January - March 2017 •
The Lion King
• 41
A
friend mentioned to me that he
was helping his uncle register
a name, Bumbisco & Sons
Enterprises, for his trade. Funny name
for a business, I thought, but the word
“enterprises” stuck, so I asked out of
curiosity, “why enterprises?”
If you think of a ‘business’ involved in
the provision of goods and services to
consumers when you hear the word
“enterprise”, you are not far from the
truth. However, if you give that first
notion a second thought, you will
realise that this word connotes an
even deeper meaning.
So, I looked up the meaning on
different
reference
materials.
Merriam-Webster defined Enterprise
as a project or undertaking that is
very difficult, complicated or daring,
and as one’s readiness to engage in
such an undertaking. Dictionary.com
defined Enterprise as an undertaking
that requires ingenuity, boldness or
energy while Businessdictionary.com
defined it as Entrepreneurial activity,
especially when accompanied by
initiative and resourcefulness.
I realised from these definitions that
Enterprise is actually a personal
quality. Yes, it is a quality you possess.
It is that extraordinary quality that
makes you go where ordinary people
fear to go. It is the quality that makes
you take on ‘impossible’ tasks and
produce extraordinary results. An
enterprising person sees opportunities
in all aspects of life, and dares to take
them. It is a mind-set. An enterprising
person is daring, creative and
disciplined enough to not only see the
opportunities in everything he does,
but also seize them.
This is a quality organisations should
lookout for in their employees. Not
surprising, “Enterprise” is the first of
UBA’s three core values: Enterprise,
Excellence
and
Execution.
Enterprising people see themselves
as co-owners of their employer’s
business and execute their tasks
with the same kind of mind-set.
Such people own whatever tasks
you give them. They go the extra
mile, solve problems, show initiative,
break barriers and bring innovation
into their work.
Furthermore, because employees
who possess this quality are self-
driven, they go out of their way
to help their organisation achieve
its goals. Imagine an organisation
where all the employees possess
this quality, all the gears of the
organisation will function with the
perfection of a Swiss clockwork
mechanism. The organisation will
satisfy its customers and ultimately
meet its goals. It therefore goes
without saying that this core value of
UBA is one many other organisations
will be looking for in their workforce,
going forward.
Enterprise is also a quality all
successful entrepreneurs possess.
Yes, you must have the courage
to take on new challenges and
the tenacity to provide creative
solutions that will ultimately add
value in order to succeed as an
entrepreneur. It therefore goes
without saying that whether you
are an employee or an employer,
enterprise is one quality that is key
to your success.
Here are some enterprising Africans
who have inspired us with their
success stories:
Enterprise: the
success
formula
By Nonso Nduanya
Mamadou Saliou Diallo
is one of the Guinea’s richest
business men. “Saliou Kenieko”,
like he is commonly called, is the
Chairman and GMD of Société
nouvelle de commerce (Sonoco), a
group composed of five subsidiaries
specialized in mill (Les Moulins
d’Afrique, LMA), transport and logistics
(AMTransit), metal work (Métal Import),
construction and real estate (Global
Investment and Construction, GIC)
and finance (Nouvelle Compagnie
d’Investissement, NCI). All of these
companies represent
a
total of 800 direct
employees and
a turnover
of several
millions of
dollars.
What spurred you into this line of
business?
I started at a young age as a bread seller
on the roads of Conakry. That business
was actually good enough to convince
me to go into it. The demand was high
and once in it, I had a lot of customers.
I started this business twenty years ago
with the equivalent of 14,000 euros,
and now we are at the head of a mill
that represents more than 25 million
euros of investment. Moreover we have
developed the mill’s capacity so as to
start exporting to sub-regions (Guinea’s
border countries).
