By George Bakiwanya
It’s almost easier to spot a workable business idea than to raise the desired start-up capital. According to the most recent data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), it’s estimated that 80% of Ugandans have entrepreneurial intentions, skills, and knowledge but only 35% start businesses.
It’s true, you may want to start a business but when you haven’t yet accumulated the required amount of capital. In this case, the first thing to do is to look around you and figure out the most viable business that fits in the amount of capital that you so far have gathered & begin with that. Nolan Bushnell quotes “The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but very few decide to act. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.”
The second alternative is to look out for successful persons or colleagues who might have the same passion for the business you intend to start and form a partnership. Coming together does not only make it easier to pool sufficient capital, but it also allows a combination of multi-talents on board to foster the fastest business growth. Helen Keller once quoted “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
The Last option would be continued saving. However, this has seen many big dreams vanish into oblivion due to poor saving culture. Some people just hit against the wall and sink their savings into emergencies, others just lose focus in the middle stream & go for wants. Overall, saving is an important tool, and it does magic provided it’s backed with proper budgeting and other self-disciplines.
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What should you never do? Never borrow money to start a business. A loan is most sustainable when it’s obtained to enhance a running business, not to start a business.
George Bakiwanya is a Financial Accountant
gbakiwanya@gmail.com