How Not To Lose Friends In Business!

I remember when my business partner and I first started our fashion label in Nigeria. Our first set of orders for clothes were from our family and friends. Every time we wore something out to an event or put up a picture, our nearest and dearest would place an order. In those first days before we were really a brand, their encouragement meant the world to us.

How To Harness Your Personal Network For Business

My aunt is trying to create a new brand image for a business that has been in existence longer than I have been alive. The first thing she did when she saw me was present the case to me. She stated her goal and then she asked me the best way to reach that goal. As I sat there discussing my opinion with her, I realised that I was perhaps giving her another perspective to consider before making a move. When she was done talking to me, she headed to the neighbours' house to ask their opinions as well. She is essentially crowdsourcing ideas on branding from the people closest her.

Should You Take A Big Leap?

Back in 2009 when I decided I wanted to transition my hair back to its natural state, I looked at my relaxed hair in the mirror and I was scared. I did not want to have short hair. This meant doing the "Big Chop", in natural hair parlance, was out of the question. Instead, slowly over time, I snipped out the relaxed bits of my hair. I hid the whole process by sticking to a regiment of braids and weaves. Eventually, I got to a point where I felt my natural hair was long enough and I cut off the remaining chemically-processed hair in one trim.

Disguised Opportunity

Back at the beginning of the fashion business my sister and I started, we were accepting custom work from clients. We had a particular client who had asked us to make her a flowing dress with chiffon that we had in stock. We went ahead and made the dress for her. When she came in for her fitting, she was quite upset. The execution of the style was wrong. She did not want to pay us. We were both upset but I looked at the dress. At first I saw a whole lot of wasted fabric that no-one would pay for and then I called the tailor. I told him to cut the dress into a high-waisted maxi-skirt for me.

Four ways To Get Best Out of Your Workers...

Just as multinationals are some of the best places to work, Nigerian companies are known for the horror stories they generate. The banking industry in particular is so terrible that it has been known to cough out entrepreneurs from within it rank. These ex-bankers turned business owners often leave really lucrative positions because they are tired of the inhumane existence. So imagine my surprise when I realise that some of these ex-tortured souls start businesses that become notorious for the lack of consideration for the staff. The business owners do this not because they are horrible people. They do it because they just don't know any better. As a former business owner myself, there are times when I talked to people and they recommended drastic steps because Nigerian workers are infamously disloyal, untrustworthy and inefficient. This flaw in employees does not mean you still should not consider creating a friendly atmosphere for your employees in your work place. Below are four ways to start creating a work-place culture that would encourage your employees .

1. Be Consistent: Create a clearly defined and expressed set of rules for your employees. Alongside the rules, there should be clearly defined consequences for breaking said rules. The most critical part of this process is the follow-through; make sure you follow-through on punishment when rules are broken.Consistently abiding by the rules creates discipline in the work environment.

January In Review

As the month of January rolls away, it is clear that some of the stories on the blog have made more of an impression than others. Our most read story in January has definitely been  What I learned about Negotiating Buying Food in Ibadan. This post on understanding the value of your product when negotiating terms with your clients has been a run-away hit since it was published late in the month. Below is a run-down of the most popular posts in the month of January. If you missed anything, it is worth taking a moment or two to read it.

• If you are wondering if a business plan is a good idea, I have definitely had the same dilemma. Here is where I stand on The Business Plan Dilemma!

Are You A Lazy Entrepreneur?: Ten Ways To be Disciplined As an Entrepreneur

You never will be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life

-Dr. James G. Bilkey

One of the myths about entrepreneurship is that it is easier than working for someone else. After all, especially for a place like Nigeria, there is nobody on your neck about showing up to work at 7 AM in the morning. There is no need to have that meeting at 9PM. As a business owner, you get to decide when you want to work. Wrong! If you think this way, your endangering your success as an entrepreneur. 

Ten Ways To Be Disciplined as an Entrepreneur

1. Get in the habit of waking up early in the morning and getting dressed. Do this even if you have nowhere to go. It is a way to get you mentally prepared to work.

Get Your Wallet Ready For A Start-Up

There are many factors that will undermine your foray into entrepreneurial land. Just be careful not to let your personal finance be one of the hurdles you can not overcome. As a business owner in Nigeria, one of the things that is certain is the uncertainty. No matter how well you think your business is going to be, you have to be ready for your income to be irregular. In cases where you were in a paid position prior to takin the 'big' leap, you are likely to find yourself taking a pay cut as well. This scenario should not be the reason why you decide not to start your business. There are certain things that can be done to buffer your wallet against the financial dilemma of entrepreneurship. Some of the steps you take now will help you when you become an entrepreneur.

Things to do

1. Get in the habit of tracking your day-to-day spending. Most likely than not, you are using a smartphone so it will be easy for you to take notes of your spending. When you track your spending, you are able to see how your spending is divided into the needs and wants categories. It is important that if you are spending heavily on wants, that you rein in this behaviour. Also, are you spending impulsively? This another behaviour that needs to be checked. 

The Business Plan Dilemma!

I have been thinking long and hard on my opinion of business plans lately. You see, when I started imagining up this blog a couple of months back in November, I saw it as a one-stop shop for business owners in Nigeria. At the same time, a lot of what is going to come up on this blog is going to be written by me. Therefore, it is a reflection of me. It is this realisation that has made me think hard on my postion on business plans.

Why spend such valuable time thinking about business plans? It is because I have come to realise that business plans even in their best forms may not be the best documents to help develop a business idea. Back in 2009, I was a student at the Lancaster University Management School taking a class on New Venture Planning. I remember that we spent so much time going through the business plan. The teacher for the class talked us through the importance of the business plan, how to write one and how to use the business plan. Now, I am post-school and one failed business venture down and I am not so naive anymore about entrepreneurship. I am not saying I know everything about owning a business; I am saying that I have developed a healthy scepticism for some of the theories that I learned in school. Perhaps, this is because the real world does not bend to the will of theory.

NdaniTV interviews Lisa Folawiyo of JBL

I admire Lisa Folawiyo, the founder and creative director of Jewel By Lisa. As an entrepreneur who has dabbled in the fashion industry in Nigeria, I respect her. I respect her because I understand the amount of work it takes to take your vision from your head to a drawing on a piece of paper to something executed in fabric. This last sentence cannot express the sheer amount of hardwork it takes to produce clothes. Fashion as an industry demands passion, tenacity and the ability to keep pushing. I respect Lisa Folawiyo's success because it means that she is doing the hardwork she needs to do to keep her company growing.

One of the things that struck me in this presentation is that her business was born out of her passion. In entrepreneurship, with the amount of challenges one faces, it is important to be passionate. On the worst day in business, a business owner still needs to be able to see some token of goodness.

Watch and let me know what you think in the comments section below.

The Power of Small

One of the biggest hurdles that entrepreneurs face when it comes to taking that step is the realisation that they do not have the capability to get to the great big dream. This is especially true in Nigeria where there are a whole universe of systemic issues that make entrepreneurship ever more difficult. I mean the World Bank ranks Nigeria at number 131 out of 185 economies for ease of doing business. Nigeria is ranked number 119 for the ease of starting business. (Click here for their data chart) Against the many different hurdles, it is still possible to be an entrepreneur. One just has to be really strategic about the choices one makes as a potential/new business owner.

Why "NO" can save your business and your sanity.

The other day I  got a phone call from my business partner about a potential client. After much discussion about the client’s request, I advised her to say “no” to the girl. Saying “NO” in small business is a bold step but trust me when I say that it is an important entrepreneurial skill.

Top 5 Reasons to Say “NO”

1. Not all business is profitable. Very early in the entrepreneurial process, it is very important to establish marginal cost. Marginal cost is related to creating an additional unit of product or service. For example, in the food business, one has to decide what the difference between cooking 50 portions and cooking 55 portions. If the ingredients come in 50 portions sizes and you will have to buy another pack to make 55 portions, you need to reconsider the client’s request and look at your bottom-line.
2.   In relationships, it is often said that you should trust a person when they show who they are. Same rule applies in business. In doing business, if your potential client is rude to your employees or yourself, or generally being difficult, it might be better to say “No” because it is very likely that you won’t be able to satisfy the person.
3. Don’t destroy your brand for one job. If you work as a designer of any sort, a fashion designer or interior designer or event designer, your work is your calling card. If a client comes to you with a demand that does not match your usual aesthetics, consider saying “No”. Creating work that you cannot defend or that is not up to your usual standard could destroy your credibility and help you lose more clients that you will gain.
4. You don’t usually make fitted skirts but this woman just wants a fitted skirt and is convinced you will be able to do it. Say “No”. Don’t try to take on a job that you do not have expertise in, no matter how flattering the offer financially and ego-wise. Identify your business strengths and work within them.
5. At some point, you have to recognize that all growth may not be good for you. If accepting that one extra job is going to potentially break the camel’s back by increasing your staff’s workload and decreasing morale in the office, consider saying “No”. It is important to remember that morale and physical wellbeing of the human component of your business is as important as the financial rewards of pushing the limits.

NdaniTV Young: Tayo Oviosu, CEO Paga

I first heard of Paga from my sister, who is also my business partner, when we were discussing payment options for an ecommerce site we were developing at the time. I did not realise then that Paga was a start-up; I just thought it was another company branching out into Nigeria. One of the things I like about Tayo Oviosu after watching this video is that is understands start-ups not just as business ownership but as a culture. Start-ups are machines for innovation. Most innovations come out of small businesses that are willing to take risks and develop new ideas because they don't have much to lose. I also like that one of his visions is very similar to mine; professionalising the start-up environment in Nigeria by providing infrastructure. 

SWOT Your Business!

One of the steps in writing the traditional business plan is the SWOT analysis. Taught as a part of many business course, the SWOT analysis is a great tool to begin exploring the viability of your business idea. SWOT stands for :

S-Strength

This refers to the advantages you will potentially have internally within your organization. This is the time to figure out if you perhaps known a genius that will give you technological leverage over competitor. Or do you have the ultimate networker in your family that can introduce you to people? Or are you a persuasive genius that is the next big thing?

Starting In a Business In Nigeria

When I first decided I wanted to start a fashion label, the first thing that ran through my mind was not the many nitty-gritty of owning a business. (Maybe that should have been a warning sign to me.) As someone who spent a whole year going through a MSc. in Management programme, perhaps I should have known better than to assume that owning a fashion label is about just sewing clothes. 

The truth is that as a failed entrepreneur, I have come to realise that no amount of business school training can prepare you for the reality of running a start-up. Business school classes train you to look at business from a point of maturity onward. Unless you are in an entrepreneurship track, most business school graduates are only familiar with models that deal with companies that are established and beyond the initial shaky phases. A start-up, by its very nature, is an unstable entity that has a multitude of challenges that only a dedicated and passionate entrepreneur can lead into a state of maturity. That process of quelling fires and celebrating barely break-through moment can really be exhilarating and character-building. 

The truth about entrepreneurship is that it is often more than just the initial concepts you have. As a matter of fact, most businesses that survive beyond the initial start-up phase are not based solely on the concepts with which they were born. Start-ups often evolve in other to remain successful. The concept is really just the face for the business, it is what people see when they look at your work. The actual work is in the engine that powers the face. The engine is what makes everything light up and look all glitzy.

Glitz is often what attracts people to owning their own business. They see people who appear not to answer to anybody else. They see money flowing in and the endless potential for growth. What they don't see is the empty bank account despite pulling in massive sales the other night. They don't see the human resources nightmare of trying to find a reliable employee that is trust-worthy and has the needed skills to get the job done. They don't see the customer service nightmare that arises when you can't fulfill an order because everything that is beyond your control is going wrong.

My job on this blog is to help you through every step of your journey as an entrepreneur. I want to be there as you decide if business ownership is a right path for you. I want to be a source of inspiration by bringing you stories, from near and far, on those that are making it. I want to cover stories on failures so you can recognise pitfalls in your own business.  I want to be a teacher by telling you what I wished knew before I jumped into bed with my first business. I want to be for you, as a Nigerian entrepreneur, what I wished I had during my teething days as an entrepreneur.

Feel free to leave a comment on things you wish would be covered on this blog and I would try my best to get it done.

QOTD: On Obstacles

I should have died many times, but I didn't. I always thought that somewhere around the corner was another road, and I would find it. It's just that right now there's a big mountain in front of me and I can't see it.

-Ping Fu

Co-founder, Geomagic

Read  more on this amazing woman here

Avoid these bad habits and gain back time!

Efficiency is one of the keys to successful entrepreneurship.As an entrepreneur, I know that your time will fly and you will wonder what you did in that time.This is why I am recommending this article on how to achieve more.  I read this on inc.com and I knew I had to share. From avoiding meetings without agenda to reorganising your emails, this article advices you on how to make the most of a very limited resource.

Click here for the full article

If you have any more tips on how to maximise time, leave a comment below and I will update the blog with the best advice.

NdaniTv Young CEO : 3Invest's Ruth Obih

I just discovered this series on Ndani TV that profiles Nigerian entrepreneurs. I like this series because it gives me a vision of what is possible. I am able to see other young entreprenuers that are Nigerians that are making it in Nigeria. I really enjoy reading Forbes Lists and such because they give me an aspirational view on life but things like this Ndani TV series give me a realistic view of life. This is important because I can tell that it is possible to overcome the many obstacles one faces with doing business in Nigeria.

QOTD: Henry Ford on Failure

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.

- Henry Ford

Founder, Ford Motors

Hello!

Hello! Welcome to 2013! Welcome to my blog! Start-Up Naija is more than mine though. It  is my hope that Start Up Naija would be a space for me and you, my readers.

First off, let me introduce myself. You see I am a sort of failed entrepreneur. I started a business in Lagos a couple of years back. Through the initial highs and few lows at the beginning, I was sure that I was ready to be an entrepreneur. It was only as I was shutting the door on my business that I realised that I was not ready. I failed massively because I was not ready to be an entrepreneur.
I am sure you are now wondering why the hell you should follow a blog from a failed entrepreneur championing entrepreneurship. Well, my hindsight through my lens of failure provides me with the special perspective. I have become obsessed with understanding entrepreneurship in Nigeria. I have also become obsessed with encouraging it and celebrating it. Business ownership is a good thing and can create the perfect platform to be able to make healthy lifestyle choices instead of operating on default. As you read more of this blog, you will begin to understand my entrepreneurship fanaticism better.

Welcome to 2013! I hope this is the beginning of an empowering journey for all of us!