STARTING YOUR OWN SMALL BUSINESS

STARTING YOUR OWN SMALL BUSINESS: THE SPRINGBOARD

(Excerpt from my book: STARTING YOUR OWN SMALL BUSINESS IN NIGERIA)

                                                                       

A few years ago, I stumbled on a newspaper that contained an article on one of the leading business giants in this country. Nothing of all I read about him and his business caught my attention more than a statement he was said to have made upon his graduation from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile Ife, Nigeria. He was quoted to have told one of his lecturers that “If after five years of graduating from this school I do not become a millionaire, I will return your certificate to you!” Geez! that’s some guts. Certainly, that guy’s middle name is Boldness and his last name is Risk. How can a young graduate whom most people will think doesn’t even know his right from his left say a thing like that? Well, maybe one of his uncles is a senator and another one a state governor. Far from it. Whether true or false I do not know, but I read further that it was just about a year after his graduation that he hit his first million, and guess what, it was in tens. If you are familiar with the stories of business people in Nigeria, the one I just told won’t sound strange to you. You probably know whom I’m talking about already. I heard another about a man whom when he came to Lagos had nowhere to stay, he slept under the bridge and woke up very early the next day to look for what to eat. He continued like this for a good number of days. He is today one of the most well known car dealer and sales agent in Lagos, Nigeria. Well, theirs is just two of the many rags to riches stories of several business giants in Nigeria, and outside of it. The greatest difference between them and others is that, they took charge of their lives and took responsibilities for it. They adopted risk as their middle names and became optimistic about the kind of life they actually desire. What I will share with you in this little book are principally the same truths and principles that got them and many others like them started and sustained them. They started small and ended big. Are you ready for this?

WHAT IS SMALL BUSINESS?

Most definitions of small business describe it in terms of the number of employees. For the purpose of this book, a small business will be described as one that is owned by one or a group of persons with little capital, small scale of operation and employs very few people with the owners themselves being the first employees.

AN OVERVIEW OF SMALL BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

The Nigeria business environment to a large extent has had its own fair share of small and medium scale businesses. The government in trying to respond to and in encouraging this trend, set up various agencies and bodies among whom are SMEDAN, EDC, NDE, etc. all these help individual entrepreneurs in establishing and running of their small businesses.

Another interesting point in all of this is that, the rate of unemployment and joblessness in the country is alarming. People want to work but they can’t because there is no opening for them to be employed. As it stands now, small and medium scale businesses soak up about 40% of the Nigerian workforce and that relieves the government of some pressure. But the need is just beginning to rise because of a surge in the number of the people who leave school and can’t get a job or those who are generally unemployed for several reasons that this book may not contain.

WHY YOU NEED TO START YOUR OWN SMALL BUSINESS

If you truly understand what small business means now, you won’t have a problem choosing to start one, or at least, having the intention.

A lot of people see small business as an alternative to having a job. It is not! Your small business is the platform you need for the expression of the potentials and talents that you have inside of you. No one is barren of ideas, but, there will be no expression without a platform. Your small business is that platform, it is your core, see it as that. Let your desire to have one be a passionate desire.

Some people see owners of small businesses as small people. Wrong. The business may be small, the people are not. What makes a man is the size of his heart. Many established small business owners have such big hearts that could consume so many employees including those who slight them. After all big businesses today started as small ventures, so who said the small business today will remain so forever?

Like I started saying, the best place you can have for the expression of the depth of ideas in you is your small business. If you have a paid job, you will understand how frustrating it is to have initiatives and ideas that can improve the job, yet, you have a boss that does not see any sense in what you are saying. If you are in this situation, you will find Chapter three of this book invaluable. But to help you for now, maybe it is time to go beyond thinking about having your own small business and actually have one so you can move on with your life the way it ought to be. Your most pressing problem, the one that gives you the greatest heartache about your job, is the signal you need to start. Maybe all you have done until now is think and plan, and you have probably been planning for over three years, well, while I’m a great advocate of good planning, I am also aware that too much analysis causes paralysis. I hope you are not replacing action on that business with planning?

Some of the several reasons why you may want to start your own small business may include:

-         - To gain freedom over your time, and by extension over your life

-         - To gain financial freedom

-         - To create employment opportunities for yourself and others

-    - To create other streams of income that you badly need to assuage the mounting financial pressures

-         - To contribute your own quota to the society by providing a type of product or service

-         - To find a platform for expressing your God given ideas, talents or skills

-         - It is a small business, and easier to start. Afterall it will be your own small business

-         - To compare favourably with your peers, friends and acquaintances

-         - To be a great support for your family

-         - To be able to have a say in the society knowing that no one reckons with the wisdom of the poor

-      -  To have something you can fall back on if anything goes wrong with your other sources of income

If any of the above reasons do not look like anyone you like, no problem. Just ask yourself why you need to start your own small business, and let the answer flow from your heart to your mouth. Say it loud to yourself. Follow your heart and you will be on your way to the top.