I have met many aspiring entrepreneurs and they all keep talking about the need to get capital so that their businesses can take off fully. While it is true that they need capital, I think they need common sense much more than they need capital.
Examples abound, and very practical ones, regarding how you only need to use your head for the capital you need to come. If you can think, just as I have always advocated, you will get some of the money that you need to get started.
You will find out eventually that what you really need for the business to keep going is not money. You will need very creative ideas for the business to start and your creative ideas must extend to how you intend to raise money for the business.
There is young man in Lagos who says he is a tailor. He goes around talking to several people, taking their measurement and collecting money to sew their cloths for them. When the cloths are ready he would deliver to them. I eventually found out that this young man does not know how to sew cloth. He can’t even cut or press the sewing machine.
This young man was only smart enough to learn how to take the measurements and send the cloths to the people who will sew but he makes his money.
Someone very close to me also does something similar to that young man who sews. He is into house finishing and that includes tiles, ceilings and a few other things. When there is a job to be done, he negotiates the contract and seals the deal. When it is time for execution, he brings the people who will do the job. So technically, he is not the one who does the job but still makes something out of the job.
I have given these examples bearing in mind the fact that there are so many unemployed people who are looking for big capital to start business. They think the alternative to unemployment is a huge capital.
Those who have chosen entrepreneurship over a salary paying job also have to think deep. There are several businesses that you can start with the money of the client. All that you need to have in place is your expertise and as you get the first few jobs, you begin to invest into the business.
Sometimes I have asked people how much a professional public speaker or master of ceremony needs in order to start business. You and I will see that all he needs is his ability to talk and a good first impression to land the first deal. Once that is out of the way, the rest can get easier.
If your English is very good, how much do you need to start helping people with proof reading services, writing speeches for them, writing business proposals and plans in order to get paid? You don’t need a dime.
Now this comes back to identifying what skills you have that you can use effortlessly. For me, it is writing and speaking. Yours may be different. You have a duty to identify it and start working with it. Once you identify your skills and start operating in that area, a few things become easier for you.
You will note that I haven’t said you don’t need money. All I have said is that you need common sense much more than you need money. That also means there are many things you can do before the money starts coming or to make the money start coming.
If all you ever do is to wake up and wait for money to start that business, you will wait for a very long time for something that may never come. I guess you have heard the saying about ‘fortune favouring the bold.’ I am going to say that fortune favours the people who apply common sense and admit that there is something they can still do without money.
Fola Daniel Adelesi (Fola Daniel Speaks) 