Risky Business

There was a Senegalese businessman called Sekou who died last month. I met his family recently, and sat with them for hours as they recounted stories of his life. One of the stories really struck me and I thought id share it with you this morning.

Sekou left home after secondary school with the equivalent of two dollars on his pocket, and went into the city to seek his fortune. His first business venture was to rally some unemployed street kids to form a street porter or truck-pushing syndicate. He ran this syndicate for two years and made enough money to buy his first forty-foot truck. As soon as he made some cash from it, he bought a second truck even though he only had enough customers for one.

The fact that he had spent money on the second vehicle forced him to go in search of more customers - and he found them. Again as soon as he made enough money he bought a third truck. Little by little his business grew. Over the next five years, Sekou turned his one truck into a ten million dollar haulage business with a fleet of thirty trucks. Each time he bought a truck he took a risk, and each time, he worked extra hard to make it pay off.

One day, Sekou learnt of an air freight company that was floating shares on the stock market. Without hesitating, he sold all of his thirty trucks and bought sixty percent shares in the air freight company. Little did he know that his new partners were practically bankrupt and brought huge liabilities to the partnership. Sekou lost everything. He had to go back home to his village and start again.

His mother, worried about Sekous predicament, called him to her bedroom one evening and asked, “My son, how much money did you lose?" Sekou smiled at her, gently patted her folded arms and said "Two dollars, Mummy. Two dollars".

Now, Sekou learnt a lot from his mistake. He learnt how to do due diligence - how to carefully check the backgrounds of businesses before investing in them, how to sift through truckloads of documents to uncover the true nature of corporations. He learnt these valuable principles from an unemployed forensic accountant named Toure who also lived in the village.

Later, the two of them formed a very effective partnership - Sekou found the customers, and Toure did the accounting. Over the next thirty-five years, that partnership grew into the largest corporate accounting firm in West Africa, and by the time he passed away this year, Sekou was a multi-millionaire.

My friends, I share this story with you to make one simple point. No matter who you are, no matter where you're born, we all enter this world and start our lives with nothing. Not even Bill Gates’ children brought money into this world. Successful people make something out of nothing, and they do so by taking risks.

Sometimes these risks pay off, but sometimes they don’t. A fear of loss is what prevents most of us from taking the risks necessary for our success. That fear is logical and reasonable. But it is only those who surmount it who have any chance of making it. Always remember you started with nothing, so if you take a risk and lose, you lose nothing.

You do gain experience though. And sometimes, that is worth far more than what you've lost. So learn from Sekou and be bold. Take risks and reach out for your dream. It won't come to you, so go for it. My name is Kojo Yankson, and if you only have two dollars in your pocket, you don't have much to lose, so take a leap and land on your destiny.