Once, a man in a village in the North of Kenya wanted to slaughter a cow and share the meat with his friends. He invited them over and said, “Help yourselves to as much as you want and take it back home.” One of his friends came from far away and asked for a whole leg. He carried the heavy load on his back, but soon became tired and had to cut off pieces of the leg along the way to lighten his load. When he finally arrived home, he was exhausted and had only a small piece of meat left. The man offered him another piece, but he declined, too tired to carry anything more.

Another friend came along and asked for a small piece of the cow. He had the energy to carry the load and was thrilled to cook the meat at home. He returned to the man and asked for more, eager to carry another piece of the cow.

The moral of the story is clear: don’t take on a heavy burden if you can’t handle it. If you start big and take out a large loan to start a business, it may become a heavy burden on your shoulders. If the business doesn’t do well, you won’t be able to pay back the loan and you will become overwhelmed.

It’s better to start small and grow gradually. Take out a small loan, test the waters, and pay it back. Once you’ve built a solid foundation, you can come back for more.