{"id":124,"date":"2020-04-07T09:04:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T09:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flashbyte.co.ke\/joel_flash\/?p=124"},"modified":"2020-04-16T07:48:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T07:48:19","slug":"entrepreneurship-business-chewing-glass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flashbyte.co.ke\/joel_flash\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"Entrepreneurship\/Business = Chewing glass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cRunning a start-up is like chewing glass and staring into the abyss. After a while, you stop staring, but the glass chewing never ends\u201d. – Elon Musk<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Elon Musk is a big deal in the Techpreneur space, with mighty accomplishments (If this is the first time you are getting acquainted, kindly google him)! But even he realizes that entrepreneurship is not a walk in the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A homie  who was also a highschool mate recently paid me a courtesy call.  After exchanging the usual pleasantries he goes like\u2026 \u201cYou folks in business\/entrepreneurship have it easy. All you have to do is establish yourself and it is  smooth sailing onwards\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was shook man! Like what the hell is my long-time  friend going on about? Is he deranged or something?? Haven\u2019t I documented my struggles enough?? So many questions ran through my head not to mention a couple of choice words hahaha! However, what came out was a feeble\u2026. \u201cMaybe you are right!\u201d. I simply did not have the wherewithal to engage my seemingly clueless friend, so I changed the topic to something \u201ceasy\u201d\u2026.. Covid 19 and the craziness surrounding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who knows me and has a clue about my journey thus far knows very well that it has not been smooth sailing, in fact, now that I think about it, I have never really gone into the torrid details of what my journey has been. Save for my wife and business associates, very few can recount my struggles in their very graphic nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will not delve into my shortcomings on this one because I  feel it comes with the Entrepreneurship bible\u2026 \u201cAmplify your successes and talk less or not at all of your failings\u201d. Or maybe I should break the cycle of abuse<\/em><\/strong> and give you one episode of the never ending Telenovela that is my journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think I should<\/strong>. So here it goes\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once upon a time I was the Town\u2019s (Bungoma) high flying event organizer. What started as Whatsapp group hangouts was cultivated into a business model, Just that it wasn\u2019t the best model there is. Sometimes back in 2013, having started my DVD shop ( popularly known as movie shop) I realized I had amassed quite the following 15 months in. I actually didn\u2019t know this fact yet; Whatsapp groups were just catching on. What started as a way to thank my customers by throwing a small party, with invitees being my Whatsapp group members right in front of my small shop, turned into my next business model. The party was off its hinges! The turn up waaaay more than the 50 members that was the limit Whatsapp groups were going by then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My maiden voyage..er… I mean my very first event was a pool party at the old Sarasa gardens. The very first of its kind in Bungoma! I was charging 500 advance tickets and 1000 at the gate. Everyone thought I was crazy! In Bungoma??  You\u2019re mental mate! Voila! The turn up was amazing, I even broke even! Totally incredulous given how events can totally take you back to the village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basking in the fleeting success of the pool party, I hosted Sudiboy at club Drips in Kanduyi in an event I dubbed The Red black and white affair. <\/em><\/strong>I went negative Kes 20,000 and shed tears on my way to the ATM after being handed to the measly gate collections.I didn\u2019t stop there. I figured that if I roped in a partner and with the shared risk, maybe this time it would not be that baaad…right? WRONG!! I was high on the imagination that I could go regional, so using my contacts I got in touch with H_Art The Band\u2019s management. They had just hit fame with their new hit single Uliza Kiatu <\/em><\/strong>and I <\/em><\/strong>leveraged the fact that they had never got a gig out of Nairobi into paying a very good rate. Talked my host club, Club 411 into footing some of their riders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eldoret gave me beginners luck. The turn up was excellent. Save for them rejecting my halloween poster, which they claimed was short for advertising devil worship, everything else went well. The club held their end of the bargain and I held mine as well. A small negative was incurred which split 3 ways, didn\u2019t leave me wailing like the Sudi boy gig did. A friend from campus who was a silent investor still calls me names to date for returning his 30k with a dent. Hahaha! You\u2019d think after all these missteps, that I would\u2019ve learned, maybe improve my model or call it a day. I did not, I was in my mid twenties and the allure of being celebrated was beckoning. I simply couldn\u2019t stop, wouldn\u2019t stop!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did perform a couple of tweaks on my model. I put out of town events on an indefinite hiatus, and focused on growing Bungoma talent. We had done the town’s maiden commercial theatrical play, and the audience was half the red cross hall. I tasked my team with creating another play, a more compelling title, MY BUKUSU DARLING<\/em><\/strong> and partnered with some local brands. Voila! I registered my first positive figure! Boy was I beside myself with joy!! The problem with events is that folks tire with a concept quickly. Three more plays down the line and the audience shrunk considerably. I decided to throw a beauty pageant as a shake up. Unfortunately, no one was willing to partner on this one besides the local Hotel that hosted us. I broke even in an event that cost north of 150k to put together, my most expensive at the moment. I should have quit while I was still ahead but I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pushed my luck by putting together the town’s very first street festival using the then Shenanigans bar, now Shaleen\u2019s, as the control center. Locals who were not so amused by some movie shop fella closing down a street just to himself, called the cops on me. The same cops I had already made arrangements with before and even had a letter from. Needless to say, the 3 hour disruption to my scheduled start time left me with a 60k loss. I asked for a  loan from the bar which had amazing sales on that night and talked to my partners to allow me to repay my deficit in labour. I was managing the joint at the time as a side hustle. I paid my dues but didn\u2019t learn my lesson. I hosted a couple more plays, themed night parties and even tried to re-enact the pool party mojo but failed terribly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n