Hey dolls,
But then I
remembered something I read recently, a relatively new Nigerian Founder
investing seed capital in another. I don’t think anything has made me as happy
in recent times as reading that. Because ultimately, African businesses will
grow on African capital.Which capital you ask? There’s so few of us funded. We are
all still basically hustling. Well, true. But I believe we can all do more that
we are currently doing.
I’m in the middle of exiting the baby store. (More on
that in several blog posts later, figures crossed). And the process has taken me
back to the time I was scavenging for capital. I basically started that
business with the equivalent of $100 but to actually build the business, I
needed more. And I talked to several people. Anyone and everyone I could speak
to, I did. Heck, I applied for the youth fund.
I sank up to $10,000 of my own money (some of that a personal loan taken out from
a bank), $3000 from a dear friend and $2000 from my mother. I was 24. I was a
single mum. I was lucky. I don’t know a single 24 year old right now who can pull
that off. It was a grueling time. I do not recommend it for anyone. I am an
insomniac. And I think it comes from that time. There is nothing like the
thought of free-falling into poverty to keep you awake for eternity. The way I
got through that time was the constant reminder from my parents that they got
me. I just started living on my own at the start of this year because I can
finally be able to pay bills, pay back that loan(still paying, heh!) and
have some left over for investment and "life".
That experience truly scarred me and Zimba has been a lean mean machine till recently that we got a little bit of funding. Now, I don’t have a lot of money but because of what I went
through, I try to give back as much as I can in whatever way I can. I am
currently part of a group of young Ugandans trying to set up a Angel Fund
because they like me believe in increasing the sources of funding for
entrepreneurs in this country because sadly the people who should be doing it,
aren’t. We contribute a certain amount monthly in the hope that after a year, we will have raised enough to invest a significant amount as well as attract other people that would be willing to join the fund. I give my time to advise and mentor. I try as much as
possible to send opportunities for funding and otherwise to people in my network. My mother
(best business cheerleader ever) gave me a data modem, paid up for a year. I
gave this to my CTO who’s building his own startup. (She’s going to kill me
when she reads this.)
But I believe in people and not just because so many people have
believed in me but because all we have is ultimately each other. So I will put my money where my mouth is as others have done
for me. I hope to one day have the capacity
to actually fund in a big way so many of the people I see executing brilliant
ideas so wonderfully on extreme budgets. I got this from arguably the most interesting founder I've ever met, an extremely brilliant South African;
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.” ― Kurt Vonnegut.
