Why American workers should think like Kenyans
By: Alissa Orlando
Tags: Jobs, Labor, Work Life Balance, Africa, Employment

For the past four years, I lived in East Africa. There is a lot to love about East Africa — the vibrantly colored fabrics, the graffiti on the minibusses, the talent on the dance floor. But what I admired most was the hustle.

My Kenyan friends and colleagues prided themselves on their hustle. The ability to make money from nothing but their wits and hard work. I now go to school at Stanford, an institution known for producing more billion-dollar startups than any other. But it is no comparison — the entrepreneurial culture of the Valley cannot hold a candle to the entrepreneurial culture of Nairobi.

Why is this? Well, it is the aspiration of almost all Kenyans to own their own means of production. In the United States, we are satisfied to self-select into the labor and capital class. Even the incredibly talented and privileged people in my MBA program are willing to dedicate all their time and talents to make those with capital better off. They will go work for big tech companies, investment funds, and consulting companies, satisfied with a flat salary, performance bonus, and, sometimes, a negligible equity stake.

In contrast, Kenyans assume self-employment as a given. Part of this is driven by necessity — only about a quarter of the adult workforce is formally employed. The rest find other means to generate income — hawking any products of services that generate a sufficient return. Many turn to agriculture, and buying a piece of land comes with the same pride that buying a home generates in suburban America (and probably urban America — but with Bay Area prices, not sure I’ll find out!).

Even if people are employed full-time, it is understood that you have a “side hustle.” Friends of mine had hustles ranging from running a coffee shop to designing high-end leather bags. My first employee at my company ran an AirBNB rental business. My manicurist had a catering company. My housekeeper operated an Ethiopian restaurant.

When I share this “side hustle” working style, American friends are in shock.

“Doesn’t this kill productivity?”

“How do you gain efficiencies if everyone is working on their own?”

In my experience, this hustle actually makes people better at their jobs. Being owners of small businesses, themselves encourages them to be efficient with both time and money at their job, because they have already developed an owner mentality. I also think the side-hustle culture works wonders to balance power between the labor and capital classes. Employers have to offer employees something they cannot get on their own — more money, a group of superstar colleagues to learn from, or compelling learning opportunities.

Seeing how people’s psychology at work in Kenya was far more empowering than in the United States, my big idea is to have Americans trends towards self-employment. Firstly, I think that, though risky, self-employment can be a means to generate significantly more income. I multiplied my salary when I left Uber to start my own advisory firm. Especially when formal employment is so biased by the prestige of former employers and educational institutions, self-employment can be an engine of economic mobility.

Speaking of bias, self-employment can also be a mechanism for groups that traditionally experience bias to prove their worth independent of a repressive system. An impetus for me to quit my job was being passed over for a promotion that went to someone who was “bros” with senior management. As an independent consultant, I felt like I was judged on my merits more than at an employer, where politics stunted my progression.

Self-employment also allows people to live more balanced lives. In not having to wield to employer norms, independent workers can meld their personal and professional lives and bring their whole selves to work. When you are your own boss, you set your own schedule, which means that you can duck out of work to have dinner with your family and make sure not to schedule any important meetings during vacations.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, working independently gives people the opportunity to earn an income doing work that makes their heart sing. A job will never be exactly tailored to your interests, as it needs to fit the need of the employer. But if you are able to select your own clients and projects, you can tailor how you spend your days to what you care most about. This is an incredible privilege that I fear not enough people have the confidence to explore.

Of course, there are challenges of transitioning to independent work. Firstly, there is figuring out how to get started. Do you incorporate a company? If yes, where? What type of legal entity? What type of bank account do you need? What accounting software do you use? What insurance do you need — health, professional liability, disability? Who should you trust to provide it? These are just a few of the myriad of questions that ran through my mind as a I transitioned to becoming a freelancer.

Another issue is having a steady income. The first part of income is lead generation — getting a growing roster of clients and securing higher value engagements with each. Several platforms, like Upwork and Toptal, are helping freelancers connect with potential clients. A second part of ensuring a steady income stream is collecting cash from completed engagements. This is incredibly challenging for several freelancers. While clients will often promptly pay deposits, final installment collections, especially after the work has been submitted, often are paid late, and, at times, not at all. Over 50 percent of freelancers have struggled with late payment, and independent workers carry $10,000 in overdue balances at any given time. For every late invoice, freelancers spend an average of 36 hours pursuing the delinquent client. This problem is more pronounced for female independent workers.

Even if a client pays on time, some of the payment terms for independent workers are downright unfair, essentially giving clients a zero-interest loan. For instance, several mainstream publications have 120 day (four month!) payment terms for freelance journalists and videographers. Given that each piece only generates a few hundred dollars, these long payment cycles often prevent freelancers from accepting their next gig, as they have to front their own travel expenses. In more dire situations, freelancer war reporters will skimp on security to get the story, given that they are not liquid and security is expensive. 71 journalists were killed in 2017, the majority of them freelancers. Compare this to one journalist killed in 1997. Brave storytellers like Ali Nur Siad-Ahmed and Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulle, killed in a car trip in Somalia, and Edgar Daniel Esqueda Castro, killed by gunshot in Mexico, and Christopher Allen, killed in crossfire between government and rebel forces in South Sudan, risk their lives while publications like Voice of America, Vox Populi, and Al Jazeera withheld payment.

More Americans should become self-employed, but we need to make it easier to do so. As mentioned, several strong players are tackling the lead generation issue, so I want to start an organization that advocates for freelancers to get paid well and in a timely manner. There are many ways to tackle this issue, such as trade associations with collective bargaining power, debt collection services, escrow accounts, an insurance product against non-payment. I am so excited to start exploring all of them and decide which of these, or a new idea, would be most useful in solving the payment problem, which I know is an acute issue for several brave souls who have decided to become their own bosses.