Opportunity springs from disappointment

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This article was published 06/09/2023 (1107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Disappointment can sometimes be a prompt to point you in the right direction. And so it has been for Thiery Niyubuhungiro.

Thiery, who is originally from Burundi, was disappointed with the way his boss treated an immigrant woman. The situation forced him to quit his job on the spot but his conscience could not allow him to remain employed with a company that did not care about people.

Thiery worked with a moving company at the time. His boss had agreed to do a job. They showed up and packed the truck with the customer’s belongings. Thiery’s boss believed it was a bigger load than he’d been told and asked for more money. The customer refused and Thiery’s boss became angry, insulted the customer and said he did not want to work for people like her. He ordered his employees to unload the truck and took off.

Thiery, however, refused to leave the woman in a lurch and offered his help. He rented a moving truck — and that was the beginning of Aseme Moving Company.

Thiery came to Canada 12 years ago, when he was 14. He finished high school and trained to become a personal trainer, which equipped him with good self-discipline and a motivational mindset that informs his daily life. He worked as a personal trainer for two years, then left to work in the Alberta oil fields. He returned to Winnipeg two years ago, after his father passed away, to support his family.

“I always wanted to own my own business,” Thiery said. “But I thought I needed a lot of money to dp so. This experience showed me that I can do my business without buying a truck. That I could rent as I needed. This changed my life.”

Thiery said many young people have ideas for businesses but believe they need a lot of money to start.

“This experience has taught me differently,” he said, with a smile. “If you have an idea for business don’t overthink it, find a way to start doing what you want to do and things will fall into place. I believe in that.”

Thiery said he has acquired three trucks in less than two years and has two full-time and two part-time employees,

“Business is going great. I am very busy all the time,” he said.

Thiery said he loves “seeing the smiles on people’s faces after we move them and set up their furniture the way they want. (It) gives me the greatest satisfaction. I like to focus on customer satisfaction.”

His advice to young people is to take the time to find out what they are passionate about and work hard to improve themselves.”

Thiery now has his sights set on offering Aseme Moving franchises Canada-wide — basically creating a turnkey operation so anyone can do it.

“I believe I can accomplish this in about two years,” he predicted

“You must have the confidence and a belief that if others can do it, you can too, and I have that confidence.”

Thiery said he often follows the advice of the late Jim Rohn, a motivational speaker who said: “Success leaves clues if you study and apply the principles of self-development.”

He takes this advice seriously. Another bit of Rohn advice he likes is “the one where he said that we should work harder on ourselves than we do on our jobs, because while you can make a living by working hard at your job, you can make a fortune if you work on yourself.

“I live by these principles,” Thiery said. “The best is yet to come.”

Aseme Moving is online at: asememoving.ca