Think wealth, think value: The inseparable duo

Domino's pizza,the world class pizza-making system promised to be " there in thirty minutes hot,or it is free", being the first in home delivery. That is value. Microsoft, the giant software maker made it possible for programs to run on personal computers accessible to individuals. Another value delivered. Facebook, one the latest and best media of social expression, is currently among the most active interactive tools worldwide. Yet still value.

The list is endless. Fortune 500 companies, multi-nationals netting billions of dollars in annual revenue, employing thousands of people, and metamorphosing into friendly brands all have a common base. That common base is value.

Value when viewed from an enterprise point of view has two perspectives. One is the rules and principles that an enterprise operates by, and the other is the creation of solutions to people's needs. These two outlooks are complementary, but that which comes first in an enterprise order is that of filling needs. That is our focus here.

If you do not have what people need, you cannot succeed at enterprise. The mother of all successful business is an initial needs assessment. This process of assessing needs should be continuous as it is the life blood of any venture that wants to survive the times. My next post would be pointing at this needs assessment process. To understand the gravity of needs assessment, it might just be the reason for your existence.

Here we want to establish the fact that you can start at nothing to create wealth. The driver of enterprise is neither money nor connections, rather, it is value creation. "Start wit what you have" is what I've heard for the umpteenth time.

The basis for discovering value is love. If you can pay attention to someone else's problems with a keen desire to help out, you will strike your infinite intelligence in proffering solutions. Once you continue to brood over a problem, your mind has capacity and capability to think out a solution.

Bearing other people's burden and emotional stress in waiting for their packages to arrive upon ordering for products or expecting a mail, Frederick W. Smith caught the vision of having people wait just one midnight for deliveries. This birthed FedEx Corporation, the first in overnight package delivery. Due to the solution he desired to create, he attracted millions of dollars from investors, bank financing and family. Howard Rothman, co-author of Companies with a Conscience wrote that- Federal Express did give us what we wanted, when we wanted it.

Value comes clothed in form of a product or service eventually. The process is as simple as finding a problem, proffering solution and building wealth.

Sometime in 2007, at a conference, I met the first and master franchisee for McDonald's in South Africa, Peter Moyanga. I was shocked in the course of our discussion to hear of these certain young guys that had built a franchise system out of just shining shoes. They are in airports all around the city, whereby travelers would just have their shoes shined on the spot while they stand. That is just value in effusive display.

Sit tight as I unearth the value creation process in my next post. Once again, I would dare to say that value is the sure fire way to prosperity.