It’s
no longer new that the economic recession especially that of Nigeria has
flooded the news headlines like tsunami, yet, best startup for entrepreneurs.
Businesses are going bankrupt, and more businesses are still sinking in the sea-storm of the current economic predicament.
That’s
not even the most striking of all news. Do you know what I find most shocking?
Federal government debating on selling its assets.
Of
course cases are alarming, but hey! Do not panic. This is also a good time for
entrepreneurship revolution. The current economic recession in the country
presents to you the best time to start your own business.
Oh,
I have got you asking me, how?
Well it might surprise you to
know that even as many businesses are shutting down as a result of the
recession, more businesses are emerging to the top. Now what is the secret
behind these variations and what is the difference between the two set of entrepreneurs
(those declining and those with massive
success under recession)? The answer is simply that the later entrepreneur
knows more than the former.
If
your competitor is surviving the recession while you are not, it simply means
he knows something you do not know or he just know much more than you do,
“knowledge is power” so they said.
They (those surviving) know how
to run and how to ultimately survive the disaster while you might just know the
opposite or less of what they know. In such a situation, it is only natural
that you will lag behind, not lead ahead.
Read this quote from Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, the king of Dubai:
“With each
new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing that he must outrun the fastest
lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must
outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It is no different for the human race.
Weather you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you simply have to run
faster than others to survive.”
Can you see that?
It’s all about survival and in
survival your ability to run faster than others is really paramount. So why is
this period of bad economy the right time to start your own business? Because
at times like this, people learn to survive and keep to it than when everything
is flourishing!
You have to run faster…..
Let me tell you something
interesting about Microsoft.
This titanic company was founded
by the software sultan and world richest man Bill Gates and his friend Paul
Allen. That was in 1975, a period of severe hardship in the American economy,
yes it was a time of economic recession in USA just like it is today in
Nigeria.
During this period, hundreds of
businesses closed-up their doors, many businesses and organizations went
bankrupt, the rate of unemployment in USA peaked to 9.2%. Can you imagine that?
But it was amidst such storms
that Microsoft was founded, by drop outs for that matter, and it survived the
hardship, challenges etc. it didn’t die. Today Microsoft is the largest
software company in the whole world.
How did they survive the
recession?
It was their ability to run
faster and smarter. Nothing else!
In fact they had every logical
reason to lag behind or fail but they pierced ahead. At that time, the cost of
things increased drastically, in USA 1975 a gallon of fuel cost 53 cents while
an average cost of bread was 69cents but that didn’t stop Microsoft from
achieving success in selling their first product. They declared a yearly sell
of $16,005, yet that was just the beginning….
It’s all about survival which can
only be attained by running faster and smarter than others.
It wasn’t just Microsoft that was
given birth to, at that time of serious economic recession. There were other
companies that emerged at the time too. For example Apple was founded in April
1, 1976, a year after Microsoft started.
Even though the then US recession
was said to have ended in 1975, but the wounds and staggers caused by the
recession which started in 1973 where yet to be fully recovered, the effect of
that predicament was still evident and affecting full-grown businesses. Yet,
Apple sailed their ship to the journey of becoming a global icon through the
storms of an economy weakened by the just faded recession. Today Apple is the
most valuable company in the world.
I believe the stories above have
inspired you, but now you may be asking me “if I start my own business today, why will I
succeed like they did?” of course this is Nigeria not USA, but I am
going to tell you why you can succeed if you start your business today in this
wilderness of recession, and why now is the best time.
The truth has always been and
will always be that history repeats itself.
The good book says “there is
nothing new under the sun” wow! That’s more than a fact, it’s a
TRUTH. With every economic recession in any country, the result has always been
an emergence of creative entrepreneurs ultimately founding world-class
businesses or companies. In times like this, the quest for survival often
results in more people becoming more creative, consequently shutting down less
creative businesses and presenting an opportunity for new and smarter
entrepreneurs.
Today Nigeria is suffering from
economic recession, but the question is: are you complaining or thinking out of
the box for a way to survive?
If you are creatively thinking
for a way to run fast and smart to ensure survival, then you will find it!
Starting your business today will set you on the path in which the like of
Microsoft followed. They did it and made it because their thinking was
different from the crowd, you too can do the same if you can look at Nigeria in
a different fashion. Ask yourself questions and the answers will occur to you
naturally.
The second reason as to why you
can succeed if you start your business in this recession is that your business
will be stronger. It has been tested and proven that most businesses in the
world that started out during the times of great recessions are the ones that
stand the test of time, and they survive any kind of competition without
getting out of business. Why will yours be different?
Those businesses constitute the
highest percentage of the list of the world most successful businesses because
they could run fast. Why where they able to run fast? Because they knew the
terror they were trying to escape from.
Let me ask you a question, can
you compare the speed of a man been chased by a lion to a man chased by dog?
Of course not…
The man been chased by a lion is
obviously faster because of the knowledge of that which is after him. He is not
like the other man who can decide to stop running and face the dog with a stick
or even bare hands… but can a man face a lion? Hahahaha….
That’s the way it happens, in times
like this people are forced out of their comfort zones including you. Dozens
upon dozens of employees, lose their jobs daily. More people become business
minded after realizing it as the ultimate way out. Even in Rivers State, NLNG,
though one of the highest paid due to its solely dependence on gas, not crude
oil as a whole, was debated to be sold…terrible.
So starting your business now
will ensure that your business survive future hardships and competitions
because you don’t expect a northern Nigerian born amidst crisis in Maiduguri
and other similar states to be scared at the sounds of gunshots in Lagos, why?
He was born in crisis, and has been surviving it so it doesn’t shake him.
Like I have said, in times like
this people are forced out of their comfort zones. And usually they decide to
start their own businesses out of no other option, thereby diving in with less
or no experience. But the beauty with recession is that it opens you up to
valuable experiences and countless lessons in a short period of time.
If you start your business now,
most of the lessons you will learn at times like this are priceless yet very
essential for your survival and success in business. They are things that might
take you 3, 5 or even 10 years to learn if it were in your comfort zones
(flourishing economy).
Do not be found among those
complaining about the bad economy, but rather invest your time to learn from
good business ideas, think creatively or out of the box, start your business
today.
Though
the economic recession has put our country in a state of emergency, it is
equally presenting to you a golden opportunity for an excellent future. Take a
decision now, make the right choice now and you will be on your way to becoming
the next big empire in business.
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