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Momodou
Denmark
11745 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Mar 2007 : 01:28:02
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Culled from AllGambian.net
Enterprise Development
With Sarjo Bayang
The Enterprise and Social Relations
“Forces of society have greater impact on business much to the risk of resource misuse. Many people start business as a means of income generation and a platform to boost social status. The real problem comes about when friends and family members sit to feed on the business without contributing to its growth. This edition of our Enterprise Development column is a focus on the way business success is impaired by social interest of family and friends and even employees of the enterprise who use business resources with no regard to how much it costs. One person initiates a business and the other social relations sit to feed on business resources. Finally the business fails. Sarjo Bayang challenges both society and our entrepreneurs to consider more responsible relations where business resources are not dispensed on mere satisfaction of social desires. ”
Members of family and friends share social relations. Being an entrepreneur the relation between you and members of your family does not readily extend to the enterprise. The enterprise being an economic entity means that family and friends relate to the enterprise in business terms. In small and medium enterprises, friends and family take unfair advantage of social relations and quite often demand too much. In some small and medium enterprises family members and friends are employed and they receive regular income as though employed by any other establishment. Where the enterprise is not big enough to employ more family members and friends there can be other problems. It is common experience that friends and family borrow money and goods from the business with no intention of paying soon. In extreme cases, they never pay at all. What they fail to appreciate is that the entrepreneur relates to the enterprise as employee. When friends and family members run down business resources without paying for it that is an easy way to keep the entrepreneur out of business. Hard as it may seem, this happens to people particularly in small and medium enterprise.
Drawing a line of demarcation separating the entrepreneur from the enterprise was the subject of our previous edition. The potential for an enterprise to grow and to become an economic platform for prospects of employment creation can be enormous. Quite often, small and medium enterprises are perceived as simple income generating venture for the proprietor. Not many would consider the higher limits of cultivating and growing the enterprise as means of boosting employment prospects through enterprise creation. When one family member takes the initiative to venture in business the rest of the family take too much chance. In some families so much is expected from the sole bread winner who happens to be the person in business. It is this one person who toils and soils to bring in needed family income. Some times the entrepreneur is seen as a lucky person with gift of fortune. Apart from the business demands, other family members impose their collective and individual burden on resources of the enterprise. No wonder some businesses fail with all the prospects of sustainable market potential. In another edition of this column we shall be examining in greater detail some of the reasons why sole trading entrepreneurs fail due to pressure from family and friends.
It can be worse when someone abroad mobilises money and materials to engage back-home family members in business. This is done so that when the business booms reliance on remittance from abroad is minimised. That may be good purpose. Commercial vehicles are some of the businesses facilitated by some family supporters. It happens that proceeds of the operations end up being spent for socially induced errands. When there is a break down, families still demand from the source provider to pay for the repair and replacement of parts. Few families do try to keep the operations as self sustaining enterprise. Where operations flatly fail the vehicle or the broken equipment is sold at give-away price and everything starts from zero once again. Family members for whom the economic support is intended are not properly sensitised or made responsible. It boils down to the tradition of sole breadwinner syndrome. In some social settings only few serve the rest. These are the enterprising and sacrificing few. Some times the hard working few do not always enjoy the needed support. They can be antagonised too despite all efforts in serving a whole family of less willing and less productive young and old. This is a hard fact many entrepreneurs face in their immediate family and social environment. They are there for everybody and nobody is there for them. This may not mean end of road for a person who seriously want to succeed in business. It is part of social generosity to extend personal economic favour to others even those outside the immediate family. But those who don’t work for your business have no legitimate demand over resources of the business.
To let friends and family enjoy unlimited access over resources of your business is like sleeping day and night under cold and hot atmosphere and letting others feed on the fruits of your labour in vain. In a more proper way it is fair enough to create a business opportunity for each family member to seek employment from. What is not certain is whether or the person in business admits that the business is an establishment that employs the proprietor and can employ others too. There is an error of perception in the view of some people in business. Rather than considering the business as an establishment that can employ, the proprietor is busy amassing money fortune to build up personal material environment. Quickly we see business people creating personal comfort at high cost to the business. It is normal to get a delivery van for the business. Occasionally the entrepreneur is able to utilise such vehicle as means of personal mobility. What is not advisable is where a high luxury car is set on the road and not serving business purpose. It happens that the entrepreneur seeks to boost personal social status and the possession of a private car is one way of demonstrating that. The same car being randomly used by friends and family can add to increasing financial burden on the business with imposing resource constraints in the long run. In short, every unit of resource has to be utilised for gainful business purpose. Those who expect to benefit from the business must be prepared to compensate such gains by making an input.
No business is big enough to sustain operations on the basis of larger outgoings and lesser income. When family and friends feed on resources of the business without compensating the cost involved they are doing just that. One of the salient entrepreneurial characteristics is Risk Bearing. That risk can also be a shared risk when friends and family members wishing to take responsibility stand to bear the burden. It is all about a resolve to keep the business running. This goes with particular level of commitment.
There are many more cases to show how social values impact on the business. Even where we employ friends and family members it is not enough to let them accept it as being employed. When they don’t recognise the risk involved that is a different ball game. We often discover in some businesses where utilities like water, electricity and telephone are grossly misused. Light bulbs are left on when and where they are not needed. Long sessions of telephone conversation are entertained over the business line. Apart from friends and family ordinary employees are the other big hands behind the lavish use of business telephone and other utilities. It can be seen as negligible but the long term effects are nothing small and not sustainable.
To run a successful enterprise demands that resources are prudently managed. Business resources require protection. Social relations often take undue advantage over business resources. They may be employed by the business. Others are not employed by the business but simply relate to the entrepreneur as friends or family members. Extension of social relations in the business has its diminishing effects on resources. The purpose of business is not just for income generation. The establishment called the enterprise has a life and needs to grow. Prudent allocation and protection of business resources is an aspect of efficient management. Social forces some times have greater influence than the ability of entrepreneurs to control. Where the proprietor of an enterprise creates employment for friends and family in the business things do not always turn as anticipated. Excess abuse of business resources stems from the perception that what belongs to a friend or family member is openly shared by all. To the utter disappointment of many, shared resources run down much easier due to rampant misuse. Preventing the business from unwanted failure requires that the business is strictly guided against those friends and family members who don’t work for the business and share no risk if the business fails or succeeds.
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Momodou
Denmark
11745 Posts |
Posted - 19 Mar 2007 : 02:12:13
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One has to be called selfish in our society nowadays before being able to build up an enterprise. I know many diaspora Gambians both here in Scandinavia and other countries who had experienced what is featured in this article.
Just yesterday I was speaking to an acquaintance whose father sold his car without informing him. The sad thing is that he sold it for only one third of what the son had spent on it. |
A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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Santanfara
3460 Posts |
Posted - 19 Mar 2007 : 08:07:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Momodou
One has to be called selfish in our society nowadays before being able to build up an enterprise. I know many diaspora Gambians both here in Scandinavia and other countries who had experienced what is featured in this article.
Just yesterday I was speaking to an acquaintance whose father sold his car without informing him. The sad thing is that he sold it for only one third of what the son had spent on it.
momodou , i can't aggree more . most of our family members take us for granted most of the time. i can speak for my self only but many gambian would very well attest to the fact that we lost valuable properties because some body though wrong.
for me now i do my things through third party were by documentation evidence will be use for any cock-up |
Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Qu'ran
www.suntoumana.blogspot.com |
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Karamba
United Kingdom
3820 Posts |
Posted - 19 Mar 2007 : 18:09:39
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Sole bread winners when they fall out of grace, the other face of people around them can be ugly. Those who dine and wine with you can some times turn around and blame you singularly for your failure in business. Give a person £10 you get the look of £10. Give hundred people £10 each, you have ten eyes of £10 looks. From you it is £100 but when your business fails each of your recipients accounts only a £10 image of you. It is still graceful to support those in need. |
Karamba |
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