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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After all is said and done, profit is essential to a business’ survival as air is essential to life. But how does one make profits? Or put another way, where the heck does profit come from?

Proffering an answer to these questions is the essence of this unusual article. This article has been overdue, I’m glad I finally wrote it, thanks to Sonia Simone’s article about Profitable Idealism that sparked up the inspiration. I know a lot of you have been wondering why I often emphasize that profit is not the number one thing to focus on in business, well the truth will be unveiled in this article once and for all why this has been so.

Question: What Is The Origin Of Profits?

I have always believed that there’s more to profits than just chasing money. Dr. Stephen R. Covey helped clarify my thoughts when he came up with a perfect analogy in his classic book, ‘The 7 Habits of highly effective people’.  He talked about the production and production capacity [P/PC] balance using the analogy of a goose and the golden eggs. I am building up on his analogy by relating the underlying principle to business.

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By Tito Philips, Jnr.

How does credibility drive profitability?

I know you want to make profits. I also know that you want lots of it. I have come to tell you that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, except for one minor often neglected fact, which is, “what is the origin of profits?”

In my little experience in the world of business, going to 5 years now, I have discovered one truth and have often made it the guiding principle behind most of my business actions and decisions. That truth is this; “building credibility comes before profitability”. In the lay man terms, here’s what I mean; “seeing is believing”.

I cannot stress this fact enough, because it is at the core of everything we do as entrepreneurs. People don’t pay for or buy words, or promises, or mind blowing ads, they pay for and buy results. There’s no way you are going to get money from people, until they can see, feel and know that you can deliver on your words, promises and mind blowing ads.

It is not easy to part with money, because it is not easy to make it in the first place. This is why as entrepreneurs and business owners, our first task is to instill that sense of competence, credibility, capability or trust in the mind of our target market or prospects long before we ever ask for a sale. Listen, “seeing is believing”, take it or leave it.

People need proves that they are not throwing their hard earned money away as a result of doing business with you. They want you to show them why it is you and no other person or business that should deserve their hard earned currency. This is the test of every business; the fight for the customer or prospects’ money.

This article has been unusually written to help you win that fight, not luckily, but strategically. How? Because as always, I’m going to unusually break down this principle to its most simplified form such that the knowledge and insight therein will be naturally clear to you and practical enough to put to use immediately. And to top it up, at the end I will be sharing two practical case studies to help you see this principle at work.

Now, let us begin!

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