Before You Start a Business

Without any doubt, it’s the entrepreneur’s world. Statistics has it that 74% self made millionaires in America are entrepreneurs – people who started and built their own businesses. The awareness is gradually getting to this place very rapidly. The question I keep asking myself is this: do we have enough businesses yet? And the answer is no; entrepreneuring’ has just begun.

However, we still have one major challenge. It is on record that 80% of businesses go out of business the first year. And of those that remain, 80% of them will not be in business five years from now. This statistics is very alarming. Why do many people start businesses and fail to complete them? They had great spirit at first, which gradually began to wane when realities hit them. The answer is not far fetched.

Businesses are built on fact. Most blunders made by many start-ups are those of assumptions rather than facts. I have come to realize that the difference between a successful entrepreneur and an unsuccessful one is in what they know and do, and in how much value they place on the two.

It’s laughable that a lot of people venture into businesses armed with nothing but their raw ideas and they still expect to make it big. Ideas are not enough, after all everybody has an idea.

Don’t stop at idea – everything is execution under the right knowledge. Nothing could be so frustrating like having an idea that you don’t know how to express. That was why Thomas Edison taught that, ‘The value of a good idea is in using it.’ No idea is worth more than the structure that supports it. ‘It isn’t the quality of the ideas you have that will determine whether you make a success of them; it’s the qualities you bring into those ideas.’ So, advised Harvey Mackay. Those ‘qualities’ could chiefly be accessed via authentic fact that is based on current business realities.

Businesses mature in the same way that human beings do. And if you don’t have what supports their growth and development, they die, (all the ideas in this world not withstanding). Any business idea without a thought-out structure dies a natural death. A lot of Nigerians victims of this bitter experience; they have put millions of naira into their ideas and came out with nothing. If they had known better, the story would have been different.

An entrepreneur increases his chances of surviving and thriving if he puts a strong system behind his ideas. Usually, we suffer for what we do not know. Robert Kiyosaki was right when he quipped that, ‘It’s not the system that you know about that are the problem – it’s the system you are not aware of that cause you to crash.’



Knowledge is very critical for every business development. Every business is a system of inter-locking and inter-operating systems. The most important part of any enterprise is the system behind the business idea. If the system is weak, the business collapses but if the system is strong, the business flourishes.

Here’s Kiyosaki’s additional statement on this: ‘Many people have ideas that could make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. The problem is, most people have never been taught how to put a business structure inside their ideas and so many of their ideas never take shape or stand on their own.’ Isn’t that revealing? I can say with all authority that it does not take just a great idea build an enviable business as it would take a great person (mind) behind the idea. More businesses fail from inside-out. It’s not the idea that’s to blame but the pilot of the idea. To be successful in any endeavor, your business will require all of you – your time, energy, resources, and commitment.

We are blessed with so much business ideas. The irony is that many of these ideas lack substance. Yet, only a few people care to know or seek for professional help. Scores of those who have succeeded in business today were at one time struggling until they learnt the secret, some times from the experts. As they began to do what ought to be done, their story changed.

Growing a strong enterprise is not a function of quality of your ‘product-service’, or your ideas, or even the number of years you have spent in the pursuit. But largely at what rate you are moving, doing the right things. ‘The best proof,’ Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher remarked, ‘that something can be done is that someone else has done it.’ If you do what is required your business will grow. Any one who wants to enjoy the juicy fruit of business must give it his all.

Your business foundation must be very strong. And one of such foundational areas is in your business plan. A well worked out business plan is a requisite for thriving enterprise. If your business ideas are not convincing on paper, you could be driving at a terrible speed with your eyes closed. If you can’t commit to writing them down, you perhaps won’t commit yourself to following it through – if you won’t connect to paper, you won’t connect to reality. ‘The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it to happen.’ So said Lee Iacocca.

Wouldn’t you prefer to make your business blunders on paper? And save time, gain speed and direction. According to H. Stanley Judd, ‘A good plan is like a roadmap. It shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there.’ For instance, you could assess your market opportunities on paper by doing what I called ‘business intelligent gathering’. It’s no longer the question of ideas but the marketability of those ideas. (The success and failure of any business is almost down to how well it’s marketed. Yours cannot be an exception).

When you do poorly on paper, the tendency of reproducing the same practically is there. If the need be, engage the services of experts as you start your business. Don’t rely on assumptions, rather consult. It cost you some money but you would gain it at the long run. Barry J. Gibbons once observed, ‘There are two groups of people confused by business today: those who are in it and those who aren’t.’ To avoid confusion of any sort, prepare for your business. Preparation is winning.

You are the only one playing your own game, and have yourself to bless or blame. You could be the next to start a business, why not get the necessary assistance on how to build a system before taking your chance. You can start you business and start very strong. It’s up to you to make your business happen.

Tony Ajah is a Business Growth Strategist. He is the Principal Strategist, TA Strategic Solutions, a Lagos-based firm that is into business development.
http://www.ta-strategies.com/ tony@ta-strategies.com 08051403056