27/02/2021
SCC'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP INSPO
" A mentor is someone who allows you to see possibilities inside yourself and reaffirms your ambitions. This is how much my hopes and dreams are provoked when I read this piece."
-Sunday Chilufya Chanda-
Dr David Nama gives a glimpse of how he became a millionaire
Dr David Nama (founder of Dana Group of companies) is one of the richest men in Zambia. He is a self made millionaire whose story is nothing short of amazing.
Here is his narration.
"Most of you know that our first business was cooking oil selling during that time when we were staying in John Howard. But later, we went into mini bus lift business. We had two buses.
But at one time, both of them got involved in accidents and they were beyond repair. I was confused...I didn't know what to do. I thought God was giving up on me.
But then, we had another open van which was also broken down and a wreck and was just parked at home. So, I decided that it was time I repaired it. So, I went around town looking for spares and back then spares were really hard to find.
While searching, I bumped into this man who was looking for a certain spare part. He was from Chilanga Cement and they had been searching for that particular spare part for many months but to no avail.
Interestingly, I had the spare part they were looking for in the broken bus which was just loafing at home. So, I removed this spare part from my dead bus and sold it to Chilanga Cement.
When it was time to get the payment, Chilanga Cement refused saying they can't write the cheque in my name. They advised that I register a company and have a bank account.
So, I went to town and registered 'David Nama Enterprises' and opened a bank account at Standard Chartered Bank.
So, Chilanga Cement gave me a cheque for K135. It was a lot of money back then... Kaili in those days, car spares were really expensive.
Although I really didn't have an auto spares shop since I was still employed by Zesco back then, Chilanga Cement used to come to me for spares.
A big break in my life came when Chilanga Cement wanted to repair dozens of its Land Cruisers which were broken down.
They just said 'let's just go to this same David Nama guy for these spares' since they thought I had a chima big garage...kanshi nshakwetepo nangu Chimo. Actually, when you are in business, you should never let customers know that you are a struggling businessman.
When they came to me, although I had no idea where to get what they were looking for, I just assured them that I would bring it to them.
So, I went to Toyota Zambia but the prices there were just too high and they didn't have many spares. So, I went to the workshop at my workplace, ZESCO, and they told me that the best place to find Land cruiser spares was that place where Levy Mall is now.
When I went there, I found everything I was looking for. I gave a quotation to chilanga Cement and the down payment was released. Although my markup was just around 10 percent, I made alot of money because the spares were just too many. We had to hire many vehicles to take the spares to Chilanga Cement.
I think I made around K800,000 from that deal. That time, that was plenty of money.
Chilanga Cement was extremely impressed with me because they found me very reliable. So, they even recommended me to Zambia Sugar. And Zambia Sugar gave me a number of big orders. Some good money came in from there too. That is when I became a real millionaire.
And it was this money we used to invest in these other businesses that we are running up to today.
The message here is very simple, God will bless you when you work hard and become very reliable. When my main business, the mini bus business went down due to the road accidents, I thought that was the end of me but little did I know that that was the beginning of my rise. What was supposed to make me cry became my source of happiness. It opened my door of blessings.
If right now, there is something negative happening in your business or life, just know that God allowed it so that it can be an opportunity for you to do something better out of it. "
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Credit : The Mirror Publishers Zambia
