Nelthedon

Niliquit 9-5 ilikuwa inanilipa 150k/month. Imenitake two years for my company kunilipa 67k/month na nafanya kazi from 7AM to 11PM every day, na sometimes unapata uko na employees wanakupea the hardest time ever, na kuwafuta kazi ni even more expensive. Every month uko na bills za kulipa in the millions, end month kila mtu ako happy isipokuwa wewe juu uko na another 30 days kuraise another million. Na imagine all this trouble ndiyo net salary yako ikuwe 50k Sometimes doh haitoshi unasema wacha ulipe the employees alafu KRA utawatumia yao by 9th, unajaribu kupata loan bank inakataa juu hauna shamba ya security, inafika 15th unapata weird calls, unashika unapata ni KRA, unawaambia utawalipa next Friday, wanakuambia Friday haiwezekani, labda Thursday. Inabidi uongee with one of your clients akulipe mapema, anakusomea akikuambia biz haifanywi hivo but anaitikia eventually. Next week inafika unalipa KRA, SHA,NSSF, Housing Levy. Unahave some peace kidogo only to realize that next week ni end month na this time uko na deficit kubwa kushinda last month, and the cycle continues. Kama uko 9-5 na uko sawa, I can’t advise you to quit. Heri ujaribu entrepreneurship in parallel but usiquit job yako. It feels good when you tell people that you quit your job to pursue your dream but you also need to understand that your dream will take time before it starts paying the bills, and it might also die before you eat a shilling from it.

I am not against SACCOs. They work well for many people, especially those seeking disciplined savings, dividend income, and access to relatively affordable credit. However, personally, I have never been a strong fan of the SACCO model in Kenya and I have never joined any! Here is why: 1.Why should I write a withdrawal letter and wait 60 days or more just to access my own savings? Most SACCOs impose notice periods before refunds are processed, especially for non-withdrawable deposits. While this is meant to protect liquidity and the stability of the SACCO, it significantly reduces financial flexibility for members. 2.Why is it that if I accumulate share capital worth Ksh 1 million, I may not freely access it unless another member agrees to buy or transfer the shares from me?Why can't I sell them or why can't the sacco pay me and absorb them? Unfortunately, in many SACCOs, share capital forms part of the institution’s permanent/core capital and is generally non-withdrawable. In most cases, it can only be transferred or sold to another member upon exit. 3.Why should I borrow “cheap loans” against my own savings instead of simply withdrawing my savings? The SACCO model is designed around leveraging deposits to create access to credit rather than allowing unrestricted withdrawals. This works well for members who want long-term disciplined savings and credit access, but for liquidity-focused investors, it may feel inefficient. Why do I need guarantors to borrow money that is already secured by my own deposits? Many SACCOs require guarantors because loans are issued based on cooperative risk-sharing principles. Members often qualify for loans worth two to three times their deposits, and guarantors act as additional security to protect the SACCO from defaults. From a purely liquidity and capital-efficiency perspective, it may not always make financial sense to pay interest on a Ksh 300,000 loan when you already have Ksh 600,000 locked in deposits that are not easily accessible

Mwanangu.