“It’s good to have the side-hustles, but they should not distract you from the main goal of building your business. The main goal is the main goal.”

Susan Situma is the Vice President and Head of SME Banking at Barclays Kenya. When she recently spent time with members of We are Founders, she said, “When you are trying to create a business, it should be your option A. If you are not fully involved in your business, I don’t see how it works, and as your banker, I would be worried about supporting you with finance.”

Susan confirmed the notion that, when you are creating a business, no one else is thinking for you, you are the brains. Any time you have delegated the thought process to another person and you are committed to other projects, the business more often than not fails.

She also stated that, “The moment you focus on anything and decide that you are doing it, you will get a breakthrough. But the moment it’s an option B it will always be an option B. You have to make up your mind and say I will do it and I will do it like this.”

Susan posited that an indicator of a good business person is their full involvement in the business. It doesn’t really matter how much you’re banking; the banks will always give you money if they see that you are fully committed to your business. This applies to investors too.

As an entrepreneur, your business is your option A. If your banker or investor sees this commitment, it says a lot about your passion and commitment into the business and makes you more attractive to them.