[September 20, 2011] Tech Jobseekers Click It Right With Online Ventures Tweet Sep 20, 2011 (Business Daily/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- Donholm is noisy and irritating. We welcome the chance to escape into Ben Mwangi's living room only 30m from the road made notorious by buses, which pick and drop passengers everywhere. The buses are said to be involved in an average of five accidents daily. On this bright Sunday afternoon, the Business Daily has just witnessed a motorcyclist being pushed into a ditch by one of these buses prompting a commotion that has led to a snarl-up on the busy road. The scenes of disorder and chaos outside are contrasted by the ambience and taste in Mwangi's house. From imported curtains to a 100 inch LCD television set, every sign points to a man leading a good life. But Mwangi is only a 24-year-old university graduate who could not find a job after completing his Mass Communication degree. "I fought hard, tarmacked extensively and in the end, I found no opportunity," he says of his difficult past. "Thereafter, I met a guy who trades in foreign exchange (forex) and he agreed to train me on the trade." It must have worked since Mwangi is now unrecognisable from the jobseeker who covered every inch of the streets of Nairobi in his then "only beige suit dropping brown envelopes everywhere in vain". Forex, he says, is a high risk, high return business which is dependent on a broad grasp of global issues and hindsight. "When you have mastered the art, which I can promise you is no easy task, you become unstoppable in this business. Every waking moment potentially becomes worth big dollars and every sleeping or resting moment a loss. Every day, there is $4 trillion changing hands and it is easily the biggest marketplace you can get into." But despite all the hype about forex being a money-minting activity, Mwangi offers some home truths. "Almost 90 per cent of people in forex are losing money at any one time. Their loss is the gain of the only about 10 per cent who really know how this business is like," he says. "This is a game of total dedication, of risks and of anticipation. If you are an intelligent person, have an affinity with numbers and can learn fast, you will find forex a very rewarding business. But if you just read about forex and assume the money is just earned by buying and selling currencies, this will be your waterloo." According to money markets investor and renowned analyst Aly Khan Satchu, forex is about the best avenue for passive investments there ever was. "The industry has a very robust environment and you can borrow up to nine for every one dollar that you have," he says. "That means forex is about the only opportunity where you get a chance to do business with much more money than you have." Other big opportunities also exist for people to make a lot of money from home. According to Geoffrey Kimotho, a work-from-home entrepreneur, Kenyans should take working from home seriously. Kimotho generates web content for marketing websites and wonders why he had not started earlier. "I used to work for an organisation and my job had a lot of pressure," he tells the Business Daily. "The commuting, the fares and the workplace politics were hectic for me. There is no way I can compare working from home to being in formal employment." Kimotho says jobs that can be found online are accountancy, software development, content generation and drawing and design, among others. "The opportunities are limitless and any computer literate person will get something to do." Kimotho gets his jobs from the odesk.com website where thousands of opportunities are posted every minute. The payments are also competitive and he says people who only started online work a year ago should be driving and living comfortably by now. But with all that freedom, Kimotho still offers advice on getting ahead in the business. "Where nobody watches you, you have to be careful not to let yourself down. Online work has timelines and quality limits too. The better your work, the better the rating that you get." That rating is the benchmark by which future employers assess you, according to Kimotho. "The requirement for discipline, hard work and dedication is not waived just because your employer is not breathing on your shoulder. Westerners are geekish about ratings and a less than flattering review of your work will ensure you get no jobs in the future. He urges Kenyans to take to the Internet to escape effects of poor economy. "Working from home only requires an access code, a computer and a fast connection. That means no fare, no time lost in traffic and you even work in your slippers and eat your own food. That would save a fortune on income." The only downside with such kind of work is that it might alienate a person and deny them social interactions. "If you are not careful, you could become a computer slave and too much non-stop crouching may have health risks," warns Kimotho. "There are many cases of depression too since too much chasing after money without anybody to talk to could take its toll on you." That said, those involved in online work would never give it up for anything. "It is both a freedom and a challenge," says Kimotho. "It is perhaps one of the few chances where you decide how much you want and then work for it." Mwangi agrees and adds that he has not taken leave for almost two years since he needs a lot of money to complete building his residential home on Kiambu Road. "Maybe in the future, I may decide to slow down. But am still a young man and because I now have an opportunity, I would have no excuse to relax." [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]