By Jerry Nyazungu
As a business consultant, I’ve seen it all, from entrepreneurs with offices in their handbags to companies that collapse faster than a tent in a thunderstorm. But today, let me share a true story that says it all, a tale of two schools, both born in the same year, in the same town, under the same sun… but with completely different destinies.
School A: Homeboy Academy
Now this one Homeboy Academy is the type of school that makes you wish you were five years old again.
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One campus.
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Fully equipped.
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ECD to A-Level.
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Boarding facilities that look like a hotel.
They’ve got over 20 buses picking kids up from every corner of the city. The grounds are green like a golf course. The teachers use interactive digital screens, not blackboards. There’s a swimming pool, a music lab, and even a school app that tells parents if their child sneezed twice before lunch.
Teachers are not just staff they’re valued assets. Most drive their own cars, thanks to car loan schemes. The school runs like a well-oiled machine, and guess what? It’s profitable. Solid revenues. No financial gymnastics. Just proper planning and execution.
** School B: Homeling Schools**
Then there’s Homeling Schools. Plural. Yes because they opened ten branches in five years. That’s right — Ten!.
But here’s the problem:
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They still use chalkboards, and some don’t even have chalk.
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The grass is so brown it crackles when you walk.
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Buses? Sometimes it’s parents doing carpool kombi-style.
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Teachers? Overworked, underpaid, and possibly planning a strike during lunch.
Instead of building one strong school, they scattered their resources like confetti at a wedding. And guess what? Half of the branches are not even breaking even. They’re just surviving on prayer and hope.
** The Moral of the Story?**
This isn’t just a school problem. It’s a business epidemic in Africa.
Too many entrepreneurs want to open 10 branches before they even know if branch number 1 is profitable. They confuse movement with progress. They think expansion is strategy when in fact, it could be suicide if done too soon.
In my book**, Why African Businesses Die Young,**
I call this deadly mistake: “Early Expansion Without Structure”
Yes, there might be a market. Yes, people might be calling you from Chitungwiza, Mutare, and Kitwe asking, “When are you opening here?” But ask yourself this:
“Do I have the working capital, the human resources, and the systems to handle that growth?”
If not pause. Strengthen the mother branch. Make sure the foundation can carry the mansion you’re dreaming of.
Let’s stop glorifying being “everywhere” when you can barely survive somewhere. Sometimes, the best business move is not opening the next branch, but fixing the one you already have.
Africa doesn’t need more businesses it needs more sustainable ones.
And remember, It’s not how many shops you open, but how many you can keep open.
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