Objectives in business
The Namibian economy is a mixed economy. This means that it has a public sector and a private sector. Each of these sectors has different motives or objectives. The aim of a business in the private sector is to make a maximum of profit. Thus a private sector business will produce at the maximum difference between its revenue and its total cost to provide a return for its shareholders.
The objective of a public sector business (also referred to as a State-Owned Enterprise in Namibia), is centred on providing a public service, rather than making a profit. I therefore leave the state-owned enterprises out of our discussion here as they are already discussed in the previous chapter.
I am a business
Not having grown up in a rich family I learnt very early on the value of my labour. My first job as a teenager was to pack apples at Model Supermarket. Over weekends I would put on my green jacket and walk to the supermarket to be at the job at 07H00 in the morning. I would work six hours on a Friday, nine hours on a Saturday, and six hours on a Sunday, thus around 80 hours a month at the hourly rate of R 1,02.
Now you might think that does not seem like a lot, but remember I was earning money while my fellow pupils (who would often make jokes about me) were not. At R80, I was earning 20% of what a nurse earned for a full months work!
During my University years, I continued working at Model, though by now working on the checkout counters or manning the ice-cream booth. I was also lucky to get an evening job as Assistant Barman at the M&Z Restaurant, for R 20.00 per evening. In my second year of University I was able to secure a Junior Lecturer’s post teaching Computer Science practicals and was able to also now enjoy my weekends.
(The best part of working as a barman in 1989 was that most of my customer were from UNTAG, the transition forces of the United Nations.)
As the years progressed I have often found myself doing an “odd-job’ in my personal capacity that had nothing to do with my career, for example, creating websites, consultancy work on e-commerce, etc.
Whenever we think about business we tend to think of something with premises, employees, assets and sales. Rarely do we consider ourselves (as individuals), as a business unit.
I leant that for every effort put in by me leads to an income which I can use for my benefit. Over the past twenty years I have come to realise that the successful entrepreneur sees their business as their own efforts. The “buying” of machines or workers is a means of increasing their own earning power. Thus only the best is bought, not the cheapest.
The most important part about business for me has been the ability to network. I refer here to the people that know of me and recommend my services or abilities.
Probably the best example (and there are many), has been how I got the job to be the Namibian delegate at UNIDO in Paris, France. The position had been proposed to the Namibian government a few times since 1991, but no suitable candidate had been identified. The UNIDIO representative in Namibia mentioned this to some friends who had opened a business in Namibia. The businessman immediately suggested “Milton Louw. He works at the Chamber of Commerce and was very helpful in getting all my paperwork to establish my business.”
A few weeks later, the Director of UNIDO in Paris called me and offered me the position. At no time did I apply for it, in fact, my CV was never requested before I accepted the job.
It was really a matter of who you know, not what you know!
Business Organisations in Namibia
The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the umbrella organisation for business in Namibia. The NCCI is a form of network whose goal is to lobby for business interests in the country. The organisation has local representation at either regional or town level. The business owners are members and they select an Executive Committee to oversee the policy formulation of the chamber. If there are sufficient funds at the local level, they will appoint staff to run the organisation. The Head Office of the NCCI has permanent staff that is managed by a Chief Executive Officer.
The NCCI:
- Strives to create a strong Namibian economy
- Speaks with government on behalf of business
- Provides networking opportunities for its members
The NCCI has come through a struggle to be truly representative of the broad business community. It has achieved this, and a few of the local chambers are ding exceedingly well. In my mind, the most active branch is the Omaruru Branch. They have put their town literally on the map as the “Creative Centre” of the country.
The NCCI faces the following challenges:
- Black economic empowerment – specifically an issue of increasing the size of the pie rather than re-dividing shares of the pie;
- Managing change and innovation – within the administration to ensure delivery of membership services;
- Managing diversity – not only of the previously disadvantaged, but also the new entrants from China, Angola, etc.
- Commercialisation and Privatisation of state assets
The chamber movement at present is a voluntary membership organisation. I propose we prepare a Chamber Law and mandatory membership for all business operating in Namibia.
What is success?
I am successful! By definition, success is about attaining an objective. Thus to be successful means you meet your objectives.
The catch is what are your objectives? How do you go about setting these aims? Is it a haphazard guess - oooh I want to be rich? Or do you seriously sit down and take time to plan and concretise your objectives?
I was fortunate to have many wonderful teachers and mentors who, from an early age, encouraged me to achieve my objectives because they believed in me. One of the most important lessons I learnt was how to set an objective.
In school we are taught an objective should be SMART - that is:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic
T- Time-bound
This is easier said than done!!!!!! Nevertheless, once an objective is SMART, success is bound to happen.
One thing that has helped me over the years is the visualisation of my success. I spend time daydreaming about what it would be like to have achieved the success already. I even make a shopping list of the things I will buy with the money I plan on earning.
Another important part of achieving success is making sure I do not use the measuring stick of others. If you find money important, then use it as YOUR measure. BUT, for me acquiring knowledge and helping others is my measure.
In 1999, I was challenged to create a business plan for my business life. It took almost three years, but I completed a comprehensive plan in 2003. Of course, when I did the financials, I realised that at least N$ 10 million would be needed. Now, where was I going to get that kind of money?
Then a funny thing started happening. As the years have gone on, I evaluate the objectives set in the plan and guess what? I always meet, if not surpass, all the objectives set out in my plan. WITHOUT THE MONEY?
How do I do it you ask? The setting up of these objectives were SMART. The need for certain actions were written up. All I have to do is align myself with what the universe has seen to be the end result. I got no other answer than that.
So I end this with a suggestion to you. Prepare a Business Plan for your Life!