A lesson in entrepreneurship
Our time rule was not met today, unfortunately. The first hour was spent to gather the participants. The course management had problems too with timing, even though we were in place on time. For the power was gone. We pulled the generator outside and started it, but the electrician wasn’t able to put the cables back together again. Anyhow, the regular power came back at 3.30 p.m., and then we could get started with Power Point presentation. In the time between we gave some general information and talked about how small businesses can become big. Julienne made a summary of the first lesson from last Saturday.
When we met the group last Saturday, we decided that the Monday lessons would take place between 3 – 6 p.m. Today we finished at 6.30 p.m. and nobody was in a rush to get home. We proposed a break in the middle of the afternoon, but they wanted to go on. The participants seem very interested in the FBS material and we consider that they are well motivated. The participants are from different churches and Protestant communities in Matadi. We had seven newcomers today, and there was a total of 34 participants, just like last Saturday. We have now sold 49 of the 51 sets of the FBS material.
Today’s teaching was all about bread, grain and debts. We had time to cover three of the lessons in the course material. The bread symbolizes the resources for our everyday needs. The grain or seed symbolizes the resources that we should put aside and save. A company can’t develop if there isn’t any room to save either resources, money or something else of value in order to invest the savings in something profitable. The class asked the question: “But if we can’t gather more than bread for the day, how will we be able to save and put away?” That question is not easy to answer. Largely, it is about thinking outside the box and trying to find better opportunities. As an entrepreneur, you have to work with things that are profitable. When it comes to debts, the course material emphasizes caution. Anyone who is in debt is not free, but must comply with the terms of the lender. To put yourself in debt it is necessary that you have a profitable investment to put the money in.
Our lessons begin and end with prayer. Yapeco raised the issue of being on time. FBS teaches that a participant that is 15 minutes late may not take part in the lesson. We hope that our students understand this. Yapeco also did some advertising for our solar lamps. Everyone must of course have good lighting when they do their homework. We hope they understood this too.
