Some stories of glamour can almost depress new entrepreneurs. The smart thing to do is not take every story to heart.
(If you read this article and agree with my view, make sure you also read the book ‘Get Rich or Lie Trying’ by Symeon Brown).
Key TakeAways
- Their strategy is to sell you a Success Story
- A lot of social media personalities lie about their success
- If you can’t see how they made money, they are probably using you to make money
- Believable stories are also used (allegedly) as social proof by money launderers
- Genuine success stories by real entrepreneurs are usually not as glamorous
Remember Wilkins Fadhili?
Wilkins, at the time his con story broke, was a 24-year-old self-proclaimed brand strategist that had built an illusion of a successful entrepreneur all to the envy of millions of young Kenyans that looked up to him.
There was a lot that got unpacked in the Wilkins story – he spoke at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted in Kenya and attended by then US President Barrack Obama, and spoke at a couple of Safaricom’s Blaze Kenya mentorship programs among other things.
However, an interesting part of Wilkin’s story is how he claimed to have sold enough chapatis in western Kenya to pay for a Master’s degree in the U.K at the University of Leeds. His math was that he sold 3,000 chapatis every day for Kshs. 10 each thus earning Kshs. 30,000 per day and so after a year he had made enough money to pay for the degree.
The truth was that he never sold any chapatis and he never went to the U.K. for a degree, rather, he just sold a success story that people bought.
Not an isolated story
Wilkin’s case got a lot of publicity because above selling a fake success story, he was conning people. He is alleged to have gotten away with millions of shillings in a fake fashion walk as well other fishy schemes.
If you take away the conning part, there is no crime in selling a success story – a lot of social media personalities do it persistently.
A young Indian guy, Heshan De Silva is a good example. De Silva was at one point considered the hottest billionaire in town after his claim that he sold Africa’s largest tea processing factory to Unilever at Kshs. 2.4 billion.
The 23-year-old then went on a sort of media tour talking about his success and promising to invest in almost every idea he received from his admirers. He later retracted from the media spotlight after inconsistencies were uncovered in his story.
Lucky for him, his ending was not as embarrassing as that of Wilkins.
Doing it for the gram–popularity gimmicks
The basic psychology of selling a success story is to profiteer from it through the associated successful profile.
Wilkins for instance would probably be still giving talks at entrepreneurship conferences and ‘mentoring’ young people were it not for conning people and biting more than he could chew (this is nevertheless ignoring the whole moral question behind his scheme). De Silva would probably be getting investment partnerships with different corporates had his story not shown inconsistencies.
Some people also sell success just for the prestige that comes with being viewed as having made it in life. Just a few weeks ago, Jalang’o and Zedi – while talking about the Churchill Show – revealed how many of the comedians perceived as successful due to their flashy social media pages actually selling stores of success just to keep their brands going.
At the center of popularity gimmicks are also individuals that have acquired wealth fraudulently (drug money, corruption, theft, etc) and are looking for ways to sanitize their money.
A rumor recently spread of a Kenyan celebrity that has been brandishing their entrepreneurial skills while in the real sense they are a front (money launderer) for an illegal business alleged to be run by a politician.
At the basic level, selling a success story is thus more common than most would admit.
As an entrepreneur don’t take it to heart
Reading through a lot of these success stories can discourage you from the little success that you have already achieved.
It is important to see through the inconsistencies in people’s stories even without a media expose or a list of con victims stepping up to call it out.
Why?
Because it is impossible to make Kshs. 330,000 a month from selling 300 chapatis a day. It is impossible to cook and sell 3,000 chapatis a day as a sole entrepreneur. It is impossible to sell chicken all the way to being a billionaire. It is also impossible to sell enough charcoal to make you a billionaire.
These stories are serving a particular purpose to those who tell them. And therefore, if you consider yourself a budding entrepreneur, your greatest asset is to find out which stories you can take to heart and which ones you have to shut out.
