ENTREPRENEURSHIP BY SPIRIT - James LB Kaweesa

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BY SPIRIT (eBook)

How to Become a Dynamic and Fantastic Entrepreneur

James LB Kaweesa (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
138 Seiten
10-10-10 Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-77277-474-0 (ISBN)

Take entrepreneurship to the next level of success! Entrepreneurship by Spirit: How to Become a Dynamic and Fantastic Entrepreneur Using the Power of Imagination contains the inspiring wisdom and experiences of James Kaweesa, who has run multiple businesses in a variety of industries. His inspiring story demonstrates lessons that you can use throughout your life as an entrepreneur. James shares the wisdom that he has gleaned from years as an entrepreneur, both in Uganda and the United States. With practical skills and tips, James teaches you the aspects of character and leadership that can help you grow as an entrepreneur. Along the way, you will be inspired by the challenges he overcame to achieve his goals and turn his dreams into reality. Entrepreneurship by Spirit also shares practical information about how to build a culture that will lead to success. James dives into the importance of finding balance, including cultivating critical relationships for support, encouragement, and motivation. He outlines the importance of character, and how it can positively impact your ability to build a business. James also shares the importance of your attitude, and how a positive outlook can be the difference between overcoming an obstacle or quitting. Entrepreneurship by Spirit: How to Become a Dynamic and Fantastic Entrepreneur Using the Power of Imagination will provide the inspiration you need if you are ready to take the step into entrepreneurship.

Chapter 1

HOW I STARTED MY ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

James Lauben David Balungi Kaweesa Salongo is my name. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? I was born in 1970 in Uganda. I am the firstborn in a family of 19 siblings. My late mother’s name was Namaganda Florence, and my father is Eng. George William Musisi Kajjo Kopuliyano, a retired telecommunications engineer. My paternal grandfather is the late George William Kigongo Kajjo, and my paternal grandmother is the late Nalongo Nansasi Gladys. From that lineage, I am a Muganda by tribe and from the Ffumbe clan, a Ugandan by birth from East Africa. I am an African.

The early years of my life were not bad, despite coming from a poorer community. However, that all changed in 1982. I went to visit my maternal grandparents. Uganda had been in a state of political upheaval, and the regime led by Dr. Apollo Milton Obote was focused on cementing its power.

One terrible evening, soldiers came to my grandfather’s home and killed my grandfather and three uncles, slaughtering them while I watched. That is a moment you cannot imagine seeing as a 12-year-old child. I was traumatized and left half dead. After the government soldiers left, my grandmother and I had no choice other than to go to the NRA/NRM camp.

Uganda was in the midst of guerilla warfare, the bush war that was started by Yoweri Museveni after losing the 1980 elections under his UPM. The election was rigged, and Museveni pursued that avenue to unseat the government. This struggle left thousands of Ugandans dead. In short order, I became a soldier in this conflict.

My grandmother was killed when our camp was attacked, and being a soldier was the only option left to save my life. They used to call the child soldier a Kadogo. I will not share my experiences as a Kadogo, only to say that I have many bad memories. When I reflect on that time, it makes me want to shut down.

NRA/NRM Takes Power

In 1986, after four years of fighting as a soldier, the NRA/NRM took power. I was still a young man, only 16, and now I had the opportunity to live without fighting. As a young child, I had admired my father and dreamed of becoming an engineer like him. Many of us that were former soldiers returned from the bush war and wanted to resume our studies. I did my primary leaving examinations (PLE), as they are called in Uganda.

Later, I joined my secondary school in light college Katikamu. It is where my life started. Why was this such an important time in my life? Because it was here that I met my very beautiful wife. “My hero” is what I call her, but the rest of the world knows her as Juliet Nassolo.

After Katikamu, I went on to complete my certificate in auto wiring, at Spear Motors. Juliet went for a nursing degree at the Mengo School of Nursing and Midwifery. After Spear Motors, I went to Kyambogo Polytechnic to pursue my dream of becoming an engineer.

From that time in the bush war, I learned that in this world, it is all about fighting to pursue your enemy with detail and resilience. I applied that same focus to my daily life. If I am determined to pursue a course of action, then I fight tooth and nail to defeat any element in my way. This fight is within every one of us. Any human being has the potential to adapt. So, my dream of being an engineer came to pass.

I decided that I wanted to be a business owner to have the best in life, and that it was up to me to make it happen. I had everything that I needed to change my life.

•Imagination

•My inner spirit

•Empathy

•Strategic imagination

•Emotional imagination

•Dreams

•Memory reconstruction

That being said, it was not easy even after acquiring my diploma in electrical engineering. I kept my eyes on the prize, so I registered my company names, JJ Electrical Engineers and Sales Ltd, and JJ Drug Shop/JJ Medical Services, since Juliet was a nurse and I was an engineer. The names of my companies were derived from the initials of our first names, James and Juliet.

My Duties With the State House

After completing my electrical engineering course, I was given a job at Okello House in the President’s office as an electrician. I also did other security duties as assigned by the ISO internal security organization. All of this went well for the first ten years of President Museveni. I worked my state duties under the supervision of Captain Kasule John Takalilya, and later under Captain Musisi at the parliamentary building.

It was disappointing because I saw another regime being put into place. It was not the fundamental change that we had fought for but was just more of the same. In 2004, I joined the FDC Forum for democratic change, an opposition part formed by my comrade, Dr. Col Kiiza Besigye. I became a diehard and renowned supporter of the FDC for the four terms that Besigye contested in general elections. Efforts were made for me to drop Besigye and leave the FDC, but I chose to remain with the FDC, fighting for human rights, the rule of law, and to bring order to my country because this lack of rights and leadership had led me to be a child soldier.

After being arrested a number of times and surviving several attempts to take my life, I realized I needed to make a change. The government was actively working to make my life difficult. All my businesses were frozen. I had registered another company, JJ Power Masters Ltd, which had a number of government contracts. Eventually, all those contracts were taken away because I had joined the FDC. My companies did a lot of electrical work for domestic, commercial, industrial, and big complexes in Uganda, and I made good money. Once the government targeted me, then all those avenues of income disappeared.

Individuals who I had worked with for years, and who refused to stop working with me, saw their companies and businesses suffer from government action. One mentor of mine, Elvis Sekyanzi, lost several businesses and was only left with Silk events. To be successful, you must accept all the challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the challenges you like.

All these actions by the government ended up costing me over 2 million dollars. I had bank loans, but a time came where I could not be bailed out financially by anyone. One person gave me a small loan to pay some of my other debts, but he was not sympathetic at all when I couldn’t pay him back. Eventually, he took my house in 2004. By this time, all the work I was doing had been terminated.

How could I move forward during this time of incredible stress? It was my determination to stand up for my beliefs and what I knew to be right. No matter what happened, I kept telling myself that this was the price I had to pay for greatness. I kept pursuing my goals and fulfilling my true sense of human nature. There is something built in our DNA that allows us to deal with different situations and adapt for survival. I learned to adapt because I knew that great people go through all kinds of suffering and hardships. Yet, it tempers them and gives them strength. I often think of builders in my country who use bricks. When choosing bricks, they look for the ones that are red because they know that these bricks were placed far into the furnace and have been well hardened.

As an entrepreneur, you are going to deal with challenging situations, ones that can make you have to adapt to survive. What can help you through the adaptation process? Determination, commitment, consistency, and a passion for what you do and believe. Remember, much of what I was going through could have stopped if I had been willing to abandon my beliefs and sever my ties with the FDC. Yet, I was focused on the bigger picture.

I also believe that you need to be positive, regardless of the circumstances. Negativity breeds more negativity, and it can block you from seeing the solutions that are possible. Your imagination and creativity cannot flourish in a negative environment. I also had to be honest with myself that this situation was not going to change. There will be moments when you need to be honest with yourself but also honest with others. Excellence and reliability are also important. Fundamentally, if you do the right things, even when no one else is around and there are no cameras watching, then you will find success.

Finally, I also want to recognize my wife, Juliet. Behind every successful man, there is a wise woman. I was so blessed to have her on this journey. Our first civil marriage was in 1999, on my birthday. Later, in 2014, we were married again in the Cathedral Namirembe Church of Uganda to bless our marriage before God. Juliet is an amazing woman. I have not always been an easy man to handle. I was very complicated and sometimes nasty, I am sorry to say. I treasure and love her very much. Right now, I want to thank her for being a strong woman during all the circumstances that we went through together. She never undermined my dignity and manhood. Instead, she was respectful, loyal, honest, God-fearing, and a woman of good judgment.

Our family includes 12 healthy...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	22.2.2022
Vorwort	Raymond Aaron
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management
ISBN-10	1-77277-474-X / 177277474X
ISBN-13	978-1-77277-474-0 / 9781772774740

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