Lessons To Be Learned by Everyone Involved in Startups

1. Don’t make excuses for your situation:
   I grew up in one of the most popular settlements in Nigeria. Until I was ten years old, any online activity was considered a scam. Bloggers were arrested by the police. Even if someone was carrying only a laptop, he would be surrounded by suspicion.

The government had started a war against internet scammers. So if someone was carrying a laptop, they would have to carry proof of official ownership. We had to show strong evidence to prove that online business is legal.

The environment was not conducive when I started e-commerce. Like other industrialists, I wanted to live a normal life by crossing the 6-digit revenue. But it seemed like a distant dream because many things were not right.

We didn’t always have electricity like in the US so running an ecommerce site was a burden for us. I used to jump from one place to another just to charge my laptop. Sometimes I would write articles for the paper and for that I would type in a distant cafe.

Everything was difficult. There was no static electricity. Network companies used to charge a lot of money for internet bandwidth. Only a few people could afford it. But I couldn’t, which was ruining my business.

I had only two options. Either close the business or pay for my lunch at the cafe. I chose the second option. Which means it’s about to be the most delusional time of the year, as well.

It was never easy for me but I knew that I could determine my business success even if I could not determine my condition. Many of my friends stopped the startup because the situation was unfavorable.

But I stuck to my freelance and ecommerce startup and later managed to achieve 6 points of revenue.

2. Attachment to business alone is not enough:
   It is important to start a job and work hard for it. But in order to survive in an unfavorable day, something deeper than lag is needed. Which is also the vision. Vision helps you to stay in business.

When things aren’t going as planned, the view around you paves the way for you to move forward. The picture of problems like unstable electricity and weak network capacity helped me to move forward. As I grew up, my place was plagued by malaria and gang warfare.

Some were suffering from malaria and some were sleeping in the hospital with gunshot wounds. The pictures I saw were like this. Starting my own business was stressful. When I started the business, it was not growing at the speed I wanted. One of the reasons was the reliable payment process.

Until eight years ago, we didn’t have access to PayPal, and it was very difficult to pay for Internet data, domain names or website hosting. I had seen this scene too. These scenes kept my courage.

I thought that if I could keep my startup afloat, one day I could change a lot of things that I don’t have access to right now. No matter what, keep looking for a way to motivate yourself. Dark days come in business. The vision that can be seen in the dark is the weapon that can sustain an entrepreneur.

3. Ask questions:
   If you feel unsafe living in any area, constantly analyze the environment and look for small clues. Anyone who quickly recognizes adversity in the environment can always be safe. So fear teaches us to be careful and safe.

I put my ‘caution to panic’ into business. Because of this, the habit of always asking questions settled in me. The more my business metrics grew, the more positive I became.

I could change my strategy just by asking a lot of questions. I began to know which part was working and which part should be abandoned. Asking questions was like testing something for me.

The rest is history. I have been growing the business of two of my startups for a long time, including Menly Silver. It sells jewelry online.

Similarly, there is another web development agency. If I had not meditated on the above-mentioned teachings, I would not be established today as the CEO of hundreds of employees and many companies.

My advice to new entrepreneurs is that your situation should not stop you. No matter how difficult it may be, stick to it and you will succeed.

Article from KC Agu’s Enterpreneur