JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN

I woke up this morning feeling uncertain. As a Sagittarius male, I normally interpret uncertainty as an exciting journey into the unknown. I do not feel this way on this occasion. I see it as a journey into the unknown period. Whether it will be exciting or otherwise, time will tell.

I am a 'feelings' person placing a great deal of emphasis on intuition. Believe me, it is probably not good for the health of most to put a lot of faith on intuition but it has worked well in the past for me. 'Why fix if it ain't broke' kind of thing. Today, I feel uncertain and seem to be at a crossroads. I have the distinct feeling that the choice I make is going to shape the rest of my life. What a frightening thought!

There are certain things I've resolved to do which remain unchanged. For instance, I'm never going to work for anybody but myself again. However, I'm at a crossroads as to what I need to be doing going forward. I've done pretty well trading diamonds and I enjoy the buzz of that tremendously. I have also traded timber, which has equally been fulfilling. As a person that gets bored easily, I found doing the two at the same time quite exciting and challenging.

I am at a point where I need to choose one. The diamond business requires a lot of luck, contacts, focus and in some cases dirty dealing. One can go for months without getting the right quality according to one's criteria and could be disheartening. Suddenly a stone turns up and you're made for the next month, six months, year or life. That's the beauty of the diamond business. At start up stage, it is very exciting but unglamorous. In my case, I am competing with well established Lebanese businessmen who have their contacts overseas. My Sierra Leone brothers will rather sell to a Lebanese who they seem to trust more than to their Sierra Leonean brother! I've tried to change the perception that the Lebanese are more trustworty but it's like trying to move Mount Everest on my own. I just need to keep chipping away until time makes its effects known.

The timber trade is a more hands on and daily grind. I enjoy haggling with town chiefs and locals in the provinces to obtain the timber from their patch. The rewards are also good and quicker to obtain. For instance, I could invest $3000 in a 2 weeks operation and make around $5000 gross profit. This was before the ban on timber trade in Sierra Leone while policy was reviewed. In my beloved country, you would think the ban would stop the trade but you would be wrong. There is so much corruption in the country that the ban just presented those with the mandate to police adherence to the ban with the opportunity to make money in the form of bribes. I chose not to go down that route and instead wait for the ban to be lifted. Trouble is, it took a while for the ban to be lifted. If you speak to some authorities and ask whether the ban had been lifted, some said yes, some said no. Unbelievable but true. However, it's been lifted now so it's all systems go.

Now, my decision which seems an easy one is, do I just do diamonds or timber or both? My heart says both, my head says one but which one? The timber is dominated by the Chinese and the diamonds Lebanese. Don't ask what Sierra Leoneans dominate in Sierra Leone. I'll be tempted to say nothing.

I guess I'll just have to go with my intuition!