The rules of success from a self-made entrepreneur

Erastus Shikongo (Chicco) Shapumba

Reinvest. Stay humble. Make smart decisions. Businessman Erastus Shikongo (Chicco) Shapumba shares lessons from his journey.

Feed the business first

When you are doing business, you need to be very respectful towards people. You need to humble yourself. One also needs great discipline with money.

When you make profits from a business, ensure that you reinvest it back into the business so that it can grow. If you do not reinvest, then you will miss the opportunity to grow your business to become successful.

Reinvest even at least 90% of that profit back in the business. Keep doing that consistently and consecutively for over five years and you will start to see and experience growth in your business.

Keep that discipline intact and you will start to feel positive and motivated to keep building your company. Eventually, this will become part of your habits, and it will help you reach greater heights in your personal and business success.

Money discipline builds empires

Avoid eating business money and putting your money into the wrong places or using it for wrong or bad investments.

Staying disciplined with your money is the key to attaining your ultimate success in business.

Start small. Grow big

Many people rush to take loans, which can sometimes push a business into debt or losses and leave it trapped.

Loans can be especially risky for small start-ups that lack the experience and financial discipline needed to use borrowed money effectively and achieve their business goals.

Start smart, start small, and work hard. Calculate your stock every day, build the discipline to manage money, make profits, and reinvest those profits back into the business.

Instead of taking large loans that may burden your business, consider building strong relationships with trusted suppliers.

For example, a supplier who provides bricks for you to build with and allows you to pay later may be better than taking a large loan.

Business decisions matter, and the better the decisions you make, the better your chances of success.

Business is not about having a big greedy heart. A greedy heart is bad for business.

Stay humble and do not be afraid to start off small. Humble beginnings give birth to strong and solid business foundations.

Firewood, caterpillars and big dreams

I started off small myself.

From a very young age, I was harvesting firewood and selling it to my teachers and to my community members, particularly the gentlemen that worked in the town of Oranjemund.

It was not a fancy start; however, every business lesson from every experience is priceless knowledge that will help you in a lifetime to make the right business decisions.

Humble beginnings teach us a lot in life.

And at the time, I was just thirteen years old.

I would also go out in the forest and harvest caterpillars. I would prepare them very well for consumer consumption and sell them.

I would make some good money, which I would sometimes use to travel to Walvis Bay and visit my father.

This used to surprise my father very much, because mind you, it was prior to Namibia’s independence – a very unsafe world at the time.

I loved my father because he would not yell at me for making money and taking risks of visiting him by surprise. Instead, he was proud of me.

This was around the year 1984.

However, I would take risks and use the opportunities to my advantage.

Sometimes I would use that money to buy my schoolbooks while also focusing on investing in building my business.

Building from small beginnings was a blessing because my community loved me from my youthful years; even up to now, they still love and admire me.

For me, that’s a blessing to be loved from where you come from, which in my case is my village.

Small beginnings build strong foundations

Small beginnings are not easy, but they shape us into humble people.

I would advise anyone to start small, even by selling kapana, an informal local food delicacy, and build from there.

Even if you have a big dream, starting small teaches valuable lessons.

If you learn to handle and manage small amounts of money, you are more likely to develop the discipline needed to manage larger amounts in the future.

Starting small does not mean settling or lacking ambition. It simply means using different paths to reach the ultimate dream you aspire to achieve.

Debt can kill the dream

People, especially in Namibia, are in big debts. Debts are very high in Namibia.

And this, for many people, is risking their business growth, because they fail to start small and to make the right business decisions.

They could have opted to make deals with suppliers.

Or they could’ve opted to choose customers that pay cash so that the business can also have cash to run and operate.

Loans: A blessing or a burden?

Taking loans is good for businesses that are assured or guaranteed to make profits.

But loans are not good for businesses that have no guarantee to make profits.

It traps a lot of businesses, and eventually it kills them.

When you owe people, they start to threaten you.

Loans can break relationships, regardless of whether you’re borrowing from a friend or from financial institutions like banks and so forth.

Every business has enemies

Business has a lot of enemies.

Your employees can destroy you.

Your customers can destroy you.

Your suppliers too can destroy you, because they can give you expired products or products of poor quality, contrary to what you have agreed on.

Or sometimes, suppliers can become envious and/or “big-hearted”.

They will follow you and start a similar business next to yours.

Knowledge is your secret weapon

When you are in business, you must value knowledge.

Always seek knowledge and advice.

Those who have knowledge have the key to unlocking potential and solving problems.

Ask for advice from trusted people when you are faced with difficulties.

One man cannot have all the solutions to all the problems and challenges.

Seeking guidance is critical when you do not know how to solve a particular problem.

Do not stay stuck when you can ask for help.

Reach out to your trusted advisors for support and quality guidance.

Have a lawyer, have different experts to advise you on different business matters, and pay them well to do a good job for you.

Success can make you careless

When you have attained success, you need to take slow steps.

Because when you are somehow on top, you are at a very big risk of falling.

People will be gunning for your downfall.

Therefore, take wise steps and make diligent decisions, both in your personal and business life.

Look for people that can effectively help you.

Make smart investment decisions.

Take calculated risks.

Know who you walk with and trust the places you go to.

Your reputation and your character are very important.

Protect them.

Avoid the quick-money trap

Money is never enough.

And when you start thinking that it’s enough, then it will start to scare you, because you start wondering what is coming after your money or business.

Don’t fall into traps of wanting to make fast investments or quick money.

Investments like that are, in my opinion, very risky, and I will not advise anyone to do those types of “fast money, quick money” investments.

If an investment sounds too good to be true, send the person to go speak to your lawyer for careful observation and have concrete papers and agreements put up in place.

Also, never ignore your instincts.

Listen to your inner voice when it speaks to you.

Instincts are important in business.

Sometimes they tell you to make some of the best decisions in life and/or in your business.

Erastus Shikongo (Chicco) Shapumba is a businessman and property mogul born in Etilyasa, in Ongandjera, Omusati region.