Breaking entrepreneurship myths
Douglas Imaralu, a media and development professional and lead strategist, clairVOYANCE Intelligence, shares his thoughts on the mysteries surrounding entrepreneurship and how young and aspiring entrepreneurs should approach starting a business.
Failing fast and cheap is not a strategy, but a result of lazy thinking. “There is nothing noble about failure and no reason we need to embrace it,” reads a quote from a popular entrepreneurial website. But ‘fail fast’ is just one of several myths of the Holy Grail called entrepreneurship success.
Daily, young entrepreneurs have been bamboozled with divergent wisdom from leading entrepreneurs: fail fast, success scale fail, and other catchy innuendoes which negate our gut-feeling. We virtually swing with latest foreign ideas and business models in the quest to clone the success story of some Silicon Valley start-up. Well, I’ve got news for you: this is Naija!
Such entrepreneurial wisdom mostly works in theory in this market. In Nigeria, personalities differ, markets are peculiar, and as for customers: khaki no be leather, talk more the makeup of government policies, support systems, infrastructure and what not.
Not to bore you with all the technicalities, this post highlights five entrepreneurial myths, states what the reality is and the implications it might have. Put simply, this post is an entrepreneurial myth breaker! Read, learn and enjoy.
Myth: If you are going to fail, fail fast.
Reality: Creating something new requires learning quickly, not failure.
Implications: Focus on how you can learn quickly to increase the chances for success.
Myth: You need to have a new and creative idea
Reality: Old wine in a new bottle can do just well. (Review the Netflix/ iROKOTV model)
Implications: You can focus on how you can replicate some working models. Also keep an eye on how to make sure they adapt to your market.
Myth: Once my idea works, money and fame will flow overnight
Reality: You’d need a lot of patience. Great ideas sometimes take time to yield.
Implications: Your business needs more patience than your thirst for profit. Work and wait for fruition.
Myth: Education/expertise is all I need to make things work.
Reality: Education/expertise helps, but you have to be street smart – know your market!
Implications: Knowing your market might not come with all the expertise you have gathered.
Myth: Money and resources = business success
Reality: Money and resources are good for your idea, but you’d need much more than that.
Implications: With all the money and resources your idea might fly, but without the proper strategy, it will come crashing.
For more inspiring stories and resources, join the largest entrepreneurship community in Nigeria onwww.mentor.mara.com or download the Mara Mentor app on Android and iOS stores.