SPORTS AS AN ANALOGY FOR BUSINESS

Like everybody else I know, my spirit was lifted by the success of our athletes at the World Athletics Championships last week.

The diminutive Halima Nakaayi showed the heart of a lion, sprinting over the last 100m of the women’s 800m event to snatch victory from a more favoured American runner. It was so uplifting to watch. Subsequent stories about the challenges she has had to overcome to get where she is now were testament to the determination of the woman.

Joshua Cheptegei’s victory, while no less inspiring, had a different quality to it. Cheptegei was the man to watch going into the event. He won previously at the Commonwealth Games last year and the in the just concluded Golden League. He was a silver medalist in the 10,000m at the last World Championships in London, pipped to the tape by the now retired Mo Farah.

Cheptgei still had to battle the Kenyans and the Ethiopians all the way. But as a favourite he lived up to expectations, which sometimes is more difficult than not being expected to win and winning, like Nakaayi.

The Uganda team, which represented us in Qatar have useful lessons for business.

But using Nakaayi and Cheptegei as examples, this is what I learn from their process and eventual success.

Like almost all businesses in Uganda the two champions have been working with so little and delivered so much. Nakaayi talked of athletes who could not even afford a bottle of water during training but still show up, lace up and get on with it.

In our context the Ugandan businessman has a lot going against him –  little capital, and even when its available its expensive, a lack of networks to leverage, challenges of taxation and a general high cost environment. But every day they turn up for work and do the best they can under the circumstances.

Nakaayi and Cheptegei begun by working very hard under horrendous conditions. Their hard work, while people around them were whining and complaining, led to some limited success which got them noticed by powerful agents and companies abroad. The same in business we need to work hard in our current circumstances, the hard work will lead to growth and eventually we will be noticed by more powerful partners with whom we can grow to the next level.

But one has to define hard work.

I am sure Cheptegei and Nakaayi don’t just go out and run for hours, at any time of the day and over random routes. I am sure they have a schedule which regulates their work and rest, they have specific exercises intended to improve their overall performance and I am sure too, that they watch what they eat.

The same in business hard work does not mean being everything – owner, salesman, accountant, watchman in your business and working around the clock. Of course in the beginning you may very well find that to be true, but for the business to succeed most of the work will be done building the systems and placing people to run them...

If you think about it why would a partner, investor or financier be interested in your business if when you, the owner/salesman/watchman were hit by a boda and died the business would go with you?

Now that they have reached the pinnacle of their sport only time will tell whether they can sustain success. They are young and should be able to have more success in future. They will find that it is just as hard or even harder to stay at the top, as it is to climb to the top.

In business too, when our first big deal comes we need to keep our excitement under control. We need to keep doing what we have been doing to get to that point. So for example if It has taken 20 pitches to get the one sale, be prepared to do 20 more to get the next. Just because you have enjoyed some success shouldn’t make us relax.

There are things, which have to be done whether you are a success or not. Keeping your shop open, marketing, which sets up your sales, cost management, system building and meeting obligations. When success comes for athletes and businesses it’s almost as if you have to run faster just to stay in the same place.

Again congratulations to Nakaayi and Cheptegei for their success and for serving as an example to all of us.