It really hurts me to see entreprneuers seeking for an easy way to success, searching up and down for a secret key that doesn't even exist.

A lot of Nigerian tech entrepreneurs reading TechCrunch and hearing of the likes of Iroko Partners (Nigerian Startup) raising $8million makes them want to start something today and raise a million dollar tomorrow.

Reading TechCrunch you'd think that every company under the sun has just raised millions in series A and is about to "change the world". Reality is that most companies don't fit the VC's profile to begin with, let alone raise capital.
- Ashkan K. (CEO of WatchMojo)

I also came across a short Facebook post by Jason Njoku (CEO of Iroko Partners) answering to this same topic, what's the secret to iROKO success?

"Right opportunity? Right time? Right skills? In all honesty." Jason wrote.

He also added: "Before iROKO I had at least 10 failed startups / ventures / 'projects' over a 6-year period. Infact iROKO for the first 9months was one of those failed projects."

So, to be specific on this... my best advice is STOP wasting your time looking for easy ways to success. There has never been an easy way. Nobody will give you a million dollar because you have an idea that you think is killer. Wake up from your dreams! 

If you want to be successful, you have to stay FOCUSED; build what you have to build, experiment, study, improve and pivot. Then you will be successful, it doesn't happen overnight.

Have you noticed how many online startups are out there lately? 

While it's great for overall innovation, it can create a challenging ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs. I've spent more time than I care to remember, evaluating various businesses, looking at models, and seeking opportunities where I could compete. Invariably no matter what idea I find and no matter how niche or arcane it is, it’s likely there are already more than a handful of competitors already in the space. :(

Few years ago, many of the simplest online opportunities were still viable for new entrants with relatively little capital. Today, I see excessive competition everywhere I look, and nearly every niche seems to have at least 1 or 2 well-funded competitors.

So whats to do now?

I think to be able to scale, one has to be extraordinarily hardworking, highly creative, and truely passionate enough to be persistent long enough. The hardest part of business is the early stage, getting the first few thousand customers!

So, be strong... work hard and obtain your recorgnition. It's not gonna be easy though. 

photo credits http://graphicdesignblender.com

10 precious lessons I learned in my life over time that I thought I should share.

LESSON 1: You must learn to be patient to maintain focus!

LESSON 2: You cant be who you want to be without letting go who you currently are! All I am saying is, you must accept change.

LESSON 3: You must have a starting point and a destination to make a progress. Else you're no different from the breeze!

LESSON 4: Learn to listen twice, before you talk once.That was why God gave us two ears and one mouth, so that we could listen more and talk less.

LESSON 5: Success is not an accident. It only happens when you do the right things, the right way. Not once, but over & over again.

LESSON 6: No one wants YOU to change the world, just change your self (that's enough).

LESSON 7: You don't have to impress nobody.

LESSON 8: You should always accept and learn from your mistakes, they are only mistake afterall and everybody on this earth makes them.

LESSON 9: Someone else's advice is at should be at its best an option to your own opinion. Never let someone else drive your life unless you drive theirs too!

LESSON 10: Imagination is not just a fiction, it is a floor plan to reality and I testify to that. You surely can achieve almost everything that you can imagine. 

You'd achieve more if you stop thinking about money.

I thought I should write this after having a conversation with a friend who thinks I should have focused on making money all these years than spending on so much effort on this tech and not reaping the 7figures. But what my friend didn't understand is that I have fun doing what I do, that I don't think working for money would have brought.

Maybe if I had done few projects that fetched me millions, I would have been on a different world entirely, a world I am not so sure I even want to be in.

This is what would have happened:

• I would make money; lots of it.
• I would have little experience (won't have time to explore much)
• I would be on fast lane, then sooner or later I will crash. I won't be able to deliver, I'd be busy chasing where the money is while the technology will pass me by (You know what I am talking about, tech is a rapid bitch).
• Worst of all, I won't get to know most of the people I met during the course of my "for experience" stuff. (All the seminars, hackathons and meetups that I've attended, I will add them to my waste list.)

I remember the quote "If money is all that you think about, you will soon run out of its sources".

So what will happen that I now took things slow, steady and easy.

• I will continue to add more experience in my field, get to know more people as well.
• I will make the money, though not rapidly but sooner or later I will make all of it.
• I will be slow, but  accurate and I will be strong enough to account for my achievements anywhere.
• I will have fun doing what I love, that won't be stressed out working overnight. (Do what you love and you will never have to work in your life).

Money has never been my motivation, there is more in this life than having money. (But i love fame :D) Thank you.

That first hour of work and then another hour and another is what will set you aside from all the wannabe's and never-will-be's that are doing nothing about it. All it takes is a handful of hours a week, I mean a couple of hours every day.

So, Stop Dreaming and Start Working.

You see, lots of people think they could have written the "The Da Vinci Code" or "Harry Potter Books" but only Dan Brown and J.K. Rowlins did so. It's not like they have two heads, it's just that it takes more than mere wishes to make things happen. It takes bold steps, the efforts to do something every single day and remaining focused utill you achieve it.

I was a day dreamer too, every single time I see an online startup; I feel like it's something I could have built. But deep inside me lied only words and mere wishes. But then I came to realize that there is more to achieving anything than just mere thoughts and wishes. So I resolved to do something every single day of my life to attain my goals.

Now I am restructured and getting focused with clean and clear terms.

Unless you are in control of your self, I think you should also do the same thing. It doesn't cost an arm or a leg to be successful, it only cost a small chunk of hours from your daily 24.

Before I proceed, I would like to make it clear that this is not something new to you but it will remind you of the power you have to generate cash flow and attain your financial goals. Its like cooking a delicious food, you may know the ingredients but you also need to know the recipe.

From what I learned from Napoleon's book; to gain control of your potentials and become rich you must possess these characteristics:

Imagination:

 This is a free gift giving to human-beings (and only human-beings) by God, which gives you the ability to picture in advance that which you desire. Through Imagination, a desire is giving a true real existence (imaginary).

Take for instance, you want to make $1Million by the end of the year and you imagine yourself holding a bank statement written on it $1,000,000.00, you will gain a sensation that will give you an extra energy towards attaining that money! (Personally, I often even write a check for my self worth an amount I desire to create a more real imaginary existence.)

Imagination is a strong power that often gives oneself the courage and strength to purse one's desire.

In Chapter 6: I quote; “Through the aid of his imaginative faculty, man has discovered, and harnessed, more of Nature's forces during the past fifty years than the entire history of the human race....” 

An example is man's ability to fly... man imagined him self flying like a bird. (that’s our planes today!) and there are million more examples you can pick from.

A motivation speeker, Orison Marden also once wrote; “Thoughts and Imaginations are the only real limits to human possibilities”. That means you can acquire that which you can think and imagine.

Sincere Desire:

This is often called the starting point of all achievements. Desire, does not mean greediness or being extremely desirous but a true passion to possess what you imagine. (Through a legitimate source).

Once you have a sincere passion over what you want to acquire, you are giving your mind the courage to overcome obstacles and strive harder to achieve it.

It's like a catalyst, when you want something. When you're sincere about it, nothing can stop you from achieving it.

Decision:

This is often crucial and probably the most important part of the recipe. You may not know it, but a million other people around you also have the same desire and imagination as you do, and they are also willing to meet that desire too! It's up to who makes the quickest decision to move towards it.

But, only a few can actually take the final decision to take action towards their imaginations and this reluctant feeling stops a lot people from achieving their dreams, sometimes I call it “financial breakthrough inertia”. Not taking the decision to do what you have to do can deprive you from lots of things in life.

That feeling that is stopping you from getting hold of your desires by taking the immediate action is FEAR! “– Fear is the biggest danger you could ever encounter in your life, because it can stop you from acquiring the greatest bounties of life.

Persistence:

Having the keenness to resist hardship and timely crisis is another thing that stops people from attaining the greatest successes of all times.

I use to remember a story that will forever be told about a folk who had a land which was tested full of gold. However, the gold is to be found thousands of meters in the roots of earth. 

This man had the desire for the gold, the imagination of holding the gold in real sense and he took the final decision to mine it! He spent million of dollars trying to reach the gold, but there was no sign of it. So, he began to wonder if he will ever reach that gold digging! Soon he lost his patience and dropped the idea completely. 

He then he sold out the land! 

The new owner thought of giving the gold mining a try, by continuing  from where this folk stopped. To your surprise, the first chop of the ground pulled out gold! What a loss? The folk left the land when he was few inches to reach the gold because he lost persistence which cost him all the gold!

Learn to be patient and persistent with what you do.

Don't forget to buy the book, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill, it will teach you more on how your brain can drive you to success.

Well, I'm learning here too, so pls do not hesitate commenting your lessons too, bellow.

According to Wikipedia: "A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals."

But I think, this is only important to a certain degree (with the little experience in business). 

I started with a business plan, yes. But I didn't continue with writing one; I switched form wiriting a formal document to writing just tips & notes to guide me and that alone has worked for me.

It is obvious how business plan is over emphasized and that lead me to a quest on whether or not it is so IMPORTANT to constantly have a clean and clear formal written business plan at all times?

So, I asked this question on my facebook wall... "Is writing a business plan document so necessary before starting a business?" and I got a number of educative comments like:

REPONSES: 

Ajibola Aiyedogbon: I really am a noob on business dealings, so I come from "common sense", a plan is needed, regardless of how many times it changes. If not, you are dealing in chaos. It also does not need to be physically written down, as far as one exists that can be recalled on request. 

That's what I thought, it doesn't really have to be physical or formal.

Can't I just write my plans on a jotter or my diary or even sticky notes. Do I have to write a clean and clear formal document?

 Abubakar Gambo: I think business plans are only important at a certain stage in business, for example when looking for people to invest.

Kayode Muyibi: My business plan is designed to illustrate a few things but not limited to my marketing plan, my business strategy, my cost metrics etc.. It is a guide to remind me on what I plan to do, how I plan to do it, and reminds me of my goal and vision. I use it for my own use. 

Churchill Nanje Mambe: BUSINESS PLANS are mostly not for you the entrepreneur but for your investors, partners and team. 

In a video I watched on TechCrunchTV, "Why Business Plans Are A Waste of Time" with Ryan Blair:

Ryan Blair: "I don't like to see entrepreneurs spending a lot of time on theoretical market place position of a company. I think that's a lot garbage... I think you should just go to work and start building that company!" 

So do you write a formal business plan? And how useful has it been to your business? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

When you want to start a business, you want immediate traction and you try all that is possible to break into the market with an attractive pricing to gain attention, but in the long run; you are actually hurting your business from its infancy.

Ofcourse cheap pricing can fetch you crowd, but the question is... Is it crowd you want or long term customers?

What happens when you're  too cheap?

When you appear cheap, you gather customers who's sub-concious minds are towards discounts, sales, giveaways and freebies.

These kind of customers won't mind leaving you any time a better deal is out there and if you cannot slash further, your business is doomed!

That's what you taught them from day one (go for the cheap.)

Why you should not be too cheap.

Because you will have a bunch of low-end customers, who would rather quit business if you ever think about adding a penny to adjust your pricing  in the course of running your business.

Because you will losing those high-end customers, who care more about the quality of the serivce delivered and ready to pay what it takes to get the best service... because they look for value, while you offer what seems to be too cheap to be valuable.

Because being cheap will put you to a niche you don't want to be among. A niche where low pricing is all that matters... That's where it is more difficult to excel.

What you should do then.

Take a deep breath and look past the immediate cash. Look long-term. Know the kind of customers you want, how you want them to think of you, and the kind of relationship you want to establish with them.

It is good for startups to charge less... yes; you should consider a little fair pricing! But don't be so freaking cheap, unless you want to gather some cheap customers too! 

Build your business on the niche of quality, reliability and affordability... set your pricing fair enought for what you deliver.

PSS: Do you think being cheap will hurt your business, I would like to hear your thought on this.