In Business, The True Asset Isn’t the Deal but the Talent that runs the deal.
- Belguin Prosper Lumu
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
I want to share a simple experience that changed how I look at business - an experience that started as a simple land purchase, but quietly became one of my most important business lessons.
Some time ago, I bought a piece of land for farming. Like most people would do, I focused on the transaction - negotiating the price, securing ownership, and making sure everything was in order. To me, that was the “deal.”
When I first went to see the land, I was like any other buyer - observant, cautious, calculating. I walked across the fields, looked at the soil, asked the usual questions. The man selling it was calm, almost too calm. He didn’t oversell it. He just spoke about the land like someone who had lived with it… understood it.
To me, it was just a deal waiting to be closed. We negotiated, agreed, and I bought it. Transaction done. Or so I thought.
A few months later, as I began planning my farming activities, one question kept coming back to me: “Who is best placed to bring this land to life?”
After some thinking, I made a decision that didn’t feel like strategy at the time - I hired the same man who sold me the land to help me till it.
I could have called in new people. Fresh energy. New ideas. That’s what we entrepreneurs are wired to do - bring in “our own team.”
But something about that man stayed on my mind.
So I made a decision that even I didn’t fully analyze at the time - I called him back.
Not to renegotiate. Not to ask more questions.
I simply asked him to work with me. He accepted.
And that’s when the story truly began.
Here is what I discovered;
This man didn’t just sell me land. He understood it. He knew how the soil behaved when the rains delayed. He knew which sections were more fertile. He knew what had been tried before on this land - and what had failed. He wasn’t starting from zero like I was.
As days went by, I realized something powerful: I hadn’t just acquired land… I had inherited experience.
And by choosing to work with him instead of "bringing in my own workers", I turned a transaction into a partnership.
While I was still figuring things out, he was already moving with certainty. He knew where to start without hesitation. He didn’t guess - he knew. When I suggested certain approaches, he would pause, smile slightly, and say in Luganda, “Mr. Prosper, we can try… but let me show you something first.”
And every time, he was right.
He knew which part of the land held water longer after rain. He knew the sections that looked fertile but would disappoint. He knew the history - not just of the land, but of every decision that had ever touched it. What would have taken me seasons of trial and error… he carried in his memory.
That’s when it hit me…
In business, we are often too quick to separate people from opportunities. We chase new connections, new hires, new ideas - thinking that’s where growth is. But sometimes, the real advantage is right there with the people already connected to what you’ve acquired.
The lesson I took from this is simple:
Don’t just invest in assets - invest in the people behind them (invest in your teams)
Don’t rush to replace - first understand what already exists
The closest person to the opportunity often carries the deepest insight
Trust, when given wisely, turns ordinary arrangements into powerful alliances
If there’s one thing I would want every entrepreneur to take from this, it is this:
Don’t be too quick to change the hands that understand what you’ve just acquired.
Look again at your business, your projects, your partnerships.
There might be someone you’re overlooking…Someone who doesn’t look like “your team”…But holds the exact key to making your vision work.
If this story made you pause, even for a moment - share it with another entrepreneur.
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