As a young professional, I always get to the bus terminal
very early in the morning so as to beat the traffic that comes with the morning
rush hour. Usually, the sight is that of drivers’ mates shouting names of
various locations to attract passengers. For me, my business has always been to
identify a bus going my way and hop in with the hope of getting to my
destination.
However, my routine with the trotro turned into a class of
lessons when I sat in one of the trotros and realized there was a television
set installed in it. These were what I gathered from my “trotro” experience. Usually,
televisions are found in buses that travel long distances. The reason, I
presume, is to help kill the boredom that comes with travelling long distances.
LESSON I: If you
want to succeed as a business man you MUST be smart and innovative, be
different from the lots. I was very impressed as my mind was drawn to another
significant thing; the energy with which the drivers’ mate shouted to attract
the attention of passengers in a bid to fill up the empty seats. I thought to myself, “Am I that determined to
succeed in the business I am involved in?” Despite the many complaints that
came from the passengers in the half filled bus, the driver’s mate paid no heed
to them and kept shouting to get his half empty bus filled to the latter.
LESSON II: When you put your
hands to the plough, put all your effort to the task until your cup is filled
to the brim. DO NOT be deterred by those who do not support your course, be
focused.
Soon our journey begun and I held
on tightly to the seat before me. I was filled with “fear of the unknown”
because of the speed at which the driver drove, sometimes recklessly falling into
potholes and other times crossing the bus stops where passengers wanted to
alight. As furious as we the passengers were,
the driver thought we had no reason to complain because he did not want to
spend forever on the road.
LESSON III: Be in a hurry to reach your destination but do not be
as reckless as the trotro driver. You CANNOT entertain errors on your journey
to the top. I was glad the journey, which takes about 45 minutes to make
each day, was cut to 30 minutes that day. Do not judge my gladness at this and
say I supported the driver’s recklessness until you understand what I had to
endure in my seat, holding my breath beside the driver’s mate - a shabbily
dressed conductor with a bad body odour.
LESSON IV: A
business man CANNOT compromise on appearance. Your outward appearance and the
appearance of your working space have a lot of impact on the decision clients
make about you, especially when you are involved in a service oriented business.
As a business person you cannot trade a good appearance. Also, what made the journey shorter was that we were dropped
a bus stop away from the actual “last stop.” Confused as we were, we asked questions
because that was not the agreed on destination. However, what we received were
insults from an angered driver and his conductor, who did not see any reason
for us to complain. I believe if I should ever find this bus anywhere, I will
not board it.
LESSON V: Never
compromise your relationship with clients or breach the terms of a contract. You
can appear in the best apparel, have the best product, deliver on time BUT a bad relationship with clients can
be the beginning of your failure. So these are the lessons I learnt, hope you have picked a
few points too.
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