I’m laughing at how ignorant I sounded at the time. I believe that I am a bit wiser right now than I was two years back. I am drafting this document from my room in a college dorm; during my tired, exhausted moments probably under a tree somewhere in college, bored in the library; or somewhere in a campus gazebo with my earphones plugged in, completely avoiding the human species, in my own world, which is definitely out of this one.

To be honest with you guys, I have no company right now, no plan of how to get one or a single shilling to invest. I have something though; an idea. Not much to go by, but you got to admit, it is something. Let me enlighten you guys of the situation I am in right now: I am nineteen, (twenty in three months), and definitely broke (with only five hundred shillings worth of savings in my bank account).

My friends came up with this idea while in school waiting to sit the national exams (equivalent of a high school diploma). After the exams, there was very little to do, as you can imagine. Looking for a job was out of question, I already did that. I got a call and was asked to join this enthusiastic group and become one of the seven ‘company secretaries’; the heads of the company as they envisioned it. If you asked me back then, of course I’d tell you they were crazy, out of this world even. Not that it was practically impossible to do such, in my view, it was just unachievable. I thought myself wise to turn down their request because it was rather pointless to waste my energy on an unimaginable course.

Yeah… (rolling my eyes)

I got their document and read through it. To say I was impressed was an understatement; I was shocked. It seemed pretty composed, containing their objectives, memorandum of association, articles of association (the company’s constitution) etc. I was excited, we were all making plans, having official meetings on how to attract investors and partners; so full of bubbling energy.

Such is youth.

Before long, our church got wind of our activities and within days, our group was disintegrated. What really happened though is that we organized a small party, during one of the evenings in order to attract other youngsters into membership. The rationale behind this fact is our belief that our main source of capital would emanate from among ourselves, our contributions individually would eventually add up. The more the merrier. The group was dismantled effective immediately.

I thought that we’d rebel and have fun while at it. Did these adults know nothing of boredom or having nothing to do? I was beyond annoyed. How could they just let all their efforts go down the drain like that? That was a waste of invaluable time and energy. I thought we were more than motivated to see this project through.                                          

(2000 Years Later …)

So guess what guys, the semester got to me and I got really busy with school work. Right now, I am officially twenty years and three weeks old, I think. I am on my bed right now, same as always, earphones plugged in and still thinking of my project. What’s different though is the fact that the semester is over, I turned a year older and I already commenced my project. I would say that I’m thinking bigger now, and I have some cash to prove that. One of the units that I took during the semester was called Company Law, and oh boy am I excited to proceed. I don’t need much to continue but patience is not a virtue I was born with. I find myself thinking about ways to increase what I have and avenues to get what I don’t. With the new acquired knowledge of Company Law, I am proud to say that I am a proud shareholder of my own company. Allow me to enlighten you; a company may be formed by one person, and each member who subscribes to any shares in the company must give some specified amount of money in exchange for some shares. The minimum value of each share is what is known as a nominal value.

In my case, I deposited one thousand shillings of my semester savings into the company’s account (which happens to be the A5 Kasuku hard cover exercise book I bought for the company’s records) in exchange for some shares in the company. That was the only capital available at the time. I did not ask for more from anyone. I bought fruits worth seven hundred shillings, and disposable cups worth two hundred and fifty shillings. Well, I say that I am indeed fortunate because my mother owns a juicer and my father paid the electricity bill. I used their fridge to store the juice and the following day my mother sold the juice at her work place. She did the same the following day after I made some more and right now, the company is worth one thousand three hundred, in addition to the fact that I used the newly acquired profit to buy some more cups, straws and mangoes.

This project doubled my initial investment, and I can’t help but wonder, what if I ventured into this on large scale? If my initial capital was one hundred thousand shillings, all factors placed constant and using the same experience I had with my initial capital, the company would be worth around two hundred thousand shillings, or more. Well, cheers. 

(One Eternity Later …)

Why does this feel like a journal? I am laughing so hard right now. Okay, so let me update you guys…

I am twenty-one years old right now and my resume is a little impressive. I just opened this document under the folder “MIRAME” out of mere curiosity. As I was reading through it I could not help but smile and occasionally laugh at how ambitious I was; or should I say, how I have always been.

Anyway, not much has changed. I am still in my dorm room, a different one though, on my bed, bored after work and no music. I am not as jolly and excited as I was, and to be honest, I miss me. I failed at establishing my own company and I must say, I am disappointed in myself. I let myself down. However, I would like to view it as having pursued something a little different from what I had envisioned. I am in my fourth year second semester, almost done with undergrad law school. I am an intern with Centre for Rights Education and Awareness for Women and I work at the Legal Department for Auction Center Kenya.

You guys remember the company I wanted so desperately to start? Well one of my best friends was going to be in it. I say one of them because, sadly, the other passed away. It was one of the lowest moments for me, especially given that we weren’t talking much back then. I would really like to say that time heals, but honestly as I have been living every day since then I have been dying a little every time I think about her. Oh, I have a beautiful goddaughter, she bites. Yikes!

I own a blog right now. I am very excited each time I get to type because the world gets to see the kind of person I am. I am very shy and not very social so writing comes as a reprieve for me. My jobs have given me so much to learn from that I am a bit overwhelmed, but very much excited. I can’t wait to see what life will gift me in a few. Stay tuned!

Oh and PS: If you used the narrator’s voice you are soooo a cartoon lover! I dig.

XoXo!