Making Sound Financial Decisions (Part 3). By Strive Masiyiwa There is a story told, about a young entrepreneur, who had been working on an amazing new idea. After sealing a major contract, he and his friends decided to go and celebrate at a local restaurant. They ate and drank until very late. Finally when it was time to close, they called for the bill; it was a shocking amount, and much more than they could afford! Ever the entrepreneur, the young man asked to see the owner, and told him about his business venture, and how he believed that it would one day, make him billions. So he offered the old man, some shares, for the large bill he had ran up that evening. The old man, who owned the business, refused completely, and demanded payment. Humiliated, the young man pledged his car, and went off to find the money. Many years later, the young man, returned to the restaurant driving, a gleaming Ferrari. He asked to see the owner of the business, who immediately remembered him. He told the old man, that he was now a billionaire, and that had he accepted the deal that night, he might have been worth millions himself. The old man, smiled, looked at the young man, lovingly, and said, son, I am very happy for you. I am also happy with the decision I made that day. And with that he quietly, and happily went back into his little restaurant. Financial decisions: It took me, more than 10 years, and much meditation to come to agree with the old man. To be continued... Addendum: Inherent Lessons Learnt One of the things, the young man would have learnt from this incident, is that as a businessman, whilst success for him, might be measured by being a billionaire and owning a Ferrari, it is not right to assume that is the measure of success for everyone, even in business. Similarly, if you are a politician, dont think that being President is the ultimate measure of success for those in public life. There are many people out there, who do not have billions, or drive Ferraris, that are very successful, and content with themselves. Similarly, there are thousands of people, in public life, who are not Presidents, that are just as successful, in their own way, as those who are Presidents. You would do well in life, to keep this in mind, when you become that billionaire, or the President of your country. And also learn to be happy for those who succeed, at whatever, they consider success. Dont forget to read the business and financial pages of your newspaper. Every time you do not understand something, have the humility to just ask someone who knows. Do this every day, because it is part and parcel of building up your Financial Literacy If you can follow football scores in a newspaper, you can definitely develop the capacity to follow what is going on in business and finance. Make it your business to understand these issues.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 09:24:59 +0000
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