Mrs. Pedro, a banker, moved to become one of the textile traders at the popular Lagos Island market. Having left the banking sector five years ago with about N5 million, her interactions and relationship with the traders while she was serving them (as their banker) had convinced her about the path to follow if she chooses to call it quit from the services of her employers. And when the day came, she had no worries because her exit plan had been well taken care of. She had made friends with the textile traders, enjoyed their company, and in return they all loved her. When she raised the idea of removing her suits and becoming one of them as a textile trader, they all welcomed her with open arms and with very warm embrace.
Mrs. Pedro attached herself to one of the leading textile traders in the market as a protégé.
After spending a chunk of the N5 million to secure a shop, the rest of the fund she used as a working capital. Her mentor-friend promised to give her smooth penetration into the market by ensuring she receives supplies from the same source and at landing costs as hers. However few months down the line, Mrs Pedro couldn’t really understand what was happening. Things were not taking shape as expected. She could hardly make sales despite her own sales prices were set as advised by her mentor. While she was still struggling to make sales, her competitors would have recorded repeat-stockings of their shops with latest designs; and whenever there was any unexpected huge demands for materials that could be found in her shop, she would have been called and alerted by her mentor of the sudden surge in demands and what price she must insist when the buyers showed up in her shop. It was during one of these one-off huge demands that she discovered the hard facts from one of the customers: Mrs Pedro had been pricing herself out of the market with a notch-higher prices! And it was too late. The shop rent was due and the working capital had drained. Today, Mrs Pedro had been played out of the market and she is now trying to reach her former colleagues with direct self-service from home. She narrated her story with pain because she discovered she had lost her N5 million in a business circumstance she didn’t really understand. She relied on deceptive counsels from those she believed could be of great support to her.
Greatness in business requires taking right steps about your set goals – and you have to be bold about it. In other words, if you want to be great in life, you have got to be taking steps about your goal and be bold about such steps. In the bold steps is a period of learning and acquisition of the right skills. Please pay a particular attention on the word ‘right’. What you need to do a business successfully is not just skills, but right skills. Before deciding to pursue a line of business, you have to first find out whether you are the right kind of person to start such a business. If you don’t have the right skills and characteristics the line of business requires and you are not willing and ready to learn them, you can’t swim above waters in the business. You may be drowned very fast. To do a business successfully and sustainably, you must possess some unique skills that fit the business. For instance, firmness in decision making is very key to business success; and a man or woman that vacillates may not be good as an entrepreneur, but more than this general knowledge, you need to understand the nitty-gritty of the particular trade you are going into if you are to be happy doing it. If you don’t like customs, don’t do border crossing.
Without right skills, you can’t fit in
There are two skills set you must possess. These are the Hard Skills (technical, management, knowledge or experience about business and communication skills) and the Soft Skills (interpersonal relationship, personal carriage, ambience, etc.). You must understand that there is a big difference between leading and managing. Many people who are exemplary managers some time turn out to be woeful business leaders. Why? This is because such people are configured to manage the business of other people and not to initiate any as the numero uno. Likewise we have excellent business leaders who have turned out to be poor managers. So you need to understand who you are, whether you are suited to start a business or you should be contented with working in other people’s businesses. Otherwise, you must have reliable hands around the business whose business judgements must be sound to rely on and they are ready to give the right support for your business to take root, grow and begin to bear fruits. Even where this is possible, you cannot circumvent your own skills acquisition needs. You must first receive the right training and learn properly. We shall be looking at this deeply in the next piece.
. Ola Emmanuel is a business planning and cooperative consultant. He works with a team of international consultants to conceptualise and plan agribusiness and housing projects. As a certified trainer authorised to use the International Labour Organisation’s enterprise development modules, he trains entrepreneurs and organises workshops and seminars for potential and practising entrepreneurs as well as business managers and cooperatives. He also speaks and facilitates at leadership and management workshops on invitation. His book, Business Planning Made Easy: Step by Step Guide On How To Turn Your Idea To Profitable Business’ is the latest of the books authored by him. Tel: +234(0)9068602954 (call and sms), +234(0)8023257707 (WhatsApp only).
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
