What are the laws of entrepreneurship?

All entrepreneurs create businesses, but all entrepreneurs are not created equal.

The business mastery series is a collection of unusual articles that will take you through the essential skills necessary for successfully starting and running a SIGNIFICANT company –a business that is changing the world and profiting from purpose.

The world of business is characterized by intense competition. Meaning, there’s very little room for mediocres. If you must go into business, you must be prepared to learn and apply the required skills.

There’s a funny trend amongst many entrepreneurs starting out in business. They often have this wrong mentality that business is simply common sense. So they go into the world of business with only this mindset – to apply common sense.

How I wish business was that simple. If it were, there wouldn’t be a high rate of failed businesses.

Common sense is an inadequate skill for running a business successfully. Even your life is too complex to be handled with common sense talk less of a business.  The major reason for this erroneous approach to business is this; the acquisition of technical skills.

Technical skill is the required body of knowledge for practicing a particular profession or career.

For example; the technical skill required for being a musician is singing and song writing. In other words, you cannot be a musician if you don’t know how to sing and write songs. Also, the technical skill required for being a doctor is the knowledge of how the human body functions and knowledge of the medicines to correct any malfunctioning.

 Why Common Sense Is NOT Sufficient To Run A Business

In business likewise, common sense is insufficient. That you have been trained and equipped with a particular technical skill which qualified you to operate as a professional, doesn’t make you a savvy business person. I‘ve been in business for over 5 years now and I’ve been observing many a business as they  come and go due to the  incompetence of the founders.

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What is your business?

When asked what was the most important business question ever, management guru Peter Drucker answered;

“What is our business?”

Defining your business is the most important task all entrepreneurs need to do in order to succeed in their venture.

Your business is not the product/service you offer. Your business is not the industry you are in.

That you sell dogs, is not your business; so do many others like you. That you make clothes, is not your business; so do many others like you. That you manage events, is not your business; so do many others like you.

Your business is the difference your company sets out to make in the world!

Your business is the difference your dogs make in the life of the customer. Your business is the difference your clothes make in the life of the customer. Your business is the difference made in the life of the customer as a result of your managing their event.

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How do you plan effectively for the New year?

Happy New Year!

I’m so glad to have made it into 2012 and gladder that you also made it. At the start of a New Year like this, people are always in such high spirit having far reaching expectations for their life and business. As a result, many start the New Year with a list of to-dos for vital areas of their life or business.

This list of to-dos popularly known as New Year Resolutions is created in the same high spirit that naturally accompanies the New Year.  Little wonder they barely help you achieve much!

Why New Year Resolutions Fail

The reason is this; New Year Resolutions are usually created with too much optimism that often makes the list overrated with unrealistic goals. Sooner or later, when the high spirit of the New Year begins to wear out, optimism begins to give way to reality. This is when you begin to lose faith in your overrated list of to-dos having realized that there’s just so much you can realistically accomplish.

The funny thing though is this; this wouldn’t still stop you from going over this process all over again in 2013. Why? Because the popular thing is often naturally easier to do than the unusual. Since everyone else is creating New Year Resolutions, it becomes quite easy for you to keep reinventing the wheel without evaluating its effectiveness.

In this unusual article, I will be sharing with you the unusual alternative to the popular New Year resolutions. Let’s begin!

Effective Planning For 2012: The Unusual Approach

Forget about New Year Resolutions, it’s just a list of to-dos that never gets done. Here’s the smart way to go; thoughtfully pick 3 words that will guide your thoughts, plans and actions throughout the Year. Then create daily, weekly and monthly goals for each of these 3 words and go to work.

These 3 words will serve as the underlying theme or framework that will influence your thoughts, decisions and actions in 2012. I first learnt of this idea in 2010 from Chris Brogan who since 2006 has given up on the ineffective idea of New Year Resolutions. I gave it a shot last year and found it very effective.

Why was it so effective?

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What kind of business should Entrepreneurs go into?

This is yet another unusual article under the “Business Mastery Series“, a collection of unusual articles that focuses on helping entrepreneurs answer highly fundamental questions on how to successfully manage both themselves and the businesses they run profitably.

If you are new to naijapreneur or probably haven’t been following this series, I really wouldn’t want you to miss out on any of the unusual articles previously published. So, below are the links to them, the smart thing to do, if I were you would be to read them first, before coming back to finish reading this.

Business Mastery: The Unusual Qualities Of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

Business Mastery: How should entrepreneurs be spending their time?

Business DNA: Why Your Company’s Success Desperately Depends On It!

Business Mastery: How Should Entrepreneurs Be Profitably Marketing Their Business?

Business Mastery: 4 Smart Ways Of Getting More Profitable Customers Always

How to be your own boss

As the day goes by, more people are realizing that the allure of a secure employment is just a fantasy; one that is often short lived. The search for the next alternative which in most cases is entrepreneurship is growing rapidly. Never a time in human history has there been such a massive quest by many to be their own boss.

Recognizing this growing global trend is what inspired me to create this unusual article to help as many out there who want to embark on this unusual journey of entrepreneurship. It’s important I make this clarification; these are not all the possible FAQs on starting up a new business, there are many more. However, based on my consulting experience with clients, the ones covered here are quite fundamental and will serve as a guide to answer other likely questions you would most certainly need to answer as you progress on the entrepreneur’s journey.

 FAQs About  Starting up A New Business

First here are the questions at a glance on how to be your own boss;

1. What kind of business should I go into?
2. How Should I start; small or big?
3. How Should I fund my business; use my own money or get external funding?
4. How do I choose a name for my business?
5. How do I differentiate my company from other competitions?
6. What do I need for marketing my new business?
7. Do I need to have a business plan or not?
8. Do I need to have an office space or not?
9. Do I need to hire employees or not?
10. How do I price my products/services?

Let’s begin!

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Lately, I have been observing the search queries [keywords] used by people to get to naijapreneur! One of the top phrases used by searchers to get to this site is this; “why become an entrepreneur?” or “why should one become an entrepreneur?”

This is an obvious indication that there are a lot of folks out there who are in search of valid reasons for becoming an entrepreneur. Luckily for them, I have written on this issue on naijapreneur precisely these two unusual articles;

Why did you become an entrepreneur?

9 ways how NOT to start a business

However, the answers in these posts were written for entrepreneurs who were already in business and was intended to correct their erroneous perception of entrepreneurship as a money making venture only rather than a what it really is – a problem solving or value adding venture.

I didn’t write for those who were currently employees and were in search of answers whether to quit their jobs and take the leap of faith or remain stuck on the rat race. This is the essence of this unusual article, to talk about entrepreneurship from the employees’ perspective and to further encourage you who have already taken the leap of faith that you didn’t make the wrong choice.

A little word of caution, this is a long one, so brace up yourself for a long read –over 3000 words! But I assure, the patient dog will eat the fattest bone on this one. You will never regret reading it to the end and you will mostly like want to share it with a lot of people.

Let’s begin!

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This is the second article of a new series, I have tagged it “Business Mastery Series”. Throughout this series, I will be

How should you market your business?

addressing some key issues that are pertinent to your success in business as an entrepreneur.

If you missed out on the first article, you can read it here;

BUSINESS MASTERY: how should entrepreneurs be spending their time?

Marketing is a core business function; to a large extent the success of your business is dependent on it. But from personal observations, not many entrepreneurs go about their marketing as they ought to. If at all they do, they don’t approach it holistically and so end up leaving so many stones unturned.

They tend to focus more on the selling part of marketing and overlook the other vital parts that naturally make selling unnecessary. The truth is this, if you approach marketing holistically, you will find out that you don’t need to ‘sell’; your products/services will naturally sell themselves.

There is an unusual way to marketing –the holistic way.

To attain the significant level of success you desire in your business, marketing must be seen as one whole concept involving several key activities that must be carried out by everyone in your business beginning with you the entrepreneur. In other words, when it comes to marketing, no one is to be exempted!

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