adminno entry fee and it is near Harare.
A window of opportunity opened for our businesses and we started making money that we never imagined we could.
It was clear that we were not mentally prepared for this. James, Fundai, Tavaz and I started shunning Carolina except for Wilson.
The fun that used to paint our days at Carolina disappeared and it was replaced with reproach.
We would either travel to Mutirikwi, Osborne Dam, Mazvikadei or Nyanguni Dam on Fridays and then come back to Harare on Sunday.
Interestingly, our harvest did not increase but it actually declined but the fun increased.
Every Saturday afternoon we would throw parties at any of the dams. Our budgets for “clients’ entertainment” ballooned.
We would hire the Crowne Plaza outside catering team from Friday to Sunday. We would hire a lorry to ferry discos, generators and other provisions.
A full-time runner was employed to go down to South Africa every two weeks to bring “mature wine and whisky’’.
We would slaughter a “super grade” beast during our parties and we would compete to unveil our old man’s toys (latest cars), boats and fashion.
James had consistently drummed into us that the best way to win over people to you is to make them envious of you.
He would say: “A client must look at your shirt, trousers and watch and burn with envy and the rest will be history.”
After a while we sought new challenges, we got to know about good bass dams in Durban, East London, Cape Town, Beira, Blantyre and Gaborone.
We would fly in the business class to any of these destinations on Thursday and come back to Harare on Tuesday.
“A businessman must always travel with businessmen, talk with businessmen, drive like a businessman, dress like businessman, sleep like businessman.
“The good thing about owning a business is that all the expenses you incur will be paid for by your business,” Tavaz would always lecture to us.
Tavaz talked as if the business is a bottomless pit of money, which could finance anything.
The parties continued unabated in these foreign lands. They were known as the “bass masters bling bling parties”.
The lakeside toast became even louder. During the parties James would always remark: “This is a big thing, whatever I do, it must be big and I must do it in style.”
The few times Wilson questioned how we were affording such a lifestyle, I would tell him about the ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ story.
I would say: “A poor man will say I cannot afford this, but a rich man will say how can I afford this. If you want to have fun every weekend just ask yourself, how can I afford this?’’
This effectively reduced our working week to two days. Of the few weeks we did not go fishing, we would travel abroad.
We travelled all over the world for conferences, meetings, training and social networking.
We wined and dined with the aristocrats of this world though the tangible value which accrued to our individual companies was virtually non-existent.
These conferences and training workshops were only limited to us and not any other members of staff.
These flamboyant parties carried on until the four of us got our fingers burnt. To cut a long story short, our businesses collapsed under the weight of our seemingly unending demand for cash to finance our extravagant lifestyles.
Carolina Dam is, however, still in existence though James, Tavaz, Fundai and I collapsed. Each one of us started blaming the other for our misfortunes.
Evidently our businesses collapsed not from the lack of markets or the environmental factors but from our uncontrolled inflated egos.
Whatever organisations the lifestyle that the egoistic person in charge leads will eventually determine the fate of that organisation.
Over the past century the rules of businesses did not change only the enablers such as technology did.
This therefore implies that the good business practises such as astute cash flow management, banking cash intact, budgeting, project appraisals, astute Press relations and physical presence at work will always determine success of businesses in any environment.
Examples abound of people who easily become like a passing fad. When one traces back to see the reason why businesses fail, in most cases inflated egos and failure to
manage success come out tops and to a very small extent it boils down to changes in market trends.
On the other hand, Asians (particularly Indians) seem to control their success such that they easily go beyond two decades.
There is one striking difference between the Indians and the indigenous business people.
The Indians seem to demonstrate a culture of thriftness, never mind their success.
Though most of their businesses are family businesses, they seem to push the brand of their companies more than the individuals behind the business.
The few times I flew out I hardly saw the Asians in the business class. One successful Asian told me that the only time he flew business class was when he was forced to do so by an indigenous businessman, otherwise he does not mind flying even at the wing. This rich Asian still drives a small Toyota Corolla.
Merely sampling the few spectacular business failures of our black businesses, one cannot help noticing that these businesses had able board members and able managers but still succumbed to the egoistic wimps of the CEOs and collapsed. An inflated ego knows no bounds.
Currently most parastatals, public companies and private companies are reeling from liquidity challenges and not necessarily lack of market for their products.
Because of the egoistic nature of most of the crop of the current managers, they have successfully pegged their salaries and benefits beyond the capacities of their businesses. Take for instance, Air Zimbabwe, City of Harare, the list is endless.
Meeting Mr Hillary Duckworth 16 years ago was an eye-opener. Then he was the chief executive of Trans Zambezi Industries. He came to the meeting driving his single-cab second- hand Isuzu truck. Before he left, he told me to always remember to spend less and get the highest results.
He said he derived his success from ruthless management of company cost structures.
Though his companies were profitable, he did not allow them to overspend on unnecessary luxuries. His results spoke for themselves.
Naturally, businesses follow cycles of boom and lean times. An entrepreneur or businessman has to plan for the lean and boom times to avoid the so-called “Pfimbi yegudo” syndrome which is the cancer which had afflicted most of our promising businesses.
Zimbabwean businessmen are encouraged to develop the “squirrel mentality”.
The squirrel fills up its mouth with food such as nuts but will consume very little in the winter season.
It stores the unconsumed food in a burrow and during lean periods (when everybody will be starving) such as winter/cold climate, it will then start consuming the stored food.
Online Reporter