I have been preparing to start my own business these past few months. As everyone who has lived in Ethiopia knows, this is not an easy endeavor. It is a difficult road made worse by misinformation, minimal guidance and mass confusion. Yet each day, new businesses open up in Addis Abeba and around the nation in the hopes of a brighter future.

Ethiopian businesses usually have relied on making their own sacrifices and maneuvering the system to the best of their abilities. The systems are not mature enough, and too many businesses fail before they have a fighting chance.

As my friend shared with me about his family business, “If tomorrow there is better business to be made by flipping my family business to something else, I will do it.” There is no such thing as building a legacy in Ethiopia. It is only about the money. The risk of business in Ethiopia is one that does not cater to mistakes or creating legacies. The system is unforgiving to those who are trying out new things.

While we can empathize how difficult it must be to create a functional city, who is empathizing with those who wish to build a dream? Offices are death beds of broken dreams. We are a nation that does not have much capital, but it has its people.

As I walked into a house that had peaked my interest, the man renting out the space pulled up his buckle, puffed his chest out and said, “It was a German couple who had been living here.” As I was leaving the property that I had fallen in love with, another caucasian man was entering the space with his staff. My small business was contemplating renting this space, yet I was sure I could not offer anything close to what the NGO could offer. The irony was not left on me. This foreign NGO was coming to my country to help people as it destroyed the rental market for small businesses.

While this journey is only the beginning, what remains also makes me weary. Helpful dispositions take the burdens off of each other. We are to build a nation together; our successes are tied together. We need to get people to believe in a higher vision again. Today it feels like everyone is scrapping for parts of an Ethiopia that no longer exists.