Kindly Share>>
Portuguese footballer Christiano Ronaldo is many things to many people. For majority of footballers he is literally goals… because he has the second-most international goals scored (85) among men’s association football players. When we talk about his worth, it is not everyday that anyone earns 21 million Euros in a year which is approximately 2,457,000,000 Kenya shillings.
But for dreamers, Ronaldo is it! He says that dreams are not what you see in your sleep, dreams are those things that do not let you sleep. This is true for the many business people across the world who set up small and medium enterprises worldwide, with a determination to make their dreams come true. Reading the biography of one George Wachiuri, Chief Executive at Optiven Group it is clear that that journey is one less travelled.
Unlike Wachiuri many leave after the first failure and that in itself continues to limited the growth of the sector. In his case, the fails were heavy and the losses humongous but the dream was larger. Today the world celebrates the SME day, – the second edition of it – a day designed to highlight and celebrate the significant contribution of the sector in global economies. Developing nations have been the largest beneficiaries of the growing sector of small and medium enterprises. A case for Kenya indicates that this sector is a key contributor to the country’s GDP.
In 2017 for example, the Central Bank of Kenya through a national economic survey place the percentage of SMEs among all businesses standing at 98% of all businesses. The ripple effect of this is that it creates 30 percent of jobs every year to the kenyan populace. This reality reasonates well with the objectives of Optiven Group which seeks to reduce unemployment by creating opportunities through engaging in different sectors all aimed at alleviating poverty.
And ahead of the 2018 observation of the World SME Day, some 30 professionals walked into the doors of the Optiven Group as the new team to join hundreds of others already serving. Wachiuri says the company is intent on creating opportunities by the year 2030. This resonates well with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development with Optiven Group setting the pace in socio-economic transformation.
Wachiuri agrees with the United Nations that more needs to be done to facilitate inclusion and considerations for financial access for SMEs. When all is said and done, it is Greg Brenneman who says that “ Financing is tough, and you really have to work hard in the businesses you invest in.”
A happy SME Day to all who strive to make it in business and who are making a difference, one day at a time.
