All entrepreneurs create businesses.

What makes unusual entrepreneurs thick?

But all entrepreneurs are not created equal.

So what makes the difference?

A set of unique attributes that clearly draws the line between ordinary entrepreneurs and their extra-ordinary counterparts. Don’t be alarmed by this, in the business world, there exists two kinds of entrepreneurs; those who do business as usual and those who don’t. Obviously, they will end up creating only two kinds of businesses.

For those who do business as usual, I refer to them as average or ordinary entrepreneurs and for those who do business NOT as usual; I refer to them as unusual or extra-ordinary entrepreneurs. The average entrepreneurs don’t really deserve much explanation, their title says it all – they are just average. Meaning, at most, they are only capable of creating “good” businesses, but rarely ever create “great” businesses like the unusual entrepreneurs do. To know the difference between a good business and a great business, download the free ebook: the entrepreneur’s journey.

An unusual breed of entrepreneurs

Ever wondered what separates great entrepreneurs from mediocre ones? Ever wondered what makes entrepreneurs like Richard Branson of Virgin, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sam Walton of Wal-Mart, Tony Tsei of Zappos and the legendary Steve Jobs of Apple extra-ordinary?

I have.

It has been my central focus for the past 6 years researching and studying the lives and businesses of these unusual kinds. It’s been my goal to uncover those set of qualities that distinguishes them amongst others. As a matter of fact, I created this site [naijapreneur] to chronicle and share freely with the world my findings on how these seemingly ordinary men and women create and build truly extra-ordinary businesses from scratch.

In this unusual article, I want to share as always some of my most recent findings about what it takes to become an unusual entrepreneur.

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You’ve probably heard about the golden rule of life; “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

What's the golden rule of business?

Well, here’s the thing, the golden rule of business is no different; “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

It never ceases to amaze me every time I see many entrepreneurs going about their business as if it were separate or different from life. Not only is this mindset towards business wrong, it is a losing strategy.

You see, there’s no way you are going to succeed in business if you keep ignoring the fact that business is not different from life, but rather an extension of life. I cannot over emphasize this enough.

Many businesses fail because they ignore this universal truth. What they have failed to realize is that the same principles that govern life are the same principles that govern business. The fact is, you cannot separate life from business or business from life. To succeed therefore, your task as an entreprneur is to create a balance between the two.

This unusual article is about helping you achieve this balance. Read on …

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What does it take to successfully run a business?

Business, whether online [virtual] or offline [brick and mortar], small or big is governed by the same principles and calls for the same set of basic functions – production, marketing, finance, staffing and so on. Any difference that exists at all lies only in tactics.

Marketing is still about finding, keeping and growing profitable clients, whether your business is online or offline, big or small. The same goes for value creation [production], whether it is a product or service business you run, the reason for offering those products/services is the same -generating income by solving people’s problems. Also, online or offline, big or small, every business needs workers [staffing] and the same principles and functions of leading them apply.

You see, in both business and in life, principles and functions rarely change, what changes is tactics. ‘The why’ [principle] and ‘the what’ [functions] are fundamentally the same, what differs is ‘the how‘ [tactics]. So, that you run an online or small business, is no excuse for not structuring  and running your business on fundamental principles and functions that has been the bedrock of every successful business.

Having this consciousness is what makes successful business owners exceptional. They understand from the outset that being self-employed is limiting and from their small beginnings, they begin to lay the foundation for building a company that has the potential to grow and someday operate without them.

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By Tito Philips, Jnr.

Are you a lazy entrepreneur?

Are you a lazy entrepreneur?

I’m absolutely sure you wouldn’t answer YES to that question yet majority of we entrepreneurs exemplify various forms of laziness in our entrepreneurial journey more times than we would like to come to terms with. So much emotional sentiments have been attached to the word ‘entrepreneurship’ or ‘entrepreneur’ top on the list is the passionate feeling of being your own BOSS. This and many more has subtly turned we entrepreneurs into some sort of “hero” in our own fantasy world of risk taking adventures. The idea of being lazy will totally seem like an insult to our entrepreneurial personality; for crying out loud, we dare what others don’t, right?

The truth is we entrepreneurs are more susceptible to laziness in more ways than the average person in the world. The very fact that we are on a mission to create change through whatever business we’ve chosen to venture into calls for more discipline and hard work many of us are having a hard time coping with. Consider the following quote I came up with while trying to examine this subject of laziness in my life as an entrepreneur;

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How can I unlock my purpose as an entrepreneur?

By Tito Philips, Jnr.

How can you tell what your purpose is?

This is a sequel to a previous post, i strongly suggest you read that first for complete understanding.

1. Find out what kind of person you ARE:

as far as I know, there are only two kinds of people in the world; those who like doing things ‘with people’ and those who like working ‘with things’. If you are the kind who likes working ‘with people’, then you are a ‘people person’; and if you are the kind who prefer working ‘on things’, then you are a ‘process person’. What do I mean?

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What on earth are you here for?

By Tito Philips, Jnr.

What on earth are you here for?

Never before has the question of purpose - “why are we here?” - become so pertinent to the human race at a time like this. It is in the lowly and toughest of times that many look within (internally) for strength and direction when all else without (externally), seem to be falling apart and ask these questions;

“Where Is my place in all of these uncertainty?”
“What role am I created to play in this global scene?”
“What contribution am I expected to make at my current place of work, volunteer group, community, church, family, circle of friends, or school?”

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