saw
the return as insignificant will probably have nothing. Please, build wealth in
the most genuine way. You will realize that later, you will venture in your
area of interest in a better way.
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