In the world of business or finance, you can be either one of two things, so my boss says. You can either be a fisherman or a hunter. In Africa, we are used to the idea that give a person not fish to eat but a fish hook so that they can catch their own fish even when you are gone. That is apparently not enough.

Are you the kind who saves money and sits around waiting for the excellent business and investment idea to fall into their lap? Are you the couch entrepreneur who sets up a business and waits for customers to bring you money? Are you the salesperson who dishes out business cards to anyone and everyone and sits back waiting for sales leads through phone calls or customer visits which you do not expect or create but hope to magically materialize? Then you are officially fisherman.

A fisherman prepares his picnic box, dusts his clothes pick and span, services his boat, prepares his bait and sails to the middle of the lake or he swamp and ‘parks’. He cast his hook or fishing net and just WAITS!

Instead, try to be a hunter. Wake up early, make sure your spears are sharp in their bow, your spear ready, and go hunting. In the world of business and finance, a good hunter always succeeds but a good fisherman seldom lands on a good deal and if he does, sometimes he never notices or sometimes may catch a snake just us they can catch a huge Nile perch that may overpower them and drown them into the waters.

So while you are at it, try to be a hunter, not a fisherman.

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