Congrats Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurs for the successful Forum in Abuja. It remains like yesterday when legendary banker Mr. Tony Elumelu invited me to the Selection Board of the $100 million TEEP fund. It is simply amazing what the Foundation has accomplished in scaling luck and opportunities across Africa. I want to wish all of you good luck as you begin to execute your missions.
I am also an entrepreneur – and I understand why you need support. Get a great mentor who will challenge you to push more even when it seems impossible.
Entrepreneurship is not the only way to succeed. It’s also a die hard mission. It is hard. Really hard, especially when you are building a product. Which is why succeeding is long term.
Now, let’s take an example. You have an idea. Let’s say you want to start a company that sells ladders for emergency cases. What are the things to consider?
Will you just go to meet carpenters to be making ladders for you? Or how do you succeed? You need to ask yourself questions that will push you into months of research.
Follow me as I analyze some.
What emergency case? Is it fire incident or building collapse or escape from robbers or hurricane?
This one doesn’t need too much research but you still need to be wise about it. This will make you do research #1 which is Which disasters occur mostly in the area I want to focus on?
You know you cannot just assume it’s fire; that means you will leave your house to your neighbor, to the next street, to the next shop, to the churches and mosques nearby, to the schools, hotels, etc to make inquiries.
Day 1 has gone.Matter of fact, 2 weeks have gone.. You cannot accomplish this in a day.
So after research, you discover it is fire which means the ladders you will be making will be for fire incidents.
Emergency ladders remember.
You will only be foolish to go and meet carpenters to make wooden ladders. Matter of fact, no investor will sponsor you if they hear it’s wooden ladders. Wooden ladders will catch fire before they even rescue the victims.
People will flag your company. You have lost trust; go home and pay your huge debts.
So if not wooden ladders; metal ladders, right? Now, another foolish thing to do is to call blacksmiths. They should just build any metal ladder. Either they will rust, or matter of fact, there’s something else you might have never considered. What if the fire gets so intense that the metal gets very hot?
Will those who they want to rescue be able to climb down? What if a lady was escaping from a bathroom and she has no slippers on?
source: Medium
So you see, you cannot just order for a metal ladder; you will have to go out to ask, visit Google, go to ladder shops and ask questions, meet blacksmiths, even experiment… two months gone already.
If no ladder exists for such a case, you know you will either have to pay people to come up with a new type of metal that can withstand heat at high temperature, and yet usable.
That will take months again. Let’s say 5 months. So 5 months and no kobo from your company. People will out-rightly say you might not succeed. Or write you off.
Another problem is: it must be easily spotted in emergency cases.
If rescuing a victim, such a victim must easily spot the ladder from long distances. That means very bright colours must be used.
Hope you know you are not the one doing the rescue but you’re just selling ladders right? But you must solve the problem for the person who wants to get your product to solve a problem. This will lead you to do two things.
Consider the colour people identify with danger.
Consider if that colour is easily spotted.
Now if those two are antagonizing, you know you already have another research and work to do again.That’s another one month.
That’s like 6 months already gone . Remember, you’re still building the product. Marketing isn’t there yet.
Now look at another problem. Let’s assume blue is the colour of danger, you will need to get the ladders blue. But have you even looked at the cost of making one ladder and the amount you will sell it. What if they cannot afford an expensive ladder? Another problem?
You need to cut down cost, another 3 months if research on: “The best quality material for the ladder that would be cheap and have necessary features”.
If there isn’t, you will need to pay people or give them shares to build it Three months again. That’s 1 year spent.
One year without a dime made. Your friends earn N500,000 in their companies where they work already. Does that mean you’re stupid and losing? Definitely not; you are planting a cocoa seed, you shouldn’t be on a maize farm inspecting it. Be bothered about how diseases will not kill your cocoa.
Next, in an emergency situation, if I buy a ladder at home, when a fire outbreak happens, that ladder mustn’t be what the whole family needs to carry before we set it against the window.
What if daddy and Uncle Jimmy, the muscle guy are not at home? How will Mom and Stephanie carry such heavy ladder?. Your product is useless to a single mom and her two daughters. Shortage of sale.
Another problem: “Cheap * Lightweight * Ladder that has all the features”.
Another research on how to make it light weight. One year, 2 months gone. Friends who do not understand business will be calling you broke in secret. I laugh when I hear stories like this though.
What if the ladder was foldable as well? I mean where should I keep such a long ladder? Besides, it needs to be nearby not in the basement!
One year, 5 months gone, and you’re ready for sale. Your friends are all earning well but you. I feel every entrepreneur building a product needs to understand that entrepreneurship works this way. I feel they don’t.
Now sales. Well, you have a solution to their problems doesn’t mean 1 out of 1000 people will buy. In sales is where the most work lies. You need months of research again to know how to sell.
Now, if I were to be the one who has my ladder ready for sale, I will begin to pen down why they may and may not buy my ladder. What if they all believe in God to deliver them out of fire disasters. They wouldn’t see the need for a ladder.
What if all houses had fire extinguishers to quench fires and they trust that it would save them without needing to escape .
These and many more are things you should consider during sales. Now, you need to consider how to make a profit.
Remember you are trying to fix sales and at the same time accelerate profit making. This is another huge problem.
Will they come over to your store to get it, or would you deliver to their stores? How do you fix the glitch. You already have employees; you will pay them and profit must still be made.
Two years have gone; yet, profit is like peanut butter. This doesn’t mean your startup has failed. I will soon write on “SEED TIME AND HARVEST TIME IN BUSINESS”.
There are so many factors to consider as you expand. For example, how to maximize channels to reach your customers and all.
I have codedly given you a business plan process. Besides, I have given a tip on how you can structure out a business to succeed using a ladder. But that ladder can be pencil, milk, moi moi or practically any product or service you want to sell in the market.
The volume of illegal drug trafficking in Nigerian borders is becoming alarming, especially the illicit tramadol, 225 milligrams dosage and above, which has been legally banned by both the international community and the federal government on the premise of its adverse effect on people who take it.
Regardless of this situation, some Indian drug manufacturing companies in dirty business deals with some importers of these drugs in Nigeria have defiled the international order on the dosage production by illegally producing 225mg of tramadol specifically for Nigerians and other African countries like Ghana and Egypt, against the permissible 50 and 100 milligrams respectively.
This obnoxious trafficking is predominantly feasible because of the local business associates who indulge in the act of sneaking it in through the Nigerian borders by concealing it under the guise of legal products, which takes the eagle eyes of Custom officers and other security agencies to unravel the hidden mystery.
Howbeit, the recent destruction of 58 containers of 225mg of tramadol worth N14.7 billion in Shagamu dumpsite, Ogun State, and the subsequent planned destruction of over 9 containers in Port Harcourt by Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, report of November 10, 2017, revealed that NCS intercepted 12 containers out of which 6 of the containers were found to contain 160 million tablets of tramadol of 220 and 250 milligrams dosage. Furthermore, on Wednesday November 14, 2018 the NCS also positioned 23 containers from which a total of 581 million tablets of tramadol were seized, has proven the dire wicked efforts of selfish business moguls who are hell bent in destroying the future of the country.
Speaking against this, the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, ACG, in charge of Enforcement, Investigation and Inspection, Dahiru Aminu, said that it is a very sad situation that the Indians are going against the international law set for a country by producing a higher milligram dosage which has significantly contributed to the criminal activities going on in the country.
Aminu equally hinted that the funny part of the issue is that Indians who manufacture this 225mg of tramadol drugs don’t make use of it as it is exclusively meant for exports to other countries such as Nigeria with aid of people beyond borders.
…The dire effect
The influence of this high dosage of tramadol can be pointed out on the criminal activities prevalent in the Northern part of the country as well as in other areas where violence is becoming the order of the day. The kidnapping, terrorist attack, robbery and raping are all in one way or another being influenced by the opium effect of this drug.
A pharmacist in Ogun State in a painful tone, pointed out that the Ogun State government spent N2.5 million for the rehabilitation of a citizen who was a victim of drug abuse. Most of these awful activities were caused by peer pressures and lack of adequate sensitization on harmful effects of these drugs.
…Way forward
In the course to eliminate all forms of stealing and hurdling of the illegal drugs by some Customs officers, the ACG pointed out that the destruction exercise which is the first of its kind under the administration of Comptroller General of Customs, CGC, Hameed Ali, will be a continuous one to prevent leakages and maintain high level of transparency in the service.
He further charged the banks to be vigilant and always record the kind of people who indulge in some importation transactions with detailed information to enable the appropriate agencies track down the trucks conveying illegal drugs.
…Hardened criminals
For some criminals, they are no longer interested in any other business except dealing in illegal drugs probably because of the excess financial gain. This has made the unlucky ones whose trailers were seized by the customs to start trailing and threatening some officers with death.
Aminu also confirmed the life threatening calls received by some Customs officers from dealers of the banned drugs, as most of the culprits arrested have refused to divulge their crime partners but however, willing to die with the truth instead.
The 5th edition of the Lagos Chamber Of Commerce and Industry ICTEL Expo 2019 themed Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Nigerian Story which began on Tuesday July 16th will be one that will leave participants with wonderful memories.
It began with the President of the Chamber, Mr Babatunde Ruwase(FCA), who gave the welcome address and Uwem Uwemakpan, Project Manager of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, who was the keynote speaker highlighting the evolution of the previous industrial revolution to the present one, and how the foundation has been at the forefront of empowering Africans to succeed in this current digital economy.
Oluwakoyejo Oluwatosin the founder of Chronicle Software which developed a special tablet ‘’SuccessTab’’ to help promote digital literacy and learning for millions of young Nigerians in primary and secondary schools did a presentation of his product which he said will help to bridge the gap in the lack of quality education at the basic level.
Then the moment of genius was unleashed when eight year old Joshua Agboola, a young geek with skills in programming and web development did a presentation on Technology Trends shaping our world, and the future to come, which wowed the audience. According to the kid, he is preparing himself to become the next Elon Musk or Iddriss Sandu which Africa will present to the world. With a book on his life and technology dreams authored by him, which is already available as an E-Book, with the hard copy to be released in two weeks time, he has a great future ahead.
With support from well wishers, Joshua Agboola could develop to become a world class technology solutions architect who will rewrite the African narrative in this knowledge era for economic growth and development of the Motherland.
In this piece, I’m going to be sharing few tips with you on how to face your fears and surmount same.
Typical of my approach when making such piece as this, much as I find it quite discomforting, often try to leverage on my personal realities and experiences to give effect to my message.
I’m a very shy fellow. But that’s not the problem. I dread phone calls; easily get freaked out and uncomfortable with phone calls, especially when the conversations are taking longer than normal. Maybe until lately, were I to be subjected to serious job interviews via phone calls, would possibly fail to secure the job, on this account. Interestingly, I used to think it was a problem peculiar to me but I have come across few other people who suffer from the same ‘disorder’. I’m not alone after all (smiles).
So back to my issue. There was this awkward event that happened sometime back. My mother in-law being so nice and amazing, always wanted to talk to me for long, but perhaps she observed that each time she called, I’ve always sounded agitated and kind of wanting her off the phone too soon on each occasion. She read me right! She would later jokingly raise it with someone close asking, “Is it that this dude is afraid of me, or just a phone-call shy fellow?” It was that bad for me.
Now here is how I’m facing my fear in this regard and surmounting same. I call people close to me more often than I used to. Even in the face of discomfort, I intentionally drag my conversations longer in order to train my mind to take the pain. Like it’s often said, you either take the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. There are no two ways about it. And trust me, I’m getting better at this. I think, no longer get as much freaked out with calls as before. Though, I still prefer text or whatsapp messages to phone calls.
Petty and small as this personal story might be sound, I should believe you now have an idea of the direction of my today’s piece.
Putting things in clearer, what is fear? In my view, fear is any feeling of emotional discomfort or agitation in response to a threat of pain, danger, failure or harm. We all know how painful and agonizing it is to fail at something dear to our hearts. The pain that comes with disappointment. The pain that comes with ridicule and public ignominy associated with failure. The pain that comes with not living up to public expectations, misplaced and unnecessary notwithstanding. The pain of business failure. The pain of electoral loss. Fear does arises not out of an activity nor our incapacity to do same, but largely, out of consequential pain. We dread the pain that comes with taking a line of action.
We are not afraid of marriage per se, but the loss of absolute freedom and privacy that ‘singlehood’ avails us; the fear of the several unknowns associated with that union of two distinct personalities. We do not really fear going for an exam, but for the pain of negative outcome of such exercise. We do not really fear pulling the job plug and starting our own business, but for the pain of business failure. We do not really fear taking up that new job, but for the pain of getting to the new work environment, only realize that it’s a terrible place to work. We get agitated not out of fear in itself, but the pain, danger and the harm we could suffer if we take a wrong course of action. Beyond the aforementioned, we all have fear for petty something too. It could be fear of death, flying, driving, public speaking, or phone calls like myself (smiles).
Frankly speaking, fear is nothing but that beautiful prison we carefully put together right in our heads. If we can master the pain of failure, frontally face the danger and harm associated with a course of action, fear becomes meaningless. We all often get to certain stages in our lives when we need to take decisions. Critical decisions. But then, we hold back for fear of the unknown. Fear of dealing with pain of public judgements. Fear of failure. As a risk management professional, I think am at vantage point to say that comfortable inaction or indecision, on many accounts, is riskier than doing what needs to be done per unit of time, even if the outcome turns out negative.
Now let’s be clear. I’m not saying, we should blindly delve into risky adventure without having a full clarity about the rewards and consequences of failure thereof. No, the point is, your fear is nothing but your self-built prison. Or what do you say of someone who for every misfortune, s/he believes some village people or step-mother somewhere is after him/her? I’m by no means saying there are evil eyes, though.
Now how do we overcome our fears? I will suggest few points here:
One. Get a Grip of Your Life Purpose
Many of us are existing, and not living. Life isn’t about those basic life functions that animals themselves are privileged to enjoy anyway. Every living being eats, sleeps, works, and have fun, somehow. We all do all that. A life not driven by purpose will always be in fear of nothingness. Since you have no clarity around your life purpose, there’s tendency that you have difficulties trusting anyone. You will likely build your life around societal hearsays and superstitions. Go to remote villages and see amazingly brilliant minds, but held down by societal limitations, lack of education and superstitions.
Two. Stop Letting Your Past Control You
Most things we dread so much are products of our past experiences, and justifiably so. But past failures, disappointments and let-downs are meant to serve as lessons and a watershed for future actions that produce better outcomes. We just need to let go of the pain of the past in order to forge ahead for a better future. Many years ago, I almost got drowned while swimming. That experience still hunts me till today. I dread taking ferries. I dread swimming. I need to let go of my past hurt too. Not letting go of past experiences have ways of negatively shaping one’s risk appetite.
Three. Always Look at the Bigger Picture
When you have tendencies of shortermism (i.e. always looking for immediate benefits), fear will often and most likely hold you back in many critical decisions. When we are self-seeking, we tend to be short-sighted. Short term benefits might look tempting, but they often come with long-term benefit loss. Same applies to fear of temporary failures. Temporary failures might sometimes just be the launching pad we need unto greater things, but fear of going through the pain again, selfish as it might be, often time derail our thought process from seeing the bigger picture. Ever heard of Deferred Gratification? Do not allow failure at early stage of your academics, career or business hold you back. Bad decision (earlier informed by facts) is far less costly than comfortable inaction. Look at the bigger picture.
Four. Get a Grip of the Situation
When you’re caught between two terrible choices or you’re caught in crisis (be it career, academic, business or even marital), that’s the exact time to never lose yourself to fear. At that point, you are perhaps vulnerable and most unlikely to think straight, and yet you might have limited time to take certain decisions. On many occasions, uninformed fear contributes largely to the pain and discomfort we feel when in trouble. When in crisis, many of us get drenched in fear and endless lamentations and hopelessness. Take an instance of someone diagnosed with a terminal, but manageable ailment. Having hopeless thought driven by fear could easily worsen his/her case. However, with positive spirit and right frame of mind not driven by fear and lamentations, s/he is likely to live a longer and healthier life. When in fear-some fix, get a grip of your situation and take the plunge. Face your fears, frontally. Learn to live with your troubles. Face them like a boss!
Five. Take the Plunge
We all have those petty fears we possibly laugh over. I earlier gave you an example of my deep-seated fear for swimming or any form of water transportation. I’m personally encouraged by this piece, to go out there, take the plunge and eliminate this fear forever. You see, we become bolder and more determined at dealing with more critical life issues when we make deliberate effort to tackle little fears, we often take for granted. And now that’s my challenge to you. Take on that little fear you joke about; take the plunge and get over it with.
