Fwense Cooperative Society

20/04/2020

5 acre concept – A company’s board of directors is usually made up of 9 directors. Do you think a group of nine professionals/business person can create employment for our graduates through the formation of 5 acre farms? I understand there is a lot you can on a 5 acre farm

28/10/2017

Zambian professionals should help diversify the economy by forming companies or cooperatives whose business is agriculture or indeed any other businesses that will create a resilient economy.

We have drinking mates but not business partners.

We share bar bills but we hesitate to share investment risk.

Food for thought.

19/07/2016

Road to Financial Independence

1. Live like you are going to die tomorrow, but invest like you are going to live forever. Money is like a tree, stare at a newly planted tree for 24 hours and you will be convinced it is not going. Fixate on your investments the same way and you could miss out on a game changer. Enjoy your life to the fullest every day- like you are going to die tomorrow. But since you are probably not going to die tomorrow, plant part of your money in quality stocks, real estate or other investments, then hold on to them. Patience pays.

2. Listen to your own voice above all others. If someone promises they can make you 3000 percent profit, they are either a fool for sharing that information or a liar. Why would you send money to either one. When you hear someone promising a simple solution to a complex problem, stop listening to them and start listening to your inner voice.

3. Wealth is realized when the economy is booming, but that’s not when it is created. Wealth is created when times are bad, unemployment is high, problems are massive, etc. would you rather buy a house for K200,000 or K100,000 million. When will you invest in stocks, when the Lusaka Stock Exchange Exchange is high or low.

4. Don’t create debt. Don’t ever borrow because you want something you can’t afford. Borrow money in only two circumstances: when your back is against the wall, or when what you are buying will increase in value by more than what you are paying in interest. When you owe money, in a very real way you are a slave to that lender until you pay back it back. When you don’t, you are much more the master of your own destiny.

5. Be frugal – but not miserly. The key to accumulating more savings is not to spend less – it is to spend less without sacrificing your quality of life. Finding ways to save is important, but avoiding deprivation is just as important.

6. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can save today. Fortunes are rarely made by investing big bucks, nor are they made often late in life. Wealth most often comes from starting small and early. There are limited ways to get rich. You can inherit, marry well, build a valuable business, successfully capitalize on exceptional talent, get exceedingly lucky – or spend less than you make and consistently invest your savings over time.

7. Envy if your enemy. You can either look rich or be rich. Being rich is better than using debt to appear rich.

21/06/2016

Own less. Live more. Finding minimalism in a world of consumerism - Envy is what makes us greedy. The more we have, the greedier we become. “Envy is ignorance.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Harmful effects of envy: (1) It fosters discontent and distress. (2) It binds our freedom. (3) It leads to resentment and bitterness. (4) It causes us to do things we wouldn’t normally do. (5) It can spiral into depression.

How can we overcome it envy?

1. Shift your focus to the goodness in your life. One of the biggest reasons we envy the life of another is because we have begun to take our blessings for granted. Count them again. You are talented. You are gifted. You are cared for. You are unique. Your life is too valuable to be lived like everyone else. You have countless reasons to be grateful for the life you have been given.

2. Remind yourself that nobody has it all. Comparing your life with others is always a losing proposition. There will always appear to be people who have it better than you. But remember, we always compare the worst of what we know about ourselves to the best assumptions we make about others. Be reminded, nobody has it all. Each person you meet experiences problems, trials, and weaknesses–just like you. This is what makes us human. Nobody is exempt. Nobody has it all. Nobody.

3. Celebrate the success of others. Genuinely and practically, rejoice in the fortune of others. When somebody receives something that you desire, be happy for them. If you wanted it, they probably did too. Stop viewing life as a competition. Joy is not a finite resource. And the moment you learn to experience happiness in others’ joy is the day you take a huge step to overcoming envy once and for all.

4. Be generous. Even if you have to force yourself into it at first, make generosity an essential habit in your life. Give your time. Give your finances. Give your abilities, talents, and skills. Volunteer in your community. Envy has held us hostage for far too long. It is time, once and for all, to break free from envy and experience a more fulfilled life because of it.

Reference: Joshua Becker

14/06/2016

Economic diversification – Zambia should focus in areas in which she has comparative advantage (specialize, focus). These being agriculture and tourism. Manufacturing and other sectors will evolve as we may make money from agriculture and tourism. Specialization refers to the tendency of countries to specialize in certain products which they trade for other goods, rather than producing all consumption goods on their own. Countries produce a surplus of the product in which they specialize and trade it for a different surplus good of another country.

Comparative advantage is the driving force of specialization. When countries decide what products to specialize in, the essential question becomes who could produce the product at a lower opportunity cost. Opportunity cost refers to what must be given up in order to obtain some item. It requires calculating what one could have gotten if one produced another product instead of one unit of the given product.

Source: Boundless. “Relationship Between Specialization and Trade.” Boundless Economics. Boundless, 26 May. 2016. Retrieved 13 Jun. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/economics/textbooks/boundless-economics-textbook/international-trade-31/introduction-to-international-trade-124/relationship-between-specialization-and-trade-495-12591

Read more about relationship between specialization and trade in the Boundless open textbook.

07/06/2016

The Power of Focus – Habits Will Determine Your Future. A habit is something you do so often it becomes easy. It’s a behavior that you keep repeating.

If you want to be financially independent, it makes sense to check your money-making habits. Do you consistently save and invest at least 10 percent of your income. The key word is consistent. That means every month. And every month is a good habit. Consistent savings and investments is what separates the people who have from the people who don’t have.

Successful people don’t drift to the top. It takes focused action, personal discipline and lots of energy every day to make things happen.

Habits determine whether you will be: Rich or poor. Healthy or Unhealthy. Fulfilled or unfilled. Happy or unhappy. It is your choice, so choose wisely.

(Readings from the Book – The Power of Focus By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt)

05/06/2016

The Power of Focus – Your Habits Will Determine Your Future – Drop bad habits and pick up new habits daily. For example, on good habits you can:

• Enroll for a fitness program
• Further your education
• Grow spiritually
• Develop a business
• Etc.

Life doesn’t just happen, it is all about the choices we make. If we continually make bad choices, disaster often occurs. Our everyday choices ultimately determine whether we end up living with abundance or living in poverty.

05/06/2016

Money is you. Money is a numeric analog for how you run your life and what you have done for others. Money ceases to exist in the absence of people. Money is the most effective way ever invented for men and women to quantify their creative energy – a most convenient measure of our time, dignity, skills, health, experience and persistence. Money is a combination of a claim and a promise. It is a claim against other people for the goods and services you need, and it is a promise on their part to supply those goods and services to you. (From the book “Thou Shall Prosper By Rabi Daniel Lapin”)

30/05/2016

Agriculture Cooperatives – The first step towards economic diversification in Zambia should be investment in agriculture by both government and citizens.

It is generally believed that successfully managed agricultural cooperatives have great potential in agricultural development in particular and development in general.

A vital part of any cooperative organization is its members and their active participation in the cooperative. Members should also be loyal to the cooperative. Without active members’ participation and members’ satisfaction, cooperatives cannot survive in the long run.

Cooperatives provide a means by which disadvantaged groups can work together, share risks and solve their common problems.

Through cooperation, farmers may realise economies of scale in acquiring farm inputs, improve their standards of production and marketing and jointly organize credit, transport, professional services and processing, creating off farm employment as well as funds to improve socio-economic services (Clegg J 2006, Rural Cooperatives in China: Policy and Practice. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development).

According to international principles, cooperatives can avoid problems of dependence on large investors by raising capital as indivisible funds through internal accumulation.

20/05/2016

Before looking forward, look backward. If things are stable and steady, they will continue to be stable and steady unless acted on by some force. How likely is it for some force to materialize? If things are changing rapidly, they are already being acted on by some force. Find it, recognize it and determine how that force is likely to behave. Will it continue? Will it strengthen or weaken? Examine the trend of the matter concerning you. What has been it doing up to the present. Once you have discovered the trend, you must ask yourself whether it has been behaving this way only because something is preventing it from behaving differently – Rabbi Daniel Lapin in Thou Shall Prosper

17/05/2016

Visualize your future. Whether you are contemplating an investment or planning a new business, faith is paramount. If you are unable to clearly visualize what it will all look like were it to go well, you would be better off deferring the action until you can see it. If you are about to pick up the phone to make a sales call or to propose to make a transaction, the ability to see the future is necessary. Your chances of success are vastly enhanced if you spend a few moments first actively visualizing the conversation with your prospect culminating triumphantly.