Tuesday, October 11, 2011
It's Time to Focus
This is week 9 of 14 in the Entrepreneur Training Program. Several people in the class still have two or more business ideas they are working on. This isn’t unusual for Rwanda. Entrepreneurial people here have many “irons in the fire”. However, I told them that it will get very difficult to carry two business ideas forward. It is crunch time—they have to crunch the numbers for their businesses and they have to produce polished presentations.
Serge is putting his big agriculture project on the back burner while he pursues a more manageable baking business. He and his wife have already delivered two orders of special cakes for a wedding and a birthday. He got another wedding inquiry today in class—Pascal is getting married.
What a Pleasant Surprise!
I returned to my room at 9:30 p.m. after a long day with nothing to eat except a sandwich at my desk. I was expecting to snack on a piece of bread, cheese, and a banana. Imagine my surprise to find a full dinner on the table in my room. Ben, the farming trainer from S. Africa and formerly from Zimbabwe, had procured a delicious Zimbabwean meal for me. His note said it is called Potjie Kos—a stew-like combination of meat, rice, carrots and potatoes in a sweet sauce. I felt as though angels had visited the room in my absence.
P.S. I found out the next morning that Ben had actually commandeered the kitchen and cooked the meal himself, simmering it in a large skillet for two hours.
It's Time to Focus
This is week 9 of 14 in the Entrepreneur Training Program. Several people in the class still have two or more business ideas they are working on. This isn’t unusual for Rwanda. Entrepreneurial people here have many “irons in the fire”. However, I told them that it will get very difficult to carry two business ideas forward. It is crunch time—they have to crunch the numbers for their businesses and they have to produce polished presentations.
Serge is putting his big agriculture project on the back burner while he pursues a more manageable baking business. He and his wife have already delivered two orders of special cakes for a wedding and a birthday. He got another wedding inquiry today in class—Pascal is getting married.
What a Pleasant Surprise!
I returned to my room at 9:30 p.m. after a long day with nothing to eat except a sandwich at my desk. I was expecting to snack on a piece of bread, cheese, and a banana. Imagine my surprise to find a full dinner on the table in my room. Ben, the farming trainer from S. Africa and formerly from Zimbabwe, had procured a delicious Zimbabwean meal for me. His note said it is called Potjie Kos—a stew-like combination of meat, rice, carrots and potatoes in a sweet sauce. I felt as though angels had visited the room in my absence.
P.S. I found out the next morning that Ben had actually commandeered the kitchen and cooked the meal himself, simmering it in a large skillet for two hours.
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