Timing is key to starting a business that will flourish

Effects of drought: Make sure before signing a deal that you have facts about a business so that you are not blinded by seasonal booms. Photo/FILE 

By MURORI KIUNGA

Posted  Monday, July 7  2014 at  17:42

In one Meru village, a story is told of a woman who fainted when she saw the 15-acre piece of land her husband had bought.

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The man drove his wife to show her the land he had hurriedly bought with all his pension and family savings, to settle down and farm on retirement.

At first, even the man could not believe that what was before them was the same piece of land he had bought five months earlier. He had bought it in a hurry because the agent had told him several people were eyeing the land and any further delay could work to his disadvantage.
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Fearing he might lose the land, he met the agent and the owner in a lawyer’s office in Meru to sign the agreement, make payment and start the transfer process as they waited for the land owner to harvest his crops and vacate in four months.

Unknown to the couple, the area where they bought the land was prone to extreme seasonal changes. During the rainy season it resembled Canaan while a visit during the dry season would make one think they were in a terrible desert.

During the wet season, which runs from October to June, the entire area turns green with crops and fruit trees.

The rest of the year it is so dry that everything withers under the scorching sun. Streams evaporate, making even clean water a precious commodity. Perennial plant stumps and damaged roads are the only evidence that heavy rains pound the area.

Land speculators capitalise on this situation. Knowing how hard it is to sell land during the dry period, they drive prospective buyers, mainly from the upper tea zones, in hired four-wheel drive vehicles because the roads are usually impassible in saloon cars.

They show them the beautiful, fertile, unexploited land with high agricultural potential. Such buyers rush to the bank and pay a premium for an acre. When the dry season sets in, the green fades away, leaving scorched land.

Like this phenomenon, most businesses are seasonal. There are certain times of the year when business booms and traders are busy making sales. Some work overtime and others hire extra staff to help out.

This boom is usually followed by a low season where sales revenue is hardly enough to pay overheads.

If an entrepreneur makes an entry decision based on the booming season — as many often do — a disaster is likely to happen immediately the dry season sets in.

One can easily think they made the wrong decision or there is something wrong with their products or business model, get discouraged and throw in the towel.

Therefore, timing in business is very important. If you venture into the industry during the low season, you will rarely survive to see better times unless you were well informed, and psychologically and financially prepared for this reality.

The best time to venture into a business is shortly before or at the beginning of the high season when there are many customers and your competitors are struggling to cope with the demand.