Educated or not, if you can read or write, you have a minimum foundation to earn a living. You have no reason to just sit. The starting point is being a person of high moral standing and trustable. Next is acquiring hands-on or practical skills. People are always looking for house helpers, electricians, drivers, secretaries, car cleaners, people to send for errands or to the market, gate keepers, people to wash clothes, typists (especially for very busy people), Graphic designers, Camera men, sales persons, aides, people to drop and pick kids from school, etc. As long as they know you…

A story is told of an Emperor who allowed himself to be dressed in the finest suite of new clothes, which he had been told “had the special capability that it was invisible to anyone who was either stupid or not fit for his position.”  In his special suite, he held a procession through town, never admitting that he was too unfit and stupid to see what he was wearing. He was afraid that people would think that he was stupid.  The story goes on that “all the townspeople wildly praised the magnificent clothes of the emperor, afraid to admit…

What is the strategy in your strategic plan? In this part 2, we continue to explore the weaknesses of using the traditional approach; d)Easy to be predicted by the competitors The traditional approach does not offer a unique strategy. The result is a strategy and a plan that can easily be predicted or guessed by the competitor. The same challenge happens when the Balance score card performance measurement tool is used in developing a strategy. The competitor can easily predict the strategy because; i.The Vision, Mission, Values and goals are usually available publicly via the website or annual reports. These…

In this part 6 of willpower, I continue on the importance of positive float On the 5 August 2004, I boarded a taxi heading to Kireka (a city suburb where I used to live). In the taxi I sat next to an old man. He had an Obote like haircut and looked well educated. I just sat quietly. As we were approaching Spear motors junction, after a 10 minutes’ drive, the old man tapped on me and said: Hi, young man. What do you do? I looked at him and intoned: “I am a consultant. I help people solve their…

To win, you must think strategically. To do so, you must understand the difference between a strategy and a plan. Many people confuse a strategy and a plan. In this issue we explore the difference between the two. Strategy Strategy is about choices which a company makes on how it will win with its customers and stakeholders against the competition. The business or organization activities can be divided into two (i) Revenue generation; (ii) Operations and project activities implementation. Revenue generation is concerned with the business model. How does the company make money? Is it sustainable? Usually, top management (tactical…

The Willpower to succeed To succeed, you must lose the fear of failure. It is so unfortunate that many people do not want to hang around failures. On 22nd July 2016, different media outlets published a list of over 66 companies that they claimed are facing financial hardships and are seeking a bailout from government. The list included large companies involved in manufacturing, mining, hospitality and education. In the Uganda Vision 2040, manufacturing, mining, education and tourism are some of the core identified priority sectors for economic growth. The list contains companies linked to executives who have been at the…