It is about that time again.
It is just past 3 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and after almost two weeks of feeling like I had nothing worth writing about, somehow the words have finally come back.
Not because nothing has been happening. Trust me, a lot has been happening. If anything, maybe too much. But through all of it, I just could not find that one thought worth sitting down and writing about.
Tonight, I think I finally know what it is.
When I look back at the last few weeks, there is something that has quietly become heavier in my life as an entrepreneur: the weight of responsibility.
I feel like I am now at a point in my life where the responsibilities are bigger, the expectations are bigger, and there is somehow more weight on my shoulders than I have probably felt before.
And the truth is, it is a great feeling. It is a good feeling. But being honest with you, it is also one of those feelings I do not even have the right words to explain properly.
You find yourself looking back at every decision you have made, scrutinising every call, every little bit of progress, every setback, and sometimes asking yourself whether you could have made a better call or a better decision.
Because trust me, above everything else, entrepreneurship, at least for me, has never really been about the money. I strongly believe that because this is what my conscience screams all the time.
It has always been about what you create and the results that come from it. Maybe it is a project you started, a prototype you decided to build, a product, or even a strategy you spent weeks thinking about.
Then, a few weeks or months in, your mind somehow always kicks in and starts asking: Did I really make the right call? Is this working? Is this not working? Could I have done something differently?
And most of the time, when something is not working, I wish I could pretend to be one of those founders who tells you everything has been fantastic so far. But the truth is, sometimes you genuinely feel disappointed.
And for me, that disappointment weighs me down. Whether it is disappointment about progress, relationships, partnerships, decisions, or all the moving pieces involved in building something, sometimes you just sit there and wonder, God, is this even a normal feeling for founders, or am I just discovering it for the first time?
But anyway, here we are.
It is 3:11 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and interestingly enough, Saturdays have become one of the days I really look forward to.
Over time, weekend catch-up meetings with partners, investors, and some of the people closest to me have become a bit of a norm. You get a chance to look back at the entire week and ask yourself what you accomplished, what went wrong, what the challenges were, and what needs to change moving forward.
And trust me, sometimes I do not even want to call these business strategy meetings anymore. They feel more like business therapy sessions.
Simply because you have a platform where you can be honest, put your thoughts on the table, and somebody listens to you. Sometimes someone just reminds you that it is okay to feel disappointed, it is okay not to have all the answers, and it is okay to have a plan and get knocked straight in the face on the very first attempt.
I had a wonderful meeting sometime this week, and one of the greatest people I know reminded me of that famous Mike Tyson line: everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
And I think, as an entrepreneur, I am slowly learning to accept that sometimes you have amazing plans, great plans, but those plans will not always work the way you imagined.
Sometimes you simply have to adjust.
But I think there is also another danger in all of this. Sometimes the disappointment about what has not worked becomes so loud that it starts overshadowing everything that actually did work.
You start looking at what is missing instead of what is there. You start looking at how far you still have to go instead of looking back at how far you have already come. And if you are not careful, you can completely overlook the smaller steps you have already made.
As I sit here reflecting this morning, I am trying to remind myself not to do that.
Because the truth is, I am very grateful for the progress we have made at Afrifama so far. It might have been slow, and certainly not everything has gone according to plan, but surely we have taken some steps.
And maybe sometimes I need to give those steps the credit they deserve.
There is that old saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and perhaps tonight I need that reminder more than anyone else.
Maybe this is also an open letter to another founder, a young entrepreneur, an existing entrepreneur, or even someone who just feels stuck somewhere in life.
It is okay to feel like you have not made the greatest progress yet, but do not overlook the smaller steps you have already made.
Sometimes even making the decision itself is a step. Making the effort is another step. Trying again is another one.
And when you take one step, then another, and another, and another, eventually those smaller steps become something much bigger than you thought. Certainly much further than not taking a step at all.
Now I will go back to building, because apparently this is that hour when I feel inspired to build, inspired to think, and, interestingly enough, very creative.
And maybe my writing mojo has finally decided to come back too, lol.
I will continue believing in this vision, and in this somehow crazy idea that a young boy from the mountain, from the village, can actually inspire and impact the world through his own unique smaller steps towards a better future, better livelihoods, and hopefully building solutions that actually matter.
Maybe we will not always get every decision right. Maybe some plans will get punched straight in the face. But we continue building, we continue learning, and we keep making those steps.
Keep believing in what you are building.