Don’t be held prisoner by your Degree/Masters – A CORONA VIRUS SPECIAL

Inspiration has been quite lacking lately, forgive my extended absence from the keyboard. For the right combination of words to come together, an out of norm happenstance is key. The unfortunate bit being that the current dispensation of events does not allow much exploration or travel lest the president makes a decree that will leave you high and dry in a place your budget can only take you a maximum of a weekend. 

The year 2020 has not been easy on anyone, given the current state of affairs as I pen this, It is not going to get any easier. So buckle up and dig into your inner creative and survival instinct. Where survival and sheer will to get by are involved, your higher diploma, degree, masters and Phd have nothing to do with it. Pride, social standing and image will not get you on the other side. What you are not being told, is the fact that, mask wearing, sanitizing and social distancing are just preambles. The real havoc will be the mass destruction of livelihoods due to the mass layoffs and general degeneration of the world economy. It is going to take a toll even on the strongest among us.

Sometimes back towards the end of march, a friend was at Mamabear high pressure car wash getting his regular gleam. Now I have never understood the fascination of grown men with their cars being washed. I thought I was alone in this boyish indulgence, a quick arbitrary survey proved me wrong. While my friend was enjoying the high pressure splash, the usual pleasantries out of the way (Wife, kid(s) and work in that very strict order as per one Biko Zulu, a master in this craft that is penmanship). How is business? I asked. Things are grim bro, I am considering closure. That bad? I asked again. Situation untenable bro, things were tricky before Covid 19 now Imagine how we are now. What do you think I should do bro? I once read somewhere that people only ask for advice so as to solidify their already defined action plan.

Whatever you do, don’t close shop, I went ahead and doled out my experience with temporary breaks in business and the incredulous energies required to bounce back. Something in my friend’s eye told me, he was going to close either way, so I went easy and said, however, you are the one in the messy situation and best placed to make a good judgement call. It was on  a Saturday, come Monday he closed shop. This was just at the beginning of the hard hitting measures to slow down the spread of Covid 19. It has been a slippery slope for most businesses henceforth, worse if you are involved in any way with the entertainment industry.

Why bring seemingly innocent academic certifications into a monster virus pandemic that seems not to care who you are or where you are in the world? Long before Coronavirus, we were not strangers to economic meltdowns, literal giants like Nakumatt went down waay before Coronavirus, and with them a huge number of people who lost their step big time because, never in their wildest imagination would they have envisaged a mammoth like Nakumatt going down. With such security in mind …., not necessarily of tenure but still security nonetheless, many never had a side hustle or a fallback strategy. They were caught flatfooted. Savings are good for a rainy day but not a fallback and better yet not the best strategy when it comes to surviving pandemics and the reason some of them are still faltering to date, 2 years later.

Back to degrees and what not. Now, the unfortunate bit when it comes to our institutions of higher learning is that they never really train us to be business owners, nuuh, they condition and narrow our imagination towards  a utopian future of white collar employment. In my undergraduate class back In Kenyatta University, not once were we taught on how to navigate the complexities of starting and managing your own business. The closest thing to this was an entrepreneurship unit where we scientifically delved into the persona of an entrepreneur hahaha!

My biggest irk with these papers is the aura of self Importance they propagate into the graduates. The foolhardy belief that they are better than some income generating activities. Unbeknownst to them is that some of the finest gems are well hidden in the most unpleasant of places. Now Imagine coming with such a mentality to the Corona economy, where mass layoffs are not news because people are dying by the thousands across the globe! The Corona economy requires agility and  a total obliteration of pride from your vocabulary. In the branding world we were rendered jobless immediately the lock-downs were imposed and essential goods and services were the only thing people talked of. After  a whole month of pity party and next to nothing sales. I saw my counterparts in Nairobi customizing masks and selling them at extortionist prices. I got my bulb moment right there, and it has not been the same ever since. I can proudly say that selling of branded masks got me through the worst stretch in business.

I have had to double up as a cabbie with Flash cabs, house cleaning calls and literally taken any job that would translate money into my pocket. We are not at the end yet, but I have the strength of mind of a Samurai and the flexibility of a midfielder on a football pitch. 

A Facebook friend has the right mindset, I have seen him change tact with every curve-ball thrown at him. His pre-school was gulped by the Covid 19 monster as schools were the very first victims in the mass closures that were to follow. Being the adaptable one, he unsuccessfully tried to launch online classes, unfortunately Bungoma is still a rural town and most parents did not welcome news of having to pay for virtual classes. So one day he takes his farm produce to the farmers market only to run into the cartels that are the ladies that retail them. Still the adaptable one, he makes a Facebook post encouraging his friends to come purchase from his car’s boot at an agreed place. Just like that an online groceries store was born and now he has a team of enthusiastic young men helping him cover more ground. 

The reason I am giving these examples is because many of you are going to lose your jobs and will be engulfed in a pity party instead of being adaptable. Discard of that piece of paper, do not be held prisoner by it. It will not fill your belly and those of your loved ones. You will have to tap into your inner creative and figure out how else to earn a living other than what you already know. To my soldiers on the business battlefield now is not the time to close shop, ( well not unless your business expressly contravenes social distancing regulations) and even then, figure out something, anything really … that will get you limping by. It will be extremely difficult for most businesses that are facing closure right now to bounce back.

Wash your hands, sanitize, wear a mask and most importantly get really creative!