Lizzie Muthoni Wanyoike is the founder and CEO of the Nairobi Institute of Business Studies (NIBS).
Secret to building wealth: In order for you to make money and build wealth, you must be prepared to spend, sometimes even more than the business is making. Nonetheless, loans are a great means of financing and growing wealth. They always work when utilized properly. Personally, I have borrowed heavily from banks at certain points. When I’ve borrowed, though, I have always ensured that I am able to sufficiently repay. I have come to also learn that it is important to invest the wealth you get in your children, share it with those who help you build it, as well as the less fortunate in your community.
Saving: Always try to save, no matter how small the amount is. It could soon prove to be your most important asset. For instance, before I started NIBS, my late husband was very supportive financially. So I saved all my salary and also invested in some very cheap plots, which later became very prime pieces. I sold them and from my salary and savings, and a loan from Equity Bank, I started NIBS.
Educational entrepreneurship: Over the years that I have been in this field, I have come to learn that this is an area that is different from other businesses. To sustain yourself, money must not always come first, but rather, the impact of the product you’re offering to the society. Taking profit as a by-product has been my key to success. The problem for many, though, has been venturing into this field purely to make a quick kill. This is the reason behind poor quality, mushrooming colleges.
Money in Entrepreneurship vs Employment: I have always believed that it is important to start by getting employed for a period of not less than two years before you venture into entrepreneurship. This is because employment is the best teacher on how to become an employer! When you are ready for business, the only way you will make money is by giving a product or a service that people are willing to buy repeatedly.
Financial milestone: Putting up an institution of higher learning that has all the requisite qualifications and learning facilities to operate, and that has a clean track record remains my bastion of pride. Later this year, I am looking forward to opening the new hotel I have been building. It has not been easy but it has made me appreciate that in deed hard work pays! Honesty in business, too, is a must have!
Losses: So far, I haven’t faced any financially threatening losses. This is because I am not a risk taker. I fear to lose or fail in anything that I am not so sure of.
Partnerships in business: One of the gems of entrepreneurship I remember my husband for is his advice not to get into partnerships even with close friends or relatives. Partnerships are the most difficult businesses to sustain. There will always be misunderstandings, especially with one party feeling that they deserve a higher stake. Nonetheless, family businesses can be easier if there is an amicable succession plan in place.
Starting a side hustle: Starting a side hustle has several sides to it. You may be employed in a company that does not allow that. But if this will not have any effect on your current job, you can do it, may be after work or weekends. But why most of these fail is because getting someone you can trust with your savings, can be challenging. Some people put their relatives, as close as, sisters and brothers or in-laws, but it ends very badly, as it is very difficult to trust many people with money. The choice is yours, it can work or fail but the most sustainable is the one you do yourself.
Mistakes: From when I started NIBS, I cannot see any major mistakes I have made as far as NIBS Technical College is concerned. But can say that NIBS came up as a desperate move to counter a serious mistake I made in Life. A mistake that cost me many years of hard work, having blindly trusted people close to me so much. I did not put in place the most important things in my life that I should have done in my early and youthful life. As a result I ended up losing a lot of what I had created in those years; I had taken things for granted. I had to re-start my life afresh, and what I used was the Education I had acquired, the trust I had created in Society and my experience in teaching and management. I was a very good teacher with my student performing excellently and parent trusted me with their children. So when I started NIBS, what worked for me was the goodwill I had created.