On most days, picking your nine-to-five over starting a business with the chunk of money you’ve been able to save over the years would seem a very tasking decision that could make any an average individual pick the former. Because not everyone has the capacity of growing a business to stability and there are high risks of making mistakes that would ruin everything, hence losing your capital and every other additional expenses.
Running a business is held to a very high esteem in Nigeria because in the eyes of Nigerians’ if you don’t run a business of your own, you haven’t really “achieved very much”. It is only a country with narrow-minded capitalists that will treat a hardworking employee with disdain just because he/she doesn’t own his or her company. They strongly believe that being a Mark Zuckerberg other than a Sheryl Sandberg (of Facebook) holds more prestige but in reality it depends on individual choices, some people hate to be the front face of projects sometimes because they are not fully equipped with the capacity to hold such position. Others just want to be a name, a name without a face.
Again, there are only a few companies present in Nigeria that you can actually find purpose in, so I’d rather you create your own dream. Certainly, you must be physically, financially, intellectually, emotionally and mentally prepared if you’re really willing to take the plunge and start off on the lonely road of entrepreneurship and also be equipped with the technical-know-how on ways an entrepreneur’s world is navigated. Your imaginations, your plans, your ideas, everything is all on you and the willingness to take on the pressure determines how far you’d go and how massive and productive your business would result to be.
Becoming a successful entrepreneur isn’t a layman’s business because it takes much more than sitting at a desk and giving orders to workers and employees. The implementation of most tasks is often rendered by the entrepreneur himself because nobody would want their hardwork to go unaccounted for. They own and operate everything from behind small desks in small offices to digital startups. No matter what the size and scope, there are entrepreneurs behind every business and private company in the country. Examples of entrepreneurs are everywhere. Name any famous or non-famous company, there’s an entrepreneur behind it.
So, what can you do to become an entrepreneur? What are the steps to becoming an entrepreneur? Because of the many types of entrepreneurs, there are many different paths you can take. For example, the owner of a delivery company wouldn’t take the exact same path as an interior decoration enterprise. But there are some similar steps all of them should take.
In general, these are the steps you will take to become an entrepreneur:
Step 1: Find Your Industry or Niche
Step 2: Research Your Market
Step 3: Educate Yourself
Step 4: Build Your Business Slowly
Out of all four, I feel educating yourself on everything about the business you’re starting up is key. It doesn’t have to be in an educational institution. There is a common myth in popular culture that successful, self-made entrepreneurs never graduated from college. The first step should be educating yourself into the industry you’re venturing into, short entrepreneurial courses are lying fallow all over the web, you could take up one and to a very large extent you’d be able to scale through the day-to-day challenges that you’re bound to face as an entrepreneur.
Finally, be ready for competition, you’re not the only one in the market.
Push Your Dreams Confidently!
Want to push your dreams in today’s technology-driven, constantly-changing world? You must read Olatorera Oniru’s bestselling digital e-book titled Push Your Dreams available now on Olatorera.com and on Amazon.com.
The Olatorera Consultancy brand has grown from an ambitious solo-preneur to a team of highly assertive “Africanists” focused on providing the seal and stamp of “Africa’s Best” to great businesses in Africa and beyond. Olatorera Consultancy has an annual outline of businesses we work with. We currently do not accept unsolicited applications. To network with the team at Olatorera Consultancy Limited, please add your company to the reviews page here. An Olatorera Consultancy company representative may be in touch with you shortly after reviewing your company’s readiness for business consultation services.
