It's amazing how many of us have 10 companies all doing different business activities e.g Construction, IT, Plumbing, Auto Parts and so fourth. More astonishing is the fact that one person runs all this companies by themselves so imagine what this Kenyan has to deal with:
Being a jack-of-all-trades dictates that you are well read in the various fields you serve. If you are not, then my friend you are in for a lot of trouble.
You issue out a card saying you are a contractor yet you have absolutely no idea of concrete mixtures and structural loading. So basically, you have been pushing for a contract, let's say, from your buddy in the Ministry of Works and he/she lands it to you. We therefore start consultations with Google to provide basic ideas of construction and bam the information slaps the screen. You quickly scheme through it finding out that you need more skills such as project management which has planning, resource accounting and budgeting. The next question that you'll ask yourself is "Where do I start?"
SOLUTION:
- After starting a company, try and look for human resource to ease out your tasks. This will increase the efficiency of your organisation, increase productivity and reduce your workload as the lead officer. You cannot be the CEO, CTO, Purchasing Manager, Operations Manager, Sales Representative and Marketting Manager all at a go.
- In the event that you cannot deliver a job due to work force constraints, please OUTSOURCE. That way you save your reputation. However outsourcing can leave you with quite small margins but it's important you get the job going. Failure to deliver makes your client's unhappy therefore you loose business and the will to give up.
- Before starting a business please identify your main income generating activity. Don't be swayed into sugar and maize deals when you clearly know that is not your line of business. If you're a guru in Agriculture, stay in it. When you have the resources to grow diversify to something you have researched on.
