By Sadiq Muraj (Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Our forefathers migrated from India to Africa as Merchants having brilliant Ideas to trade in the Virgin lands of Africa somewhere in 1880’s. Some of the settled in Zanzibar others in Mombasa & others in Merca (Somalia) where the ports were, so the spices & the other merchandises would be easier for them to bring to Africa from India by ship.
At that time they used to say:
(1) UTTAM KHETI (Best is Agriculture)
(2) MADHYAM VEPAAR (Medium is Business)
(3) NEECH NOKRI (Lowest is Employment).
In today’s Information Age:
(1) Agriculture is Manufacturing, Production Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship.
(2) Business is Buying & Selling either it’s a product or service, in Shops or Online.
(3) Employment is where the Employer is becoming Rich & the Employees are running on the Treadmill. At the end of the month after paying all the bills & all the necessary expenses the Employee is left with some peanuts or is in Debt.
When I started my Journey in Economic Upliftment Committee of KSIMC of Birmingham in 2012, I came with a dream that (2 years Plan) we will sort out all Jobs problems in our Community, (5 years Plan) anyone who wants to start his own business will be supported by us by sign posting (10 years Plan) Entrepreneurship. But things did not work out as planned due to the mess in the Job Market.
Now the question is as an Community in which Category we want to be in, One, Two or Three. And Why?
How is the Secondary question which we will discuss in our next article.
Most of us are Guajarati (Gujju Bhai), so whenever we go to purchase anything we always look for 3 qualities in it :
(1) SASTO (Cheap)
(2)SAARO (Good in quality)
(3) TAKAAW (Long-lasting) Three in One
Times have changed and our Human Journey starting from Stone Age, Bronze Age, Industrial Age … and now we are in the 21st Century, the Digital & Technology era or Robotic Era which is Known as INFORMATION AGE.
We have migrated from Africa to the West. Our lifestyle has changed, our foods have changed, our dressing styles have changed, our priorities have changed, our wants have come over our needs, we use luxuries as necessities, the plastic money has completely ruined our lives in buy now & pay later offers but our mindset is still the same.
Almost 70% of our Community members are in Jobs running the whole week to earn for the survival. Where the Job market is in mess and the Companies they are working for are also struggling to Survive. The companies are looking for someone who is Jack of all Trades, at the end of the day the Employees are burdened with lots of responsibilities and the result is Stress, Depression & Anxiety.
The Rich are getting richer because of having proper Financial Knowledge, the Middle Class are confused between the difference of an Asset and Liabilities, and the lower class think that their Liabilities are their Assets.
How are we going to survive & can we survive if we stop learning more after graduating from the University (Life-Long Learning Project). In this Information Age how important is Life Long Learning & how our money can work for us instead we working for our money ( Next Article)
Being a Bookworm & interested in Researching I have found out that the most successful Communities who are Economically & Financially Self-sufficient are the Jews Communities and the Khoja Ismaili Communities. Their main focus is on Inter-Community Business. They buy from their own people on market price( they don’t demand any discount or top ups or free stuff) and the Wholesalers sell them in wholesale price so the buyer can resale it in retail price. Both parties are BRUTALLY HONEST with each other. (I CALL IT THE BUSINESS OF TRUST)
In our Community we don’t have that Trust Factor. The buyer thinks that the seller will either over charge him or give him worst quality in the price of good quality. And sometimes the seller also takes the advantage of the customer in our own community. How can we build that trust ? If we ask someone from our community to buy from our own Community member, the first question asked is ” SU MAFAT MA DESE”.
In Community Business we all have to be REALLY HONEST to each other, so we can build a Sustainable and Self-Sufficient Community.
How important is Learning Financial Education in our Community which we are not taught at our schools in our Academic Subjects (Next Article).
For Businesses Investing in Assets is important but for Communities Investing in People is more important. (Next Article).
