Becoming an Entrepreneur (by Olajide Alex-Oni)

I am a member of "The Let's Talk About Series" community. I'll be sharing notes from Olajide Alex-Oni on Becoming an Entrepreneur, a lesson delivered this year, in the month of January.

Let's Talk About Series is a personal and career development discussion platform that discuss diverse topics to help boost people's productivity and build personal confidence. They are passionate about self discovery, and believe the strife for personal development helps in adding value to one's life; creating opportunities and setting priorities for the areas that make them most effective.

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Olajide Alex-Oni:

Entrepreneurship means different things to different people. Some see entrepreneurship as starting a small business. For me I will say Yes, and define “Entrepreneurship” as the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business along with any of its risks in order to make a sustainable profit. Most importantly, adding value to those who benefit from the service offering of the entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship can be scary because there is no guarantee that the business will work, and the entrepreneur may end up losing money for the first few years. And that's if the entrepreneur does not fizzle out of the business due to circumstances both beyond and within their control. So in defining who an Entrepreneur is, I will say it is someone who can take any idea, whether it be a product and/or service, and have the skill set, will and courage to take extreme risk to do whatever it takes to turn that concept into a reality and not only bring it to market, but make it a viable product and/or service that people want or need.

(Question: People say entrepreneurship is business while some say it is not, how true is that Sir, or how different are they?)

This can be a bit tricky though but trust that there is a clear cut distinction. As much as Business people and Entrepreneurs have many similarities - they both provide jobs for the unemployed and provide solutions to the end consumers. Again, they are not the same kind of people. Let me explain further... In my opinion, what distinguishes a Businessman from an Entrepreneur is in their way of thinking. A Businessman is more Analytical in his approach while an Entrepreneur is more of Potentials and Possibilities. For example, where a businessman may be more focused on making profit, the entrepreneur is more focused on innovation.
Most people think being an entrepreneur is all about coming up with an idea, but that's just one part. The core of being an entrepreneur is the staying power irrespective of the situation or circumstances the business goes through. Whether good times or bad times, an entrepreneur has to be able to thread the ropes and weather the storm.

(Question: This means entrepreneurship and business are two sides of a coin, Sir?)

Very correct. It's like going from one stage to another.

(Question: A lot has been said so far, Sir, about being an entrepreneur cum business person, but I am sure we all cannot excel as entrepreneur without certain skill sets. From your wealth of experience, Sir, what skill set must we have to become excellent entrepreneurs?)

Every entrepreneur must always ensure they consistently brush up on whatever skill(s) they possess and be very much willing to learn, re-learn and UN-learn new skills in order to become a better entrepreneur. For me, the most basic skill set to possess would be Communication Skill, Personal and Business Branding Skill, Strategic Thinking skill, Sales Pitch Skill and lastly, Finance Skill.
There are many other skills that can and must be acquired as you learn the ropes of your chosen entrepreneurial part. Because guess what? If you don't do your business well and improve everyday, there will always be superior competition from someone else waiting to take over the space.

(Question: A number of us have been privileged to attend different entrepreneurial trainings to build this skills, but still do not know how to generate ideas, let alone profiting from it. What's your take on this challenge, Sir? Is there a process of becoming an entrepreneur you can recommend for us?)

A few of us have fantastic ideas but just don't know how to go about materialising them.
A successful entrepreneur is typically confident and self-motivated and tenacious. You have to think long-term and be persistent with passion and commitment for what you want to do.
Some entrepreneurs have a healthy disrespect for established rules, and often set out to do things that others may not have the courage to do, for me that’s what should truly define one as an entrepreneur.
You must love what you do with so much passion and get it done effortlessly.

(Question: Sir, you are the founder of Pancake Hub, one of the fastest growing businesses in Nigeria and the food industry. You must have gone through a tideous process of turning your idea to a profitable business...)

Learn to start small, think big and then manage to grow big.

(Question: Please kindly share how you turned such idea into a highly profitable business. What major challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them (in brief sir))

Inflation, difficulty in recruiting the right minds who were to sell pancake which I might add was a huge laugh to a lot of people.

(Question: What practical steps did you take in addressing this? Inflation is a major issue even in this current times and is hindering so many of us from turning ideas in business)

We went through each day trying to redefine our processes as well as tackle seeming challenges that kept cropping up. For instance, trying to build a franchise has a been difficult challenge that we are still fine tuning.
For inflation and ideas are two different things. Inflation affects every body but great ideas come out of few bright minded people. Great and bright ideas will bring investors, patronage, support, etcetera, despite inflation.

(Question: Sir, it is evident from all that you have said that being an entrepreneur requires us first to identify problems we intend to solve, build competence/skills, and start no matter how small, address the challenges which come along the way and ultimately continue to grow and improve our businesses... Am I on track sir?)

Yes.
For every great idea, money will definitely chase that idea.

(Question: What's your perception towards youths and the get rich quick syndrome?)

My advise to the youth is simple: Learn to crawl, walk, before you start to run. Then you can think of flying.
Always try to start small, think big, if you want to grow big.
Success is not a one day or a short story affair. It is all about hard work, dedication, commitment and resilience.
Note that if you have not learnt how to manage to grow N10,000 into N100,000 or N100,000 into N1,000,000… how in the world will you be able to manage successful and disciplined business?

Everything about business must go through a process and the youths must be prepared to go through that learning curve if they want to be great at whatever they want to do.

(Question: Thank you very much for the insightful session, Sir. Please, Sir, can you give us practical ways to balance school work with being an entrepreneur in order to achieve meet up with the demands from both sides? Most of us here are students and also into one business or the other to make ends meet, Sir.)

In life, there is what you call work, life balance. You just have to make those choices to make ends meet. Besides, everything about life is all about the choices you make. It either makes or breaks you.

For a country like ours where the business environment is so unfriendly, does not encourage business due to lack of basic infrastructure and does not enable businesses to thrive, we just have to work 100 times harder in order to stay in the entrepreneurial world. Basic challenges that stare us in the face are common to all such as lack of electricity, lack of good roads, water, transportation, government inconsistency in policies making decision and many other little measures that can make a whole lot of difference.
The solution is to really look inwards by not just thinking outside the box but getting out of the box and if need be, break the box and rebuild your own. That is the sure way to go with less dependence on a failed system. Remember that nagging, complaining and whining won't solve problems but proactive thinking and timely decision making makes all the difference.
As an entrepreneur you need to stop looking at opportunities and start to see opportunities. Most entrepreneurs don’t see opportunities. Like they say: “Opportunities meet only the prepared”. Seeing opportunities is skill that needs to be developed over time. So if you are not prepared and well equipped with the right skill set, you will not be in a position to maximize opportunities. Your key watch words when identifying opportunities are efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability.

Now if you're ready to enter the world of entrepreneurship, here are a few important tips to keep in mind:

• Learn from others' failures
• Make sure this is what you want
• Learn to solve problems
• Be passionate
• Get advise from those who have done it like a mentor

Yes... Get out of the bloody box and break that damn box that won't allow you to think beyond the box.
As we round up, these are my final drop offs for you guys.

Learn to sing your A... B… C… meaning:
Always Be Confident

Take firm decisions and actions. No room for procrastination and no room for regrets.

Learn to set goals and milestones for yourself.

Build a reputation, that is, let people trust you. Your word should be your bond.

I do hope you guys were able to pick up a couple of pointers out of this session? Again I will be very glad to create time for some specific questions as they may pop up concerning issues around entrepreneurship. Thank you all once again for the wonderful time spent sharing.

Olajide Alex-Oni