“Ideas are easy to comeby. Implementation is hard.” Kawasaki
Business is a great opportunity for everyone to generate income. It is a definite way to be financially independent. Creativity to come up with potential business ideas is much easier than implementing that idea and it is the wisdom of every successful entrepreneur. Economic development, social living standards and level of family income depend on the rate of business activity inside a community. Business can also provides two fundamental freedoms; financial freedom and time freedom. You can’t get these two if you are employee.
Although tangible investments and other financial resources enhance and make business grow in a community, here in Somalia there are no investment banks and other charity programs to help youth to create their own businesses. Only few agencies and private banks give loans to youth. These loans are not sufficient for university graduates who suffer unemployment difficulties.
Sami Gabas, is 21 years of age, the CEO and founder of Sami Online Market. An online service firm that provides internet service. Sami was born, grew up and was educated in Hargeisa. Then he attended and graduated from KCA University based in Nairobi in the department of Information Technology. As there was widespread unemployment, he decided to create his own online-based company to employ himself.
Sami came from a normal family of seven children living in Hargeisa. After completing his higher education he wanted to help his family and himself. Although he has worked in a number of different companies, it was not enough for all his needs. That forced him to generate his own revenue.
Sami online company sells products such as electronics and fashion, motors, furniture and books through online. They sell both brand new and secondhand products. The company buys products from wholesalers and retails then to the customers. In addition, Sami is a broker of cars and rental house facilitator. Today, almost 5,000 customers connected to Sami Online Firm.
In October, I interviewed Sami in his office. He told me that he established his business in 2014. It is the first and the only online company operating in Somaliland and Somalia as well. It provides modern internet business service (E-commerce). Today, it is well known in our community.
Q: Why did you start this business?
“I think, what drove me to start this online service business is that i wanted to work for myself instead of being a salaried employee. I liked to be financially free. That pushed me honestly to start my business.”
Q: What challenges have you faced starting your company?
“Sami Online Firm has changed since started this firm. Initially; I didn’t have office to work in. I couldn’t even afford one laptop to update my service. I used my personal smart phone and sat on the stairs of the tower that Sami Online uses as our office today. Today we have our own office and six skilled staff. It is really great jump.
In the beginning, I wasn’t sure how to best deliver internet service to people. It takes a lot of time to convince people and help them adapt to buying services like electronics through internet. This challenges still exists, even though our customers have become familiar with our process and trust our service. On the other hand, still we don’t have any investments from any other sources; we still operate with our own capital.”
Q: What experience have you learned from the challenges you faced?
“We took experience from every obstacle we faced”
Q: Do you think that you have reached your dream yet?
“No, I haven’t achieved my destination yet; still I am on my way to reach my goal. Eight years from now, I hope Sami Online Firm will be one of the three largest companies in Somalia and our website will become the largest online market in east Africa.”
Q: Do you think that you added value to your community?
“Yes, because we introduced a new way of business marketing and an online purchasing technique. People can buy online without spending any time and we also deliver products to them through our delivery process. At Sami Online Co, we make it easy for people to buy online from their homes, offices and even outside country.”
Q: Do you get any advice from any external source before starting this firm?
“Starting your own firm is one of the hardest things you can do in business. So it is important to grab experience and advices from those have done it before. I obtained some counseling from my friend, who was a previous business founder and knew more about the risk associated with service businesses.”
Q: What is your advice to youth?
“As our country is resilient and is currently developing economically, we need young people to dare and employ their knowledge. We also know office related jobs are not sufficient to all university graduates. It is important for young people to activate their potential power and create their own businesses. No matter how it is difficult to find investment.You must innovate and come up with new ideas. One day, you will be as successful as Sami online.
Mohamed M Jaaj
jaaj993@gmail.com
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