Sometimes an idea is long in fruition but eventually the required commitment and dedication kicks in and a still born idea becomes an active engagement.
In June 2012, I blogged about a visit to the Masai Mara with some friends “The weekend in Masai Mara” and the fact that one of the outcomes was that we would explore the possibility of forming an association for investment purposes as well as to socialize with each other having taken the cue from our wives, our gals as I called them, friends over many years.
Early this year after a planning process that progressed in fits and starts over much of late 2012 as we could not seem to get everyone together at once so as to make the necessary decisions, our limited liability investment company was born. It was formed through an all inclusive process where all were involved in the initial decision to craft a name for the company and in raising the required funds to incorporate the company.
It has ten shareholders in total being the nine guys whose wives have been in a chama together for many years, and the 10th being the ladies chama group as a unit. The rationale for including our wives in the company was because they were the reason why we had formed a lose bond of sorts over the years and hence should also be part of the successes of our investment vehicle.
The culmination of this union was a get together on 30th April 2013 that was dubbed the launch party of the company, where all the members invited their spouses and we settled down to a meal and some drinks in an establishment owned by one of the members. The highlight of this occasion was a speech by our chairman, a respected advocate in Nairobi, that set out the aspirations and goals of the company without getting into too many details and urging members to espouse the ideals that he had enumerated and which we have discussed over the preceding months.
Members were urged that in as much as we also had a secondary motive of socializing, we would in the interim endeavor to grow the company kitty with our regular contributions, but socialize on a cost sharing basis. Our wives agreed to be the social side of the company and to plan and arrange team building and bonding sessions where possible.
We have already opened a bank account and the account balance is already quite healthy given that our objective is to complete the capital raise by the end of December 2013, so the outlook is quite promising!! The goals have been defined, the momentum has started and the only way is up, to paraphrase a popular song in the 80’s.
It is now upto us the shareholders of our newly formed company to dedicate ourselves to the promises that we have made to one another as we start on the journey to success together as a group because people tend to go further in a group than as an individual!
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