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Botswana: Empowerment : Batswana Businesses Should be Efficient
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The Voice (Francistown)
COLUMN
29 April 2008
Posted to the web 29 April 2008
Francistown
We are committed to the development of our country and especially in supporting her citizens who run businesses.
But this gesture almost always leaves us exasperated and irate, chucking out all we have learned in yoga and other success motivation exercises due to poor service delivery. When we heard of a glass cutting business in Mochudi, we were over the moon to support them by buying window panes from them. After cutting the window panes, we were told that they had run out of wrapping paper.
How do you transport something as delicate as glass which is not secured, without breaking it? And how do you sell glass without making a provision for the wrapping and handling?
We have learnt the importance of staying calm in these circumstances, but had to take a few deep breaths to avoid an explosion at the waste of our time. We expressed that they should ensure that they provided wrapping for their product. Mistaking our calmness and humility for stupidity, one of the citizen empowered 'owners' of the business arrogantly commented: "Ga rena di cardbox tse di phutelang. Golo moo gase molato, ga se mo eketeng re bolaile motho."
("We don't have cardboard to cover those window panes and that is not a crime. It is not as if we have murdered a person.") With that kind of attitude, we asked ourselves, where this citizen empowered business would be in a year's time if they don't change their unbecoming approach.
Fortunately, the young lady, who was cutting the glass found bits of cardboard which she pasted on the glass and put bits of puty in the bakkie, to hold it. We have listened to many a sob story about businesses that flopped. In most cases this is due to inefficiency, bad planning and poor customer service.
Before long the 'business men' tell endless stories of 'when we operated this business and that, we were driving such an expensive car' to shebeen revellers, who would be affirming that, "yes, he used to be a rich guy, and drove a hot vehicle," in between gulps of Shake Shake or homemade brew.
We have to change our attitude towards running our businesses.
There is no harm in valuing a customer and treating them with respect. After all, the money they get from customers is essential to grow the business. If this is as simple as 1, 2, 3 and a, b, c., why is it so difficult for some Batswana to run efficient businesses? The answer is that many businesses get funding through citizen empowerment programmes without the owners learning the ropes of running a business.
Most have the bad tendency and nerve to blame the government and/or customers for their failure. Batswana are given loads of opportunities but unfortunately they abuse their chances. We pray for the situation to improve.
Divine Love vs the Compaining face
How would you like to see yourself - happy and bubbling with enthusiasm, or dull and difficult to please. Sometimes you like to be pleased, appeased and cajoled, so you put on a tough, upset face and act difficult to please. If a person has to appease and please ten people all the time, it is so tiring.
People who keep a long face and expect others to cajole and appease them, make others run away. Lovers often do this. They expend a lot of energy in cajoling and this reduces the joy and celebration of the moment. It is okay for you to show your upset mood or tendency once in a while, but doing it repeatedly is taxing for you and the people you love. If you feel down, appease and please yourself. Your need to be appeased by someone else is a sign of grossness. This is the root of ignorance. If you want attention, all you get is tension.
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Become one whose enthusiasm never dies, come what may. It is not possible to attain Divine Love with a complaining face. The complaining face is a sign of an unaware mind. If you want to complain, complain to God or your guru.
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