In February 2001, about 4 months after I got promoted out of my shift-based Brewer position, to become the Guinness Nigeria Plc Benin Brewery Technical Training & Development Manager, I came to the conclusion that I needed to fast-track my plans to quit paid employment and start my own business.



I had been plotting my exit from the company since 2 years before, in collaboration with a close friend and confidant of mine who – unlike me – worked in a different department.

He knew of my many frustrations with not being able to pursue my passions – and especially my desire to be free to explore new ideas I had.

In the process of preparing for my exit, having made the final decision, I wrote out on the back of a computer printout, key steps I intended to carryout to achieve my goal of succeeding in starting up my own business.

Recently, I stumbled on that sheet of paper, and from reading through/looking back over the past 8 years, it occurred to me that I had actually followed those steps to get this far.

I now reproduce that list below, with brief explanations, in the hope that they might be of some use to others who may be contemplating doing something similar:

Begin acquiring new knowledge/skills that will facilitate turning my dreams of independence into reality:

I intensified researching possible types of business ventures to start.

I then attended, where possible, relevant training seminars or talks that provided needed information. Subsequently, I tried as hard as possible to put into use what I had learnt.

For instance, I actually used my annual leave periods to try my hands at certain ventures on a micro scale (e.g T-Shirts transfer printing for sale)

2. Remove my fear of getting started:

I sought out others who had quit paid employment to start their own businesses, and listened to their narrations of what it was like. I asked them questions about how I could go about implementing my own plans.

In certain cases I paid money to gain access to their knowledge and insight via consultation sessions. What I learnt from them, and from reading various books/publications by competent authors helped me build reasonable confidence to continue.

3. Make my small business grow and prosper:

By the time I had operated for the first year, the reality had dawned on me that it was not going to be an easy task. Over time, I forced myself to LEARN from the experiences I was having, how to develop alternative ways to GROW my business, regardless of market place variations or even competition.

I actively subscribed to newsletters published by experienced entrepreneurs (mostly foreign/American) and I used my knowledge of my local business environment to adapt their ideas to work for me.

Today, this has helped me reach a point, where I can actually claim that I do not have any direct competitors in the markets I operate in – boosting my ability to get hired and paid profitably.

4. Find/use insightful tips that will eliminate trial and error from doing business:

Again I did this by reading widely, especially publications by other entrepreneurs (e.g. Jeffery Meyer), and then applying their ideas, tweaking them where necessary.

But I also experimented using my own ideas, and over time have tested and found some of them quite effective.

One example: I find I am often able to get clients to hire me readily, if I offer them a barter exchange payment option of up to 50% of my total fee; or by giving them a discount if they agree to provide power supply, Internet access on their premises for my work (a great saving for me in terms of time, effort and costs required to do them).

5. Do noble deeds:

As I continued my work, I soon discovered that there were many people who needed help finding meaning/purpose in their lives. Following chance encounters with some of such people, I realised that I could actually help them do so, by sharing my own experiences and discoveries.

So, I decided to start writing – articles, reports, books – and speaking. Later on, it occurred to me that I could use these same resources (my written stuff) to market myself and the products/services I offered.

That process led me to start employing web marketing in my work. As the opportunity presented itself, I shared what I discovered from doing this, with others who indicated interest.

Final Words

As I said earlier, looking back, I have actually carried out the above steps over the years, and I truly believe that the progress I have made today is due, in no small measure, to that.

Therefore, if you are planning to start out in business, the ideas offered above should hopefully prove helpful.

Good luck!

NB: This article was first published online on July 30, 2010