About a year ago I met a man from Ghana, an ex-teacher and a businessman called Joe. I didn't get his surname, it was as much a tongue and mind twister as mine was to him so we settled on first names, in my case it was the second, Isaac, which he found easier to call. But enough of the pleasantries.
I have leant a lot from a great athlete Usain Bolt. In the face of all challenges and competition he still manages to create an atmosphere for success for himself. It is in this spirit of creation of an atmosphere for success that I am writing about a personal experience I had with Joe. |
| Usain Bolt has become an expert at creating his own atmosphere for success. |
My meeting with Joe and all that I subsequently learnt about him from the friend who introduced us were very instructive. Joe, like me, is an immigrant who came to South Africa to pursue a teaching career. After working for a period of time he got tired of the way the system treated teachers of foreign origin. Yearly contracts which can be terminated at any time, delays in payment of salaries that can go up ten or more months, a hostile policy environment and many other irritants were amongst the various reasons that Joe cited as reasons for his resignation from his teaching position.
As part of the process of quitting his job and breaking away from the system Joe paid up all his accounts, reduced his expenditure on rent (moved into a single room in a cheaper area) and groceries and decided to forgo an number of luxuries that he had previously enjoyed. After this Joe looked for a product that he could sell in the Umuzimkhulu area where he had relocated to and what followed was a period of trial and error with second hand clothing, fruits and vegetables and other products until he settled on selling potatoes at slightly above wholesale prices. His strategy entailed maximising on his turnover rate and not on a single sale.
Over a two year period Joe's potato business grew from pushing about 100 pockets a week to a place where he was selling an average of 500 pockets every three days. Limited overheads meant a net profit of about R3.50 per pocket and this effectively meant that in one month Joe was now making an amount that approximated the salary that he had left. Controlled consumption habits saw Joe expanding into hair products and a hair salon. Details of how the hair products and hair salon ventures fared I don't know but I can only conclude that he did very well in that area as well.
Two months ago Joe left South Africa for Ghana after selling his business. Over the past few years he had been setting up a car import and sales business in Ghana and he believes it's time to go and manage it from the ground. I don't know how established the business in Ghana is but I know for a fact that Joe left South Africa with savings in excess of R500 000.
I don't want breakdown Joe's story and point at those elements that one could call instructive that, I leave for you to do as we both both pursue our own success.
Written By Tendayi I Mawango For Arthur Mutambara
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