gave me any air time . They benched me for hours on end waiting . I was made to talk to junior staff who could not make decisions . And in some shops , I was dismissed before I could even say my second name . But I tried . I finally settled with a small retail shop that welcomed me and agreed to build a distribution network from scratch .
Maybe I struggled in Nyahururu because I assumed that good locations or distributors are easy to find . The distributors in Nyahururu were not vacant . They were already selling something else . I had perhaps forgotten the valuable but straightforward advice I was given by my uncle a long time ago when I was ready to get married . He told me , " My nephew , nice things are never vacant for long . So , be vigilant , be patient , and put your best foot forward . Be ready to fight for what you want . Never settle for less when you can get the best ."
That advice was corroborated later by an intelligent and astute businessman who was our Unga Group distributor in Naivasha . He advised me that when looking for a good location , don ' t look for a vacant spot . Vacant places are always empty because they are not the best . Instead , when you figure out the right
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place , look for a struggling business in that location and buy it out . That added the other aspect about nice things ; they don ' t come cheap .
Lack of planning and urgency can lead to desperation . And desperation may lead to settling for whatever is available and not necessarily the best . I was looking for suitable billboards around Nairobi . I contracted an agency to help me with that task . I immediately got a list of vacant billboards around Nairobi . The agency called me later and asked : " Which ones do you like ?". " None ," I replied without any hesitation . When I reviewed the available and vacant billboard sites , the Naivasha businessman ' s advice about vacant spots dawned on me plainly .
Three days after that conversation , I called the agency and insisted that I want to drive around and see all the strategic billboards that are taken and not available at the moment . One Sunday morning , we met with the agency rep and drove around Nairobi , identifying strategically located billboards . I told the representative to book for the best and ideal spaces , and we will put up the billboards when they become available .
When I worked at East Africa Breweries
Limited , we spent lots of time thinking about how to do the ' right thing " in the " right place - location ". If you discover you are in the wrong place , relocate . You could be busy putting a round peg in a square hole . Even Israelites in the bible relocated , Abraham relocated , and Jacob relocated . Being in the right place with the right products or services is the hallmark of business success . If your target group doesn ' t come to you , go to them .
A lady friend of mine moved from Nairobi to Mombasa to attract mzungus , her dream target group . Before she left , I offered her the same advice given to me a long time ago by my uncle ; " nice things are always taken and are never vacant for long . You are now relocating to the right place . Go there and do the right thing . Be patient , put your best foot forward and be ready to fight for the best ." Business or love happened , and now she is happily married somewhere in Norway .
Herman Githinji is a Management Consultant and a Director at Rhombus Ready Mix Concrete Company . You can commune with him on this and related issues via email on : Hermangithinji @ gmail . com .
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