Think. Create. Become: Moving From Ideas To Reality.
I should! I think! I can! It can be done! Can’t it? How? That’s how it usually starts, with thoughts of oughts and assertions (I think?). Okay, it may not exactly be so but every human endeavor is preceded by an idea. Every thing we do is a decision to carry out some preconceived action e.g. something as easy as eating is a decision, you can chose to fast or eat, and you can as well choose to eat Eba or a burger. Everything is rooted in an idea of some kind.
I do not think that the notion that ideas rule the world is over rated, if in doubt think of this: Bill Gates had an idea that as personal computers become a part of every home and office, it will be necessary to develop an easy to use operating system for these personal computers, the result is that the computer you are using is most likely Windows powered and on the other hand Bill Gates is a multibillionaire.
However ideas come in different forms: the outstanding and the outlandishly unrealistic. This however does not mean that the seemingly silliest of ideas may not be profitable: somehow they usually are e.g. the airplane was considered a silly and unworthy investment in the 19th century, man would never fly, but now planes are just a part of everyday living. As an entrepreneur you must consider your ideas in terms of the bottom-line: profit.
Toyota couldn’t have been wrong when they said “Good thinking, Good product.” if you are going to be a good entrepreneur you are going to have to think, but not just think for the sake of thinking, but for the forward movement of your business venture.
I believe to have a successful business venture you must THINK, CREATE, and BECOME. My disposition will be discussed in a series where each concept is discussed.
THINK
I believe that the mind is totally inept at things beyond its exposure, or things it has refused to learn e.g. I do not understand my language (bini), yet my parents have interacted with it for the 21 years of my life. How come? I was never taught and I have never bothered to learn it. Yet I speak Yoruba to a certain degree. My point: even if we have a chance to understand certain things we can also refuse to learn. Do you expect that you will be able to run a business of your own if you have no understanding of business management or because all you know is that you have a business idea? I don’t think so. Every person walking on the street is probably loaded with ideas and possibly with better ones than yours, but when you realize that ideas are nothing short of potentials that demand support to become realties, you will know that your ideas alone can not make you successful.
As said by Jesus Christ “For which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it. Luke 14:28”. My point is to be able to think through an idea you need amongst all things the requisite intellectual capital i.e. knowledge and much more needed to understand the concepts that will keep that venture alive e.g. if you want to run a salon, you must know what it takes to run the particular kind of salon you want. Is it going to be a classy salon (with a specific experience synonymous with your brand) or is it just going to be a regular street corner salon. A knowledge and understanding of what your intending business entails is necessary to safeguard your business from imminent death before you even make the other steps to start out with your venture: thinking is the first and most important continuous step in business.
Knowledge and understanding make for wise choices; they must be a major part of the mix that fuels your entrepreneurial drive. Not having the right information may damage your whole effort, thinking is most times based on what you know and even when you venture into new terrain you will eventually research into the profitability of such venture. You can only conceive on the principles that you know.
For example if I had N100, and I wanted to go into pure water hawking (everybody help me say God forbid: but there is dignity in labour and hawkers have helped many an empty stomach) I must know that a bag of pure water in its warm state cost N60 and a cold bag costs N80, and that there are 20 sachets in each bag and each sachet cost N5. Having this information keeps me from:
Being cheated.
Buying 20 sachets instead of a bag, remember that both are one bag of pure water but they cost different prices.
Since it is easier to sell cold water in the traffic (which removes the price of rent), I will buy a cold bag of pure water and target danfo’s and cars without air conditioning, expectedly I will sell more sachets faster than I would have sold had I bought a N60 bag. Then I will continue replenishing my stock till the day runs out. At the end of the day if I sell 10-15 bags, I would have had a profit of N200-300 with less effort and time than it would have taken to sell 3-4 warm pure water bags with a profit of 120-160. If I continue doing with this rate of sales I would have generated between N6000-9000 profit monthly as against N3600-4800 in selling warm pure water. Who knows I might just think of adding PET bottled drinks like Coke, Fanta, La Casera.
As I earlier stated every idea to become a reality needs support, when thinking through your ideas you must base your thoughts on this three things
Time
Efficiency
Money
These concepts are so inter-related that I think that there exists only a thin line that differentiates them as the failure in one of them may affect the overall success of your venture.
Time: the saying that time is money is hardly a lie, since the time spent in a failing venture could actually have been used in doing something more profitable. While you are still going through the process of planning your business you must ask time based questions as:
Is this product relevant in as at present or in the near future?
How soon can it be delivered?
Is it worth the time?
How soon would I get the return on my investment?
Efficiency: This basically implies producing and delivering the goods as at when due without incurring additional costs. Your thoughts should include:
How soon can this product be produced?
Is there a faster and safer way of producing it than I know?
What rate of production would increase capacity and profits as well as reduce production costs?
How does my present efficiency affect or limit my profit?
Money: Who wants to be a millionaire? Everyone!!! But we all have to mind our money. The fastest means of increasing your capacity is to be more liquid (have more cash at your disposal). As an entrepreneur you must focus on how all your efforts will stream into giving you more cash than you invested in the first place. So when you should think:
How much do I need to start this business (initial capital)?
What is the best means of financing?
What do I expect as my return on investment (ROI)?
What would my overhead cost be like?
When do I get my ROI?
How much and how soon do I need to produce to make profit?
As you can see from the above stated Time, Efficiency and Money (capital and profits) are all related, if I don’t produce(efficiency) on time I’ll incur more costs(money) which might mean losses(money). Money is often the parameter of measuring business success.
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” Proverbs 16:25. Your idea might seem like the right one but it might not just be what you think it is, I plead with you to get the right information before you take any step towards your entrepreneurial venture, because when it seems that your business is not thriving you might end up taking steps that are only headed the wrong way, good information ensures that you have a well mapped out route and you can make calculated risks along the line. Friend, there are many beautiful ways to fail. I pray you never find one of them.