Bryan Kariuki is CEO at Cellulant Corporation (Kenya), a mobile commerce company with branches in 10 African countries.
Biggest money mistake: I’ve been lucky that I’ve earned relatively well all through my career. However, at some point this served to make me quite complacent and I neglected planning what to do with the money I earned. Saving and investing is critical for wealth creation, and is simply didn’t start early enough.
Biggest loss: I had been working quite intensively for three months to launch a business in South Africa. However, the company I was working for, Rocket Internet, pulled the plug on the project because the market was not ready. I have since learned that while it’s important to be optimistic in business, you should never fight the realities of the market. After a loss or failure, it’s critical to get your head back in the game as quickly as possible. After my business launch failure, I bounced back with my next project which saw me launch operations in Kenya with Hello Food (now Jumia Food).
Lesson from my greatest milestone: I was nominated as one of the ‘Top 40 Men Under 40’ last year at the age of 29. It was exciting. However, how I achieved this through my career is not as important as what I realized when I achieved it. I realized that it matters very little, because it is essentially the same as congratulating a marathoner at the 10km mark! I still have the rest of my life to live! 10km in, I am learning to be at my best when immersed in something deeply challenging.
If I were to start again: I would start saving earlier. I would also spend more time contemplating on why I do what I do because far too many are content with simply rolling along within grooves forged by others. Finally, I’d focus my efforts as early in life as possible, on mastering myself. The real battle for most of us is self-mastery. World domination is pretty easy after that!
Saving method: I follow the good old fashioned way of budgeting and putting away savings from the minute my income hits my account. To make this effective, I have placed standing orders on how that income is allocated.
Secret to career success: I don’t think women go wrong any more than men do. For instance, leaving their jobs to take care of their kids is often a good and clear decision once the definition of success is expanded. My wife for instance is a medical doctor, but she has chosen to stay at home and raise the kids, while working on her marital, motherhood and health blog. In the workplace, what you do is actually less important than how you do it. This means that you stop worrying so much about finding the perfect job, and instead focus on doing your job perfectly. Your work is craft, and if you hone your ability and apply it with respect and care, then you can generate meaning in the daily efforts of your professional life.
