• +256200909627, +256758111409
Facebook X-twitter Youtube Whatsapp

Strategy + Execution = Impact

Strategy + Execution = Impact

Lasting wealth is through hard work not placing bets

OutToLunch: Lasting wealth is through hard work not placing bets

By Denis Jjuuko

There is a young man who told me that he had come up with an innovative idea that may change the world but lacked funding to realize it. I told him that I didn’t work in the angel investment space but he was incessant that I listen to him. All that he needed, he argued, was about 30 minutes of my time. If I listen to him, maybe I could talk to some of my “rich” friends and they invest. I was reluctant but I could easily find the 30 minutes.

Over time and perhaps through personal experiences, I have increasingly become skeptical of “innovations” and great “ideas.” Many such ideas are hard to pull off in a country like Uganda. Also, in the developed world, very few people come up with great ideas. Most entrepreneurs that succeed do what everyone is doing but a little bit better. However, I also didn’t want to spend the rest of my life regretting.

He kept time. Since we are Africans, we asked each other about our respective families, the weather and what is actually “new that side.” The “new” thing on his side was the innovative idea that he had come up with. He said for some time, he has been studying sports betting.

Almost every other English premier league football club is sponsored by a betting company. Every other advert on pay TV platforms is of sports betting or some form of betting. Every little nook around Kampala has some form of sports betting shop or another. Somebody told me that many young people have a betting app on their smartphones.

Indeed, one day, I was walking behind some guards returning from their night duty. I eavesdropped on their conversation. They were talking about a football match that had taken place in Kazakhstan. Of all places. They had placed some bets on the outcome of match in a league in Kazakhstan!

I understood why the young man wanted to pitch his ideas even to people who may not have any capacity to raise any money. Anyway, the young man said that he had spent the last few years involved in sports betting and he thinks he can generate a lot of money. I became attentive, writing down questions at the back of my mind to ask him once he finished his presentation.

Eventually, it became clear that he wasn’t looking for money to invest in a sports betting company. His innovative idea was that he had studied the formula of beating the sports betting companies! Wow! He said if he got money and placed his bets strategically, he would be able to beat them and win.

He explained how he thought the betting companies work and what one needs to do to beat them. I don’t remember the exact formula he explained but I doubted whether one could beat these companies.

I told him that he stood a better chance if he started a betting company instead but he said that is not the best way to make money. Why invest in that when you have realized the formula to beat the “muyindi”? Muyindi in betting language refers to the sports betting companies.

I could tell that he was very disappointed that I couldn’t invest or refer him to my so-called “rich” friends and that I didn’t see how his idea would make “us” extremely wealthy. The last time I heard about him, the stories involved police, court and Luzira Prison.

Anyway, somebody recently claimed that there are some young people whose job is sports betting. Apparently, one is more likely to become wealthy through it than a regular normal job. My argument was that unless you own the sports betting platform, you can’t be placing bets and expecting to become wealthy.

Wealth is through selling goods or services. Gambling has never been known to create lasting wealth for a gambler. How do we stop young people from spending all their time placing bets? We must create sustainable jobs for them while informing them that overnight success only happens in movies. In real life, people sell something in exchange for money. They don’t just place bets on who will score in which minute of a soccer match.

The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

Related
Blog

#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started

#OutToLunch: Finishing university? Learning has just started By Denis Jjuuko Some of Uganda’s universities have concluded their end of year exams at least for their undergraduate students. Some students have taken to social media to celebrate this milestone. It is not every day that one gets to complete their education. In Uganda, many have been studying since they were three years old or younger. That is averagely 20 years of classrooms. Phew! Anything that takes 20 years to accomplish should be celebrated. And those in Uganda who have managed to complete their education are the lucky few. The majority of kids who start their primary education don’t get the opportunity to sit their primary leaving exams. Numbers continue dropping in secondary education and other levels. The end of exams comes for most of these students at the precipice of something new —disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence that is changing the world. Some jobs will have to go but many others will be created. There are about 400,000 young people that enter the job market in Uganda every year. It is a dauting task to find work but it is also an opportunity for many young people to define their future. The end of final year exams and the graduation ceremony in months ahead doesn’t mean the end of learning. Formal education for many may be over but lifelong learning starts right now. Life is about learning something new all the time and being able to adapt to the realities that are thrown our way. But the most important thing for the majority of young people finishing their university or other education is finding a job. There is a lot of talk about the disruptive nature of artificial intelligence but machines and such technologies won’t entirely replace humans. Those who will succeed are those who will learn how to work alongside them. But there are still other things that fresh graduates looking for a job in Uganda must embrace. They are equally important or even more critical than even some of the digital skills. Talent alone or high academic qualifications may open the door for you but it won’t keep you in the room. That is why many times people with average talent succeed over the most talented ones. Virtues that keep average people flying. At university, there is perhaps no course unit on virtues. Stuff like honesty. Yet it is a key ingredient of success. How many people promise to do something and do it? There is an increasing shortage of honest people in Uganda. Anyone who tries not to shortchange everyone will succeed. People including the most dishonest ones like working with honest people. They want to protect their side of the bargain. You have heard of honor among thieves. Communication skills are very important. You can’t only answer your phone call before you receive the deposit to do some work and then answer only when you want and then complain that person demanding their work are unreasonable. They were not unreasonable before you agreed to do the work. Giving feedback is critical. When they send you somewhere, you must report back. You don’t wait to be asked to inform them of what happened. Employers like people who are proactive. And so do customers for those who may want to go the self-employment or hustling route. There is no African time. And if you plan to work in Kampala, at the moment there is no public transport worth the ink of this article. Roads get clogged. But you can’t tell people that you arrived late because of traffic jam. I understand these days roads can be closed even to pedestrians but the reason you have a phone is to call and communicate why there is a delay. You may give it as an excuse but people will one day find out that you are lying. Read as much as possible. The more you read, the more you understand the world its complexities. Reading creates an open mind. Don’t be rigid. Listen to what others say. Writing even in the age of ChatGPT is still important. You will not always be sending WhatsApp audios. Learn to write. You can’t avoid it. One way to learn writing is by reading. And of course, learn a new skill. There are many online courses. Google, Storytelling Africa, Udemy and many other platforms provide free or very affordable courses. All you need is an internet connection and sparing a few hours a week. In the meantime, congratulations on the completion of your university education. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant djjuuko@gmail.com

Read More »
June 4, 2025
Out to Lunch

#OutToLunch: Favourable interest rates are good for everyone, not just government blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches

#OutToLunch: A blueprint for politicians and entrepreneurs building churches By Denis Jjuuko When it comes to religion, many times politicians, billionaire entrepreneurs, the middle class and other classes agree. At least on building magnificent houses of God. Across Uganda, many people have contributed or even single handedly built these houses of God. Fancy to a fault, majestically standing on hills with spires that compete with those seen in Hollywood movies. Many of these worship centres, particularly those single handedly built by one person or a family with their friends, are usually located in rural areas where the funders were born, walked barefoot to school before migrating to Kampala to find fortune and fame. The floors are of Italian or Spanish marble, porcelain or at worst polished terrazzo. Stained glasses with the beautiful image of the Virgin Mary complete the curvy life size windows. The pews are of the hardest wood. The world’s best sound engineers come in to install the public address system. The house of God must be fancy. Once construction is complete, they call in their Kampala friends for the grand opening. The clergy lines up at the foot of the building to welcome them. The parking lot is full of the most expensive SUVs. The parishioners walk in every prayer day fearful of stepping on the floors, sometimes so shiny that they see their own body reflections. Their best clothes can’t even be used to clean the pews. They can scratch them. For a moment, the poor are in heaven before returning to their houses where floors are screeded with cow dung. There is nothing wrong with people using their fortune and connections to build grand churches or mosques. It is their money; their appreciation of what God has helped them achieve. They no longer have some of these other problems so they can “give back” to God. The problem is whether the grandeur church is what the community really needs. Shouldn’t politicians, the rich and famous first do a needs assessment? Usually, besides the magnificent house of God stands a school with a falling roof or whose walls are being held in place by crooked timber poles. Windows are just wide openings where mild steel frames would do. Inside some of the classrooms, are anthills. Pupils sit on logs and like their homes, the cow dung is the main material used for floor screeding. Teachers look like they last had a decent meal on Christmas day. The health centre is miles away and poorly equipped. The only hope for survival whenever they fall sick is through prayer in the church built for them by the only person who was lucky enough to survive the biting poverty. Yet the funders go to India or Kenya or Germany whenever they feel any discomfort. And are not afraid to give testimony that last time they fell sick, they traveled to Europe for better management and while there, they were thankful to God for their life hence the magnificent church building. Yet the blueprint for an impactful church exists. In most cases wherever the Catholics built a church, they built a school as well and almost everywhere they set up their regional headquarters (read a diocese), they built a functional hospital. They knew that you can’t pastor the dead! They also knew that an educated population is good for them and their beliefs. Some people call it sustainability and perhaps that is why they have existed for millennia. You saw how they put on a show at Pope Francis’ funeral. Why can’t politicians and billionaire businessmen do the same? If you have Shs6 billion (nearly US$2 million) like we heard of the Ssembabule church or the one in Mitooma, why not build a church of Shs2 billion, a school of Shs2 billion and a healthy centre of Shs2 billion? You could also may be build all those with about 70% of the kitty and create an endowment fund with the remaining 30%. The annual interest from the fund could be used to operate the school and the hospital. If 30% of Shs6b is invested say in a long-term treasury bond, it could give a net return of approximately Shs255m per a year or Shs21.3m per a month, enough to subsidize a rural school and health facility. Alternatively, an income generating project could be established alongside the church building. A factory to add value for the parishioners. It could be a dairy plant or a coffee factory depending on the area. A scholarship for the needy bright students could be another alternative. That way people wouldn’t have to meet their creator ahead of time. The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com

Read More »
May 27, 2025
Follow Us
Facebook X-twitter Youtube Whatsapp
Latest Articles

Strategy + Execution = Impact

  • +256200909627, +256758111409
  • ptc@primetime.co.ug
  • 1st Floor IJ Complex Kiwatuule, Kampala
  • Mon – Fri: 8:00AM–5:00PM
Facebook X-twitter Youtube Whatsapp

Copyright © 2025 Prime Time Communications