If you desire to change your community I would urge you to consider starting your own business. If you already own a business then I would encourage you to expand and build more businesses.
These are my reasons:
1. It is the best learning experience you can get. Forget about doing an MBA. Invest the money in a business instead. You learn about sales, marketing, finance, operations, risk management, operations, human resources, finance, IT, innovation, time management, team development, etc.
2. You employ many people. For instance we are sourcing enkooge fruit from deep in the villages. Imagine the smile on the people who own enkooge trees as we pay for the fruit. We have also employed many people near the factory who would otherwise be unemployed. When you run a business you get a chance to impact people’s lives directly. Our tiny business is impacting hundreds of people all over the country.
3. We need educated people in business. The problem is many of them prefer the comfort and security of air conditioned offices and cars. This has led to a lot of informality in the way we do business in Uganda. An educated person is the best business owner possible. They have networks and access to capital. They are also easy to teach new ways of doing business. They just have to overcome the initial fear of plunging in.
4. You secure your future. If you want your kids to have jobs you better start creating them now. Don’t expect someone else to create jobs for your kids. Build businesses which will be around when your kids leave school. Why pay a lot of school fees now for the kids to end up without jobs. It is better to take the children to cheaper schools and use the savings to invest in a business.
5. You can make alot of money. If all goes well you can end making a lot of money. The richest people in the world are business owners rather than employees.
6. You reduce dependence on a job. Some people hang onto jobs like their entire livelihood depended on them. When you build a business while still in employment you get a chance to control your financial destiny.
7. You get to purse meaningful things you care about with a possibility of making a lot of money. You have arrived when you make money while doing things you love!
The way we achieve middle income status is by thousands of us who are educated and employed starting small businesses and employing the masses. This way we lift an entire generation out of poverty. Poor people in villages are not going to make our country rich!
I would strongly advise everyone to try their luck at business. It has never been easier to start and run a business. The information you need is easily available on the internet. Of course the journey is tough but it is worth it!
Unlock your true potential 