DO NOT IGNORE THOSE SMALL IDEAS

 While listening to a certain television session I learnt of a Cooperative that started as a Village Saving and Loan Association with only 16 members who wanted to improve their welfare. Today this cooperative has over 5 branches in South Western Uganda and has impacted so many lives. If a group of ordinary rural farmers could have the courage to start in a humble way and today their initiative has over 40,000 members and has impacted the community, the question to the youths and elite in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, is why do we fear to start small? I have spent the last 5 years conducting financial literacy training at the grassroot level especially among the youths and women . What I have learnt is that some youths especially at university are scared to start small. All they care about is studying to pass and get that dream job in a corporate entity. This is good but it is no longer sufficient for any university student to study and wait for a blue collar job. With the decline in donor funds big funders such as USAID have reduced funding to a number of civil society organizations that employed various Ugandans. The question is where do we run to? 

Entrepreneurship can no longer be a casual topic that is pursued on a part time basis. The university student now has the duty of evaluating everything that they study so that they can apply it to real life situations. One time I was training an entrepreneurship class at a certain university and I saw a university student selling sweets to her friends in class. I pointed out that she was creative because she was displaying her entrepreneurial spirit. Most of the most successful entrepreneurs started small. They were doubted but they did not give up on their dreams. The Wright brothers were not experienced engineers but they believed in their dream. Henry Ford gave instructions to his experienced group of Engineers to design an Engine but in their minds they had already failed. He insisted that he wanted it done and today that is history. What about Colonel Sanders who founded KFC at the age of 65 years when all he had was a chicken recipe. He tried to market it to various investors but they did not believe in his dream. He persisted and today KFC is a global company.

Today we live in a generation that views success from the top. One wants to build an arcade over night. Is it surprising that in a Daily Monitor article that was released on 24th May 2025 that very many young people are addicted to gambling. Some have dropped out of school because they want easy money. Many youths have sold off their valuable property to fund their gambling appetite. They have lost sight of their dreams yet they are the majority in the country. It is time we change the narrative.

HOW TO BELIEVE IN OUR DREAMS

1.It starts with God

2.Associate with successful people

3.Write down your goals

4.Read positive books

5.Seek mentorship and coaching

6.Have a teachable spirit

7.Start small

8.Avoid self comparisons

9.Be humble.


Most successful companies started small and the founders were despised. But if all the great inventors had succumbed to critics where would the world be? Thomas Edison failed over 1000 times but he never quit and he invented the light bulb. The question is what is holding us back from pursuing our dreams?

For individual and corporate financial literacy training contact :

Coach Phillip Kiryowa

Personal Finance Coach (CMA)

Master Trainer,Bank of Uganda

Founder, Advanced Empowerment Link 

0752615916

For Financial Freedom and Sustainable Enterprises

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