Enterprise

Seriousness begets success in business

biz

In the last academic year's Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams results released recently, we have seen some pupils from very poor and ill-equipped schools perform very well.

We have also seen some pupils from very good schools fail to impress their teachers and parents.

Whereas innate gifts are appreciated, many teachers generally agree that nearly all students who transit from one level to another school have potential to succeed academically.

Yet some of them fail miserably despite having the best teachers, resources and study environment.

A postmortem of majority of those who fail, and on their own confession, reveals lack of seriousness in school. In fact, many of them regret having lost opportunity to build a solid base for their life.

On the other hand, several records of most professionals and successful people indicate that their success is not just attributed to innate endowment, well-equipped schools and best teachers. Seriousness and commitment to their studies were the main drivers of their success.

In business the situation is more or less the same.

Majority of businesses that are struggling or on the verge of failure are led by people who are not serious. They lack the commitment to basic requirements of success in business such as record keeping, marketing, customer service, product development, and compliance with the laws governing the particular industry.

Some of the indicators of business leaders who are not serious include first, failure to put structures that ensure a business is operated professionally and as an independent entity.

Second, they are mostly out of their offices. They abscond their duties as business leaders and leave ill-equipped staff to manage affairs of the business including making key decisions.

Third, they hardly market their business because they are busy working elsewhere or just having fun at the expense of the business.

Marketing is a very important function in any business to be delegated to junior employees. The business owner or leader is the chief marketing officer with other staff acting as assistants.

One way to establish if you are serious in your business is to ask yourself whether if you were employed and answerable to someone else you would behave the same way you behave in your business – reporting to work the time you feel like, spending business money without accounting for it, and not keeping records.

Fourth, failure to comply with basic requirements such as paying relevant business permits and licences. Failure to comply with tax and laws is a recipe for disaster.

Generally, your success in business does not only depend on your industry and economic environment of the day. It depends largely on how serious and committed you are to your business.

Just like students who fail in spite of being in the best school, with the best teachers and learning resources, we find business people who struggle and fail in a booming industry.

If you work hard and devote all your time and energy to growing your business you will definitely overcome all limitations and emerge victorious.

Mr Kiunga, Author of ‘The Art of Entrepreneurship: Strategies to Succeed in a Competitive Market’