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10+ Reasons Why You Will Never Build a Successful Business

With the high rate of unemployment and the rapidly increase perception of being your own boss, many people are rushing into starting a business. Now everybody dream and aspire to be the next Bill Gates, Larry Page, Steve Jobs and Aliko Dangote but the realistic truth is that many will fail and sadly enough; you might among these potential failures.

This article title above might sound provocative or offensive but if you can keep an open mind, you will come to appreciate my point of view. Sorry if the truth that you will never build a successful business hurts; but i just want to be straight and clear, no sentiments.

“Starting a business is like building a ship and embarking on a voyage, armed with a plan, a map and a team. You will have to sail against storms, unpredictable weather and uncertainty. If your ship sinks, it’s either you quit or you swim back to shore, build a new ship and sail again.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

I believe you have heard several times that entrepreneurship is a process; a journey, not a destination. In an article i wrote on this blog, i explained the step by step phases of the entrepreneurial process; a process through which every entrepreneur must undergo to build a successful business.

Unfortunately, I stressed in that article that not all who begin the entrepreneurial process will see the end and that’s a harsh truth. What this implies is that not every entrepreneur who starts a business will end up with a successful business; many will end up with trash and most will have nothing. Now what makes me so confident of the fact that you will never build a successful business? You will find out below.

“Starting a business is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. In mid air, the entrepreneur begins building a parachute and hopes it opens before hitting the ground.” – Rich Dad

Building a successful business from scratch is definitely not an easy task. Everyday, I come across highly motivated aspiring entrepreneurs who have been stirred by the entrepreneurial spirit and they are rushing out to start their own businesses. These new entrepreneurs possess the needed passion; they have the fire of enthusiasm emitting from their eyes and with this iron clad enthusiasm, they start their own business.

But despite the passion and enthusiasm, these new entrepreneurs usually follow a similar path; a path trodden by so many entrepreneurs. A path that makes true the statistics that 99% of all businesses started usually fail in their first five to ten years. Meeting these entrepreneurs and studying their entrepreneurial pattern made me come up with ten strong reasons why I believe you will never build a successful business.

In the process of reading this article, you are bound to either criticize me or analyze my points and see reasons with me. Either way, you are entitled to your own opinion but I will advice you keep an open mind and reflect on my point of view.

Before I proceed, I want to state clearly that building a successful business is not an impossibility. Rather, it is you the entrepreneur that makes it either a possibility or impossibility. This brings me to a quote from my most respected mentor:

“There are no bad business and investment opportunities; we only have bad entrepreneurs and investors.” – Robert Kiyosaki

So if you are ready to learn something new today, then let’s set the ball rolling. Below are 10 reasons why i believe you will never start and build a successful business.

 10 Reasons Why You Will Never Build a Successful Business

“Most people are waiting for the perfect time to start a business; they are waiting for all stars to line up and all lights to go green. Unfortunately, that perfect time will never come. To be an entrepreneur, you must start with what you have on ground and pick up the rest along the way.” – Robert Kiyosaki

1. You are afraid of failing

“Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.” – Thomas Edison

Whenever I discuss the subject of entrepreneurship and business development with my protégés; I often mention the fear of failure as the utmost reason why most entrepreneurs will never start a business. Immediately I bring up the issue of fear; I am often met with stiff oppositions and statements such as:

  • “Why should I fear failure?
  • “I am not afraid of failing; I am only waiting for the right time.”

While I do not doubt such statements, I want you to know that the fear of failure is a silent reason why many entrepreneurs shy away from undergoing the entrepreneurial process; and invariably avoid building a business. Being afraid or doubtful is not a sin; it is natural to express fear but the wrong comes when your fear overpowers your faith.

“Fear is faith that it won’t work.” – Mary Kay Ash“

If we try and fail, we have temporary disappointments. But if we do not try at all, we have permanent regrets.” – Bern Williams

I have seen individuals with the right opportunity, the right plan, tools and everything they need to get started but they just don’t want to start. Why? The reason they don’t start is because they are afraid of making mistakes and failing. They keep procrastinating because the fear of failure in them is stronger than their faith.

“Show me a failure and I will show you a man, who does today, what he should have done yesterday.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

“Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things.” – Louis Boone

Now how do you know you are afraid of failing? You will know you are afraid of failure if you have attended some seminars, read a lot of books on business and entrepreneurship and you have even taken a bold step to draw a plan of the business you intend starting. Deep down in you, you know you are fully prepared to launch your business, but for some reasons best known to you, you just don’t want to take the leap. And by avoiding taking that leap of faith into the world of business; a world of challenges and uncertainty, you are invariably denying yourself a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“To avoid failure is to limit accomplishment.” – Will Rogers“

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” – George Edward Woodberry

If the situation explained above best describes you, then know that you are being held back by the fear of failure. My advice to you is this; don’t ever start a business if you are afraid of failing, even if it’s the world’s most profitable business idea because you will definitely fail. Statistics reveal that nine out of every ten businesses started fail in their first five years. This simply means the odd that you might fail is high and I bet you, you can never beat this odd with fear in your eyes. So until you change your mindset and develop some winning attitudes, forget about building a business.

“Like success, failure is many things to many people. With positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, and a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order to prepare to try again.” – W. Clement Stone

“I have taken more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life; and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

2.  You want to “Get Rich Quick.”

What is your major motivation for starting a business? Why do you want to build a business? These two questions may sound casual to your ears but their answers make big differences in the life of every entrepreneur. These questions are so important that I had to write an article on my blog simply to stress their importance. I have observed that 90% of entrepreneurs start their own business just to make money and get rich quick.

“I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me thirty years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.” – Aliko Dangote

Your desire to get rich will not take you far enough in business. If building a successful business is your priority, then will you need a stronger fuel to power you towards your desired destination. I can’t tell you what that fuel is because you have to find yours. Everybody’s fuel, passion, motivation or source of inspiration can never be the same. But I advice you, that fuel or source of motivation should never be money; It has to be something higher than money.

“You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not get paid for it.” – Oprah Winfrey

So if you are going to start and build a successful business, you must abandon the get rich quick concept and focus on value creation. If you can solve a problem, create value and fill a need, solution seekers or customers will find you and when they do, the money will follow.

“Build wealth as a by product of your business success. If wealth is your only objective in business, you will probably fail.” – J. Paul Getty

3. You Lack Experience

“Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you are generally better off sticking with what you know and the third is that sometimes, your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” – Donald Trump

Most new entrepreneurs basically lack experience. When it comes to running a business; competence matters a lot and competence is a product of experience. After getting the right education, the next thing is to get some real life experience. Why am I emphasizing the importance of experience? I am emphasizing the importance of experience because building a business is a game of experience.

A business idea will always look exciting and positive on paper but bringing such idea into manifestation is a game of ups and downs. Even if your business collapses and you lose everything, your greatest asset in starting a new business is going to be your experience from the past business failure. It’s priceless.

“Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.” – Dr Wayne Dyer

When trying to raise capital for your business, investors will ask you this question;

  • What experience do you have running a business?

When you intend to raise capital by taking your company public, you will be asked by investors;

  • How much have you raised previously and how many companies have you taken public?

All these illustrations and questions boils down to the word “Experience.” Experience in business is measured by the number of years spent running a business; the business challenges you have met and surmounted, grounds you have gained and achievements you have made. Experience entails making business mistakes and learning quickly from them. It is all about knowing what works and what doesn’t. For instance, I can never compare myself with entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs because they have been in the game for years and have results to prove it.

So if you really want to start and build a successful business, then you must be willing to learn and gain some real life experience. When I say learn, I don’t mean going to a seminar or buying a book; it’s beyond that. What I mean is you have to learn quickly from your real life mistakes. You have to start small; make every mistake possible, gain some experience, increase your business skills and confidence. If you learn from your business mistakes, you won’t repeat them and these mistakes will become priceless lessons and ultimately; you will end up gaining some experience.

“In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.” – J. Paul Getty

4. You are using the wrong marketing tool.

Another reason why you will never build a successful business is because you are using the wrong marketing tool. I have seen entrepreneurs use their limited business capital to buy useless advertising slots from advertising agencies. Big time advert slots from advertising agencies are for big corporations with millions of dollars to spend; not for entrepreneurs with limited budget. Moreover, advertising agencies don’t guarantee results, all they do is use your business capital to win themselves awards for creativity.

Real guerrilla marketing should reflect in the books. Successful marketing campaigns are measured by an increase in sales and brand loyalty.

  • Successful Marketing = Increase In Sales
  • Increase in Sales = Increase In Income
  • Increase in Income = Increase In Profit

If you want to succeed in business, you must know the difference between mass marketing and niche marketing. You must also strive to make sure that your marketing strategy produces result.

5. You give up too easily

A principle of life I have come to observe is this;

In every profitable venture you engage yourself in, the pains will always come before the gains.

That’s why I said earlier that a business idea on paper is different from executing the business idea. A business idea will always look exciting and promising on paper but when you launch it, you will begin to see business challenges and critical problems you never expected.

“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Ray Kroc

This is the reason why I asked earlier in this article about your reason for starting a business. If your “why” for starting a business is not strong enough, you will back down and quit along the way. In the process of starting and building a successful business, perseverance and persistence is very crucial. Every journey has a process; a beginning and an end. If you want to build a great business that will outlive you, then you must be willing to stick to the process.

“In the game of building a success business and attaining financial freedom, the process is more important than the goal and this process surely has an end. If you stick to the process, you will hit the pot of gold.” – Robert Kiyosaki

10 Reasons Why You Will Never Build a Successful Business

6.  You lack focus

“The sun rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Anonymous

I can’t remember who made this statement or where I came across it but I really think it’s the truth. Focus is fundamental to success in business. If you lack focus, then forget about starting and building a business. I have seen new entrepreneurs dream of owning multiple businesses. Now let me ask; how can you own multiple businesses when you have not been able to run one competently.

“The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.” – Andrew Carnegie

I have also seen some entrepreneurs start a business and quit after some years. Before you know it, they have started another business. These set of entrepreneurs are always looking for the new hot business opportunity of the month. The sad fact is that these entrepreneurs will spend their entire life building castles in the air. Instead of jumping from one business to another, why don’t you simply focus and bring out the best in that single company of yours. After all, Bill Gates did not become rich by building multiple businesses; he became rich by building Microsoft. Michael Dell did not build multiple businesses; he focused on Dell Computer Corporation, so why shouldn’t you focus.

“Concentrate your energy, your thoughts and your capital.” – Andrew Carnegie

7.  You have no plan and strategy

“My most important word in business is ‘Strategy’ and the reason is this: The speed at which your business grows is directly proportional to the overall strategy deployed on that business and the team behind the creation of that strategy.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

Sometimes, I am approached by highly motivated aspiring entrepreneurs who are getting ready to start their own business. “I am about quitting my job to start my own business, what advice do you have for me? This is often the question asked by these aspiring entrepreneurs and my reply to them is always this; “Do you have a plan?

“A plan is a bridge to your dreams. Your job is to make the plan or bridge real, so that your dreams will become real. If all you do is stand on the side of the bank and dream of the other side, your dreams will forever be just dreams. First make your plans real and then your dreams will come true.” – Rich Dad

Now I am throwing the same question at you: “do you have a plan? Before ever starting a business, it is advisable you create a business plan, marketing plan and an overall strategy.

“A successful business is created before there is a business.” – Rich Dad

“A poorly designed business will fail even if the business is profitable.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Success in business starts with a strong plan and a well laid out strategy. Your plan and strategy must thoroughly cover three things;

  • How to start the business
  • How to survive
  • How to grow or expand the business

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” – Peter F. Drucker

8.  You have no set goals

“Aim for the moon. If you miss it, you may hit a star.” – W. Clement Stone

This is another reason why you will never start and build a successful business. I hope you know that starting a business without a goal is like embarking on a journey without a destination. Why is a goal important? A goal is important because it is going to be your ultimate source of motivation and a check point for you; a benchmark on which to access your level of progress.

“No matter how carefully you plan your goals, they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.” – W. Clement Stone

Most people are lazy when it comes to goal setting and without goals, you will just be beating about the bush. If you study the life of great entrepreneurs, you will observe they are goal getters.

“I intend to be, the richest man in the world.” – Howard Hughes

9. You want to do build a business alone.

“Individuals don’t win in business, teams do.” – Sam Walton

If you are ever going to build a great business, then you must drop the “do it yourself” mentality. Whenever successful entrepreneurs are being interviewed, I always watch or listen with keen interest. While most individuals talk about doing things themselves, these great entrepreneurs always attribute their achievements and success to their business team; they also emphasize the need to delegate duties to people smarter than you.

“Successful businessmen share the ability to hire people smarter than they are.” – Dillard Munford

If you are self centered or “I” conscious, then you will never go far in the business world. I have heard of self made millionaires but I don’t think there is anything like a self made, stand alone multi billionaire. Just as Andrew Carnegie says:

“You cannot become super rich without first enriching others.” – Andrew Carnegie

One secret to the success of most great entrepreneur is their ability to hire smart people and delegate certain tasks to these smart people. When you think of hiring smart people, think of Bill Gates and his Micro Kids.

“Teams should be able to act with the same unity of purpose and focus as a well motivated individual.” – Bill Gates

10.  You lack the required business skills

“Skills make you rich, not theories.” – Rich Dad

This is another glaring reason why I said you will never build a successful business. Before I go further, let me as you the following questions.

  • Are you a good communicator?
  • Do you love selling?
  • Can you lead people or undertake projects?
  • Can you balance your check book and interpret a financial statement?
  • Are you brave, daring and ambitious?
  • Can you handle or work under pressure?

If your answer to the questions above is no, then I am sorry you will never succeed in business because business is a game of skills and strategy. Before ever starting a business, I will advice you spend some time developing the required entrepreneurial skills. You can do that by attending seminars and reading some books. Not withstanding, developing your entrepreneurial skills is a continuous process; as long as you are in the game of entrepreneurship, you must keep improving your skills.

“The ability to sell is the number one skill in business. If you cannot sell, don’t bother thinking about becoming a business owner.” – Rich Dad

To succeed in business, you will need to develop your communication skills; accounting skills, sales skill, negotiation skills, leadership skills and your personal skills. If you can’t develop all of these, then build a business team that will complement your weakness or you will fail.

“In the course of building a business; leadership skill is not an option. It’s a must.” – Rich Dad

11. You are not willing to pay the price

“Every goal has a process and every process has a price.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Finally, I don’t need to write much on this because it is self explanatory. What is the price you pay to be the best student in school? My answer is long hours of study. What is the price you pay to be the best in sports? My answer is hard preparation and constant practice. What is the price you pay to start and build a successful business from scratch? My answer is “I don’t know.“

In the process of building a business, there is definitely a huge price to pay. What this price is; I don’t know. One unique thing about the business world is that the price for building a successful business never seems to be the same. The price for success paid by Bill Gates is definitely different from the price paid by Ray Kroc or Steve Jobs.

All I can say is this; you will definitely not go far if you are not prepared to pay the price for success in business. Though everyone will not pay the same price, always bear in mind that you must pay a price and “with every price comes a great reward.”

As a final note, the most important fact i want you to always remember is that starting and building a successful business is not an impossibility. Rather, it is you, the entrepreneur that makes it either a possibility or impossibility. If you succeed, it’s your fault. If you fail, it’s still your fault. You are the architect of your own fate.

How to Find Your Passion in Life

How do you find your passion? Can I become a billionaire with my passion? How do I build a business around my passion? Why do I need to find my passion? Can I start a business and achieve success with my passion? How can my passion help me become a millionaire?

These are usually the questions thrown at me whenever I discussing the importance of finding your passion. If any of these questions is running through your mind at the moment; I will suggest you read on as I have provided the answers you need.

 “This is the reason why I stay up twenty hours a day.” – Sean Diddy Combs

Why do you need to find your passion?

I don’t really know the conventional answer to this question but I will express myself in my own way. Success coaches and experts recommend you find and follow your passion in life because following your passion increases your chances of success; whether in business, workplace or personal obligation.

“Work hard; have fun, Make history.” – Jeff Bezos

For me, I believe that sticking to your passion eliminates the boredom and stress associated with making your life a success. Now with respect to starting a business; I will say sticking with your passion will reduce your chances of business failure. I often advise my protégés to start or build a business around their passion because it’s a great way to start; provided the passion satisfies a demand and my reason is this: “it takes passion and determination to successfully go through the entrepreneurial process.”

“It’s not really work; if you are having fun.” – Pierre Omidyar

Following your passion brings out your personal power and awakens yourself to the beauty of the world. It leads you to the heart of spiritual journey as it changes your thoughts, perceptions, and feelings. Finding your passion does not promise an easy life; rather, it promises a rich life open to hopes and possibility.

“Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.” – Warren Buffett

Are there individuals who have found success following their passion? My answer is a resounding yes. Tiger Woods starts playing golf at the age of 3 and turned pro at the age of 20. As at the time of this writing; he is the richest sports person, the first billionaire golfer and the greatest golfer of all time. Serena and Venus Williams also achieved success by sticking with their passion for Tennis.

“You are nuts and you should be proud of it. Stick with what you believe in.” – Trip Hawkins

Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion took their passion for music to the streets and became the greatest in Rap, Pop and blues respectively. Rachael Ray leveraged her passion for cooking and became a success; so also did Debbi Fields. J. K. Rowling leveraged her passion for writing and became a billionaire.

“You have to have passion when you’re finding a recipe for a career. If you love what you are doing, you’ll never work a day in your life.” – Debbi Fields

Warren Buffett, Sir John Templeton, Peter Lynch and George Soros became billionaires with their passion for stock investing while Donald Trump did his with real estate investing. Larry Ellison, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg leveraged their passion for software programming and became the richest drop out billionaires. Oprah Winfrey became the richest black woman in the world with her passion for public speaking; so also did Martha Stewart.

“Passion is what drives me forward. Passion is what makes me go to bed at 2am and wake up at 6am.”  - Aliko Dangote

This list can go on and on but I believe the point is made that your passion can take you to the greatest heights; if only you can find it and harness it. Now how do you find your passion? In this article, I will restrict myself to helping you find your passion. I will explain in detail how to build a business around your passion in subsequent articles but we have to start from somewhere; which is how to find your passion. Below are six easy steps to finding your passion.

                How to Find Your Passion in Life – Six Easy Steps

1.            Speak your truths clearly

To find your passion, you must speak your truths and prepare yourself for new adventures. Finding your passion begins with you answering these questions.

What really matters to you?

  • What truly makes you happy?
  • What drives you crazy?
  • What do you do best?
  • And what makes you feel complete?

Once you begin challenging your mind with these questions, your mind will provide the answers and once you have figured out the answers, you are on your way to finding your passion.

“Whether you’ve found your calling, or if you’re still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life’s work.” – Michael Dell

2.            Be open for support

You must also keep in mind that you are not an isolated being. Sometimes in life, it takes external influence and inspiration to find your passion. Therefore you need the support of family, friends and positive minded social circle that will help you reach your goals.

                “Be careful of the environment you choose for it will shape you. Be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.” – W. Clement Stone

3.            Keep an open mind

You need to keep an open mind to find your passion. When you open up your senses, you tend to experience God’s blessings and you feel more peaceful and serene. This allows you to be more patient and be reminded the cycle of nature. When you experience this, you become more positive and calm.

Keeping an open mind allows you to observe your environment and how it relates to you. One thing you must note is this; you might not be the one to discover your passion. Someone else might and you need an open mind to take note of such. Observe the traits and talent you possess that your friends and family admire a lot.

“You are a product of your environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you towards success? Or are they holding you back? – W. Clement Stone

For instance, Debbi Fields was constantly praised by her family and friends because of her ability to bake delicious cookies; and she was able to respond positively to those compliments by starting a business around that passion. If Debbi Fields hadn’t kept an open mind, I don’t think Mrs. Field’s Cookies will be in existence today.

“You know, all these years, all these years you’ve been eating my cookies. All these years you’ve been telling me how wonderful they are. Well, I’ve decided I’m going to go into the cookie business.” – Debbi Fields

4.            Give yourself a time for pleasure

How do you feel waking up in the morning away from busy schedules and having the freedom to do the things that bring you pleasure? Well, following your passion can put you in such state of mind and lifestyle.

“I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year.” – Warren Buffett

To find your passion, you must allow yourself a time for pleasure. For many people, allowing pleasures induces guilt as they tend to feel it is not productive and hinders you from getting important things accomplished. But this view of pleasure is actually a matter of opinion.

Gentle pleasures are good to your health and are productive. By allowing yourself time for pleasure, you become more focused and passionate in your job. Most importantly, you will have the right aura to decide what’s best for you and what your passion is.

5.            Liberate yourself

A person who finds his or her passion is a truly wise person. Doing a work that reflects your personality and values promises you a lifelong happiness and contentment. It is easier and liberating when we accept who we are and we allow other people to accept us too. The human psyche is a holistic system, to numb one part of our being is to numb the rest and create constant struggle.

“Remain true to yourself and your philosophy.” – Giorgio Armani

To be able to discover and harness your passion, you must accept and appreciate who you are. I have seen people with talents that seem weird to others; I have also seen people with gifts that are psychic in nature but they get rejected by the society.

While in high school, I recall meeting a little girl who could tell you private things about your life just by simply looking your palm. I can’t really tell how she came about such ability but all I can say is that she was regarded as an outcast by her peers; she was called a sorcerer.

I also noticed in high school that most gifted kids are usually lonely; kids with artistic abilities or computer geeks are usually the loneliest. But I have also seen such kids who stuck with their passion not minding the jeering and booing, rise to become successful individuals. So don’t be discouraged when others laugh at your ability; instead, be proud of yourself and vow to positively utilize such abilities to its fullest.

“Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me.” – Mary Kay Ash

6.            Feed yourself with affirmations

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” – Proverbs 18:21

“A man is what he thinks all day long.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Positive affirmations are important to finding your passion in life as it makes you feel secure and optimistic about reaching your goals. A lot of people don’t get to their destinations out of fear of failure. You should not allow yourself to get upset by some downturns in life; instead, pull yourself together and get on track again.

“There is little difference in people but that little difference makes big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” – W. Clement Stone

                “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:45, Matthew 12:34

Some people might influence you into thinking negatively. I know it may not be so easy to shut them out of your life but it’s easier to practice blocking the negative energies that they bring into your life; it keeps your sanity. Never ever allow cynics and naysayers get the best of you. Remember, you are unique and you have a purpose or mission here on earth; so it’s up to you to find this purpose.

“Be careful of your thought, for they may break into words.” – Anonymous

“As a man thinketh in his heart; so he is.” – The Holy Bible

As a final note, I want you to know that finding your passion is an endless song; an ever going process. You don’t just find your passion and sit there; instead, you find your passion and make something worthwhile out of it.

“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” – Madame C. J. Walker

When you do the things that you are passionate about, you allow your life to flourish. You let yourself connect to everything you are – in mind, in heart, and in spirit. When you find and follow your passion, you emerge a stronger person that can face challenges better; because you are reinforced by being able to do the things you love.

By finding your passion and sticking to it; you feel more alive, positive, self-respecting, and determined. You live your life with confidence and high morale and the best of it all is that you feel you are contributing goodness and positivism to the people in your life. So I challenge you to get up, find your passion and make it a reality. I will see you at the top.

Why you need Sales Coaching to Build a Successful Business

Sales coaching is extremely useful in the field of business because it allow sales teams to achieve better performance and optimum results when trying to generate sales. This is considered to be extremely significant in the sales industry as it has been studied that about eighty-seven percent of the skills that a sales person obtained during a training program will be lost within just thirty days of having no systematic and on the job sales coaching. This means that the learning process should be continuous, so as to ensure that the skills of sales professionals are better honed. It has also been proven that a sales training without formal coaching is not an investment but a cost liability.

Sales coaching give sales professionals and entrepreneurs the opportunity to strive for excellence in all their endeavors through purposeful actions and insights. The entire process is composed of three essential elements. The first one is feedback. This element is considered to be extremely significant as you cannot expect to have the opportunity to create positive changes in your sales career if you are unaware of the specific feedbacks about you. The second element is reflection and this is related to what you think about the kind of feedback that you receive and the specific actions that you are willing to undertake after receiving the feedback. The last element is known to be purposeful action. This refers to the activities that you have already undertaken as a result of the received feedback.

In order for sales coaching to work greatly in your favor, you have to make sure that your business organization employs effective sales coaches. You can develop effective sales coaches by allowing your sales managers to be trained comprehensively. Make sure you provide them with tools and frameworks that are proven to be a major help when it comes to successful sales coaching. It is also important for you to make sure that your sales manager are given ongoing training,, so as to ensure that they are able to coach your sales representatives in the best way possible. This will allow your sales team to be effective in selling.

It is also advisable for you to take note of the fact that sales coaching can happen in a variety of ways.  The first one is through joint sales visits. This happens when the coach participates in the client sales meeting established by a sales representative. However, you have to bear in mind that you cannot just participate in the meeting without planning everything. Make sure you establish an effective plan that will help you coach your sales representative effectively during the meeting. It is also advisable for you to decide on the kind of role that you will take during the meeting. You can either be an observer, a role model or a joint call participant. You have to know exactly what role you will be playing before ever entering the meeting so as to avoid confusing your sales representative and client.

Sales coaching can also be performed in other ways including action plan and one on one skill review, business team coaching sessions and role playing sales activities. You have to decide which among these ways are the most effective when it comes to coaching your sales representatives.

Cosmos Maduka Quotes and Guide for Building a Conglomerate (Coscharis)

One of my business goals is to grow into a conglomerate and since I set that goal; I have carefully been understudying the business leadership style of those successful entrepreneurs that have built a conglomerate from scratch.

If you are a loyal reader of this blog; you will come to acknowledge that I have the habit of setting audacious and overstretching long term goals. But I love it this way because it’s these overstretching goals that keep the entrepreneurial process of starting a business exciting. You can read about these stretching business goals in the articles below.

                How to Become a Self Made Billionaire

                How to Start a Business from Scratch: My Entrepreneurial Journey So Far

                Famous Business Quotes of Ajaero Tony Martins

In this article, I will be sharing some underground strategies and tips for building a business conglomerate from scratch which I learned from one of my business mentors. This business mentor of mine is Cosmos Maduka; founder of the Coscharis Group. Cosmos Maduka started Coscharis from scratch and built it into a conglomerate. How did he do it? And how can you replicate his business success strategies? Well, I will advice you read on.

                Cosmos Maduka Quotes and Guide for Building a Conglomerate (Coscharis)

 

Starting a business conglomerate

1.            The Coscharis story is a story of how we turned a two hundred naira; one man business into a conglomerate with over N15billion in shareholders funds in under 30years.

2.            My friends, I tell you that unless you have a vivid picture in your mind of what you want to create; you will not be passionate about pursuing and actualizing the goal. The Coscharis Group’s journey to becoming a conglomerate is the actualization of a dream.

3.            At the beginning, the enterprise was just me.

                Raising startup capital for your business conglomerate

4.            Those of you who have ever tried to find seed capital for your business; do not need me to tell you how difficult this can be.

5.            Going the bank route to borrow was obviously an option that wasn’t available. However, growing organically was. That meant reinvesting every profit from the business into the business and making sure we created goodwill everywhere by religiously honoring our credit obligations.

6.            Access to capital will continue to be a major challenge, even with all the hoopla about micro credit and SME financing which top government announced programmes for assisting growing businesses.

7.            I have had cause to wonder sometimes how different things might have been for the group today, had we had access to more capital.

8.            Many are of the opinion that banks are not there actively to help the entrepreneur but to take the little he has been able to accumulate. Their well dressed officials will ask for your business plan, marketing plan, strategic plan and every other plan. When you tell them you haven’t got one, they wonder how you can run a business without all these documents.

9.            Today with professional managers in our team, we have the capacity to anticipate what banks usually ask and look for in granting loans to indigenous operators.

                Growing a business conglomerate

10.          Mind you that today, the Coscharis group is a conglomerate with interest in diverse business areas such as banking, technology, auto sales, auto parts, health, etc. it was not always so.

11.          For over ten years, we stuck to the business where I had cut my teeth; motor parts. We understood the “ins” and “outs” of the business so well that we became a resource pool for policy makers seeking suggestions for ways to protect Nigeria’s interest in the international auto parts trade.

12.          It was a major challenge to refuse to be distracted from our core business.

13.          We, entrepreneurs may have strong vision and drive but generally, we do not always have hands-on business management skills or general economic knowledge to fully grasp the broader policy issues that may affect our business operations.

                Structuring your business conglomerate into an organization

14.          Unless you have grown a big company from scratch, you may find it difficult to understand the pain of making the transition from a successful one man show to a structured, system driven organization.

15           For most self made men, it is not easy at first to accept that the quality of system driven generated operations may be better than one’s own gut feeling.

16.          Professionalizing our operations was a critical step in our journey to conglomerate-hood. This ensured that I was not forever mired in operational matters best delegated to professionals who, with the authority attached to their positions were too willing to accept the responsibility.

17.          Professionalization was not an easy step for me in our growth. The decision to professionalize the business and compete in a structured form was a major turning point in the business. It brought the introduction of new roles in the company for people with expertise in specific areas.

18.          I can tell you right away that one of the most deceptive simple things any entrepreneur will face is the selection of his business team. That’s because, even as we speak; it remains a never ending challenge.

19.          Whatever the Coscharis group has achieved today is mostly because of the team we have assembled over the years and its commitment to realizing the vision of the company. Today, it’s rare for a bottleneck to arise simply because I am away.

                Strategic planning and running a business conglomerate

 

20.          Crystallizing a vision very early in the business has definitely helped us focus the minds of our people on how best to continually develop and refine strategies for achieving our vision.

21.          Show me an entrepreneur in Nigeria whose business has not been made much vulnerable at least once by government’s policy reversals or unplanned changes in the business environment and I will show you a new comer to the business.

22.          As for us in Coscharis Group, we have had so much experience in being taken unawares that we make it our business to find out from key policy leaders how they are thinking.

23.          Every time you are about to spend money from the business, you can always ask yourself: “how much will this add to the bottom line.” If it will not give the business anything in return financially, you’d better think twice before parting with your hard earned cash.

24.          I suppose that for the Coscharis Group, because of our extremely modest beginning; we never lost sight of the fact that to continue to build up capital, we must keep an eagle eye on cash flow at all times.

      Developing a marketing strategy for your business conglomerate

25.          To find ourselves with products for which there is no market is a luxury we can’t afford. That’s why we spend a lot of resources to track market.

26.          At the beginning, it was really tough trying to sell to people who were used to buying from more established sources. And even though by the nature of the product we were selling, our potential customers were spread all over the nation. Moving goods to the market posed (and continues to pose) a daunting challenge because of the poor transporting network.

27.          Our response was to make sure we created a first class market intelligence system that helped us figure out what people were looking before others did. It took some time to build a market perception that made customers believe was the place to go if they were in a hurry and if others didn’t have what they are looking for. And so, rather than look for the customers; the customers looked for us. It is still so today.

28.          The Coscharis marketing is simple: know your customers and keep in touch with them.

     In conclusion

29.          We did not become a conglomerate right away. The journey has been long and hard. Many times we were tempted to throw in the towel but we has a clear vision; a dream.

30.          I want to provoke all of us gathered here by suggesting we set five year growth and development goals for our various organizations and decide today which company to benchmark during the period. We must draw a thick line between our past and the future; we must have a new beginning. Let us roll our sleeves and get to work with a clear vision, a comprehensive business plan, and a people mobilized to go beyond self into collective action in our organization.

The Ultimate Guide to Building or Growing a Small Business

How do I start a business? How do I build a successful business from scratch? What’s the secret to starting or building a business from scratch? How do I grow a business with limited resources? What’s the business success secret of successful entrepreneurs and drop out billionaires? These are the questions I intend to answer in this article.

The questions above are real life questions asked by young entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs. Every entrepreneur aspires to become the next Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Aliko Dangote, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, etc. But only few know what it takes to get to the level attained by these great entrepreneurs.

My mission of building this business blog was to help young entrepreneurs start a business and grow that business to the size of their dreams. And I have been doing it diligently, day by day.  Everyday, I try to find a definite answer to the broad question; “how to build a successful business from scratch” but to no avail.

I have come to understand that explaining the secret to starting and growing a business successfully can’t be done in a single article so I came up with a great compilation tagged “The ultimate guide to building or growing a small business from scratch.”

The ultimate guide to starting, building and growing a business is an article compilation that encompasses all my previous in-depth articles on starting and building a business from scratch; and it will be updated on a weekly basis. If you are prepared to learn from the greatest business startup compilation on the web, then please read on.

                The Ultimate Guide to Building or Growing a Small Business from Scratch

 

The ultimate guide to building or growing a small business from scratch is a resource that can be utilized by startup entrepreneurs, established entrepreneurs, business men, business women, women entrepreneurs, retirees and student or teen entrepreneurs. No matter your status in life, you can learn tremendously from this resource.

Now how does one start a business successfully? Well, before I begin rambling on how you start and build a successful business from scratch; I believe it’s worthwhile I share my personal entrepreneurial experience and the lessons I’ve learned over the years. If you are interested in tapping my business experience; then please read the article below:

                How to Start a Business from Scratch: My Entrepreneurial Journey So Far

                How to Become a Self Made Billionaire

Now back to the question above; how does one start a business successfully? Actually, there’s no definite answer to that question but if I am to suggest an answer, I will say starting a business begins with a change of perception; it begins with developing the entrepreneurial mindset.

And developing the entrepreneurial mindset entails preparing oneself for the task involved with starting and building a business; it involves knowing Why You Want to Become an Entrepreneur. Now how does one develop the entrepreneurial mindset and prepare to undergo the entrepreneurial process? The resource below will explain that in details.

How to Develop the Entrepreneurial Mindset and Become an Entrepreneur:

                How to Develop your Mindset and Think like a Billionaire

                Is a College Degree Necessary for Building a Successful Business?

                Discover your Purpose: What Do You Want to Be Remembered for after You Exit this World

                How to Awaken Your Entrepreneurial Spirit and Build a Successful Business

                10 Reasons Why You Will Never Build a Successful Business

                12 Easy Ways to Develop Positive Thinking Mental Attitude

After developing the entrepreneurial mindset and making up your mind on becoming an entrepreneur, the next step is to either develop a business idea or find a good business opportunity. To develop a good business idea or find an excellent business opportunity, the resources below will help.

How to Develop Business Ideas or Find Business Opportunities:

                The Best Business Opportunity with High Return on Investment

                Five Conditions That Makes a Business Opportunity Feasible

                How to Analyze or Assess a Business Investment Opportunity

                List of 101 Best Small Business Startup Ideas for the Year

                How to Find Your Passion in Six Easy Steps

                Five More Vital Tips to Finding Your Passion Immediately

                21 Best Low Cost Small Business Startup Ideas for Teens

                Business Franchise Opportunities: 19 Questions to Answer before Buying a Franchise

After developing a business idea or deciding on a business opportunity to pursue; the next action step will be to carry out a feasibility study and draw up a smart business plan. A feasibility study and a business plan is a prerequisite for starting a business successfully and sustaining that business. To carry out a preliminary feasibility and write a winning business plan that attract investors; the resources below will be of help.

                5 Reasons Why You Must Conduct Feasibility Study before Starting a business

                3 Differences between a Feasibility Study and a Business Plan.

                How to Carryout Feasibility Study on Any Business Idea.

                A Complete Sample Business Plan Format and Outline You Can Use As a Guide

                Business Plan Outline: How to Write a Business Plan That Attracts Investors

Now that you have your feasibility report and business plan in place; the next thing is to design your business to operate smoothly with or without your presence. The success or failure of your business depends on this level of planning because this is where you build the launching platform or scaffold for your business.

                “A successful business is created before there is a business.” – Rich Dad

To help you create a solid pre-launch platform for your business and increase your chances of success; the following resources will help you out.

                Building a Business: How to Design a Business That Wins

                Building a Business: Your Vision Statement

                Why Your Business needs a Mission Statement

Now we’ve touched the idea development and planning phase; it’s time to get down to the real thing which is raising capital for your business. You can find in-depth details on the secret of successfully raising capital in the resources below.

                How to Raise Capital for your Business Startup

                10 Strategic Reasons why you Need a Business Management Team

                How to Raise Startup Seed Capital from Family and Friends

                How to Build a Strong Business Management Team from Scratch

                7 Sources Of Fund You Can Exploit To Finance Your Business.

You’ve raised capital for your business and you are probably ready to kick start your business. If you are in the launching phase of your business, then consider reading the resources below.

                How to Start a Business

                10 Business Challenges of Starting a Small Business from Scratch

                Seven Easy Steps to Starting a Small Business Part Time

                Choosing a Small Business Location: 10 Factors You Must Consider

                Advantages of Choosing a Sole Proprietorship type of Business Entity

                27 Small Business Startup Checklists for Starting your own Business

                How to Start a Business from Scratch: My Entrepreneurial Journey So Far

                Starting a Business: It Takes More than Just an Idea

                7 Small Business Startup Advice Books for Entrepreneurs

                15 Common Business Mistakes You Must Avoid When Building a Business from Scratch

Now this is where we focus on growing a business? You’ve developed a business idea, drawn a business plan and started a business; what next? Well, this is where we grow the business. This is where we discuss small business survival and growth strategies. For tips on how to grow a business and survive in the face of stiff competition, the resources below will be of help.

                How to Grow a Business plus Small Business Survival Strategies

Why Grow? And Other Wisdom from 37Signals

10 Small Business Success Secrets of Aliko Dangote

Small Business Survival: How to Prevent Your Business From Failing

Relationship Marketing: 10 Strategies to Building a Strong Customer Relationship

Richard Branson Quotes and Competitive Strategy for Entrepreneurs

                Guerrilla Marketing Tactics: 8 Ways to Smartly Outperform Competition

Recession Strategies: How your Small Business can Survive a Recession

                12 Simple Ways to Improve Employees Productivity in the Work Place

                10 Causes of Business Failure You Must Watch Out For

As a final note, this is just the beginning of the ultimate guide to building and growing a business from scratch. This article resource will be updated weekly so I will suggest you bookmark it for future reference.

20 Top Best Business Schools in the World for Managers and CEOs

What is the best business school for managers and CEOs? There is a growing number of business schools sprouting up all over the world in a rather fast pace.  All of them guarantee prospect students’ success and expertise in advance business management techniques through their MBA, Executive MBA and doctoral programs.

Now why did I emphasize in the headline that the business schools listed here on this article is strictly for managers and CEOs? Well, I will tell you my reason.

The primary reason why I emphasized that the best business schools listed here is strictly for managers and CEOs because there are business schools for entrepreneurs and business schools for managers. I drew the line between entrepreneurs and managers because most students attend business schools to increase their salary potential and their marketability in the business world; nothing more, nothing less.

An effective business degree leads them to a wide range of employment opportunities they can pursue, which include finance services, sales and marketing, human resources and operations management, accountancy and consultancy services. But entrepreneurs attend a different kind of business school for a different reason which you can find out in the articles other articles i have written.

While it’s true that a business school degree advances your career and helps you earn more money, the key to a successful career in business still lies in finding the right business school; that’s if you intend being a manager. At a top business university, you will learn the art and science of business management and gain the skills you need to work in the corporate arena. It is a great place to find your niche.

Now how do you choose a business school that suits your need and budget? It’s quite interesting to know that different people attend business schools for different reasons; with different budget and needs. Some of those needs and factors people take into consideration before choosing a business school are:

7 factors to consider when choosing a business school

1.            Cost of studying

If budget is an issue, scout for a school with reasonable rates and which wouldn’t compromise the quality of education offered. A business school degree can cost you a lot of bucks, therefore cost should be carefully considered before applying.

2.            Programs offered

Does the business school/university offer the type of program you want? As stated earlier, there are different program varieties to choose from in business schools to date. A two-year MBA degree, for instance, can be crammed up in a single year depending on the institution.

3.            Admission system

Some universities have a really strict system of student selection. Their competitive application process makes make it hard for average students to get in. To calculate your chances; you can match your credentials (GPA, test scores, etc.) to the school’s requirements.

5.            Program curriculum

Most school curriculums encourage specializing in a single aspect of business. The recent education review, nevertheless, proposes a revision to this – an inclusion of special courses that would lead students to different fields of specialization. When you’re looking for advance studies, consider one that has an updated program curriculum.

6.            Teacher-student ratio

If you are looking for individualized attention, consider a school with relatively small class sizes.

7.            Institutional statistics

If you’re gunning to make it really big in the corporate world, choosing a school with remarkable placement statistics is imperative. Search through the records or ask around about the school’s reputation. Current students and alumni can give you a succinct background of the institution’s performance.

To determine which schools are the most reputable, the recent issue of Forbes magazine features an updated list of the best business schools in the world. It is the publication’s sixth biennial ranking of universities offering business-related courses based on company-administered surveys.  The instrument used ranks universities based on return of investment (compensation five years after graduation minus tuition and the forgone salary during school). Ranking is as follows:

 The 20 Top Best Business Schools in the World for Managers and CEOs

1.            Dartmouth (Tuck)

2.            Stanford

3.            Harvard

4.            Virginia (Darden)

5.            Pennsylvania (Wharton)

6.            Columbia

7.            Chicago

8.            Yale

9.            Northwestern (Kellogg)

10.          Cornell (Johnson)

11.          NYU (Stern)

12.          Duke (Fuqua)

13.          UC Berkeley (Haas)

14.          Texas-Austin (McCombs)

15.          UNC (Kenan-Flagler)

16.          Iowa (Tippie)

17.          MIT (Sloan)

18.          Brigham Young (Marriott)

19.          Michigan State (Broad)

20.          Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

If you wish to learn more about the different business programs offered in each of these schools, there are many different degree search portals that are free to use online.

Gerry Schwartz Quotes: How to Build a Conglomerate from Scratch

Today, I will be sharing with you Gerry Schwartz quotes and strategies for building a conglomerate from scratch. Gerry Schwartz is the Canadian billionaire founder of Onex Corporation; one of the largest conglomerate in Canada and in this article, he outlined his step by step strategy for building a business conglomerate from scratch.

Are you interested in starting a business from scratch and growing it into a conglomerate? Then read on as I share with you Gerry Schwartz strategies for building a conglomerate from scratch.

                Gerry Schwartz Quotes: How to Build a Conglomerate from Scratch

 

1.            I’ve always liked transactional things. And I always knew that I’d go into business. But the person I was in high school wouldn’t recognize me today. I had no inkling, not even a slight one, of building a company as large and as much fun as Onex.

2.            As a kid, I worked Friday nights and Saturdays in my family’s retail store. I remember a salesman who was just fantastic. I marveled at his ability. I didn’t close any big deals. But I loved having customers and closing a sale.

3.            I wanted to be an executive and to have a big job that would pay at least $10,000 a year. I thought $10,000 was a big deal.

4.            I can’t remember a day growing up without my father talking to me about business. If he bought real estate, he’d explain how and why.

5.            Onex is a holding company and takes an active role in the strategic and financial direction of its subsidiaries. Our goal has always been to build individual subsidiaries into a position of being number one or two in market share in the world, or at least in their niche.

6.            The digital revolution and e-commerce are just in their infancy, and we’ve been trying to find ways to put our hook into that rocket ship as it goes up.

7.            I enjoy the independence of single-handling a boat. I like controlling the elements, making the wind and the waves and the water work for me.

8.            One of the hallmarks of Onex is that since I started the company in 1983, every professional who has joined the company at our Toronto head office is still here. We’ve had no turnover.

9.            Collectively, we make Onex a dynamic and collegial place to work, which is why we’ve had almost no turnover among our professional staff in the more than 20 years since we started the company.

10.          I consider myself fortunate to work with one of the most capable teams in our business. They are as tireless as they are inventive, and those qualities have served the interests of shareholders as well.

                Gerry Schwartz Quotes: How to Build a Conglomerate from Scratch

 

11.          We operate it in a very team-oriented, team-spirited way, and very non-hierarchical. It’s more of a partnership than like a hierarchical corporation.

12.          The strength of Onex is the strength of that team of people. And not just the team as it is today. We keep adding to it all the time, younger people who work their way up.

13.          The personality still comes from the Chief Executive.

14.          We take an excruciating length of time to buy an asset. We did nothing in the late 1980s because of all the pressure to do deals. That’s not our game.

15.          Every decision Onex makes is made on the basis of creating long-term value. Our philosophy is to operate like a forever owner of an asset.

16.          I am very excited by this transaction because of the opportunity to make a paradigm shift in an unbelievably important industry that has been limping or broken for probably 25 years.

17.          In every business we’ve been, employment is higher than when we started.

18.          Everybody’s spending all their time talking about whose hand is in whose pocket. That’s not the issue. The issue is, what can this airline become? Combine these two companies, and you’ll have a $9 billion, highly profitable domestic franchise that can go out and conquer the world.

19.          I think Canadians are entitled to see the Maple Leaf go around the world and know that it’s Canadian owned.

20.          That is 800 million in new revenue and thousands of Canadian jobs.

                Gerry Schwartz Quotes: How to Build a Conglomerate from Scratch

 

21.          The hardest lesson I’ve learned has been to not repeat the dumb mistakes I’ve made over the years, which are too numerous to list.

22.          I thought I’d have assistants do that stuff for me, which is why I missed the value of the digital era in so many ways. You can’t understand the power of technology unless you use it.

23.          He gave me a Palm Pilot. I got on a plane from Seattle to Florida, a five-hour flight, and started on the instruction book. I couldn’t figure it out.

24.          I said, ‘That’s it.’ I decided to learn. From that day forward, I’ve insisted Onex be on the leading edge of information technology.

25.          It mystified me. But when the stocks kept going up and up, I began to not believe in myself. I thought I was from a bygone era that wasn’t useful anymore. The things I believed in, like value, just didn’t seem to make sense anymore.

26.          I’m still a long distance from smart. But I’m also a long distance from dumb.

27.          There is no such thing as high returns without risk.

28.          I want to grow. I don’t want to get stuck doing the same thing over and over and think I’m the best at it. It would hurt. But we’ll dust ourselves off and we’ll come back.

29.          I’m a nationalist who believes huge opportunities are lost with every head office departure. We need to make things easier for Canadian-based companies. And I’m not talking about a lower dollar. That just sells our labour cheap.

30.          I went to school in the United States, and I lived in the U.S. for seven years after that. I wanted to come back to Canada. I would say that at least half of the professional staff here have all been educated in the U.S. and worked in the U.S. but wanted to come back to Canada.

                Gerry Schwartz Quotes: How to Build a Conglomerate from Scratch

 

31.          We are a very Canadian company. Our head office is here. All our senior people live here and want to live here. We have a group in New York of quite senior people as well, but the bulk of the management team are Canadians who want to live in Canada.

32.          We need an environment that fosters entrepreneurship and encourages young people in the new economy. If those people are there and want to stay in Canada, there would be lots of venture capital money for them. Money will follow the people and the ideas, not the other way around.

33.          We’re a global business for sure. Our revenues last year were $15 billion and my guess would be that maybe $1 billion of that was in Canada. The rest of it was around the world. Does that make us a Canadian company or does that make us a company which is headquartered in Canada? I think we’re a Canadian company.

34.          We would like to make a major Canadian acquisition. We would like to have a business that operates in Canada and provides either goods or services to Canadians. More people, more transactions; larger amounts of capital and identical philosophy.

35.          Everybody is a real partner. And it makes a big difference.

36.          Investments are like trains, and if you miss one, don’t worry because another one will come down the line.

37.          We’ve got customers. We’ve got suppliers. We’ve got employees. We’ve got unions. We’ve got communities. We’ve got all of these things that go into making up whether a business succeeds or fails.

38.          I've got a long time. I've got a long time. I've got 25 to 30 years of this; maybe longer. As long as I am healthy, I’m not going to retire.

39.          Dying rich has always struck me as dumb…There is still lots I want to accomplish, and I have a number of philanthropic interests to support.

Why Do You Want to Become an Entrepreneur or Start a Business

Every day, employees are quitting their jobs and new business ventures are started all over the world. Every day, I come across entrepreneurs basking with enthusiasm and passion just because they have launched their new startup. Every day, I hear pitches of employees talking passionately about their desire to start a business. While I am not against the launching of new startups, my main concern is the primary aim for which these businesses were started.

“Aim for the highest.” – Andrew Carnegie

What is your primary aim for building a business? Why did you become an entrepreneur? Why do you want to start a business? Why do you want to become an entrepreneur? I bet that the answer to this question will vary from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. But no matter what your answer may be, I want to let you know that the chance of success or failure in business hinges firmly on your primary aim. Your success depends on the “why” of becoming an entrepreneur and starting that business of yours.

“There are no bad business and investment opportunities, but there are bad entrepreneurs and investors.” – Rich Dad

I felt prompted to write on this because every day; I see people quitting their jobs and starting a business for the wrong reasons. Entrepreneurship is a journey; not a destination and to undertake this journey, you need enough motivation and guts to succeed. If your reason for becoming an entrepreneur is weak; you will never complete the entrepreneurial process. Now before I ask the reason why you became an entrepreneur; I want to share my primary motivation for dumping college to focus on my business.

 Why I Became an Entrepreneur

“It was in my life’s darkest moment, when there seem to be no hope that I discovered my entrepreneurial spirit. I thank God for that situation. If not for that single situation, I might have died without giving the entrepreneurial spirit in me a chance to manifest.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

Before I tell you why I became an entrepreneur; I want to state clearly that I am entitled to my own opinion. My reason may differ or contradict yours; that’s why we are humans and please don’t intertwine your primary aim of starting a business or becoming an entrepreneur with your business mission, they are two different things. Now why did I become an entrepreneur?

To be sincere with you, I can’t really pinpoint why I became an entrepreneur but I think I did it for several reasons. First and foremost; I am very ambitious and I love the word “control.” I became an entrepreneur to gain greater control over my life. I want to determine my own pace; I want to move at my own speed, I don’t want to limited by circumstances beyond my control.

“Why don’t you go to school and get a job? My answer to that question is this; I will get a job if only you can show me one that will help me become a billionaire. Unfortunately, the only job I know that can help me achieve that dream is entrepreneurship and it doesn’t require a college degree.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

I became an entrepreneur because I want to give my kids unborn the life I never had; I became an entrepreneur because I want to leave a legacy for my generation. I became an entrepreneur because I want to be free to do what I want; I want to spend time with my family and I don’t want to be under any pressure outside my control.

“It is my utmost desire to become a billionaire in my life time and also give away billions of dollars. I don’t think any paid employment on earth can help me achieve that dream. If I become a billionaire in my life time, I will just be another self made entrepreneur on the list. But if I don’t; I will die knowing I gave that dream my best shot.” – Ajaero Tony Martins

I have a strong desire to break the jinx of average in my family; my family name “Ajaero” has been in existence without anybody giving a hoot about it, I think it’s high time that name begins to ring a bell. Ultimately, I want to be remembered after I exit this world; not for causing chaos but for improving the life of humanity.

Now why did you become an entrepreneur? Though I may not know your personal reason for choosing entrepreneurship as a career; I have been able to pinpoint eight primary motives why people become entrepreneurs. You can read them below and see if they fit yours.

Eight Primary Reasons Why People Build Businesses

1.   Money

I am sorry to say but when it comes to starting and building businesses, those with money as a primary aim are majority. Everybody wants to be the next Bill Gates or John D. Rockefeller. Whenever I ask an entrepreneur the question: “Why do you want to start your own business? The usual answer I get is, “I want to be my own boss and make a lot of money.”

Please I want to clearly state that there is nothing wrong with making money alongside building your business but the wrong comes when making money becomes your primary aim. I say this because I regularly come across forum posts with questions such as:

  • How do I make $1million a year?
  • Can somebody teach me how to make money online?
  • I need a business idea that can make me a lot of money?

“Build wealth as a byproduct of your business success. If wealth is your only objective in business, you will probably fail.” – J. Paul Getty

I sincerely advice against starting a business or becoming an entrepreneur primarily for the money because money may not provide the drive or enthusiasm needed to emerge a business success.  Take a look at successful entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford, Anita Roddick, Aliko Dangote and Oprah Winfrey; and you will see they were not driven by the quest for money. Rather; they were on a mission to provide value and quality service.

“I don’t make deals for the money. I’ve got enough much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it.” – Donald Trump

“Being first is more important to me. I have so much money. Whatever money is, it’s just a method of keeping score now. I mean, I certainly don’t need more money.” – Larry Ellison

2.    Fame

The next motive why people become entrepreneurs is to acquire fame. Along with a successful business comes fame and many entrepreneurs desire this fame. They see building a business as a leverage to achieve this dream and be in the limelight. That’s why many entrepreneurs have Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett as their role models or business mentors.

“If you come to fame not understanding who you are, it will define who you are.” – Oprah Winfrey

3.  Investment purposes

Most people become entrepreneurs and build businesses simply for investment purposes. I think I became an entrepreneur because I saw building a business as an investment for myself and future. From personal experience, I can say that those who see their business as an investment vehicle are usually long term thinkers and they are the ones who build businesses that stand the test of time. I think entrepreneurs such as Henry Ford, Warren Buffett, John D. Rockefeller and Thomas Edison fall into this category.

“Of all investments I know, building a business is probably the best because you can start with nothing and your returns may be infinite.” – Rich Dad

4.   Power

“Unfortunately, we are not a public company. We are a private group of companies and I can do what I want.” – Richard Branson

Another primary aim why people become entrepreneurs and start their own business is power. Most people fancy the power weird by successful entrepreneurs; power to bend the law, power to influence political policies, power to crush competitors and control price.

“Bill Gates is the pope of the personal computer industry. He decides who is going to build.” – Larry Ellison

The danger of building a business for the power attached to it is that you might end up engaging in illegal vices just to achieve that dream. Don’t build a business just for the power but if power comes, grab it with both hands.

Eight Primary Reasons Why People Start Businesses

5.   Prestige

Everyone loves to be appreciated; everyone loves to be associated with greatness. So it’s not out of place to build a business to gain prestige; to build something you will be proud of. Have you ever heard a statement as these?

  • Where were you when I built this business empire from scratch with my sweat?
  • I wanted to build something you will be proud of
  • I did this because I love you

“I was interested in creating things that I could be proud of and so, you know, I was interested in being an editor of a magazine, but in order to be an editor of a magazine I had to become a publisher as well. I had to pay the bills. I had to worry about the printing and the paper manufacturing and the distribution of that magazine.” – Richard Branson

To be sincere, every entrepreneur wants to be appreciated and that’s why they grant interviews. So that someone out there can see what they’ve done and what they went through in the process. I think I am also in the game for prestige; if you’ve built something great, be proud of it.

“See thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before vain men.” – Proverbs 22: 29″

6. Lifestyle

When interacting with aspiring entrepreneurs, I usually ask why they want to start their own business, I get replies such as:

  • I want to be my own boss
  • I want to be free.
  • I want to have the time to travel the world and spend time with my kids

Entrepreneurship offers the kind of lifestyle few people will ever know but it takes sacrifice and pain to get there. If you are starting a business for a better lifestyle, always remember that the way to the promise land is through the wilderness.

“I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year.” – Warren Buffett

“I think after a certain amount, I’m going to give almost everything I have to charity. What else can you do with it? You can’t spend it, even if you try. I’ve been trying.” – Larry Ellison

7.   Challenges Involved

“I have no complex about wealth. I have worked very hard for my money; producing things people need.” – J. Paul Getty

Building a business is quite challenging and demanding but I have seen entrepreneurs who are in business because of the challenges it offers. I have seen entrepreneurs who have made enough money to quit but they remain in the game.

“And obviously from our own personal point of view, the principal challenge is a personal challenge.” – Richard Branson

I have come across entrepreneurs who start businesses simply to go through the entrepreneurial process; to have a taste of the real challenges it offers. One thing with being in the game of entrepreneurship for the challenges it offers is that you will never be tired of playing it, you will develop personally and the money will surely follow.

“I’m not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don’t have time for dying.” – Ingvar Kamprad

“It’s my job for Oracle, the number two software company in the world; to become the number one software company in the world. My job is to build better than the competition, sell those products in the marketplace and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from being number two to number one.” – Larry Ellison

“You must not only learn to live with tension, you must seek it out. You must learn to thrive on stress.” – J. Paul Getty

8.  Self Expression

The final motive why people build businesses is to express themselves or their abilities. Expression of skills, talents, passions and creativity is a major reason why there is a surge in the growth of small businesses. Take a look at your neighborhood and you will see mom and pop shops, pie bakers, barbers, hair stylist, graphic artists, technicians and so much more.

“We were young, but we had good advice, good ideas and lots of enthusiasm.” – Bill Gates

“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun and it has to exercise your creative instincts.” – Richard Branson

As a final note, I think every entrepreneur is entitled to his or her motive for starting a business but it is recommended you balance your motives and focus more on providing your customers with real value for money.

A good way to balance your motives for becoming an entrepreneur is to develop either a personal mission statement or a set of core values and stick to it. Subjecting your life to a set of core positive value will ensure you stay on focused on your long term objectives without been distracted by your short term achievements. As I draw the curtain close, I leave you with this quote:

“Starting a business is like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. In mid air, the entrepreneur begins building a parachute and hopes it opens before hitting the ground.” – Rich Dad

How to Grow a Business: A Quick Recap of the Year’s Post

Few hours from now, the year 2010 will pass away; never to be seen again. But before it passes away, I think it is best we assess ourselves and our businesses; so as to know how far we’ve fared. Instead of boring you with some not too exciting details; I will be using this opportunity to do a brief rundown on how this business blog fared for the year 2010.

Throughout the year 2010, we strived to provide valuable content but we want to acknowledge that our content will be useless without your loyal readership. We say thank you for sticking with us through thick and thin. We will continuously strive to improve on our stewardship to you and provide you the best information on starting a business or growing a business respectively.

I don’t know how or when you stumbled on this blog, but what I do know is that you must have missed some great business strategies and success tips we shared over the year. If you are in this category of entrepreneurs; don’t fret because I want to do a recap of our best posts for the year.

                A recap of the year’s business building articles

 

Going by the way you readers digested the information on this business blog, we have decided to share this brief rundown with you.

                Special Business Articles of 2010 that Stirred the Entrepreneurial Spirit of our readers

1.            The fastest growing article in terms of readership: 15 Fastest Growing Business Opportunities in Nigeria

2.            The most popular successful entrepreneur article on this business blog: Aliko .Dangote: The Richest Black Man. in the World and founder of the Dangote Group

3.            The article with the most personal touch: How to. Start a Business from Scratch: My Entrepreneurial Journey So Far

4.            The most read list post: Successful .Entrepreneurs and World’s Richest School Drop Out. Billionaires

5.            The most challenging article: How to Become a Self Made Billionaire

6.            The best personal advice and quotes: 67 Rich .Dad and Robert .Kiyosaki Quotes on Business and Money

7.            The best selling Business book on this blog: The Mafia .Manager Book Review: A Guide to Corporate Machiavelli

8.            The most controversial article: Is a College Degree Necessary for Building a Successful Business?

9.            The second best most controversial article: The Highest Paid CEOs in the World are not Entrepreneurs

10.          The most downloaded most shared free business book: How to smart borrow money for your business without hurting yourself or your business

11.          The best unconventional advice for the year: 40 Famous Quotes about Life and Business from the Mafia .Manager

So this is our best pick for the year. We will strive to sustain the pace and even improve on our service of rendering business advice to you. Thanks for being a loyal reader of StrategicBusinessTeam.com. God bless you.

The Best Business Opportunity with High Return on Investment

What are the best business opportunities in 2013 with the highest return on investment? Which business opportunity has the potential for rapid growth? Which business opportunity has the potential to help me become a billionaire like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison or Warren Buffett? If any of these questions best describe your thoughts, then please read on.

Most aspiring entrepreneurs are usually confused when it comes to starting a business because they can’t figure out the best business opportunity to invest in. Just recently, I got an email from a reader on this business blog and this was the reader’s message.

“Respected Sir, how are you? This is (name withheld) from London, United Kingdom. Now I am doing MBA and ACA as well. Sir, I am very interested in business but I am very confused about the field. Which field is more suitable for business, for growth? Would you like to suggest me something? Thanking you.”

I receive such emails on a daily basis so I decided to do a piece in reply to this email. What’s the best business opportunity with the highest returns on investment? Well, you are going to find out soon.

In this article, I am going to explain in detail the best business opportunity and how to find such opportunities. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or an employee with a strong desire to start a business? If you are looking for a business opportunity that will help you make a million dollars or become a millionaire, then please read on because this article is for you.

  What are the best business opportunities with the highest returns on investment?

Well, before I reveal to you the best business opportunity of the moment; I want you to take a careful look at the list below.

1.            1900 – Andrew Carnegie made his money from steel – $475 million

2.            1910 – John D. Rockefeller became a billionaire in oil – $1.4 billion

3.            1920 – Henry Ford became a billionaire in the auto industry – $1 billion

4.            1940 – Howard Hughes became a billionaire with military aircrafts, contract, tools and movies – $1.5billion

5.            1957 – J. Paul Getty became a billionaire in oil – $1 billion

6.            1962 – Henry Ross Perot became a billionaire with EDS – $3.8 billion

7.            1970 – Sam Walton took retailing giant Wal-Mart public and became a billionaire – $22 billion

8.            1980 – Ron Perelman made fortune as a Wall Street deal maker – $3.8 billion

9.            1990 – Jerry Yang founded Yahoo! – $3.7 billion

10.          2008 – Aliko Dangote became the richest black man in the world as a manufacturer – $3.3 billion

11.          2010 – Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire with FaceBook.com – $6 billion

Some of the successful entrepreneurs mentioned in the list above were school drop out billionaires. Is this list exhausted, my answer is no. Oprah Winfrey became the richest black woman in the world with television show productions. J, K. Rowling joined the billionaires list with her book “Harry Potter Series.”

Debbi Field’s became a multi millionaire selling cookies; and Mary Kay Ash became a billionaire with her company “Mary Kay Cosmetics. Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner became billionaires by running their own cable network channel company; “Fox Broadcasting Corporation” and “CNN” respectively. I will advice you read the article below to further understand the point I am trying to buttress.

Now what’s the best business opportunity? My answer to the question above is this: “The best business opportunity with the highest returns on investment does not exist.” Are you surprised? Please don’t be. I know you might be expecting me to make a list of businesses ranging from oil and gas to web based businesses. I am sorry to disappoint you because there is no stipulated best business opportunity with respect to the illustrations I cited above.

However, there’s a contradictory twist to my answer. I believe the best business opportunity exists but you have to create it or make it a reality yourself. Now what am I trying to stress? The point I am trying to stress is that becoming a successful entrepreneur does not depend on the business opportunity; it depends on you. So if you successfully go through the entrepreneurial process, you will find your own best business opportunity.

  How do you Find or Choose the Best Business Opportunity

Well, instead of telling you to start an oil and gas supply business or an internet business; I am going to reveal to you five criterions to creating your own best business opportunity. If you are still willing to learn, then below are five criterions to choosing, creating or finding your own best business opportunity.

1.   Your Entrepreneurial Mindset

The first key to successfully creating or finding the best business opportunity is you because building a successful business starts with you, the entrepreneur. Are you in the right mindset? Do you have what it takes to build a successful business?

I listed the entrepreneurial mindset here because it the fundamental key to starting, building and growing a business. The state of your mindset will determine how far you will go in the entrepreneurial process of building a business. Choosing the best business opportunity begins with you answering the following personal questions.

                What is your risk bearing capacity?

                Are you prepared to face business challenges?

                Are you prepared to handle business failures?

                What’s you perception towards making mistakes in business and life?

These are the type of questions you need to ask yourself before starting a business because these questions will reveal your mental preparedness for the entrepreneurial journey at hand. I definitely can’t explain in details how to develop your entrepreneurial mindset but I believe the following articles will help.

2.   Your Startup Capital

The startup capital you have access to, is another factor that will determine the best business opportunity for you. The best business opportunity for an entrepreneur with access to a $1,000 business startup capital will be quite different from that of an entrepreneur with a million dollars in startup capital.

The entrepreneur with a $1,000 startup capital may consider starting a blog while the entrepreneur with the million dollar capital will feel that starting an oil and gas distribution business or a manufacturing firm will be the best bet. So take note that your startup capital is a predominant factor when seeking the best business opportunity.

3.  Your Business Team

The competence of the business management team you have on board will determine the best business opportunity to pursue. If your business team has a track record of successes; then raising capital to pursue big projects will be a piece of cake. But if you are a solo entrepreneur, then your best business opportunity will be quite different.

4.   Your Business Plan

If you have the right plan, coupled with the right team and the right mindset; then you can pursue mega projects. But an entrepreneur who lacks the orientation of the use of a business plan will just bootstrapped his or her business on a shoestring budget. The extensiveness of both your personal and business plan will determine the kind of business opportunity you will pursue.

5.   Your Business Idea

Lastly, the best business opportunity varies from entrepreneur to entrepreneur based on the ideology of the entrepreneur and the prevailing circumstances. Your best business opportunity may differ from mine based on prevailing circumstances such as trend, your passion, hobby, skill, geographical terrain, demographics, psychographics, demand, supply, economic policy, etc.

The best business opportunity for someone in Nigeria or China will differ from that of someone in United States, Canada or India. And most importantly, I listed the “startup business ideas” last because it is the least important necessity to starting a business. Remember, the world is filled with brilliant, million dollar ideas but the world lack savvy entrepreneurs.

An average business idea with the right mindset, a strong business management team and the right business plan will outperform an excellent million dollar idea with a poor mindset and a weak management team. So when analyzing a business opportunity, make sure you do your preliminary feasibility study. Also make sure that the right combinations are in place and when contemplating on the best business opportunity to take advantage of; take into consideration these five criterion and I will see you at the top.