Have you watched the movie Robocop? It’s about a half-machine half-police man enforcing the law. He was built via the implantation of artificial limbs in his body controlled by his brain. Other examples of this technology include Dr. Octopus in the movie “Spiderman”. There is also “Iron Man”, “Edge of Tomorrow”, and “The Matrix”. These movies clearly explain (motion pictures) how humans can make use of artificial exoskeleton basically controlled by the brain.

This technology is called a brain-computer interface (BCI). Its also called other names including a direct neural interface (DNI), mind-machine interface (MNI), etc. It is a pathway of direct communication between the human brain (slightly enhanced) and external devices. In a dummy’s explanation, it is that technology that is connected to and controlled with your brain.

BCI technology started with Hans Berger’s discovery of what is called Electroencephalography often called EEG in 1924. EEG is all about the recording of the human brain activities. Further research was done by other scientists with a focus on brain potential and control directly connected with the EEG discovery which has now transformed into BCI. Imagine the possibility of the ability to control computer functions or machines with your brain.

Now the simple concept of BCI and why it works is because of how our brains are wired. The human brain is filled with neurons and nerve cells connected to each other via dendrites. So whenever an action is performed like walking, talking, remembering, it means the neurons in the brain are working. They are small signals, electric signals, that move from neuron to neuron. All these signals are usually backed by ions in each neuron.

Over the years, scientists have done a series of research to be able to identify these signals and interpret their functions. Afterward, these signals can be directed to an external device. However, this technology is far from being perfect as there is still a serious challenge in the mechanics of the interface and how to ensure its safety for application towards humans. Though it has already been tested successfully on rats.

How Nigerian entrepreneurs can key into this technology

It is no doubt that Nigeria has fallen off the tracks when it comes to economic advancements and wealth resource management (crude oil). However, just like every “age”, we are at the doorstep to the technological age where everyone has a chance to dominate. Build the right technology and you are a winner. Thank goodness for Data Science Nigeria (DSN) and the Artificial Intelligence Hub in Lagos. This means we are on the right track to breeding the next generation of data scientists and AI experts.

Our entrepreneurs have failed to take advantage of the smartphone emergence (China did) but we can take advantage of the distant future – BCI. The immediate future of smartphones is holograms and VR. Our entrepreneurs (tech founders/scientists) aren’t ready for these yet. But with proper funding and commitment, we can be ready for BCI.

When the time comes, Nigeria can successfully turn the table from being a developing nation to a developed nation by planning towards a distant future tech. I see a future in this path as a moment of rebirth for Nigeria.

In this piece, I will be sharing with you a few tips on how to raise financially savvy and entrepreneurial kids. Before going deeply into this subject of discourse, let me admit to few points.

Entrepreneurship isn’t meant for everyone. There should be no pretense about that. We do not all need to be entrepreneurs or business owners to be successful in life. Entrepreneurship involves some brutal psychological price or pains that not many people were raised or genetically made up to bear. 

Much as I admit to these points, need to also state that the future of jobs (given current skill-sets we all have) doesn’t look really bright. In not so distant future, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics are going to render a whole lot of people jobless. This is even when the world population growth rate doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Preparing our kids towards this future through entrepreneurship training from an early stage of their growth is the best pathway forward, I think. Also we must broaden their minds beyond the limit of our aging national curricula. Many things we currently teach our kids at schools today are perhaps not relevant to their future. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba shares similar sentiments.

I do believe that entrepreneurship, to a large extent, is not a DNA thing. Neither is it a preserve of any tribe or race. The skills, the values and the mindset underlying it are teachable, especially from early stage of one’s growth. In my view, overprotective parents are less likely to raise kids with independent and entrepreneurial mindsets. 

In view of the aforesaid, below are some of the ways, as suggested by Peter T. Mayer on Quora, to raising new entrepreneurial giants for the future:

First. Teach them the value of money at the very early stage of their growth

Try to hold back on some of your kids’ demands. Buying everything your they demand of you doesn’t make you more caring than other parents who try to help the kids manage their expectations. Sometime make them earn what they want. You can achieve this by giving them certain deliverable target as a precondition to buying them the requested gifts.

Second. Teach them responsibilities

Teach them that they are responsible for their own things and certain things need to be done by them, each with own actionable results. Let them see that for every wrong judgement, there’s a consequence. More importantly, teach them the virtue of taking responsibility for their actions. This is the only way to breed children that don’t grow up to become buck-passers and blame-game addicts. Entrepreneurs don’t blame ‘village people’ or witches for their woes. They boldly face the consequences of their wrong judgement in business decisions.

Third. Teach them independence

Let them do things alone. Dad and mum, calm down. You were not with them in the womb, yet they survived. Let your kids grow on their own terms. Don’t be overprotective. If a kid is not in the mood to smile, don’t force it. If s/he’s not willing to crawl before walking, don’t force it. There is no rule that says every child must crawl before walking. This is one beautiful lesson I learnt from my daughter.

Dear parent, it makes no sense if your son/ daughter has to call you for concurrence or validation before taking every single decision. Let’s stop breeding weaklings. One key virtue of entrepreneurship is independence of mind and thought.

Fourth. Teach them the virtues of hard work

Sometimes, get your kids to help you out on your office work or certain business commitments (provided no confidential data breach is involved), and reward them. Let your kids have a feel of what you do and the stress you go through, to give them the comfort they are enjoying. Let them see how hard work pays. If they help you fix some business or work-related issues, reward them with some token. With that, the subtle message you’ve passed is “Entrepreneurship comes with pain of hardwork and ultimately huge reward”.

Fifth. Teach them the concept of sacrifice

Let your kids know that to reach a goal in life, they might have to give up some comfort and make certain sacrifices. Let them experience it first-hand that nothing comes easy. Make them give out some of their own things (money, clothes etc.) to the needy. Teach them the habit of letting go what has been lost. Get them to give out something to get what they want. Let’s stop breeding self-entitled and the-world-owes-me brigands. Entrepreneurs don’t have entitlement mentality. They give to get.

Sixth. Teach them virtues of perseverance and competitiveness 

Engaging your kids sports and martial arts is one important way to bringing the virtues perseverance and competitiveness out of your kids. Now let’s get this straight. Getting your kids to learn these sports wouldn’t rob them of their career desires (that’s even if you’re not the one imposing a career choice on them). Not every kid will turn out to be C. Ronaldo or Serena Williams. Getting kids involved in sporting activities helps them appreciate the pain of perseverance and the turf of competition involved in life pursuits. 

Entrepreneurs are resolute people in times of pain and troubles. They don’t fear competition either.

Seventh. Help your kids grow their creativity

Let your kids create things with little or no influence from you. Help your kids provoke their creative thoughts. Give them some make-believe life problems to solve, without interrupting with their thought process. Get them to do some seemingly impossible tasks at their own pace and freewill. Only provide them a guide. Allow your kids to explore the works of arts in a way that would help trigger their creativity at the early stage.

Eighth. Get your kids to learn the habits of saving and investing

Teach them basic investment options. Let them know that great people don’t spend an income they’ve not received. Let them know that great people don’t borrow to fund bogus life style. Get them to learn the habit of deferred gratification. Instant gratification mentality breeds greed and lack of vision. Teach your kids how to dream and see beyond the periphery.

Finally, let your kids know failure is normal

I do understand the need to sometimes pressure our kids to get the best scores and come first in exams and competitions etc; but to be a successful entrepreneur, a kid need to be taught how to handle failure and not be let down by it. Let them know that failure doesn’t mean an end of the world. Don’t treat your kid like prisoner because s/he fails in school test or job interviews. Don’t call them failures, or good-for-nothing entities. Don’t undermine or emotionally run your kids down on account of failure.

However, much as it is very normal to make mistakes and encounter failure in life pursuits, let your kids know that mediocrity is never an option. Entrepreneurs are prepared to make mistakes, but they don’t intentionally make stupid decisions. They don’t sit by and watch things happen. They make things happen.

Let us raise a new set of entrepreneurial giants for the future. 

I must admit to this fact that funding remains a major roadblock to most entrepreneurs across the globe. Many great ideas and projects are dead on account of funding constraint. But I must also say, a problem should never be an excuse for inaction. The bigger problem sometimes is not lack of capital, but lack of ideas. And here I want to share with you some ideas that you might ordinarily have taken for granted. Some might even sound crazy, I have seen them deployed successfully.

Before I get deep into the meat of this discourse, let me make this point very clear. You have NO RIGHT to give lack-of-capital excuse if you have not fully made up your mind to start or up-scale your business. You have NO RIGHT to give lack-of-capital excuse if you have not identified potential customers or clients interested in your goods or services.

If you noticed, my topic somewhat suggests that business owners and are not necessarily the same as entrepreneurs. And that’s the truth. Some business owners are so called because they have no jobs, and they can’t wait to have one and junk the business. However, an entrepreneur is in here for a long ride. That makes the difference.

Now talking about funding strategies, let’s consider the following points:

1. Personal Savings

Not many may agree with this, but your personal savings are the surest and less-trouble-some means for starting or up-scaling a business. If you have a poor saving culture, this might not make sense to you.

For any visionary fellow out there earning a regular income (either from salaries or existing business), however little it is, saving is the first line of charge before personal expenses.

I do understand that this requires extreme discipline in the face of mounting family bills and pressures. If you’re the first-born, I sympathize with you. Lol!

As a rule of thumb, reasonable person should save at least 10% of his/her periodic earnings.

2. Funding from Family and Friends

I’m sure you would be wondering why I ever suggested families and friends as a source of funding given our varying experiences with them.

First off, if you’re starting or up-scaling your business, DON’T ever beg for money from family and friends. You will be frustrated and embarrassed. Rather, package your business into a term-sheet or a few-page proposal that speaks to the nature of your business, the number of customers that have made orders, your income projections, expenses, fund required, and expected share of profit due to them if they invest in your business.

If I’m a person of means and you come up with such an initiative, I would most likely take you more seriously. It’s a simple economic logic. I might not be interested in your profit share, but showing me my potential share of your profit if you succeed is enough show of good faith and genuineness on your part.

3. Credit from Suppliers (Services procured on Credit)

Our mothers use this model a lot and we often take it for granted. When you buy on credit from suppliers and pay after sale, you’re indirectly using the suppliers funds to run your own business. To ensure that this model doesn’t get you into trouble, secure enough customer or client base to mop up whatever you have on ground. And if you must sell on credit, make sure the credit period you give your customers is shorter than the credit period your own suppliers gives you. Say for instance, a supplier gives you 30 days to pay up, you can only give your own customers like maximum of 25 days. That way, you don’t get bogged with debt issues.

Okay let’s say you’ve secured a contract to supply an item to a company and the company would pay in 30 days time. And your supplier is willing to sell to you on credit too for 30 days, but with a bank guarantee.

Bank guarantee? That’s a big challenge. This is more like a bank loan. The bank will likely request for collateral. You will pay interest in the event of default. Too many troubles.

There is an alternative. It is called an ISPO (Irrevocable Standing Payment Order). What this means is that your bank is writing to your supplier assuring him/her that once your customers pay into the designated account, the supplier’s bill will be the first, amongst others, to be settled. The problem is, can your supplier trust your own customers to pay in 30 days time as promised?

4. Leverage on your network for fundraising

This includes network of old classmates, professional colleagues and past office colleagues. Not many people know that this network provides an easy funding opportunities. Some of your old colleagues are privileged to have funds they readily don’t have need for. If you don’t reach out, you won’t know.

If at your school reunion for example, all you discuss are flimsy social or political issues, then you’re missing out big time.

You may then want to ask, “how do I leverage on my network for fund sourcing?”

Spare some time to write out a few names of comfortable or money-bag colleagues in your network. Find ways to obtain their contacts. And if it’s been ages since you guys spoke, get a mutual friend to help facilitate the discussion. Life isn’t so hard. 

Remember, these are not your friends on a deeper level, but colleagues. So, some bit of professionalism is required on your part when presenting your business to them for funding supports.

Once again, note that you’re NOT BEGGING for money, but seeking investments. There is no shame in seeking investment for your business expansion, from whomsoever, just as it’s no shame for marketers in banks asking you to place funds with them.

Then, you need to do a well-crafted 1 or 2-page proposal about your business to each of those listed colleagues. Thereafter, arrange for a meeting to discuss that proposal with each separately or all of them together.

If you’re getting positive response signals from one or more of them, then get a consultant to do you a detailed business plan. You can even build one yourself. But it must be detailed and defensible. As a guide, try to avoid putting a critical trade secret in the document. If your business plan contains everything about your business, please get your potential investors to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). This agreement forbids them from implementing your business plan without your consent. 

Frankly, the ‘street’ is not smiling. Fish feeds on fishes these days, and it’s no joke. That’s by the way.

Thus far you could see that I have not mentioned bank loan. You see, let’s face it, it amounts to complete idiocy to start a business with interest-bearing loans. That business may not survive the third year in operation. 

Finally,

5. Funding from Angel Investors or Venture Capitalists 

Now this final option assumes that you have some structures and some basic processes in place at your business. We have a couple of silent wealthy people around who don’t like to be seen out there but invest massively on start-ups. This caliber of people invest through some platforms. And you know what? They sometimes don’t even want to meet you. They just want to be sure you have a good business case.

I know a couple of such platforms, and these include VC4Africa, Lagos Angle Network , TL COM, Singularity Investment, CRE Venture Capital, ECHO VC, etc.

You may want to prospect any of the firms for funding. Best of luck.