Of motivational speakers from hell

Have you listened to a motivational speaker and kept on nodding in agreement as false hope was being sold to you? How did you feel when your eyes opened to the reality and that hope fizzled out quickly? Have you attended those so called seminars or listened to drivels of one passing as a financial expert telling you of ways you can make that financial breakthrough in a short time and be financially independent? Well, many have paid 'facilitation' fee to realize they gullibly bought false hopes.

Take my recent example, for instance. Someone broached to me this idea of making it big in poultry rearing with little startup capital. The idea sounded so good, but the skeptical me refused to buy it. I'm the kind that loves to ask the hard questions.

First, let me walk you down that idea. All it needed was Sh2000 as startup capital. With this I was to buy day old layer chicks each at Sh100. That's 20 layers in total. And as they came of age, I'd be assured of three trays per week. With an egg going for Sh20, and a tray of 30 eggs translating to Sh600, that would mean making Sh1,800 per week or Sh7,200 per month. To cap it all, I was assured on ways to bag contract to supply eggs to organizations, institutions, or convenience stores. Sounds like a good breakthrough with impressive returns on investment, right? 

Wrong! That's the part used by any motivational speaker to inspire and instil false hope on one.

The motivational speaker here is assuming you'll share the same house space with your layers, not understanding a chicken coop comes at a cost. You may find needing materials worth Sh5000 at least if you're not using recycled materials to construct one. I'm speaking of a modest coop here. The birds needs to eat, here the fellow is assuming they'll feed from leftovers of whatever you eats, including hard to crack bones, or indigestible seeds. He doesn't realize that chick and growers mash can be costly and more times your startup capital given you'll begin collecting eggs when the layers are between four to six months old (depending on the breed).

He too doesn't realize the birds will need medication and vaccination from diseases like Newcastle, among others, deworming, and antibiotics and supplements and these alone can be on high than that startup capital.

He doesn't realize that layers aren't conditioned like clockwork to lay on schedule or a whim on a daily basis, because some seasons, like cold ones, will stress them leading to molting and they'll stop laying.

Of the so claimed ready market, that's another fib. Go to established businesses like restaurants and you're likely to be told they source their eggs from elsewhere, and may have long running contracts with their suppliers. They may take advantage of your vulnerability at this point that you end up selling to them at a great discount.

And speaking of sales, don't be lied to that because an egg sells at Sh20 gate price, as some farmers sell fees pieces at a go, it'll sell at same price in the market. Probability is you'll sell that tray at wholesale price of Sh15 per egg, and the buyer will resell at Sh20 retail price. The Sh600 tray price that was bandied to you about is actually Sh450 wholesale. 

If that motivational speaker had gathered one hundred of you in a room for that financial breakthrough workshop, where you were charged Sh100 each as facilitation fee, he made a cool profit of Sh10,000. Out of this he may have booked that venue for two hours, parting with around Sh2,000 to the facility owner, but still walking away with a cool Sh8,000, that is if there were no other added costs like lunch or refreshments served.

Motivational speakers are simply snake oil merchants. They'll fool you that you can find that breakthrough reading their motivational books, that you can only pass examination following the examples they used, and other such brouhaha!