Business owners across all scales have been advised to prioritise paying themselves a fixed salary while re-investing the majority of their profits back into their operations to ensure long-term sustainability and growth.
The call was made by Venkatesh Kumar, the Chief Executive Officer of Mandela Group, while speaking to over 500 clients during the Linglong Business Conference held at the Mandela Mass Complex on Sixth Street, Industrial Area, on Thursday night.
Delivering the fifth rule in his presentation on the “five rules of money every business person must know,” Mr Kumar cautioned entrepreneurs against conflating revenue with personal wealth.
‘Pay yourself a set salary first or business will eat your capital and personal peace,’ Mr Kumar said. ‘Protect your working capital. If you eat your inventory or use the money to buy personal luxuries, your business will quietly starve.’
He added that preserving capital requires continuous discipline, warning against complacency once a business becomes profitable.
‘The profit you make is not all yours. It’s just a harvest from the seed you sowed. So, get just a portion of it as your salary and plough back the rest into the business to boost your capital. That is how businesses grow from one scale to another,’ Mr Kumar explained.
He further discouraged entrepreneurs from relying solely on personal interest when starting ventures.
‘Nobody cares about your passion. Customers look for businesses that solve their problems,’ he noted, adding that strategic expansion is critical once a local market is established. ‘After solving the problems in the area where you started, spread your wings elsewhere to tap into new markets. That is how Linglong reached Uganda, among over 70 countries across the world. Of the 45 million people in Uganda, how many consume your product?’
Mr Kumar cited Mandela Group’s own diversification-expanding from tyre distribution into fuel stations, food hospitality, and regional growth with Café Javas outlets in Kenya-as an example of strategic market expansion.
Highlighting the necessity of business literacy, Twaha Mahad, a senior manager at Mandela Group, underscored the high mortality rate of commercial enterprises globally.
‘It is a serious concern that globally, only 33 percent of the businesses live to celebrate their 10th anniversary. So, we hold such conferences basically to share our blueprint with our customers because their survival is our survival,’ Mr Mahad told Daily Monitor.
Attending entrepreneurs noted the practical relevance of the session. Emmanuella Mawanda, a Café Javas client and perfume and jewellery retailer at Acacia Mall in Kamwokya, shared her key takeaway:
‘When you have done a business for some time, it’s easy to think you know it all. But trust me, whenever you interact with someone outside your circles, you learn something new. For example, I was considering trying event décor because it’s my passion. But now I know I must do it where it’s needed, not because it’s my passion.’
Electric vehicle handover
The conference culminated in the handover of a brand new Wuling Cloud Electric Vehicle (EV) to Rodgers Kizza, the grand prize winner of the Linglong Tires EV Promotion.
To qualify for the draw, customers were required to purchase two Linglong tyres. Mr Kizza, a surveyor who currently drives a Subaru Outback, entered after purchasing four tyres at once.
‘At first, I thought these were conmen calling me and blocked some of their numbers. I had never won anything in my life. So, telling me ‘you’ve won a brand new car’ sounded unreal,’ Mr Kizza said after receiving his car keys from Tina Wang, the Linglong sales executive manager for the Middle East and North Africa. ‘I’m extremely happy. This car will save me a lot in terms of fuel. And being new, it comes with lots of advantages.’
Mr Kizza is the fifth customer to win an electric vehicle under the promotion. Commenting on the drive toward green energy, Mr Mahad noted:
‘The world is going green. Many EVs are being imported, and Linglong foresaw it and joined the trend by gifting five EVs to our customers, so that as the world goes electric we are not left behind as City Tyres and Uganda in general. Though expensive to buy, EVs are cheaper due to lower operational costs compared to conventional vehicles.’
Commending the company’s customer engagement strategy, Sarah Rubanga Kaggwa, the Honorary Vice Consul at the Consulate of Canada, noted that Mandela Group has maintained a long tradition of client appreciation-tracing back to its early days at Gapco fuel stations where customers received soap and detergent with purchases, to modern promotions featuring trips abroad, financial literacy seminars, and vehicle giveaways.
‘You’ve trained us about doing business while making friends with your clients through giving back to the community,’ Ms Kaggwa said.