My Hustle: To Quit High-Salary Job to Almost Starve in a New Business
What’s your opinion on the perfect job?
While people desire and actively chase different jobs it’s all grounded on the premise of stability and financial goals.
How do you explain a scenario where a well paid employee in a stable career suddenly quits to found a start up? It’s crazy.
Take the case of Nduta, now in her mid-30’s.
She’s married, with two kids in primary school. She’s spent a decade, climbing up the ladder in the human resources department of a middle-tier firm.
The job pays well – the family lives in the suburbs, good schools, drives a decent sedan and an annual vacation.
It’s an easy job. What makes it easy is that she walks out of the office exactly at 4pm. She works Monday to Friday, accumulates leave days.
She doesn’t get work emails and texts over weekends, or asked to attend any Zoom meetings. She can call in sick, if need raises – which is often for a young parent.
Nduta is content and happy at her workplace. But, suddenly, an uncontrollable itch bites.
She wants to brand herself differently. There’s more to life than just a 8 to 5, right? She starts to believe, inspired by her earlier challenges to refurbish and decorate her house. She had imported all her materials.
Could I not bridge the gap, with the importation of cutlery and interior decor fittings?
Nduta does some basic internet search on requirements, then quietly registers a firm.
Then, she quits her job.
Her husband thought she was bat crazy. How could you? It didn’t help much that she had little to support her business idea, well – other than a ‘gut feeling’.
To her, it felt much getting a new baby. In every aspect, it was exactly like having a baby. She gave alot of hours, weekends, late night calls and texting….
It took alot to get the new business going. Sometimes, she’d even forget her children’s birthdays!
There were lots of dry spells, zero business.
Nduta would use these spells to invest in herself. She started attending business forums and building networks. She learnt the skills and tricks of trade.
It’s in a trade forum, Nduta gained the solution for her major headache – CAPITAL. She learned about trade finance.
Now, she’s in a position to handle large orders, and has gainfully started seeking big tenders with county governments.
Trade Finance refers to an external source of working capital finance. It is a form of short-term credit typically used by companies that export or import goods. It’s usually secured against goods, or backed by an insurance policy.
In Kenya, Co-operative Bank has demystified trade finance for their business customers, by availing various instruments.
These instruments are:
- Bid Bonds
- Letters of Credit
- Performance Bonds
- Custom Bonds
- Advance Payment Guarantees
- Credit Guarantees
In this regard, Co-op Bank has made local and international business flow easier, by offering crucial business solutions.
These include:
- LPO Financing
- Bills Discounting
- Invoice Discounting
- Post Import Finance/Import Duty Finance
- Supply Chain Finance/Distributor Finance
Well, trade finance business solutions is available to Co-op Bank customers at all branches countrywide.
