Have you ever thought of becoming so rich like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola and the rest of the big names in the world? Look around, they all have one thing in common, they own their respective businesses/companies and the beauty of it all is that they started small.
If you want to be like these guys, you have to begin by starting up your own business. This article would serve as a guide to you and your financial freedom.
It still doesn’t make sense to you right?
Check out these 10 reasons why you should start your own small business today:
- Time is on your side
The statement above might sound strange; probably because we have always been hearing that time waits for no one. While this may be true, how come the big names mentioned above are so wealthy? We all have the same amount of time in a day, what makes the difference is how you are willing to spend yours.
For emphasis, take a close look at this scenario- Your boat sank and you have only 24 hours to get to dry land before you run out of air, what would you do? You will swim with all your energy and focus on only one thing which is getting back on land. You won’t bother about checking social media for the latest gossip all you care about is surviving.
Now you see you have the time, if you apply such level of determination to whatever business you have in mind, success would be the only outcome.
- Money is not a problem
To be a successful entrepreneur, you must be able to accomplish more by using less – less staff, less money, less time etc more profit as postulated by Dave Lavinsky.
Let’s be realistic, the money needed to start that business you have in mind may never come as expected, but that does not mean you must keep waiting, you just have to re-strategize. Use whatever little money you have towards achieving your dreams.
“You can’t always control what you have, but you can control what you do with what you have.”
READ– List of Billionaires and companies that would fund your business in Africa- Nigeria
- Getting the right connections is easy
This is the beauty of social media; you can reach anybody you want to reach just by contacting them on your popular networks. Social media is not just for watching comedy skits and trending videos, a lot of connections are made daily on this various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc.
It’s true that some of the people may not respond to your messages, probably because you didn’t approach them properly.
You don’t just start asking them for favours, start small, build conversations, let them start noticing you before you start asking for connections and referrals.
Do not forget that you are not the only one contacting these persons and as such you must give them a fairly good reason to connect with you. Give before you expect to receive, you will be amazed how fast your business would grow e.g. you are a fashion designer, you should consider making a master piece and give it out as a gift to such person, the outcome would amaze you.
- It’s never too late to start even if such kind of business already exists
Mr Biggs was one of the biggest names in fast food business in Nigeria, today they have been overtaken by newer brands such as Genesis, Kilimanjaro, KFC etc. This is just one case, the list is endless. Innovations keep coming out every day; some of the biggest companies today are what they are because they refined other ideas and innovation.
It’s never too late to start as long as you are willing to be better, faster, stronger, cheaper etc than whoever got there first.
- Getting skills is very easy
Truth is you already have the skills you need for your business or innovation, but if you don’t it’s very easy to get that skill. You could either, go for training, read books and research online, get a job in the area you wish to start your business or any other business.
Look for a mentor, someone that has done what you want to do, work for him/her without pay if you must just so they can teach you instead.
You see, it’s not such a big deal right? Sacrificing a little bit of your comfort for a skill is worth it at the end of the day.
Skills and knowledge are earned, not given.
- You have awesome ideas (many of great ideas in and around you)
Look within you, look around you, search for a problem and work on the solution. There are a thousand and one problems every day, just thinking of possible solutions is enough inspiration for great ideas and brands.
“New” is hard to imagine. “Better” is much easier.
Most companies are built on “better,” not on “new.”
- You are already an expert at taking risk
Answer this question honestly, is there any day you don’t take a risk? Something as little as crossing a busy road is a risk, so you see no matter how little the risk you take is, you are pretty good at it.
Its better you take that risk today in your own small business and recover from the outcome than to live in fear and let your drive die. With time, you will be able to overcome all the little setbacks you encountered on the way.
If you never take the risk, you may end up living a life of regrets. The only risk in life is not taking a risk because you will always keep wondering “What if?
- Nothing is perfect (your idea does not have to be perfect before starting your company)
Research has shown that many people do not kick-off their business because they are constantly trying hard to make the product perfect. This doesn’t sound like a bad idea right? But the truth is many are not just after perfection, many feel insecure, they are afraid that their products wouldn’t do well in the market.
You don’t have to be like them, do all you can and pull the start-up trigger, you can keep on making modifications and upgrade as people start using them. The Facebook you know today is not the same Facebook you knew in 2010, think about that.
- You are already an expert at taking small steps
As a famous writer ones said, “Long journeys are hard, Individual steps are easy.” This is very true in our world today. Look at all the activities you do in a day, this are all little steps that make big results.
Let’s say you have no idea about boxing and you want to be a world renowned boxer like Mohammed Ali or Floyd Mayweather, you just don’t enter the ring, you might get yourself killed, the best bet is to go to a gym and start training.
You want to open a business; you can take small steps by checking out good locations, work on your business plan, source for raw materials, research on the business etc.
You can’t accomplish any difficult task overnight; however you can accomplish one small step, toward that goal. No matter how slow, as long as you are moving forward, you are on the right track.
- You have all it takes to start a business now
The fear of the unknown is what keeps many persons from progressing. Many persons who desire to take a shot at entrepreneurship end up not making a move just because they are afraid of the logistics involved in starting a business.
CHECK OUT THIS 9 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW BEFORE STARTING A BUSINESS IN NIGERIA
Registering your business (you can do that here) is very easy. Just be determined to start now and you can do great things like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola etc.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR CAPITAL TO START A BUSINESS??? Follow this link to see how to raise capital to fund your business
Do you have any question or contribution; let us know using the comment box below.
Subscribe to our website for more business mentorship and ideas using your email. Subscription is free.
Join us and other business enthusiast all over Africa on our social media channels.
