You need to use money to make more money
You will need to use the money to make money so don’t wait until you have enough instead, start with what you have.
Michael A. Lechter Esquire, wrote in his book OPM (Other Peoples’ Money) that lack of capital is one of the most common challenges that would-be entrepreneurs face when attempting to make their dreams reality.” He further opines that most allow this obstacle to deter them from ever embarking on the journey toward wealth.
Indeed, the world over, there are many who tell themselves they must put their dreams on hold until they can afford it, only to discover that such a time never occurs, and when it does, everyone else has already profited from similar ideas, meaning a once-revolutionary vision is now old news.
Rarely does a temporary postponement turn out to be temporary? We live in a competitive world. Successful business people are those who strike when the iron is hot, regardless of their personal circumstances at the time.”
Over the course of the last two months leading to the launch of the Hustler Fund on 30th November, I have written a handful of articles preparing the real and fake hustlers. The Hustler Fund is a national source of other peoples’ money, which also comes highly subsidized.
Other people's money is money lent to you through various forms but commonly a pure simple credit like the bank loan or Hustler Fund. You get more from other peoples’ money when you keep more and for this reason, the fund has a feature enforcing compulsory savings and participation in a retirement Pension fund savings.
Two different borrowers emerged on November 30, 2022, when the hustler fund was launched and generated an average of Sh17million in debt per hour in amounts ranging between Sh500 and Sh50,000. The two categories of borrowers were those with ideas needing money to generate more money and those who need some money to consume.
Different modules
First of all, the Hustler Fund is rolling out modules gradually. The fund has four categories targeting different borrowers namely personal loans, microloans, SMEs and startup loans. For example, the module targeting MSMEs will with financing needs between Sh100,000 and Sh5 million be launched in March 2023. The initial module released has tended to target individual Micro borrowers who were hardest hit by Covid-19.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance speaks for the microloan borrowers, those with ideas needing money to generate more money when he says that the fund was launched to enable the people at the bottom of the pyramid for whom it was intended to access credit for micro businesses.
The fund design including access through either M-Pesa, Airtel Money or Telkom cash was intended to safeguard it from the previous ills of similar funds such as the Uwezo fund which was hijacked by borrowers in the upper sections of the pyramid and did not pay back the money.
The public domain has been a wash with negative vibes about the fund which incidentally seems to point also to a growing trend where borrowers have accessed the fund more for personal type consumption than for the purpose for which it was intended. If the vibes point to a greater percentage of the borrowers, then the fund is headed for headwinds.
The Hustler Fund is just one way to access money and get your business up and running. Truth is, you will need to use the money to make money so don’t wait until you have enough instead, start with what you have. Remember, ideas postponed are ideas lost.
Patrick Wameyo is a financial literacy coach at Financial Academy and Technologies and an entrepreneurship coach at The Entrepreneurship Center EA. [email protected].
