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Buying and selling is a good place for entrepreneurs to start, BUT...

__Is that your final destination?

Most entrepreneurs in Africa start their entrepreneurship journey through the business of Buying and Selling goods produced by someone else. This is a good place to start because it helps you to build up your capital, and to get into the vibe of running a business.

In fact, this is how most entrepreneurs got started. I remember sitting with Aliko Dangote and President Obasanjo with the President joking about “this young guy who imported and sold cement”.

BUT! It should not be an end in itself if you one day want to be like Aliko Dangote; you must build up your capital to do more!

Remember the story of Phil Knight, the founder of Nike? It’s there on Podcasts: https://www.sasai.global/podcast/ If you haven't already downloaded the App, or visited all the cool new innovations for awhile, then you're in for a big surprise.

Now if you've been listening to your Business Wars homework, you know Phil Knight first imported running shoes from Japan and sold them... from the boot of his car! He then began to manufacture his own shoe designs, after he had learnt to mobilize capital, and also had some of his own savings.

Today the company he founded is worth $230bn, and his own share of 22% is worth $51bn. The problem of some people though, who become successful by Buying and Selling, is that they make that the endgame...

__Instead of moving upstream, they become comfortable with enjoying wealth, buying houses and cars.

If you can avoid this trap, you are the next Aliko Dangote or Phil Knight. If you can't ...

Speaking of moving beyond Buying and Selling, I want you to check out the story of a Kenyan social enterprise launched about five years ago called "Enda Sportswear" which , , and Africa's high performance running shoes and sportswear. [Enda means "Go!" in Swahili].

The word "Harambee" is imprinted on the bottom of every shoe, and its logo is a Maasai spearhead (as on Kenya's flag). "Harambee" means let's all pull together, in this case "to bring Kenyan athletic greatness to runners around the world". [Some of Kenya's world-class runners have shared their expert advice on Enda shoe design].

Wow! Now if you listen to Business Wars you definitely know just how competitive the global footwear business is. So why did Enda's CEO and co-founder Navalayo Osembo-Ombati (trained as an accountant and lawyer) decide to leave her secure job at the United Nations in New York to return home with her husband and children to Kenya to become a shoepreneur? What did she ?

"I was looking at how other economies have flourished based on their reputation. For example the Germans. If you say a machine is from Germany, everybody automatically assumes its quality. It’s the same thing with Kenya and running. I was thinking, surely, with our reputation in running, how have we not monetized this in a way that actually helps the country move forward?"

Take note because I know you are going to ask: to put the vision in action, I understand they raised start-up capital in part through a campaign, transformed a flip-flop factory to a high performance shoe manufacturing site, secured IP protection, and now have (at least) five trademarks...!

Don’t be satisfied with just the pathway, but the destination.

'sCentury !

Where are YOU going?

Let's talk.

Image credit: Take a look at these Enda shoes! https://www.tapmagonline.com/tap/meet-navalayo-osembo-co-founder-ceo-of-enda-sportswear