Entrepreneur's Corner

Dear Entrepreneur, The Day Of Small Beginnings Is The Day That Defines The Path For Your Success

BY Steve Biko Wafula · May 21, 2023 09:05 am

KEY POINTS

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The realm of success is created under the reality of the process. The process is the foundation of stability, understanding, and nurturing under the guidance of experience of what one goes through. Experience is the denominator of success.

Entrepreneurship in Kenya is not for the faint-hearted. Kenya is a jungle where the criminal underworld uses the law to legitimize its operations. If you can succeed legitimately in Kenya, then the world stage is child’s play for you.

Ask any businessman which is more important, one big deal at a go or many small deals and we both know what the answer will be. As an entrepreneur, you probably have a gift for big-picture thinking and this is critical for the success of your idea. However, execution is key.

To be successful, you have to take a step back from big-picture thinking and cultivate the ability to think small and appreciate small dealings that come your way.

Imagine building a home. Bricks or blocks are the key building material and they come in small aspects put together to have a big, beautiful home. You can’t have one big blog to have the house done in a go. NOT POSSIBLE.

Being able to implement small improvements to the way you approach problems or tasks or deals could very well make the difference between success and failure.

Each day we make a series of decisions, some quite small, that will affect us in a small way, some quite huge that will impact our future, in fact, the decisions any of us made last year, last month, last week, yesterday and last night have all determined who we are today. Same with deals. The small deals we have gotten along the way, the small deals we have ignored are the ones that have paid for our rent, our overheads, our salaries, etc without us actually acknowledging that because in our vision radar, they are too small to matter or count yet they keep the boat sailing.

Success isn’t a one-moment deal. Success isn’t hiding in one big deal. Success will come when we are ready to handle it. Success lies in small deals that are connected to each other. Through these deals we are able to learn how to process situations, how to navigate moments, how to handle failure, and keep moving.

We need to focus on the Micro shifts that must take place for us to get closer to reaching our end goals, whatever those may be. Small deals create a sustainable, stable bridge for us to cross to the other side for us to be successful.

It’s vital that we take time to celebrate even the tiny of wins. This is critical as it’s a compass for you on where you are heading to.

From ancient times to now, the essence of small deals, and small aspects have always been critical to anyone’s success. Zechariah 4:10 is very apt on this one. It says, ‘Who dares despise the day of small things? Since the 7 eyes of the Lord, that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?’

Small deals are the cornerstone of success. Small deals are the essence of success. They attract big deals when you are ready. He who is trusted with little will be trusted with much. Deals of KES 1000 are critical in how we manage them, how we deliver, and how we show our passion for doing them. They define our character when we are getting so little. If we pass this universal test, then the deals go to KES 10000 then KES 100000, and so forth and so forth.

We need to take a step back and look at how far we have come. Look at the deals we have had before and value them and we will understand that indeed they are small deals put together that create that successful feeling we are all looking for.

There is a lot that entrepreneurs can learn from farmers. Normal harvest takes three to six months. As they wait to harvest, they nurture, cultivate, and take care of their crops. This is the most difficult process to go through. Of waiting for the maize to mature. Of waiting for the beans to be ready. Success takes 30-60 years to materialize. It takes this long because small deals need to come together over a period to create a sustainable ecosystem for one to be successful. This is what we don’t understand and the reason why most businesses close down before the 3^rd year of operation.

Waiting for success to happen is the most difficult thing for anyone to do. However, if we do the following, and do them consistently, then it becomes easier to grow without the pressures of outside influence. One must:

Pay attention to results coming in from every aspect of the business. From this, you can learn a lot in terms of what’s working and what’s not and how to fix them.
Be ready to be held accountable for what is happening. Accountability means one is ready to own up to what is happening should things go wrong. This means one is indeed genuine on the growth trajectory.
Be committed. Commitment attracts value that is critical to the sustainability of the business. It also attracts trust which is the moon of success.
Do not be afraid of conflict. For conflict, solutions are found and days are better.
Have the trust of those he or she is working with. This is the glue that forms the essence of teamwork which is critical for growth.

Small deals are key. This is something that we need to appreciate. How we handle small deals will inform how we handle big deals. Dear Entrepreneur, The mistake most of us make is to focus on getting big deals when the secret lies in focusing on small deals that accumulate into big deals with time because we must go through a process of learning & growing.

Zechariah 4:10

Start. Trust. Believe.

About Steve Biko Wafula

Steve Biko is the CEO OF Soko Directory and the founder of Hidalgo Group of Companies. Steve is currently developing his career in law, finance, entrepreneurship and digital consultancy; and has been implementing consultancy assignments for client organizations comprising of trainings besides capacity building in entrepreneurial matters.He can be reached on: +254 20 510 1124 or Email: info@sokodirectory.com