The ‘What will people say’ problem

A young woman, who was a stay-at-home mother, thought of starting a business in order to boost family income and to deliver her from the constant need to ask for money for everything from her husband who was a banker.

The woman had previously been told that a good business is one which provides a product or service that solves a problem faced by many people who would be willing to pay money in order to acquire or access that solution.

The idea that she zeroed on was to supply fresh vegetables to the families in our neighbourhood. There was a ready market and reliable suppliers on standby and the amount of money required to kick start the business.
It was a brilliant idea which proved profitable, almost from the word go, when she tested it for one week. After the pilot phase she sought audience with her husband so that she could get his support for the venture.

The banker listened with increasing horror as his wife gushed about the new business opportunity. As she spoke, a picture begun to grow in the mind of the husband; in it he visualised his wife with a piece of cloth (lesu) wrapped around her waist, a headscarf family knotted shouting and hawking vegetables to neighbours and others.

It was not the most majestic vision for the banker and his thoughts ran to the question: “What will people say when they see a banker’s wife selling vegetables?”

Because of fear of what people would say, the banker stopped his wife from engaging in the vegetables business.

He even took a salary loan so that he could have extra money to give her.

Enemy to success
The fear of ‘what will people say’ is a big enemy to personal financial development and wellbeing due to two reasons.

If your expenditure is driven by the thought of ‘what will people say,’ you will very likely spend money you do not have in an attempt to impress others.

But what you end up achieving is holes in the pocket and largely disgusted onlookers.
The fear of ‘what will people say’ also affects income.

Come to think of it, why is that a Ugandan will readily do menial work when he goes to a foreign country and the same fellow will not be caught dead doing similar work back home? It is partly because outside the country ‘what will people say’ does not apply; what counts over there is what your wallet has.

Last year. I met a young man who together with his wife has overcome the ‘what will people say’ syndrome. Instead of getting formal employment that might have earned him Shs500,000 a month the young opted to go into garbage disposal business.

Many people have flopped in this line of business because they are so hanged on the thinking of what will people say that they do not know who the customer is or how well they are being served. The man and the mistress often ride in the garbage truck to monitor the business.

It is no wonder that their business has grown tremendously in sales and profitability.

People who will say anything about you fall into three categories. There are people who do not care whether you succeed or fail, you have to learn to ignore their opinion.

There are people who have your best interest at heart, except at times their kind opinions are ill informed. Then there are sadists, who get a thrill from your discomfort and celebrate when your downfall comes.

So whenever you stop, bend or walk backwards to hear what people will say, also give consideration to what your wallet will get or lose as a consequence.

The writer is the team leader of Akamai Global, a business and finance consulting firm. Email: [email protected]