The Nation Newspaper

Tag: entrepreneurs

  • Young entrepreneurs learn from Virgin boss

    IT was an experience of a lifetime for two young entrepreneurs Eseoghene Ise Odiete and Nasir Abdulqadir Yammama when they got the privilege of learning from a distinguished business man, Founder and Chairman Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson.

    The duo got the opportunity to be mentored by the business mogul after winning the Enterprise Challenge, a competition organised by the British Council and Virgin Atlantic in Partnership with Zenith Bank.

    The online competition for Nigerian entrepreneurs aged 18-35 and living in Nigeria or studying in the United Kingdom (UK) took place in three stages that required contestants to write an essay on their entrepreneurial journeys, created a video pitch for their businesses or business plans, and defend their plans before a panel of experts in Nigeria and the UK.

    Eseoghene, who runs Hesey Designs – an online store selling African-inspired accessories, which also helps to empower and mentor other young African women, emerged the winner from Nigeria; while Nasir Abdulqadir Yammama, a Postgraduate student at Middlesex University in London, won with a business plan for a mobile phone app called Verdant to help crop farmers won from the UK.

    During the mentoring session between the winners and Sir Branson in London, they learnt about the magnate’s life and business experiences and left there feeling fulfilled.

    Eseoghene described the experience as awesome.

    “It was an awesome experience meeting and learning from Richard Branson; one that will change my life and business and take it to a whole new level. I am super grateful for the opportunity,” she said.

    On his part, Yammama said he had learnt new things from the whole experience. “The Enterprise Challenge has been a remarkable competition which I thoroughly enjoyed. I believe it has not only developed my skills but exposed me to a whole new way of looking at things from writing to pitching and presentation.

    Also, the calibre of people I have been able to interact and network with is the absolute thing every aspiring entrepreneur and innovator wishes to associate with. And Meeting Sir Richard Branson was a priceless opportunity that I will continue to value immensely. I have been able to acquire so much wisdom and inspiration that I feel ready and bound to exceed all expectation,” she said.

    Sir Branson said Virgin Atlantic is delighted to have supported the Enterprise.

    “Innovation has been an important part of Virgin’s heritage and I was pleased to see so many young Nigerians keen to embrace new ideas through the competition. Many congratulations to Ese and Nasir who had fantastic business plans and I’m sure will have very bright futures,” he said.

    Over 1000 young Nigerian entrepreneurs entered the competition – which was organised by British Council in partnership with Virgin Atlantic and with financial support from Zenith Bank to help talented young Nigerians develop their entrepreneurial skills.

    In addition to their meeting with Richard Branson, the winners each received a £5000 grant, courtesy Zenith Bank to help them develop their businesses, a fully-funded scholarship to attend a five-day entrepreneurship foundation course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa, and two return tickets to the UK.

  • Things successful entrepreneurs do daily

    The most effective entrepreneurs view themselves as assets. They continually invest in themselves and in their future through continuing education and self-improvement.

    If you want to become a better entrepreneur and successfully grow your business, dedicate time and energy to improve your daily habits.

    Here are 15 things many business influencers make time for in their busy schedules.

    • Eat breakfast. To work at your peak performance, your body needs fuel. Rather than just grab a cup of coffee on your way to the office, take a few minutes to eat a meal or drink a protein smoothie — even if it’s on the go.

    • Plan your day. First thing in the morning, look at your calendar and prioritise your schedule. If you work best during a specific time of the day, block out those hours for quiet work time. I do my best work in the mornings, so I try to schedule at least 90 minutes to work on my writing before daily distractions begin. While you’re at it, schedule short breaks throughout the day to eat a healthy snack and keep your energy up.

    • Don’t check email right away. It’s tough not to hop on your smart phone first thing in the morning and see who’s emailed you. Often checking email is a distraction from what you want to focus on early in the day. Try to wait until 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. to check email, after you’ve completed at least one of your critical to-do items. If you’re working on an important project, try not to check your email more than three times a day.

    • Remember your purpose. Take a few moments at the start of each workday to remind yourself of your company’s goals. Think about your core customer and which areas of your business are most profitable. We oftentimes get caught up in the minutia of daily tasks we lose sight of what brings us happiness and profitability.

    • Single-task. We live in a world that praises multi-tasking. Unfortunately, when you have too much going on at once you may become distracted by interruptions and unimportant glitches. To be productive and effective, prioritise, delegate whenever possible and focus.

    • Visualise. It may feel silly, but close your eyes and envision your success. Imagine what you will feel like when you reach your goals. Visualisation is a powerful tool and can help you keep your aspirations at the front of your mind. It might also help to post a picture of what you’d like to accomplish. For example, if you’re interested in taking a trip to Paris, post of photo of the Eiffel Tower on your desk.

    • Say no. Entrepreneurs especially feel pressure to accept every opportunity that comes their way. However, not every opportunity will benefit you or your business. Time is our most valuable commodity. Be selective about what you agree to do.

    •Value your time. Unlike money, time is a non-renewable resource. There’s simply no way to make more of it. Guard your time and spend it doing the most important things for yourself and your company. Avoid distractions whenever possible. Whether you facilitate or attend a meeting, online or in person, get clear about the start and end time. Whenever someone requests a meeting or consultation with you, try asking for the questions in advance so you can do your research ahead of time. This will keep you on time and on task.

    • Delegate. In the early days of my business, I thought I could save money and do everything myself. Then I realized the small, mundane tasks were taking me away from those things that generated the most income for my business. I was on the fast track to burnout. When you become overwhelmed with work or can’t figure out a solution, hire someone to help.

    • Listen. Be present when you speak with a colleague or employee. Take the time to fully understand what the other person is saying. Leaders who listen effectively avoid miscommunications and are less likely to have to ask for clarification later.

    • Show gratitude. Make it a daily habit to sit down and be thankful for all the opportunities you have been given and all the things you’ve accomplished so far. Simply reminding yourself of your past successes will keep you focused, present and productive.

    • Stand up and move around. Did you know sitting is the new smoking? This car-commuting, desk-bound lifestyle can be harmful to your health. Studies show it raises the risk of disability, diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer and obesity. No matter when you can make time for it during the day, take a few minutes to stand up and take activity breaks every hour or so. It’s good for your body and mind.

     

     

     

     

  • Things entrepreneurs do

    Things entrepreneurs do

    We all have great ideas inside of us, ideas that could change the world. It could be as simple as writing a book or as complex as a website system to rate Nigerian Lecturers so that the truly horrible ones are exposed.

    But these ideas rarely come out, because of that nagging thing called time not being available. Conventional wisdom says that if you want to pursue your life changing ideas you should quit your job and focus on them, but the issue is never really the job but rather other things you should quit which is covered in this article titled; Things entrepreneurs do to find time for brilliant Ideas.

    Please note that some of the ideas might be controversial.

    1.      Quit going to so many weddings

    Don’t get me wrong, I love weddings. I love the free Jollof rice and Goat meat. But weddings to me are extremely time consuming especially if you are involved in the wedding. From the planning stage to the sewing of the cloth to the rehearsal to the parties, everything about weddings are time consuming. When you hit 26-34 years of age you will realize that a wedding is happening almost every weekend in your life. If you commit to every wedding you are invited to, guess what, you will not have time to develop your ideas, unless you are working on a wedding planning app, in which case carry on.

    But if you are like me working on books and other ideas, then listen to me … avoid getting engulfed in weddings. My Saturdays are very sacred, that is the first full day in the weekend I get off from work. I want to use that day to write articles, work on business ideas and add that additional chapter to that book I am always working on. So if I have a wedding I really need to go to, I schedule 3-4 hours for it. I attend the Church wedding and then go to the reception and leave early to get some work done.

    Now note that not all weddings are created equal. Some weddings would require a great deal of your attention you can’t escape, but not all weddings should. For those weddings, get in get out and work on your ideas.

    Sometimes when people ask me to be a part of a wedding I politely decline, because I know the work that goes into it. Not saying I won’t come to the wedding but I would be at the background. That helps me add about 10 extra hours to my week.

    2.       Don’t get married

    My point here is this, try and get as much things done before you get married. Play around with that brilliant idea of yours, try and start it up. Because the moment you get married and the children start popping up and pooping all around, your time reduces,unless you want to become a housewife or house husband in which case carry on.

    I am able to get away with a lot of things I do, because I don’t have the pressures of managing a family yet.I understand this advantage I have and I utilize it greatly.

    Now this does not mean that if you get married you cannot find time to get things done, all I am saying is that it will be much harder. So get your ideas going before the wedding planning begins.

    3.       Ignore family and friends

    You are not obligated to family. Lots of people especially in the Nigeria culture don’t believe this, so they get caught up in the small stuff and before you know it they are spending hours on end trying to settle petty issues.

    My principle is this- You cannot please everybody. You will offend people whether you like it or not. And if you do offend people, apologize sincerely. If they reject your apology, then apologize again. If they still ignore your apology then stop apologizing and move on with your life.

    People are so caught up in trying to solve problems for their entire family or trying to settle all sorts of beef or worried about what this Aunty or Uncle thinks about them. Unless you want to become a family counselor, in that case carry on.

    As for me, while that is happening, I am caught up working on my business ideas. I don’t get roped into petty stuff because life is too short and there is really no time for that.

    So time and time and again I will ignore phone calls from people that will just pile me with unnecessary issues and nagging.

    4.      Learn how to eat lunch fast

    If there is something I have done everyday since I was born, it is to eat. So when the company says you have a one hour lunch and you are spending one hour eating that lunch something is wrong with you. Leverage your lunch time, eat lunch within 5 minutes and if you don’t have 5 minutes, then skip lunch all together. Because lunch time is a great time to launch your ideas.

    Don’t believe me? This entire article was written during my lunch break and took me only 40 minutes!

    This brings me to the most important point of all, which is something I have talked about over and over again. Do what you do consistently regardless of what people say and soon you will wake up being able to write an article that ordinarily takes your 2 hours in 40 minutes or less and do activities in shorter times. And when you are able to do activities faster, and have the time to actually do them, then you get into the multiplier effect mode.

     

  • 10 successful entrepreneurs who started in college

    The common line of thought is that a career does not start until after college. Many college students have summer jobs and work study positions, but very few consider these careers. While graduation is traditionally the time in which people start discussing careers, many individuals have successfully begun their careers in the midst of their academic pursuits at college.

    Some of the most successful entrepreneurs throughout history began their business ventures in the dorms and classrooms of colleges and universities. With some of the most intelligent and creative individuals all thinking within four brick and mortar walls, universities are bound to turn up some ingenious entrepreneurial notions. These are 10 of the most successful entrepreneurs in history who started their companies in college.

    • Larry Page and Sergey Brin: While these two names may not sound immediately familiar, the company that they founded certainly will. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the founders of Google. They met in college while pursing their PhDs in mathematics and computer science. Becoming fascinated with search engines and data mining, the rest will go down in history.
    • Mark Zuckerberg: While many expected this name to top the list, I just could not bring myself to put The Zuck above Google. However, with his story now widely known after a major motion picture, various documentaries, and several biographies, Zuckerberg is nonetheless phenomenal. Founding Facebook as an Undergraduate student at Harvard, Zuckerberg revolutionized social interaction in our society today.MarkZuckerberg, Facebook
    • Michael Dell: While in college as a pre-med student, Michael Dell started his small business Dell Computers. This small business soon became the personal computing giant, Dell, worth billions of dollars. Dell was named the youngest CEO to ever have his company ranked in the Fortune 500 in 1992 and has a net worth of over 13 billion dollars.
    • Bill Gates: Widely known as one of the smartest and richest men in the world, Gates was once a brainy college undergrad at Harvard. Gates has founded various super companies, including Microsoft, Apple, and others. But it all began when he was in school, messing around with computer interfaces and processors.
    • Frederick W. Smith: Though he did not actually launch his company while he was in college, Smith wrote a paper as an undergraduate at Yale detailing the future of delivery service. Smith’s paper was the young skeleton of the later uber successful package carrier FedEx.
    • Marc Andreessen: At one point, Netscape was the dominant web browser on the market. Andreessen was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign when he developed the concept for the browser. Andreessen fully released Netscape after he graduated when he was only 23 years old.
    • Steve Wozniak: Known as “the other Steve” of Apple, Wozniak co-founded Apple computers with Steve Jobs when he was a student at the University of California Berkeley. Apple Computers became one of the largest and most successful computer companies in history. What began as a product to impress members of the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California would soon take the world by storm.
    • Bo Peabody: As students at Williams College, Bo Peabody and Brett Hershey, began their design for what is known today as Tripod.com. This site was dedicated to web hosting services for college students and young adults.
    • Shawn Fanning: As a student at Boston’s Northeastern University, Shawn Fanning developed the file sharing system Napster while working at his uncle’s internet company. Though Napster ran into several legal issues, the company was still hugely successful and revolutionary for its time.
    • Zach Kaplan and Keith Schacht: Though not as widely known as the other names on this list, these two entrepreneurs founded two companies as students at University of Illinois. Inventables creates “how-to” materials for entrepreneurs, inventors, and engineers and Lever Works, Inc. develops internet applications.

     

    •Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges . She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @ gmail.com.

  • Kaymu.com.ng trains future entrepreneurs

    Kaymu.com.ng trains future entrepreneurs

    Nigeria’s leading online marketplace, Kaymu.com.ng, has trained  pupils of Kiddie Quest Montessori School.

    At a workshop titled: ‘Kaymu future entrepreneurs training,’ 10 bright pupils from the school were given the opportunity to work half day at Kaymu office on ‘Children’s Day.’ It was an educative, interactive and engaging training and practical session.

    Managing Director of Kaymu.com.ng, Massimiliano Spalazzi said: “We believe that children are future leaders, with unique passions and aspirations. We like to give entrepreneurial children the ability to observe first-hand the work space and engage them in practical activities that the work environment presents.”

    He pledged the company’s dedication to drive the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country. Earlier, the brand put strategic measures in place to drive entrepreneurship in youths, such as the Kaymu Entrepreneurial Workshop conducted in some universities and the Kaymu Varsity Initiative for SMEs.

    Deputy Head Girl of the school, Olubukola Falayajo, expressed gratitude at the opportunity presented to pupils of the school through the Kaymu Future Entrepreneur Training.

    “It was a great experience and we learnt a lot about being an entrepreneur and the qualities of a successful entrepreneur,” she said.

    For the school’s Head Teacher, Rotimi Akapo, “It was an insightful initiative by Kaymu and a very educative and captivating experience for primary school children.”

    Kaymu is reputed as one of the safest online market places.

  • Entrepreneurs who made a fortune before under 18

    Ashley Qualls

    Ashley Qualls set up whateverlife.com 2004, when she was just 14 years old. It was originally a portfolio site for her design work, but she soon branched out into offering Myspace layouts that appealed to girls in her age group. The layouts were free, but Ashley offered advertising space for companies that wanted to target her millions of visitors (7 million a month in 2007). Before she was 17, Ashley had bought her own house and turned down a $1.5 million offer to acquire her company.

    Farrah Gray

    From just six years of age, when he started selling body lotion, Farrah Gray tried to make his own money. At the tender age of 13, he founded a specialty food company, Farr-Out Foods, and just one year later, orders of over $1.5 million made him a 14-year-old millionaire. Gray holds the record as the youngest person to have a Wall Street office. At 15, he set up the Farrah Gray Foundation, using some of the income from his speeches and best-selling books to fund literacy programs and scholarships for inner-city youth. He’s certainly a fitting role model.

     

    Abbey Fleck

    In 1993, Abbey Fleck was just eight years old when she witnessed her mother chastising her father for using part of a newspaper to soak up bacon grease. Her father maintained that without paper towels, the newspaper was the next best solution. After all, he couldn’t simply let it drip. That was all the inspiration that Abbey needed to invent the Makin’ Bacon Dish, which would hang bacon in the microwave so that fat could drip off. She and her father founded a company, and in 1996, Walmart placed their first order: 100,000 cookers. Not bad for an eight-year-old!

     

    Richie Stachowski

    When he was just eleven, Richie Stachowski found his family’s holiday to Hawaii frustrating as he couldn’t speak to his father while they were snorkeling. That evening, he began drawing designs and ended up spending his $267 of savings to build a prototype underwater megaphone. He took a few days off school to present Toys “R” Us with his idea and was rewarded with an order for 50,000 units. Other retailers, including K-Mart and Walmart, soon followed, and his Water Talkies™ were the hit of the summer of 1997, netting Richie’s company $500,000 in revenue.

     

    Kelly Reinhart

    Kelly Reinhart’s parents had an innovative game they used to entertain their children: draw an invention. Kelly took inspiration for her sketch from cowboy holsters. She came up with the idea for the Thigh Pack, a product that would help kids carry video games and similar items.

  • How we made it, by young entrepreneurs

    How we made it, by young entrepreneurs

    At a seminar in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, young entreprenuers revealed the secrets of their success. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    When Aniekan James Ekah,  Chief Executive,  Wetinhappen.com.ng, uploaded his first  material to  his blog  in 2009, he never have imagined what would follow. Today, the blog has many  followers in Akwa Ibom  State and beyond.

    His blog compete with traditional media, offering a range in tone and coverage. Ekah is one in a new breed of entrepreneurs – and along with fellow  bloggers, online shop owners, and app developers, he is proving that the internet is big business.

    He is considered one of the nation’s most promising entrepreneurs, thanks to his  online  presence that has tapped high demand for Nigerian movies.

    He addressed  the Afterschool Peer Mentoring Project, “Prep2Grad Symposium”, held in Calabar ,the Cross River State capital.

    The event , which held at the CES Auditorium, University of Calabar, was attended by many students.

    The symposium sought to inspire and equip young people, engaging them to plan for life after their graduation.

    The  event provided a spring board for young Nigerians who are about graduating from secondary schools and universities to learn from their peers who have accomplished it in their chosen fields.

    Ekah knew he was going to do his  own thing, because even when he  was working, he had an  ambition.

    “Every great brand begins with an idea; that  is how I began my blog; seven years down the line, I am happy I made that decision, because it did pay off in all ramifications,”he said.

    Even with the proliferation of ‘How to make your blog pay’ stories, social media platforms, and clever online marketing and web analytics tools, creating a profitable blog is no meaan feat.

    The blog represents a substantial part  of his income (his other money comes from books as well as magazine, online and corporate writing,) but his  blog has created more career opportunities for him. Other journalists often call him due to his expertise in  reporting  events in Akwa Ibom State.

    The blog has become Ekah’s brand, a chance to expose him and his writing to a global audience. And it’s not just Ekah  alone, other online entrepreneurs are also using the online world to promote their brand.

    Reaching this  level of success has not been easy for him. The strategy he uses is to get a  good grasp of what his audience likes. That has helped him to build  a solid readership  base which is vital to any successful blogger.

    According to him, trust is the foundation of his business. From day one he believed he had established trust among his readers.

    He encouraged the youth to be prepared to take a risk, learning   how to have confidence, faith in themselves, and a willingness to jump in entrepreneurship.

    As an information technology entrepreneur, he has been involved in numerous IT-related projects  and has been an outstanding youth personality in the state.

    He is the brain behind the Usem Akwa Ibom Project on Facebook-an online project that creates awareness on the use of Akwa Ibom languages on the Internet which is celebrated yearly to commemorate the State’s creation anniversary every year.

    By dint of hardwork, he was selected to represent Akwa Ibom at the 2008 Nigeria Youth Stakeholders Forum in Nigeria.

    Another speaker was  the Chief Executive, Laffhouse Entertainment, Awade Friday, one of the few young leaders in Cross River  State who are doing well in entertainment blogging.

    He said: “If you are in search of  a job and you are not willing to  work for free, you need to rethink your strategies; my popularity and value grew from doing free shows”.

    Chief Executive, Lizzy’s Beauty Touch, Cross River State, Lizzy Ekpenyong, said :  “Passion is a great separator; where others follow and fail, your passion will keep you through the storms; before you set out on your career journey, find your passion first”.

    Chief Executive,UK Sally Resources, Cross River State, Ukemeobong Silas: “I have engaged in a lot of craft works in the creative industry; the most outstanding is my woolworks; even when it was less fashionable for a young  person, I persevered.”

    Executive Director, Kids and Teens Resource Centre, Ekiti State, Mary Falana said :”I found my feet during my National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) days that I was passionate about working with young people. I stayed on the path and at the moment, we run one of the best safe spaces for teens and kids in the South western Nigeria.

    Executive Director, Brave Heart Initiative, Edo State, Priscila Usiobaifo, said: “Beyond finding your passion, you need to have a plan, share that plan with your significant others, probably a mentor and seek guidance; implement and review; you will be glad you did.”

  • The making of young entrepreneurs

    The making of young entrepreneurs

    Over 1,000 contestants participated in the ’’Meet The Executive’’ project of Sterling Bank Plc. The three with ‘’outstanding’’ plans emerged winners. The first prize winner, Gbemisola Eso got a N2 million cheque to start her business. The two runners up received N1.5 million and N1 million cheques, reports AMIDU ARIJE.

    The presentation of business plans by the top 18 contestants in the ‘’Meet the Executive’’ project, an initiative of Sterling Bank Plc to the executive management, marked the turning point for the top three participants.

    For the trio, the journey was long and challenging, but rewarding. The first among them, Gbemisola Esho won a N2 million grant to pursue her business; the second, Rufai Oluyemi; N1.5 million and Daniel Momma N1 million for coming third.

    They collected their prizes at the “Get Ready for Work”concert in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The presentation of cheques to the winners by the Group Head, Strategy & Communication, Mr. Shina Atilola on behalf of the Managing Director, Mr. Yemi Adeola, signified the end of phase one of the project and gave hope to other aspiring entrepreneurs.

    The second phase includes the allocation of mentors, investor engagement and visible business development. The bank shall ensure that disbursed funds are utilised effectively and for the stated purpose.

    Specifically, Sterling Bank came up with the initiative based on the fact that national economic development prospects in any country are hinged on the entrepreneurial energy of vibrant small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) as most big business concerns started small.

    Many economies, developed and developing, have come to realise the value of small businesses. They are seen to be characterised by dynamism, witty innovations and efficiency; as their small size allows for faster decision making. Small businesses are believed to be the engine for the development of any economy because they form the bulk of business activities in a growing economy like Nigeria.

    The dearth of vibrant SMEs in the country has become a source of worry to concerned individuals and institutions. The fear is that the most expected economic recovery may not be realised unless action is taken to address the issues urgently.

    Although it was the maiden edition of the project, it has in many ways encouraged entrepreneurship, employment and economic independence among the populace. The project is also in line with the bank’s concept of empowering young entrepreneurs.

    Over 1000 entries were received by the bank from those with different business plans across the country. To ensure that only the best business plans were selected, a team of consultants was hired to scrutinise proposals. The 50 best entries were selected based on originality of the plans, their viabilityand provision of detailed information such as the required capital, cash flow and revenue projections.

    The sponsors of the plans selected were invited for a training at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) to further enrich their knowledge in the management of small businesses and writing of business plans. Upon completion of the training, participants were allowed to fine-tune their plans and present them to the bank. Of these, the best 18 plans were selected for presentation by their owners to the bank’s executive management.

    Atilola said: “The decision to invest in new business initiatives and nurture them to become viable SMEs was borne out of the need to facilitate real growth in the economy as small businesses remain the catalyst for real economic development anywhere in the world.”

  • Seven sins of newbie entrepreneurs

    Most entrepreneurs are familiar with the ridiculously high percentage of small businesses that will fail in the first couple years. The business owners who survived the odds will tell you that they didn’t achieve success on sheer passion alone. It took hard work, and in most situations, it didn’t happen over night.

    After spending the last decade running my own business consulting for companies and corporations, I have witnessed it all. Here’s seven of the most common mistakes I’ve seen newbie entrepreneurs make with alarming consistency.

    • Not setting aside enough cash reserves to support yourself. I believe that one of the reasons why so many small businesses fail within the first few years is NOT because the business model isn’t viable or the entrepreneur isn’t “good enough” to make the business work, but it’s the fact the financial ramp up time is a firm reality. Most entrepreneurs simply run out of money to support the business and/or themselves before the business is profitable enough to sustain itself.

    • Proactively set up a special fund intended to support yourself during the business startup phase. Be conscious of what you put into this fund as you may want to strive for an amount that can fully support you for a year or two to relieve pressure as you ramp up.

    • Using assumptions that are overly optimistic during planning. I see so many newbie entrepreneurs fall into this trap. They have a great idea and convinced their friends and family that it’s a no brainer. They jump into the fray only to realise there were a few not-so-little details that they failed to consider or a few areas where their assumptions were overly optimistic and before they know it, that “no-brainer” business is hanging by a thread. Be honest with yourself. Are you underestimating the time required to get the first client? Are you overestimating the demand for the product? Are you assuming zero risk by not allowing for what could go wrong?

    • Find three to five completely objective people (not friends or family) and specifically ask them to play devil’s advocate to you to help identify vulnerabilities and then take steps to mitigate those.

    • Not properly evaluating your business model. Not everyone incorporates a business model into their planning. It’s so easy to get really lathered up around the concept of your business, but it’s quite another thing to put pen to paper to help you objectively evaluate your overall business model and its profit potential. The simple truth is that having a great idea is just a start – it doesn’t necessarily translate into a profitable model.

    • Consider SCORE or a small-business development center to evaluate the business model and offer expert advice. Their perspective could identify a more viable structure that makes better business sense than what you’ve already established.

    •Trying to do everything yourself to save money. If you try to do EVERYTHING yourself, you’ll not only run yourself into the ground, your business will suffer, because you don’t bring sufficient expertise in every area. Your time is money. Think about where you must personally invest your energies. Should you be developing and refining your content, products and services, cultivating relationships with key clients and stakeholders, developing credibility within your industry? No one can do this for you. That said, others can develop your website, handle your public relations, develop templates for your newsletters, make trips to printers and copiers and perform random administrative functions. Utilize them.

    •The key is identifying what to outsource and what to keep. A good rule of thumb is if it’s not part of the core competency of your specific business, you have little expertise in the area, it’s time consuming and there are many suppliers who can provide the service at a reasonable cost, consider outsourcing.

    • Not being willing to work like a dog during the early days. I’m amazed how often I run into people who’ve recently launched their businesses, but they seem shocked that they’re not making six figures while working a 25-hour work week. They seem to have this glamorous view of entrepreneurship where they get to start at the top and skip all the hard work. The simple truth is if you want to make it, most startup businesses have to hustle early on. This might mean working another job while you’re starting your business, volunteering or doing some work for free to gain experience and exposure. It also may mean working nights and weekends.

    • Before jumping into the startup world, really evaluate your current lifestyle and realise you will most likely being given up a huge chunk, if not all, your free time.

    •. Pricing your product or services too low or high. In my business I often respond to request for proposals. Years ago, I’d been submitting proposal responses annually to a large governmental agency. After about four years of consistent rejections, I got a tip from a colleague that my pricing was too low to be considered seriously. That year I doubled my pricing on the same classes and was selected for the first time. On the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to charge $20,000 a day and expect to get the job.

    • Do your research to see what others are charging. It’s much smarter to offer value pricing initially, prove your value and then raise prices over time. In many cases asking clients for their budget will not only give you an idea of what to charge, but it could minimize the risk of severely underpricing or over pricing your product or services. You may also consider providing different pricing options to increase the likelihood that you’re offering something within your client’s price range.

    • Not having a growth strategy. We all know of a restaurant that was great when it first opened but after expanding the food or service went downhill. They then developed a bad reputation and eventually closed. Don’t be that business. While most small businesses think the goal is to win as much business as they can, this isn’t necessarily true. Sometimes, you can attract too much business and then have a completely different challenge that could threaten the longer term viability of the business completely.

    • Think about how you want to grow and develop a high-level growth strategy fairly early on (even if it changes as time progress.

     

  • ‘Entrepreneurs among happiest people in the World’

    ‘Entrepreneurs among happiest people in the World’

    •Nigeria ranks fifth on Africa list

    The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2013 report has identified entrepreneurs as among the happiest individuals in terms of well-being and satisfaction with their work.

    The report is the 15th annual survey of entrepreneurship worldwide and the largest single study of entrepreneurship. Last year, more than 197,000 individuals were surveyed and about 3,800 national experts on entrepreneurship participated in the GEM study across 70 economies, including Nigeria. The GEM Nigerian team is hosted by Tomeb Foundation for Youth Development and Entrepreneurship.

    The samples in the GEM 2013 Global report represent an estimated 75 per cent of the world’s population and 90 per cent of the world’s total GDP. In addition to its annual measures of entrepreneurship dynamics, GEM analysed well-being as a special topic in 2013.

    The report finds entrepreneurship a satisfying career choice worldwide – especially for women within innovation-driven economies.

    The GEM report entitled: “Entrepreneurship and well-being,” also found that women entrepreneurs from innovation-driven economies showed, on average, higher degrees of personal well-being than their male counterparts.

    Entrepreneurs, both at the established and early-stage phases, exhibited higher ratings on subjective well-being compared to populations not involved in entrepreneurship activities.

    This, the report noted, suggested that entrepreneurship could be a good career choice for most.

    A co-author, José Ernesto Amorós said: “Our idea is to contribute to a better understanding about what influences a population’s perceptions about well-being and how that consequently shapes entrepreneurship indicators’’.

    The report revealed that in all regions, entrepreneurs exhibit higher rates of subjective well-being in comparison to individuals who are not involved in the process of starting a business or owning-managing a business.

    Another relevant result in the report showed that female entrepreneurs in innovation-driven economies exhibited on average a higher degree of subjective well-being than males.

    “This initial assessment opens up possibilities for exploring the role of women and men entrepreneurs beyond the traditional notion of development generally associated with economic indicators”, Amorós said.

    The report was co-witten by José Ernesto Amorós, Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile and Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA); and Niels Bosma, Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

    The GEM report also grouped the economies into three development levels based primarily on GDP/capital and share of exports comprising primary goods: factor-driven, efficiency-driven, and innovation-driven.

    Factor-driven economies, such as Nigeria, are dominated by subsistence agriculture and extraction businesses, with a heavy reliance on (unskilled) labour and natural resources.

    The report indicates that efficiency-driven economies are more competitive with further development accompanied by industrialisation, economies of scale, and dominant capital-intensive large organisations.

    It added that innovation-driven economies are more knowledge-intensive with a fully developed and dominant service sector.

    The primary measure of GEM is the Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate, which consists of the percentage of individuals aged 18 – 64 in an economy who are in the process of starting (start-ups) or are already running new businesses (new firms).

    The 2013 survey reveals that Nigeria and Zambia has a TEA rate of 39 per cent, indicating that 39 out of every 100 Nigerians are engaged in some kind of entrepreneurial activity. Nigeria placed fifth behind Zambia (41 per cent), Ghana (36 per cent), Uganda (36 per cent), and Malawi (35 per cent).

    The report indicates Nigeria’s position as an entrepreneurial nation where most adults see opportunities in entrepreneurship, believe in their own entrepreneurial capacities and declare themselves ready to start and run a business.

    The survey result provides ample opportunity for policy makers, at all levels of government, to use the promotion of business as a strategy for poverty eradication, wealth creation, employment generation and sustainable development.