Maximising chances pays off

Ben Chiganze A Bassfisherman’s Approach

A couple of weeks ago we harvested handsomely at the mouth of Gwebi River at Darwendale Dam and we could not resist the temptation to go back to the Gwebi river mouth this weekend. So last weekend my friend Alan and I went to Darwendale Dam. We launched our boat from the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management side and sailed east towards Gwebi river mouth.

Though there was an uncomfortable wave flowing from the direction we were going, we had confidence of prevailing. After sailing for about five kilometres inside the dam, Alan alerted me that our boat was slowly losing power. A few minutes afterwards the engine stalled.

He attempted to restart it, but failed. We were left with only two options; to fix the boat or to let the boat drift to the banks on its own.
Given that there was a marauding wave, fixing the boat was impossible, so we surrendered our destiny to the power of waves to direct our boat back to the launching pad.

Luckily the wave was flowing in that direction. This cost us about an hour of valuable fishing time. Finally, when we were back at the launching pad we tried without success to fix the fault, but our major challenge was that we were not sure whether it was electrical or mechanical. After a couple of trials and errors, the boat’s performance increased slightly.

We attempted to sail towards the Gwebi river mouth again, but halfway through our journey our engine started to stutter and Alan asked me to press and release the primer bulb of the boat so that it maintains its speed but this failed.

The sad reality sunk in our minds that we could not make it to our desired destination. We therefore headed for some banks nearby and sailed to a place we had never fished before.

We had to settle for second best alternative given our circumstances. We tried our luck at the new fishing spot and although the bites were far apart when we eventually got them, we caught big bass.

Alan harvested at this place. Though I got similar number of bites I wasted my bites. I had three heart- wrenching snaps. My fishing line was not equal to the task and I lost the opportunity to catch mombes (big bass).

In our lives we all encounter challenges or adversities. We all don’t like adversities such as the boat’s engine failing in the middle of the dam.

We do not enjoy these kinds of events, but they do happen. However, the failing of the boat forced us to try a new hunting spot which did not disappoint in terms of quality bites.

The failing of the boat’s engine in a rowdy wave is similar to the challenges presented by our economic environment such as lack of liquidity or high cost of borrowing.

Similarly it could be challenges presented by the social, political and technological environments. We do not have direct control over these exogenous factors though they affect us in a similar way the wave affected us. Behind these seemingly negative environmental factors are opportunities embedded in them.

Are you ready to grab your opportunity?
The bad weather conditions presented two opportunities for us, it enabled us to restart the formula by enabling us to drift back to the launching pad where we got advice on how to partially fix the boat and it forced us to try a new spot.

The new fishing spot presented good fishing opportunities to both Alan and I. Alan harvested and I failed to take advantage of the opportunities presented.

I did not realise that my fishing line was now weak, so I lost my potentially good catches to snaps. Traditionally, I change my lines after every eight weeks, but this time my fishing lines had not been changed for about eight months. I did not pay attention to my fishing lines and threw away my opportunities.

Most people fail to utilise opportunities when they come because they would be taking things for granted like me.
Most people behave like I did. A fishing line will always work for me never mind its useful lifespan. We take it for granted that our systems and processes can enable us to serve our clients well should opportunities arises never mind their age.

The challenge in most Third World countries is that we go and buy obsolete equipment in Europe and still hope it will work for us.
If one just goes around the capital one cannot help observing the number of broken down lorries and buses which were recently imported into Zimbabwe from United Kingdom and other European countries .

I recently heard that one of our strategic industries in Zimbabwe is using antiquated equipment which has been declared obsolete in France (where it was imported) from as way back as 1966.

What this implies is that even if this particular firm gets an opportunity to export to DRC or Zambia it will not be able to fulfil the commitment let alone satisfy the requirements of the local market .

Most companies in Zimbabwe are in dire need of replacing their aging machinery which can no longer produce efficiently.
Every machinery has a shelf life and beyond that it ceases to produce commercially. Zimbabwean entrepreneurs do not seem to take depreciation as a business principle which can never be sacrificed for expediency purposes. The sad and perennial complaint from most entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe is that there have no adequate working capital.

However, getting access to working capital (at whatever cost) without efficient equipment is just throwing money into a bottomless pit.