The business ideas I have shared above are practical examples from the top of my head. Your brains are younger and sharper than mine, so I leave you to seek out practical opportunities you see in your neighborhoods that you can turn into money making ventures. I am sure they are there waiting for somebody to tap into them and make a living for themselves. I am a mother whose heart goes out to you all young people and wish I could wave a magic wand and create jobs for all of you, but I realize that only happens in fairy tales. What we need is to get real, put our egos in check, roll up our sleeves and tackle any job that can put some money in our pockets.
Growing up, without knowing where we will end up, my father always told us there was money to be earned EVERYWHERE by those who were looking for WORK NOT PROFESSIONS. He elaborated: If you are seeking professional titles, Engineer, Doctor, Teacher and the like, and there is no job opening available in those fields, you will sleep hungry even with your degrees and professional titles in your pocket. But a hard working person who is not hang up on job titles or certificates he has in his pocket, will take any work that needs to be done, dirty work or not, beneath his qualifications or not, but he will never sleep hungry. He will always have money in his pocket; may not be much, but he will always have some cash to meet his basic needs, while the Engineer, Doctor or Teacher remains with empty pockets for years, waiting for their big professional position to become available. I did not fully understand what my father was talking about back then, but now I do and I hope you do too.
When I suggest the business ideas above, which I agree are rather basic, I am not trying to demean you in any way or eclipse your educational accomplishments. Far from it. What I am trying to do is appeal to your open mind, heart and common sense. I know you went to high school and performed well. Congratulations. I know you went to college too. Fair enough. But you have been home in OlKalou for five years waiting for a break. None has come. You went to Nairobi to live with your cousin for a few months hoping to find a job. You did not find any and you came back home. You are still waiting for something to come up. This is where your education comes in handy. Logical thinking. Analytical thinking. Critical thinking. You have it within you to think logically about your current situation, analyzing what steps you need to take to move your life from where it has stagnated for years now. Those “simple” “lowly” jobs, some of which I have suggested above, but you never considered them before, may be your only ticket to productive living.
Check your ego at the spot you have been mark timing for years with nothing to show for it. Do SOMETHING to put some money in your pocket and regain your dignity. You may look back years from now and wonder why you hadn’t started on this earlier. But then, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” Do not let your season pass you by and do not abandon your purpose. Get started NOW. I am rooting for you all and praying you succeed in whatever your hands find to do, because in Deuteronomy 28:12 “God will bless all the work of your hands”. Give him something to bless.
