Thursday, April 14, 2016

Why resilience is the hallmark of successful entrepreneurs


People walk past a Chase Bank branch along Mama Ngina Street in Nairobi. Resilience is the greatest asset in life — not millions saved  in the bank or some other perishable resources. PHOTO | FILE
People walk past a Chase Bank branch along Mama Ngina Street in Nairobi. Resilience is the greatest asset in life — not millions saved in the bank or some other perishable resources. PHOTO | FILE 
By MURORI KIUNGA

Last week, something that most people never imagined could happen, happened. Chase Bank, apparently one of the best among the small banks in Kenya, was put under receivership.
The impact of the collapse of the bank was felt mostly by the poor and middle class across the country as it mostly targeted the youth, women, investment groups and small and medium enterprises.
As of now, the fate of close to Sh100 billion of depositors’ money and 1,400 jobs are uncertain.
The pain of the possibility of losing one’s life savings, business working capital hence cripple your business or job which has several dependants cannot be understated.
It is real. It is so painful that one depositor allegedly threatened to commit suicide should she loose all her money.
One of the first things to happen when such incidents occur is to regret and feel bitter for having opened an account in such a bank.
If another person influenced your decision — a family member, a business partner or a friend — the blame game shifts to them.
That does not help. We all know the folly of crying over spilt milk. Such dark moments are not uncommon in life.
The weak often faint but the strong emerge stronger and more determined to face another day. They know that adversities do not mark the end of life.
When successful people face such huge losses, though they feel pain like anybody else, they do not take the loss personal. They deal with it and find a way of getting on with life. And they always find one.
Resilience, the ability to bounce back after an insurmountable setback or losses, is the greatest asset in life — not millions saved in the bank or some other perishable resources.
We have such people around and about us to get inspiration from. Those are the people who believe that nothing can break their resolution to succeed and that losses are normal in life.
To succeed in business and in life, we need to be able to endure tragedy and setbacks regardless of their magnitude. Consider the case of the legendary inventor Thomas Edison.
On the evening on December 10, 1914, a massive explosion erupted in Thomas Edison’s factory and razed it to the ground.
According to an article by Edison’s son Charles in a 1961 edition of Reader’s Digest, Edison calmly walked over to him as he watched the fire destroy his factory

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