For every new subscriber to naijapreneur, in the welcome email, I often encourage them to write me back telling me about what they are currently struggling with in their business.

In other words, what’s their business status quo?

Exactly 3 days after their subscription, they get another email from me asking them to tell me what they are currently struggling with in their business.

Why do I insist on you sharing your business struggles with me?

Because I know you wouldn’t be reading naijapreneur if there wasn’t something bothering you as an entrepreneur. That you are here is enough proof that you have a problem that you don’t want or lack a result that you desperately want.

I am glad many new subscribers respond to this and share their current business struggles with me. And to everyone who did, I replied with specific action steps to take to change the situation of things in their business.

For some, I ask a couple of questions to better understand their unique situation and for others; I point out likely causes for their struggle and then offer action steps to improve their situation.

This is fair enough, right?

But what happens next after replying these emails has never ceased to amaze me, —SILENCE!

You would think that for someone to have taken the time to reply and point out what their business struggles are, they would eagerly implement the recommended ideas. But alas, nothing happens!

At first, I used to be bothered about this, but as more and more people repeated this same thing, it finally dawned on me what the real issue was; CHANGE IS PERSONAL. Your Status in life is solely determined by YOU!

As much as I want to see changes in the businesses and lives of my readers, I cannot make these changes happen for them without their involvement.

As much as I want to change the status quo of their business, I cannot do so until they make up their minds and take the necessary steps to change their status quo.

Define Your Status

Generally, people when in problem, fall into one of 3 categories in life;

• Status quo – they know they have a problem, but want the problem to solve itself. Avoid them; you can’t convince them of anything.

• Away from – they want to fix something, cure something, alleviate something, get unstuck. They want a way out from their problem. Support them.

• Toward – they want to achieve something, gain something, be something. They see problems as the test they must pass to get ahead to the next level. Encourage them.

Which One Are You?

A man was walking through a forest when he saw a crippled fox. “I wonder how it manages to feed itself?” He thought.

At that moment, a tiger approached, carrying its prey in its mouth. The tiger ate its fill and left what remained for the fox.

“If God helps the fox, he will help me too,” The man thought. He went back home, shut himself up in his house and waited for the Heavens to bring him food.

Nothing happened.

He lay there in bed waiting for God to provide for him as he had for the fox, but instead just starved.

Just when he was becoming almost too weak to go out and work, an angel appeared.

“Why did you decide to imitate the crippled fox?” asked the angel. “God has given you gifts and abilities to contribute to the world and make a living, while looking after the crippled foxes of the world.  Get out of bed, pick up your tools and follow the way of the tiger!”

I only have one question for you today.  Which one are you, the fox or the tiger?

Who is the Status Quo Entrepreneur?

You will know them when you see one;

• They are the tigers who envy the fox

• They are the dreamers that never do

• They are the pessimists who never see good in anything or anyone

• They are the know-it-all with no results to show

• They are the fast talkers who never really listen

• They are the full-of-idea types with no clarity of what to do next

• They are the planners who are too scared to execute

• They are the busy-bodies who rarely pay attention

• They are the cheerleaders who never participate in the game

• They are the copycats who never take the time to find their own thing

The most obvious sign of the status quo entrepreneur is stagnancy –they are stuck in their inaction. Neither going forward no going backward, they are just exactly how and where you last saw them.

There’s very little you can do to help the status quo entrepreneur. The way out lies in his/her hand.

Action is the Antidote for the Status Quo Entrepreneur

You can complain all you want about the state of your life and the state of your business. You can consume all the motivational self affirmation materials in the world while hoping that positive thinking will bail you out.

Nothing much will change, until you decide to take action.

The most effective way to change anything is to do something about it.

All the information you have been gathering from reading naijapreneur BUT never putting them to use will not change your business.

You can keep on following the path of the status quo entrepreneur or you can become like the tiger and forge your own pathway in life and in business.

The choice, as always is YOURS!

Clearly understanding the characteristics of an entrepreneur is an important step in your entrepreneurial journey.

Why?

Because being an entrepreneur requires a lot from an individual that is often not properly thought through before many venture into entrepreneurship.

But until recently, entrepreneurs were not widely studied. There was a general lack of knowledge and information about what made them tick. One of the leading studies on the anatomy of an entrepreneur was published by the Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship in 2009.

Although no one has found the perfect entrepreneurial profile, there are many characteristics that show up repeatedly. Based on these re-occurring traits, entrepreneurs can now take a readiness assessment survey to determine their entrepreneurial profile.

In this unusual article, we will be going through some of the wildly accepted characteristics of an entrepreneur that make up the anatomy of entrepreneurship.

Enjoy!

 

The Top 10 Characteristics of An Entrepreneur

The following are the top 10 characteristics of an entrepreneur that are widely accepted. If you’ve ever doubted yourself as an entrepreneur, the following can be re-assuring or dispelling.

• Good Health

A series of interviews were conducted with distinguished entrepreneurs. They were asked what characteristics they felt were essential to success as an entrepreneur. Good health was a characteristic mentioned by every entrepreneur interviewed. Entrepreneurs are physically resilient and in good health. They can work for extended periods of time, and while they are in the process of building their business, they refuse to get sick.

In small businesses, where there is no depth of management, the leader must be there. You may not be able to afford a support staff to cover all business functions, and therefore you will need to work long hours. We all know people who use part of their sick leave each year when they are not sick. Entrepreneurs are not found in this group. At the end of the eight-hour day, when everyone else leaves for home, the entrepreneur will often continue to work into the evening, developing new business ideas.

• Self-Control

Entrepreneurs do not function well in structured organizations and do not like someone having authority over them. Most believe they can do the job better than anyone else and will strive for maximum responsibility and accountability. They enjoy creating business strategies and thrive on the process of achieving their goals. Once they achieve a goal, they quickly replace it with a greater goal. They strive to exert whatever influence they can over future events.

In large, structured organizations, entrepreneurs are easy to recognize by the statements they make: “If they wanted that job done right, they should have given it to me.” One of the dominant characteristics of an entrepreneur is their belief that they are smarter than their peers and superiors. They have a compelling need to do their own thing in their own way. They need the freedom to choose and to act according to their own perception of what actions will result in success.

• Self-Confidence

Entrepreneurs are self-confident when they are in control of what they’re doing and working alone. They tackle problems immediately with confidence and are persistent in their pursuit of their objectives. Most are at their best in the face of adversity, since they thrive on their own self-confidence.

• Sense of Urgency

Entrepreneurs have a never-ending sense of urgency to develop their ideas. Inactivity makes them impatient, tense, and uneasy. They thrive on activity and are not likely to be found sitting on a bank fishing unless the fish are biting. When they are in the entrepreneurial mode, they are more likely to be found getting things done instead of fishing.

Entrepreneurs prefer individual sports, such as golf, skiing, or tennis, over team sports. They prefer games in which their own brawn and brain directly influence the outcome and pace of the game. They have drive and high energy levels, they are achievement-oriented, and they are tireless in the pursuit of their goals.

• Comprehensive Awareness

Successful entrepreneurs can comprehend complex situations that may include planning, making strategic decisions, and working on multiple business ideas simultaneously. They are farsighted and aware of important details, and they will continuously review all possibilities to achieve their business objectives. At the same time, they devote their energy to completing the tasks immediately before them.

Accounting reports illustrate this characteristic. Accountants spend hours balancing the accounts and closing them out. For them, the achievement is to have balanced books. The entrepreneur only wants to know the magnitude of the numbers and their significance for the operation of the business.

• Realism

Entrepreneurs accept things as they are and deal with them accordingly. They may or may not be idealistic, but they are seldom unrealistic. They will change their direction when they see that change will improve their prospects for achieving their goals. They want to know the status of a given situation at all times.

News interests them if it is timely, and factual, and provides them with information they need. They will verify any information they receive before they use it in making a decision. Entrepreneurs say what they mean and assume that everyone else does too. They tend to be too trusting and may not be sufficiently suspicious in their business dealings with other people.

• Conceptual Ability

Entrepreneurs possess the ability to identify relationships quickly in the midst of complex situations. They identify problems and begin working on their solution faster than other people. They are not troubled by ambiguity and uncertainty because they are used to solving problems. Entrepreneurs are natural leaders and are usually the first to identify a problem to be overcome. If it is pointed out to them that their solution to a problem will not work for some valid reason, they will quickly identify an alternative problem-solving approach.

• Status Requirements

Entrepreneurs find satisfaction in symbols of success that are external to themselves. They like the business they have built to be praised, but they are often embarrassed by praise directed at them personally. Their egos do not prevent them from seeking facts, data, and guidance. When they need help, they will not hesitate to admit it especially in areas that are outside of their expertise. During tough business periods, entrepreneurs will concentrate their resources and energies on essential business operations. They want to be where the action is and will not stay in the office for extended periods of time.

Symbols of achievement such as position have little relevance to them. Successful entrepreneurs find their satisfaction of status needs in the performance of their business, not in the appearance they present to their peers and to the public. They will postpone acquiring status items like a luxury car until they are certain that their business is stable.

• Interpersonal Relationships

Entrepreneurs are more concerned with people’s accomplishments than with their feelings. They generally avoid becoming personally involved and will not hesitate to sever relationships that could hinder the progress of their business. During the business-building period, when resources are scarce, they seldom devote time to dealing with satisfying people’s feelings beyond what is essential to achieving their goals.

 

Their lack of sensitivity to people’s feelings can cause turmoil and turnover in their organization. Entrepreneurs are impatient and drive themselves and everyone around them. They don’t have the tolerance or empathy necessary for team building unless it’s their team, and they will delegate very few key decisions.

As the business grows and assumes an organizational structure, entrepreneurs go through a classic management crisis. For many of them, their need for control makes it difficult for them to delegate authority in the way that a structured organization demands. Their strong direct approach induces them to seek information directly from its source, bypassing the structured chains of authority and responsibility.

Their moderate interpersonal skills, which were adequate during the start-up phases, will cause them problems as they try to adjust to the structured or corporate organization. Entrepreneurs with good interpersonal skills will be able to adjust and survive as their organization grows and becomes more structured. The rest won’t make it.

• Emotional Stability

Entrepreneurs have a considerable amount of self-control and can handle business pressures. They are comfortable in stress situations and are challenged rather than discouraged by setbacks or failures. Entrepreneurs are uncomfortable when things are going well. They’ll frequently find some new activity on which to vent their pent-up energy.

They are not content to leave well enough alone. Entrepreneurs tend to handle people problems with action plans without empathy. Their moderate interpersonal skills are often inadequate to provide for stable relationships. However, the divorce rate among entrepreneurs is about average.

Conclusion

The 10 qualities outlined above are not all that is needed to become and succeed as an entrepreneur. They only serve as the most distinguishing characteristics of an entrepreneur based on research. To see how well you are stacked up or not with these qualities, take this readiness assessment survey.

*Source: businesstown.com

Very few things have as much impact on your capacity to succeed as an entrepreneur like learning does.

From my over 10 years personal study of entrepreneurship and successful entrepreneurs, plus my 8 years personal experience as an entrepreneur, besides passion and purpose, one other common denominator I found across board is this; voracious learning.

Self Education For Entrepreneurs

All education is self-education.  Period.  It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a college classroom or a coffee shop.  We don’t learn anything we don’t want to learn.

Those people who take the time and initiative to pursue knowledge on their own are the only ones who earn a real education in this world.

Take a look at any widely acclaimed scholar, entrepreneur or historical figure you can think of.  Formal education or not, you’ll find that he or she is a product of continuous self-education.

– Marc Chernoff from 12 Dozen Places To Educate Yourself Online For Free

But there’s a world of difference between learning and voracious learning, the difference lies in the word; voracious. Some people learn when they can or when work or life demands that they do, this is not something they do perpetually.

This is not the same for entrepreneurs. The word voracious means to be very hungry for something. To be especially eager for an activity. It can be likened to anything, food, sex, alcohol, etc. But for entrepreneurs, it is learning.

Entrepreneurs are very hungry for knowledge. It’s not something they can live without, they constantly seek out more and more things to learn not just about business, but also about life. They are uncontrollably searching for more knowledge. For entrepreneurs, voracious learning is self education.

The reason for this is not so obvious to the ordinary person, but successful entrepreneurs have realized that the power to continuously do more in life and in business lies in knowledge. The more they learn, the more they increase their capacity to do more.

Successful entrepreneurs keep on learning because they want to keep on challenging themselves to do more. And without the right knowledge, their capacity to do more is limited.

 

DO MORE: 21 Free Powerful eBooks for Entrepreneurs,

Plus Something Extra!

To equip you to learn more of the right stuffs to increase your capacity to do more as an entrepreneur, here is an awesome list of 21 powerful eBooks for entrepreneurs thoughtfully compiled by the unusual founders of Clothed In Scarlet.

It features such powerful eBooks as;

• 50 Ways to Plan for Small Business Success
• Creating an Entrepreneurial Mindset
• The Happy Startup
• 3 Steps to Brand Clarity
• 279 Days to Overnight Success
• The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Personal Finance
• Creative Entrepreneurship

Head over there now and grab all of them, click here!

 

Now here’s the something extra…

I was one of the few Young African Leaders nominated for interview out of the 50 thousand applications for President Obama’s YALI Washington Fellow Initiative.

After the interviews, unfortunately, I didn’t make the final list of 500 Young African Leaders going for the Washington Fellow program this year from mid June to August, 2014.

But I got something extremely valuable from the interview I did on March 17, 2014 at the US Consulate General, Lagos. One of the panel interviewers shared with me an incredible list of Open Educational Resources (OER) that offers tremendous learning opportunities for any one who is a voracious learner.

Here are some examples of OER Hubs

The following sites offer great, centralized locations to search and grab a variety of open educational resources;

• OER Commons

• Connexxions

• Saylor

• Hewlett Foundation

• UNESCO OER

• UK OER

• More resources on OER

Also included in the paper she shared with me were some additional list of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a subset of OER. MOOC is a model for delivering free learning content online to any person who wants to take a course, with no limit on attendance!

 

Here are some examples of MOOCs;

• edX

• Udacity

• Coursera

• Academic Earth

• Open Education Database

 

Your Turn

There’s this particular course on Entrepreneurship from MIT that I am taking and also retaking, I want you to NOT only check it out, but I want you to register and take the course, like thrice. Awesome stuff!

Also, as always, this unusual article is not an end in itself, there’s room for improvement and that where you come in. Kindly share with us in the comment section below your own additional list of awesome eBooks on entrepreneurship and the links to where we can get them.

I am counting on you!

Regardless of the goal, task or activity being undertaken, there are a lot of factors that can be attributed to your success or failure in any given endeavour.

But of all these factors, none is as powerful as personal conviction –a deep seated belief that you can accomplish the goal, task or activity and an unwavering commitment to do whatever it takes to get it done.

This personal conviction comes from clarity of purpose –an unbiased understanding of WHY [the reason] you are undertaking such task or activity and the fundamental ROLE [the importance] of such task or activity in your immediate environment.

Without this clarity of purpose, the will to pursue the goal despite countless hurdles will be missing.

The same principle applies to entrepreneurship; the entrepreneurs who succeed in business have a strong personal conviction that they would base on their clarity of purpose. In other words, they know why they are doing what they are doing and the importance of what they are doing [entrepreneurship] and this knowledge gives them the self-belief and commitment to follow-through to the end.

Success for them is not an option, but an obligation.

They have to succeed because the goal, task or activity they have undertaken is too important for them to fail. So they commit to the journey, they persist against all odds and eventually accomplish what they set out to do.

Why?

Because of;

• Clarity of purpose: they are clear about what they are doing and they know the importance of what they are doing

• Personal conviction: they belief in what they are doing and are committed to what they are doing

 

 

What Is The Purpose Of Entrepreneurship? 21 Answers from 21 Unusual Entrepreneurs

One of the reasons I started the unusual entrepreneur interviews was to help you identify the common traits of successful entrepreneurs and apply them to your entrepreneurial journey.

So far, I have interviewed over 30 unusual entrepreneurs across the world and the more I interview them, the more I recognize the same fundamental principles underlying their entrepreneurial journey. As a matter of fact, this is major reason I started the interviews in the first place, to identify patterns. That’s why the questions are always the same regardless of the entrepreneur in on the hot seat.

Today, I bring to you 21 unusual entrepreneurs who have answered one particular question with the same underlying principle to help you discover your own clarity of purpose!

 

Their answers to this ONE question, will give you a glimpse into what makes them successful in business. I want you to carefully observe their choice of words; it will reveal their mindset and philosophy about entrepreneurship.

Here’s the unusual question;

 

What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?

1.       Yaro Starak of entrepreneurs-journey.com

Entrepreneurs are the ideas people. They come up with better ways to do things or new ways to do things that other people then benefit from.

2.       Jon Morrow of boostblogtraffic.com

Entrepreneurs make the world better. Really, if you think about it, that’s what we do. We find some way the world can be improved, and then we improve it in exchange for payment. In my opinion, it’s the most valuable role you can have in the world, because we are the drivers of progress.

3.       Olufemi Omotayo Of Entrepre-NEWS.com

Entrepreneurs are problem solvers. The world is full of problems, but identifying problems is the lowest level of intelligence. You should be able to go beyond that to actually proffering solution. Entrepreneurs see needs around them and meet those needs profitably. In the end, everybody benefits.

4.       Mark Schaefer of BusinessesGrow.com

I have been in business for 30 years and I am an unabashed lover of business. Business is usually depicted as the greedy villains but you know what? This is what really makes the world work.  Economic recovery will be led by entrepreneurs, not a stimulus package.  Many environmental issues are being solved by companies large and small — not regulations. Given the opportunity, entrepreneurs will solve our energy issues, not misguided government investments.  Even most charities are funded by companies and corporate foundations. So I think a focus on education and entrepreneurship is vital to not just the creation of wealth, but to our entire way of life.

5.       Matt Cheuvront of LifeWithoutPants.com

Entrepreneurs create opportunities. For their clients. For customers. For people looking for work. For ideas. Entrepreneurship is beautiful because it opens the doors to possibilities we never knew existed. Imagine if Mark Zuckerberg hadn’t have sat down in front of a computer. Imagine if Steve Jobs never started tooling around with Steve Wozniak. Where would we be? Ideas + Hustle create opportunity. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about.

 

6.       Kristin and Shannon of {r}evolution Apparel

The role of the entrepreneur is to facilitate trades that improve the living conditions of all participants. An entrepreneur sources materials, and provides a living for her suppliers. She then creates a product that adds value; one that improves happiness or advances society, without harming people or planet in the process. Ultimately, entrepreneurs are the people who move society — in which direction depends on the entrepreneur.

7.       Bamidele Onibalusi Of YoungPrePro.com

They change the world! Entrepreneurs create businesses, they inspire people to business, and they teach people to confidently do whatever they want; you don’t need to spend your life in an office working under somebody else when you can easily achieve a lot more through your own business.

8.     Joe Falter Of HelloFood.com

Entrepreneurship is ultimately about innovation. Entrepreneurs are here to do things better, invent new ways of doing them, or to change the status quo altogether. Take Hellofood for example – we have recognized that ordering food in Lagos and other parts of Africa can be stressful, difficult and confusing, and we have set out to simplify the process and make it more efficient. If, through that process, we have made people’s lives easier, and perhaps inspired other people to do the same in other areas, then I’m happy with the role we’re playing.

 9.       Dane Maxwell Of TheFoundation.io

I don’t really care about business per say. It’s the process of entrepreneurship that excites me. We believe that entrepreneurship is the greatest vehicle for personal growth, self discovery, and impact on the world.

10.   Babatunde Oladele Of TRWconsult.com

I think entrepreneurship is all about offering value. Some people may launch out just to make money. But if the product or service you are offering is not perceived as valuable by the market, then your chances of making money will be limited. It is to the extent that the market attributes value to your output that your bottom line would increase.

Entrepreneurship is meeting identified needs and plugging holes for people for various reasons. It may be so that they can live longer and better, that they can make more money or not lose money, that they might look good or be perceived in a positive light in the society, and so on.

11.    Jeet Banerjee Of StatFuse.com

I think entrepreneurs help the world grow because everything around us was built by an entrepreneur at some point of time.

 

12.    Larry Kelto Of TheSolopreneurLife.com

I think entrepreneurs drive innovation, and innovation is the source of most human achievement. Entrepreneurs take risks and try new things that other people don’t. So I think entrepreneurs are responsible for the improvement and advancement of societies.

13.    Adedeji Opoola Of EazyAppetite.com

Entrepreneurs shape the world we live in; they change the world every day. In fact, I believe entrepreneurship will solve a large part of the economic problems we are currently facing in this part of the world. Entrepreneurs shape economies and this is why many countries strive to create the best working environment for them.

14.    AJ Leon Of PursuitOfEverything.com

I think entrepreneurship is just a canvas. It is simply a medium by which to express your creativity, domain knowledge and art. It is more art than science, certainly. Entrepreneurs are the great explorers of our age. They are the Drake’s, the Magellan’s, the individuals with the courage to press into the thick darkness of uncertainty and into the horizon and show us a better or newer way.

15.   Bassey Daniel Of SMEclub.net

I believe the future of every economy lies in the hands of entrepreneurs. Every major economy in the world today owes its ascendancy and prosperity to the spirit of enterprise. Governments can only do so much. While capitalism has its disadvantages, I believe it is still better than other options because it promotes creativity, innovation and rapid development by encouraging and rewarding free enterprise.

 16.   Bernadette Jiwa Of TheStoryOfTelling.com

Entrepreneurs are the dreamers that ‘do’. The world needs people who are not only capable of imagining the future, but those who know how to go out and create it. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about –going out and creating the future and anyone who is doing this, is a true entrepreneur.

17.   Johan Nel Of UmuntuMedia.com

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of any society. We are the disruptors, we create future wealth, future commerce, we build new industries; we innovate and move the world forward.

18.   Mike Morris Of Triplefy.com

Entrepreneurship is the freedom to follow your own path. I believe entrepreneurs play a very important role in the world today. We are innovators; we are making people’s lives better and easier by providing easy solutions to hard problems. Entrepreneurs are able to create jobs and better the world around us.

19.   Mark McGuinness Of LateralAction.com

The thing I really like about entrepreneurs is their drive to make things better. I don’t necessarily agree with every entrepreneur’s definition of ‘better’, but I do admire the basic drive to get out there and make something happen, to start ripples. I don’t think (m)any of us get to change the world single-handed, but I’m a firm believer in the ‘ripple effect’ – doing something that has a positive effect on the people and systems around you, and trusting that will be a worthwhile contribution to the bigger world out there.

20.   Jenny Blake of LifeAfterCollege.org

Creating value through innovation by solving a problem or pain that people are experiencing, or making an existing process more efficient or effective.

21.   Mark Harai Of MarkHarai.com

They imagine and then build our future – and in the process create jobs and mentor future entrepreneurs to do the same. They make the world go around.

Why do you do what you do?

I hope these 21 answers will help you find your own clarity of purpose. You can share it with us in the comment section below.

Recently I got this remark from one of my startup consulting clients during one of our strategy sessions.

She said; “why didn’t I come to you 3 years ago when I just was starting out?”

I replied; “Because you didn’t think it was SO necessary”.

And that’s the sincere answer. She was just starting out for the first time. She was full of her dreams and had great ideas about how her business was going to turn out.

 As a matter of fact, she had sufficient technical skills than most of her competitions, after all, she was trained abroad, so why on earth would she need my help? Why should she seek the counsel of a business development consultant? Why should she pay for a strategy session?

But after the second and the third business failure, she knew something was FUNDAMENTALLY wrong. She knew she was missing something. And at that instance, she realized she was a fool for trying it out alone the second and third time.

The reason she finally came to me now for help was because she had started and failed in business 2 times in the last 3 years!

When It’s OK To be FOOLISH

 A fool is an unintelligent person.

Somebody considered to lack good sense or judgment.

Actions taken without a good sense or judgment is the cause of mistakes. Mistakes are the results of unintelligent actions. Mistakes were invented to make us better humans. They reveal our foolishness [unintelligence] as humans, making us realize that we don’t and will never know it all. Mistakes and failures humble us.

Now that’s absolutely understandable if you are making those mistakes for the first time. The first time you fail or make a mistake is the only time you should be proud to be a fool –unintelligent.

But when you begin to repeat your mistakes, just as many of us do [including me] then it’s no longer cool to be a fool. Especially, being an entrepreneur. Because every mistake or failure costs you money [which can be replaced] and time [which can never be replaced].

My client didn’t fail once, she failed 3 times and only then did she realize she was a fool for repeating the same mistake twice after the first time.

Why Successful Entrepreneurs Are Better FOOLS

 The difference between successful entrepreneurs and the unsuccessful ones is this; the successful ones know the areas where they are complete Fools and the areas where they are complete geniuses.

They never try to deceive themselves into thinking otherwise. They know and accept their limitations as humans and never try to fight against it. The unsuccessful ones, act otherwise.

Here’s the bitter truth, we are all fools –unintelligent in so many aspects of life. Successful entrepreneurs know this and consistently work on minimizing their foolishness by surrounding themselves with smart people.

They know that business is a team sport and the team with the best players win. To win you will need to enlist the help of A-players, people who would cover for your foolishness [unintelligence] in other areas.

And there are two ways of doing this;

• Hire employees for OPERATIONAL help [internal]

• Hire professionals for STRATEGIC help [External]

Trying to argue against this fact is the source of entrepreneurial foolishness. It’s ineffective, costly and deadly. You will end up blaming yourself!

How To Become A Better FOOL In Business

Fighting against your foolishness as an entrepreneur is in fact more foolishness. Rather, embrace it and learn how to become a better fool in business as most successful entrepreneurs do. Below are the 3 guaranteed ways successful entrepreneurs overcome their entrepreneurial foolishness.

1. Identify and Accept Your Weaknesses

 You don’t know it all. You will never know it all. Wisdom lies in identifying what you know and accepting what you don’t know.

Don’t feel bad about this, it’s not your fault. It’s just nature. To ensure balance and peaceful co-existence on earth, we’ve all been unequally gifted. No two persons completely have the same gifts or talents. So get used to it!

2. Identify and Maximize Your Strengths

 You are unequally gifted than most people in certain areas, it’s your unfair advantage, MAXIMIZE it.

Stop magnifying your foolishness trying to play in other people’s areas of strength when you have none. Focus on your strengths and get help with your weaknesses. Period.

 3. Seek External Professional Help for Strategic Issues

In business, there two kinds of issues that will always confront you as an entrepreneur;

      1. Operational Issues: these are day to day challenges of running your business. They are issues that affect your today. They are very short term issues. Operational issues is all about doing business.

Examples include;

• Selling/closing a sale
• Production/manufacturing
• Freelancing/doing contracts
• Managing your Inventory/stock
• Accepting any and every deal
• Doing paper/administrative work
• Making contacts/networking
• Pursuing more business/revenue
• Servicing existing clients/customers
• Faulty production machine,
• Delayed supply of materials,
• Poor customer feedback/experience,
• Loss of a client.
• And other day-to-day operational requirements

      2. Strategic Issues: these are issues that affect the core areas of your business. Their impact is long term, they affect not  only today but also tomorrow. Strategic issues is all about building a business.

Examples include;

• Strategic Planning
• Strategic Execution
• Strategic Marketing
• Creating a powerful brand
• Creating a corporate culture/business DNA
• Creating operational processes/structures
• Developing competitive strategy
• Developing innovative products/services
• Developing your people/employees
• Delivering excellent customer services
• Forming strategic partnerships/alliance
• Improving existing products/services
• Launching new products/services
• Research and development

The existence of operational and strategic issues in business is what I refer to as the paradox of business. And your ability to strike a balance between these two kinds of challenges entrepreneurs face in business is the cure to entrepreneurial foolishness and the key to entrepreneurial success.

Over to you

In what areas of your business are you a complete fool? [Lacking sufficient skill and experience.] And how has this impacted your business and entrepreneurial journey?

Kindly share your entrepreneurial foolishness experience in the comment section below.

Entrepreneurs are humans and all humans are prone to mistakes. As the saying goes; “no one is above mistake.” But you must also know that all mistakes are not created equal, some mistakes are more deadly than others, especially in business.

So in this unusual article, I want to open your eyes to some of the deadly mistakes entrepreneurs make in their journey to change the world and profit from purpose.

As always, I encourage you to join in this conversation by sharing from your own unique experience in the comment section at the end of this article. The 7 deadly mistakes I will be talking about in this article are from my own personal experience as an entrepreneur and from close observations of other entrepreneurs I have coached and consulted for.

In essence, these are not the only deadly mistakes entrepreneurs make in business, so I’m counting on you to help make this discussion rich through your comments. See you in the comments section!

 

 

7 Deadly Entrepreneurial Mistakes 

The following are common deadly mistakes entrepreneurs often make in business. If you have been in business for a while, you should be able to relate with some of them.

1. Unskillful Execution

Top on the list of deadly mistakes entrepreneurs make is unskillful execution. I have seen this particular mistake happen again and again in the lives of several entrepreneurs in the course of my business consulting career.

It’s amazing watching so many people jump into the world of business without any business or entrepreneurial skill. For many entrepreneurs who go into business, the only useful skill they possess is the core technical skill needed to perform a service or create a product.

Armed with this skill alone, many people plunge into business and plan to use their commonsense to compensate for the other necessary business skills they lack. For regular naijapreneur readers, you know how much I emphasize this point; commonsense plus technical skills is not enough to successfully run a business. Business is not commonsense!

Business like every other human endeavor you want to successfully embark on requires certain fundamental skills. The key point here is ‘successfully embark on’ because, as strange as it might sound, many people just embark on the entrepreneur’s journey without any plan to succeed. So when they eventually fail, it doesn’t come as a surprise because they never really prepared to for the journey in the first place.

Again, to succeed in business, you need a whole lot more than your commonsense. Unskillful execution is the outcome of running your business with commonsense. So what are the fundamental skills required for business? Check out this à unusual article.

2. Profit over  People

Businesses must make a profit to continue to exist. But businesses don’t exist for profit’s sake, they exist for people’s sake. The most profitable businesses on earth, put people first!

Putting profit first is the second deadly mistake entrepreneurs make in business. As much as a business needs profit to remain operational, this reason alone doesn’t justify why you should put it first over people. Entrepreneurs who make this deadly mistake often end up with no business sooner than they ever anticipated. Why? Because profit doesn’t make itself, people make profit!

Without people, you can’t be in business. Like I clearly pointed out in the golden rule of business; “there’s no way you are going to succeed in business if you ignore this fundamental fact that business is not separate from life, but an extension of life.”

And what is life without people?

You see, if in your quest to make profit, your decisions and actions as an entrepreneur begins to negatively impact people, whether they are your customers, workers, partners, suppliers or even members of the society where you operate, your business will eventually suffer and die a natural death. Why?

Because people make products, people buy products. People need services, people also perform these services. And neither products nor services have the capacity to sell themselves, people do. So inevitably, you cannot separate people from business just as you cannot separate business from life. They are all inextricably linked.

In the end, to thrive, businesses must serve people because profitability is a function of how well a business has done serving people!

 

3. Marketing without  Strategy

Entrepreneurs know well enough that no matter how great a product/service is, hardly will it sell itself. So consciously, they embark on the most obvious form of marketing known in business – advertisement.

And therein lies the third deadly mistake entrepreneurs make, marketing without strategy.

You see, the problem is not advertisement or even the absence of it. The problem is the absence of a strategy. It is complete foolhardy to carry out any form of marketing without a strategy.

Strategy is the unseen chord that binds the whole of your marketing initiatives. Strategy is the hidden core that gives meaning to all your advertisement. Strategy is the engine that powers your marketing. Strategy is the compass that directs your marketing. Without strategy, all your marketing is NOISE!

So what is strategy?

Strategy is your masterplan for winning in the market. It is the core idea or set of ideas that you’ve carefully formulated after thoughtfully analyzing the market [that is, the needs of your target customers] and all existing competitions. Strategy is your own unique pathway into the market; it’s how you want to win the heart of your target customers.

Until you define this strategy, your marketing will not be effective. All you will end up doing is confusing your target customers as a result of the noise you make with your advertisement. But with a carefully thought out strategy, your marketing will be laser focused and your target customers will have no choice but to pay attention.

Why?

Because strategy is how you plan to carve a niche for yourself in the market. It is how you intend to stand out from others and if properly done, your target customers immediately notices it. And only then, can you boldly say that your marketing is effective –when your target customers can tell the difference between you and all the others. This is what it means to create a brand; a differentiated product/service in the mind of the customer.

4. Managing before  Leading

Entrepreneurs sooner or later begin to realize as they go deeper into the entrepreneurial journey that they cannot go it alone. At this juncture, they begin to bring other people on board. This is a good move, but the sad truth is that many entrepreneurs handle this transition poorly.

Rather than leading this new intakes, they begin to manage them. And therein lies the fourth deadly mistakes entrepreneurs make in business.

People are not things, therefore they cannot and should not be managed. People can only be led. The moment you begin to manage people as if they were things, you are committing a human right offense and the resulting effect is disguised compliance.

People rather than openly show their resistance, lock it all in and outwardly fake compliance to your demands. And once this happens, they stop using their initiatives and start acting like zombies. The reason is simple, when you stop treating people like the real human beings they are and start managing them like things, over time they get used to it and start behaving like things. They become robots who only do as they are told and function according to how they have been programmed.

If your desire is to have an active team of people who use their God given talents, gifts, initiatives and personalities to grow your business, then lead rather than manage them. You can only manage processes, but you must lead people if you desire to get the best from them.

When you lead people, they become inspired and become believers of your ideas and supporters of your dream. Without being told or controlled, they will think up better ways to help you fulfill your dreams faster. This is the power of leadership. People need leaders, not managers. Leaders inspire people to work through their vision, action and character. Managers force people to work through their position, instruction and power.

As an entrepreneur, you don’t need compliant workers, you need inspired workers. Compliant workers work out of fear, the fear of losing their jobs. But inspired workers work out of pride, the pride of doing what they love. In the end, it is the inspired workers that create innovative products/services. But for the compliant workers. They only maintain the status quo.

As always, the choice is yours, to lead or to manage.

Want to learn more about leadership? Check out this à unusual articles.

5. Activity over  Productivity

As an entrepreneur, you don’t have fixed working hours like an average worker does. All day and most nights you are working, there’s no limit to how long entrepreneurs work.

But yet, entrepreneurs fall into the activity trap by measuring the extent of work done by the numbers of hours they put in. This is a deadly mistake!

As an entrepreneur, you should be driven by results and not efforts or activities. This is the definition of productivity. As I have written about previously, results are your greatest competitive edge as an entrepreneur. Nobody cares how many hours you’ve put into production, what customers cares about and pays you money for is the impact your products/services have in their lives.

What changes occurred as a result of using your product/service? What benefits did they derive from using your product/service? What was the experience like buying from you? Was it different from the competitions? These and many more are the metrics that account for results in business. If you’ve spent a decade creating a product/service and it doesn’t accomplish any of the following, then you’ve failed as an entrepreneur.

So stop bragging with the number of hours you spend at work and let your results speak for themselves. In other words, focus on the quality of work done [productivity] and not on the quantity of work done [activity]. Why? Because your target customers don’t pay for work in progress, they buy finished products!

Want to learn how to boost your entrepreneurial productivity? Check out this à unusual article.

6. Learning without  Doing

The first deadly mistake entrepreneurs make is unskillful execution, as discussed above it’s running your business with commonsense with fundamental business skills. The flip side of this deadly mistake is acquiring so much skills and knowledge and putting none to use, this is equally another deadly mistake entrepreneurs make in business.

There’s a saying that completely captures the essence of this deadly mistake, “he who does not know is an illiterate and he who knows but does not do what he knows, is a fool.” Put another way, “he who knows but doesn’t do, is no different from he who knows not.”

The greatest business advice ever is this; take action. There’s no amount of learning that will be able to substitute doing. The problem with learning alone and not doing is precisely what I talked about in the 5^th deadly mistakes entrepreneurs make, activity over productivity. That is, learning engages you [activity] but until you apply what you’ve learnt, you will never get any result [productivity].

As a matter of fact, the proof of knowledge [learning] is solving problems [doing]. So acquire as much business knowledge and skills as you need, but don’t just decorate your office walls with the certificate of attendance, apply this knowledge and skills to your business. Why? Because learning [activity] doesn’t increase your bottom-line, it’s doing [results] that does!

 

 

7. Doing business instead  of building a business

There’s a very tiny line that demarcates a business from a company and very few entrepreneurs realize this fact. No wonder so many of them fall into this deadly mistake and only a handful eventually succeed in business.

So what’s the difference?

BUSINESS – what you do

A business is something you do for people in exchange for money. A business is not so different from a job, the only difference is the beneficiary of the outcome.

On a job, the beneficiary of what you do for people in exchange for money is the business owner. But in a business, the beneficiary of what you do for people in exchange for money is you.

Now herein lies the trap and the root of this deadly entrepreneurial mistake. Many entrepreneurs leave their jobs where they got paid to do something for people in exchange for money and start a business where they do the same job but for themselves.

So as a result of this singular shift in beneficiaries –from your boss to yourself, so many entrepreneurs are unable to tell the difference between doing business and building a business. But this is the reality, if your business revolves around what you alone can do, then you are not a business owner but a businessman or businesswoman –someone who does business [provides goods/services in exchange for money].

COMPANY – what you build

To become a business owner, you don’t just ‘do’ business, you ‘build’ it. The business you build is what is known as a company.

A company is an organization that is into a specific line of business or businesses. Meaning that the provision of goods/services in exchange for money is not entirely dependent on the entrepreneur. It means that there is an existing structure or system or process in place through which the business is able to provide goods/services to customers in exchange for money independent of you the entrepreneur.

This is why a company is always referred to as a legal entity – a separate entity from the entrepreneur. This is why companies can be bought and sold and not necessarily businesses. It is the deliberate process of untangling yourself from carrying out the overall core function of your business and setting up systems built on simple processes that other people can easily operate.

Why is this deliberate entanglement so crucial to your success as an entrepreneur? Because your role as the founder of your business is not operational but strategic. When you allow yourself to be too overwhelmed by the operations of your business, you will always be trapped in the present and as long as this happens, your business will never grow or go to the next level. To grow, you need to be focused on not only the present, but also on the future. And this job of delivering the future, is your sole responsibility as an entrepreneur!

Over to you

I have done my best to highlight the 7 deadly mistakes entrepreneurs make in business drawing from both my personal and consulting experience. The discussion is not over yet, so like I said in the beginning of this unusual article, I am counting on you, YES, you to make it richer by sharing your own comment about other deadly entrepreneurial mistakes I didn’t mention.

Thank you and see you in the comments!