It is interesting to listen to how most people got into the businesses they are in especially in Kenya. The story normally goes like this; "One day I was with some friends at a kiosk when I noticed that people delivering milk had no vehicles to transport their milk in. I then decided to start this delivery service that I have today and I am very happy about its success" Five years later, you go and look for the same businessman and find out that he closed down or is still the same size. A second interview reveals that unforeseen business and other social political changes forced him to be the way he is- with much regret and resentment.

I must admit some good qualities in the above story like the quickness to seize the opportunity and starting small with what you have. I always say that inaction is worse than no action so he is better off than many other people. I only imagine what would have happened to his business if he took a little more time to plan in advance before engaging in the business. Chances are; he would have been able to snatch all business opportunities that came along as he engaged on his business, he would have also strategically channeled his profits to areas with higher returns, he would have been able to draw a growth curve that he would follow, he would have been able to gauge the business performance against given bench marks and take appropriate actions and finally, he would have been able to attract assistance when things got rough. That's the importance of planning; it helps the entrepreneur to chart his course and take appropriate action when things don't go as planned. That is why due to the lack of planning, majority of Kenyans never make it.

Just go around and ask people where they plan to be in the next five years, most don't even know and for the few that know, they can't even tell you how thy intend to reach that goal. When it comes to business, few have business plans and those that have them never follow them since they were written with the sole intention of attracting a business loan. It is not strange to hear the statement "I don't know what happened" when the fail and one wonders how they will start again and succeed if they don't even know where they went wrong! People have this false belief that things will just happen and trust that God guide them- something that actually never let God do.

They say "failer to plan is planning to fail" and that statement can never be so true of a majority of Kenyans and their

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