Michael Joseph's BIG secret: Billionairethink Kenya Issue No 1

A lot has changed since I started the Kumekucha blog in May 2005. That realization came crushing down on me last week when I realized how upset JUBILEE supporters here were at me. And for what? Being honest as I have always been? In the good old days people didn't care what positive thing or negative point you were revealing about any political party. These days the atmosphere in the country remains toxic with tribal ma-feelings. You can thank Kibaki for that and his desperation to get re-elected in 2007, even when the people of Kenya had already said NO!!

Anyway I still love my guys who happen to be sympathizers of the ruling party. I DO NOT love you less for your political views (and I don't want you to change your political views EVER). BUT I urge you to return the favor... and NOT love me less because I said some bad (but 1000% TRUE) things about a political party that has never paid you kshs 5/-
...if you can overcome those demons of tribalism. Am sure you can.

Let's move on, shall we?

Today I am happy to stay out of politics and talk about something we can all agree on. Business and making money.

Money is very, very tight in Kenya just now. And things are bound to get worse according to my economist friend and chief advisor who you guys have to thank for the fact that I have never gotten economic predictions wrong in here in Kumekucha.

I know for a fact that some of you are in business and others are aspiring to go into business and so I know you will be delighted at the launch of our brand new section every Monday in Kumekucha dubbed Billionairethink that talks about making money and gives you some invaluable tips which I am certain will help any entrepreneur or start up turn around things.

It is run by a guy we call in the office "the other Chris". Christopher Kyalo who has been a business consultant (for mostly start-ups and small businesses) in Kenya for close to 20 years now and has written many books some of which we have shared here with you here in Kumekucha (and many of you have written back thanking me, lakini you did not attach my ka-commission from the cash you made as a result (just kidding).

In this post I provide a download/read-only link to information that you guys will find fascinating KABISA. It is how you and your loved ones will deal with the coming very difficult months. According to Dr. David Ndii, the current government (NOT Kikuyus) has plundered so much so that our economy is on its' knees meaning that we are already in trouble even if most of us don't know it yet. Ndii said that. NOT me (so please no ma-feelings).

The Safaricom story is a fairytale that every entrepreneur in Kenya and beyond should learn plenty from. How does a company that did not exist just the other day suddenly become the most profitable company in the region?

Well, you can be sure that it did not happen by accident or fluke. It all started with the arrival of a mzungu (in his late fifties) with a briefcase to a small office in the then Telecoms house. The room was so small that it is smaller than the single rooms that most Kenyans rent countrywide in big cities and towns.

To his head office the mzungu was nothing. Just a hard working man who had very limited formal education and could therefore NOT be sent to a big market in Europe or South East Asia. But what made a huge difference was the BIG get-customers secret that mzungu had in his briefcase (more about that in a bit. That secret can help anybody do BIG miracles!!

Interestingly this mzungu, was sent to Kenya by a company called Vodafone which is a giant British group that is one of the world's largest mobile operators. Vodafone had just bought majority shares in Safaricom from Kenya Posts and Telecommunications a collapsing government parastatal then that had been robbed blind by politicians.

The bosses in London believed that it was impossible for Kenya to get more than 400,000 people owning a mobile phone. To them Kenya would always be a "small market". And it looked like they were NOT wrong because when the mzungu they sent arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, Safaricom had only 20,000 customers.

That mzungu who was sent by Vodafone is of course Michael Joseph. Incidentally one of the other reasons Mr Joseph ended up in Kenya was because of his limited formal education. Economist magazine put it thus; Mr Joseph was picked for the Kenyan job because he lacked the finishing-school polish required to be a European boss.

The lesson here is that it is NOT a good formal education that makes you successful or enables you to get plenty of customers for your make-money venture. A good formal education is good but if life never gave you that it is NOT THE END.

But what BIG get-customer secret did Mr Joseph have in his briefcase that has transformed Safaricom from that small room in Telecoms house to one of the biggest and most profitable companies in East and central Africa and beyond?

What secret is this that was also applied to a small struggling clothes boutique by this writer (the other Chris) with magical results? Get all your answers in seconds in the eMag.
Download/Read it now for free.