We all have people we LOVE taking phone calls from, getting emails from, or even having visit us. Typically, they command our ready attention and interest because they make us feel good. I explain how to make yourself that kind of person.
To put it the Science of Getting Rich (SOGR) way: they are advancing personalities who create the impression of increase in our minds, by leaving us “feeling” better off EVERY TIME than they meet us.
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If you do any marketing online, it’s likely you’ve heard or read that “Guest Posting” is a powerful (often) zero cost marketing strategy. I agree – but sometimes it can backfire, and make YOU look bad, as this true story illustrates.
Due to the fact that it’s so hard to find a good fit for my target audience (Farm CEOs), I’ve not done much guest posting. But my fears about even the little I did back in 2012, on a 3rd party website today materialized today, when I discovered one very popular article had been taken offline without my being notified.
The website had announced invitations for submissions on the above theme from interested persons, and I’d written in to the editor at the time, with hints of article titles I proposed to write. She had enthusiastically replied that they would be willing to review what I had.
So began an interesting exchange in which I prepared each article and sent it in every other week or so, until I had 6 published and LIVE on their blogs.
As at today – 7th Feb 2015 – the guest post shown above is no longer at the same URL…
A lot more happened, in which I published a new ebook, that the editor provided a compelling review of.
I will however cut the long story short by jumping to when, a few months later, something strange happened: she stopped responding to ALL my emails.
Initially, I thought she had gone on leave or was busy. But additional months passed and no responses came to my emails – even when I sent a “hello”.
But again, NO RESPONSE – not a sound, from her.
At that point I decided to let go.
So, I moved on, but in order to respect the guest posting rule, I still linked directly from my blog to the articles. I felt it would be improper to republish them from my website.
I did the above despite the fact that several people contacted me saying they read the articles and tried to reach me without success via the old URLs, before deciding to “Google” my name – which brought them to my new website.
As I got this feedback, it occurred to me that I had not taken the pains to create records of the fact that the articles were published as guest posts.
So, I took screenshots of each one and stored on my laptop, making a mental note to use them in my planned Best Practice Farm Business ebook series (which is now live at www.lulu.com/sdaproducts).
There’s no need for me to say more than I have said above. Below are verbatim excerpts from emails I sent to the gentleman, which say it all.
He had gotten in touch yesterday night regarding my Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager, Ration Formulator and Feed Formulation Handbook.
After my usual ritual of calling to find out more about his farm business, I sent him the details he requested this afternoon.
Some hours later, he replied with a request for payment details and more information as shown below:
And I responded with the details reproduced below…
Re: Re(Your Enquiry): Excel-VB Poultry Manager, Ration Formulator Software, and Feed Formulation Handbook
Thanks for your message…
1. Attached is a zipped folder containing the generic business plan preview documents – for the Micro Business Plan and the Full Business plan
Take a look through. I have taken out certain sections and left others in – but mostly blank tables and labels.
Note that the performance indicators featured in the tables are discussed in the articles I’ve linked to in response to below titled “5 Powerful Tools for Accurately Measuring Your (Farm) Business’ Health”
http://www.africabusinesscommunities.com/index.php/rss-abc-blogs/200894-5-po
2. Payment details:
<removed for privacy >
Note that you can convert the dollar fees to Naira, using the latest rates at www.xe.com
Whatever that comes to in naira, will be added to any other naira payments you wish to make and paid into the above account.
Let me know if you have any further queries or need clarification.
With kindest regards,
Tayo
After sending the above email, I decided to check that the article was there…a strange feeling pushed me to do it…and it turned out to be a wise move. What I saw made me quickly send a follow up email shown below!!!
=====
Re: Re(Your Enquiry): Excel-VB Poultry Manager, Ration Formulator Software, and Feed Formulation Handbook Quick update/follow up on the preceding email response…
I always had the feeling that one day my guest posts (published back in 2012) on some 3rd party websites would suddenly vanish and I would be left looking either
like a liar or a fool, with the links to them from my publications and my website.
But I refused to accept the negative thoughts.
Well, after I sent you the link to the article on Africanbusinesscommunities.com, I decided to check it was still there, only to find (as I’m sure you must have by now) that it no longer sits at that URL!
I checked another of my guest posts and that one is still there.
Thankfully, I already copied all 6 of them and published them in my new Best Practice Farm Business ebook series (see www.lulu.com/sdaproducts), and the introduction I used in the ebooks for each article indicates I was conscious something could go wrong in the future…lol!
Find attached a GIFT PDF version of my ebook series, and go to page 9 to see the full version of the article I referred you to in my preceding mail i.e.: “5 Powerful Tools for Accurately Measuring Your (Farm) Business’ Health”
I guess this is further proof that it pays to be prepared – a lesson I have learned the hard way over they years :-))
Accept the ebook as a gift from me …whether or not you go on to buy!
Tayo
The way I see it, they could at least have warned me that the article had been removed, so I could update my links.
But then, it could also be said that they did NOT owe me even that. Either way, I do NOT ever want to find myself in that one sided situation ever again. So, it will be VEEERRRRYYY difficult for ANYONE, to get me to ever agree to submit a guest post again.
I think I’ll just avoid making myself look foolish by keeping my content on platforms I control!
I learnt a long time ago that one will only be as old as one thinks s/he is. That knowledge makes me very comfortable relating with people of all ages and across social strata, without bothering about their age, color, income class or educational level.
What I look for is a desire for self-improvement, evidence of commitment to a worthy cause (or willingness to do so), and authentic honesty/integrity. I am also a believer is seeing the world through the eyes of a child. I love to wonder openly, and without pretence, at the miracle of new knowledge/insight that I encounter daily.
But I think where I push my luck is that I also expect (STUPIDLY of course!) that other people will behave/think in the same way.
Well it’s because I continue to find that much younger people who I choose to engage on an “equal level” (the way people like Sola Olokode – a senior manager & HR departmental head – did for me during my “formative” years in Guinness ‘Nigeria) in order to help them gain insight beyond their years, tend to miss the point.
What Mr. Olokode did for me, gave me the self-confidence to fearlessly pursue the ideas I had, by applying my creative instincts to influence major changes in the Guinness Benin workplace in spite of my relative youth. By the time I was 2 years old in the company (and 26 years old), I was already developing (in my spare time) custom automated spreadsheet solutions adopted by the brewery for official use.
Read my the story in my article titled “Achieve Recognition and Attract Career Advancement Opportunities By Being A Change Agent”.
You do not prove you are older by standing aloof from younger people!
I’ll admit (from painful experience) that there is the danger of abuse – some younger persons may feel they can “disrespect” you because you’ve made yourself familiar to them. But that should only help you “weed” them out of your inner circle of influence, till you find those who value the opportunity for access to wisdom and insight beyond their years, that you offer them as an older person, through your friendship.
So, in spite of this strategy blowing up in my face many times, the successes I have recorded with it continue to encourage me to do it.
I do this because a few have benefitted from my method(I call it Spontaneous Coaching), and expressed appreciation to me, for it.
In essence, I am saying that the reader should (if s/he does not already do so):
1. Forget about being a very young man/woman/girl or younger than another person s/he relates with.
It does not matter – at least it will NOT matter to people who have decent levels of self-esteem. And such people are the ones YOU should aim to relate with, otherwise you will have many frustrating experiences!
2. Never limit yourself because you think you are younger than others who do not know what you know.
Sometimes YOUR awareness is the reason why you have been placed amongst such people – and keeping quiet or looking for audiences comprising people mainly YOUR age would actually be the wrong thing to do!
Imagine if the founder of Facebook had allowed himself to worry that he was too young to initiate the Facebook idea, when older gurus like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs etc were not looking in that direction…
“…You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you…” – Marianne Williamson.
3. Begin to look beyond pushing your thinking about religion or spirituality to people.
Begin to LIVE what you know and believe. And let those who see you/your work, or who read/hear you gradually seek you out, or open up to discovering what makes you tick.
I LIVE this stuff I’m telling you. And it is the smartest way to influence people i.e. using subtlety.
If you still do not get it, I’ll share this. I recently got a phone SMS from a young man I’ve been trying to “influence” on Facebook, (by making periodic suggestions on posts he made). In the SMS, he asked “So, how do I find paid speaking opportunities here in Lagos?”
THAT unsolicited enquiry from him did not come as a surprise, because I’d periodically referred him to related online resources in
making my “suggestions”. But it is instructive to note that before then, we had never communicated outside the Facebook medium. Note also, that he must have gone out of his way to find my phone number himself (possibly from my profile or website) – because I did not give it to him.
So you see ( and I am sure you will agree) that I have made reasonable progress towards my goal of “influencing him using subtlety”. YOU can do the same, regardless of your age.
NB: This article was first published on 8th November 2011.
This article describes a simple but highly effective self improvement formula I developed over a decade ago, that can be applied in any situation towards using setbacks as stepping stones to achieve authentic success.
It works for both self-employed persons and employees, who want to know how they can turn a blunder they make, into an opportunity for personal or career advancement/success.
In life, there will be times when things do not happen in the way we plan for them to. Sometimes, it may be our fault, and other times, it might be difficult to even determine the cause.
What is most important however, is that we carefully analyse what happened and decide on a solution that will enable us prevent a re-occurrence in the future.

They think it is better to play safe by not taking any risks. What they fail to realize is that they deprive themselves of the opportunity to “grow” by their unwillingness to venture beyond the realms of what they already know, or are comfortable with. They remain in their “comfort zones”, and by so doing miss out on valuable learning opportunities.
“I have made mistakes, but I have never made the mistake of claiming I never made one”
– James Gordon Bennett (1841 – 1918) Journalist
There is a saying that “you have not failed until you give up trying to succeed”. When you try to achieve a goal and things fail to work out, you can try using this formula: W x R(to the power of 3) i.e. Withdraw, Reflect, Refocus and Return.
Let’s take them one at a time:
Withdraw
– Step away. Take a break – maybe a stroll to a quiet place where you can free your mind from the potential worries about the problem. Alternatively, relax your mind by reading a book or doing something else that has little to do with the problem that occurred.
Reflect – Analyse what happened and try to establish what went wrong to cause your failure. You will need to be honest with yourself here. (Maybe a close associate or confidant might come in useful to help inject some objectivity into the analysis. Note that I said “Maybe”). At the end of this process you should have identified (possibly written out) specific aspects of your failed plan most likely to have caused the problem.
Re-focus
– Here you will take the findings from the Reflect stage and use them to decide on modifications that will be needed to make your plan work when next you try to achieve your goal.
Again, here the benefit of input from other “trusted” persons(close associates who share your vision, and sincerely empathise with you) could be explored. Just make sure that those you invite (as Napoleon Hill warned) are people who DO NOT take defeat or failure seriously.
You should end this stage with a clear idea of what you need to do differently or better when next you try out your plan.
Return
– You take your modified plan back to the real world and try again to use it to achieve your cherished goal!
Now, in all likelihood, as has been my personal experience, this entire process can happen within a very short period(hours, minutes or seconds even) depending on what the problem is and how much experience you’ve had with it previously – or the nature of circumstances under which it has happened.
As such, I expect that if at all you decide to, you will adapt the above elements to suit your needs in planning how you may deal with setbacks that come your way when they do occur.
I will now share with you an actual experience I had in which I applied an adaptation of the WR3 formula to turn a major blunder I made on my first night shift duty into a career advancement opportunity two(2) months later.
As a Trainee Brewer in Guinness Benin Brewery, I went through a harrowing experience on my first night shift as Brewer On Duty. Before then I had been attached to senior, more experienced brewers who had put me through on how to supervise the workforce, and do the various calculations for managing the brewing process.
1. Some Background
During my training I had been particularly uncomfortable with the use by the older brewers of calculators in computing weighted averages for as many as nine(9) beer parameters for each bottling tank to be blended. It was not uncommon to see a duty brewer punching furiously at a calculator while the operator waited for him to finish and pronounce the quantities of beer and other additives to be used for filling the next bottling tank.
There were times when to correct some poor beer parameters, we had to blend mature beer from up to four different storage vessels into one bottling tank to produce beer with the right parameters for bottling. Can you just think about what it must have been like using a calculator to compute weighted averages for parameters of four (4) different volumes of beer to get one set of nine(9) parameters for a bottling tank? Pure drudgery I tell you!
What I found most difficult to accept was the fact that despite the presence on the brewers’ desk of a desktop PC with Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet on it, the brewers all kept using the calculator for this very complex task. To be fair to them however, very rarely did any of them make the kind of error I eventually did in their calculations. I guess that was because they had become very good at it over time.
For rookies like me however, the learning curve was simply too(needlessly I thought) steep, and the entire routine too prone to avoidable errors. I did not like that one bit, and felt I could never get used to working that way especially when a spreadsheet offering better value was in the PC on my desk! So, I made a mental note to explore using the spreadsheet to compute beer blending and make up volumes whenever I was on duty. But for that first night shift, since I was just starting, I settled for the calculator – a decision I would later seriously regret.
2. The Fateful Day/Event
Here’s what happened. That day, after reading the handover notes, I knew it was going to be a long night. My department(Brewing) had been struggling to keep up with the bottling lines which had been enjoying smooth operations since the start of the day. We had only one full tank of beer left, which was already being blended to two bottling lines at the same time. I checked the combined speeds of the lines, and estimated that it would take them another hour and a half to empty it. If I was to avoid a beer outage, I would have to ensure I got another full tank into the bottling hall before that time.
Unfortunately we did not have comfortable stocks of matured beer – with good parameters – ready for blending. This was mainly because the centrifuges had been acting up, failing to stop yeast from getting into the filtered beer. To cut the long story short, I managed to send two half tanks of beer to packaging. That should have bought us enough time to send another full tank in within 2 hours.
But alas, it was not to be! By the time the laboratory analysis came out, the beer color turned out excessively high for both half-tanks – way beyond what the company specifications permitted for bottling. I was devastated, but nothing could be done at this stage, other than to watch the two bottling lines run out the remaining beer from the last tank!
The beer outage lasted over four hours. It was painful – and embarrassing – to see the idle men and machines waiting all night for me to get a new stock of beer for them to continue the work they were paid to do! Just before my shift ended the next morning, I was able to send one full tank to packaging so bottling resumed as the morning duty brewer took over. By then however, the damage had been done. My inability to keep the lines going had meant the brewery’s chances of meeting the bottling volume target for the week had been severely jeopardized. I shuddered at the thought of what my boss would say. He had specifically told me to ensure we did not run out of beer. I felt very bad for having let him down.
3. Applying An Adaptation Of The Formula
Downcast but still puzzled as to what could have led to such gross miscalculation on my part, I went back to the brewers’ office and checked the paper I had used for my calculations again(this was the “Withdraw/Reflect” stage ). That was when I noticed the error I made in computing the amount of Guinness extract to be added to the beer. In my rush to supply the needed figures to the operator, I had inadvertently punched in a wrong volume of mature beer to be added resulting in the calculator returning a much larger volume of Stout flavouring extract than required.
As soon as I realized this, I could not help instantly thinking that if I had been looking at a computer screen with all the tank volumes and parameters typed in, and formulas returning the estimated volumes to be added, I would have had a better chance of discovering my error earlier!
There and then I made up my mind to develop a spreadsheet that would enable me accurately and reliably calculate needed make-up volumes for beer, and additives blending whenever I was on duty(this was the “Re-focus” stage).
Over the next two night shifts, I began building a Lotus spreadsheet(this was the “Return” stage) for my calculations, gradually modifying it to accommodate every possible scenario I could anticipate – including documented occurrences I had been told about by my senior colleagues.
4. Testing The Solution Developed
Eventually, after about a month, my spreadsheet had become a close companion that helped me safely plan for accurate beer blending for bottling whenever I was on duty. I never bothered to tell anyone about it because as I said earlier, my senior colleagues were mostly quite comfortable using the calculator. Also, a few had scoffed at the idea of totally converting all the calculator dependent computations for process management and report generation to PC spreadsheet format as I had proposed when I first joined them. So I thought it would be easier and better to simply use it for myself.
5. Solution Is Adopted By Entire Department(Success!)
As fate would have it however, my boss – Greg Udeh – one day walked into the office and saw me using the spreadsheet, which I had named “Beer Racking Projection Table”(“Racking” being a term describing beer make-up and transfer from the storage/maturation area into bottling tanks).
He asked me what I was doing with the spreadsheet. I demonstrated how it worked – including how close(to +/- 2 units) the computed final results it gave often were to those the laboratory returned by their analysis of the blended tank. I had actually been carefully collating the results from the lab and comparing them with the spreadsheet’s computed parameters for each bottling tank that was filled. The high degree of positive correlation between the computer and lab results was glaring.
That benefit, in addition to over 90% reduction in time taken to do weighted average calculations for beer blended to packaging, and increased flexibility in choice and number of storage vessels used for blending instantly appealed to Greg.
Suddenly, it became obvious that brewers could safely dispense with the exclusive use of calculators for this task, as all nine(9) parameters for blending of up to 4 mature beer tanks could be seen at once in a printable on-screen (projection results table) format. Necessary adjustments in volumes of beer, additives etc could also be easily made to achieve the desired final beer parameter specifications.
At the next departmental meeting, Greg announced the existence of the spreadsheet and asked me to put all other brewers through on how to use it. From then on, the entire department formally adopted the Racking Projection Table. As you can imagine, I got noticed for this and other similar solutions I would later develop for use by the department.
But if you recall how I began this story, it was a very unpleasant first attempt at doing my job the way it had always been done by those who taught me to do it, that led me to find a better way of doing it myself.
If I had simply given up and not challenged myself as I did, in order to better equip myself to do a better job next time(and so avoid making the same mistake again), it is unlikely that I would have developed the spreadsheet that eventually became useful to many others. The moral here is:
“It’s not what happens to you that’s important. It’s how you deal with it” – Can’t recall who said this! 
People may say “I told you so” or laugh at you etc. Yes, you may have made a mistake. Maybe you were overconfident. The important thing is not that you have now fallen.
No. What should matter to you is what you get out of the experience. Do you know more to be able to do better next time? If your answer is “Yes”, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Let them laugh if they want – it would not be the first time people who eventually achieve phenomenal success get laughed at before they succeed!
There is a part of the lyrics of England’s Manchester United Football club’s marching song(“Stand Up For The Champion”) that I love so much. It goes thus: “When I fall down, I have to pick myself back up(2ce)”.
It does not say “If I fall down”. It says “When”. Periodic setbacks are inevitable, but when a true champion falls, she picks herself up and tries again, and again UNTIL she succeeds.
In or out of paid employment, the principles described in this article can be successfully applied to turn a bad situation around for the better. No special skill or talent is required. You only need to be willing to try.
NB: This article was first published online on 21st June 2006.
“
, many people still think you must have been mad to do what you did.”
That’s what a former senior colleague told me when we met 3 years after I resigned from Guinness to start my business.
In this article, I reveal the TRUE fear-fueled motives that some salary earners (and their employers) have for readily casting aspersion on a member who chooses to switch from paid to self-employment despite offers of career advancement.
Some of the assertions I make in this article WILL upset persons in paid employment, but that will not change the fact that they are ACCURATE representations of what happens in our society today!
My purpose here is to help the interested reader understand that – notwithstanding startup pains – self-employment can be a prestigious and fulfilling alternative to the daily rat race in paid employment.
Even though I have focussed on salary earners, some of the “habits” I describe in this article are also favored by certain persons in business who have vested interests.
Maybe I’ll find the patience to elaborate on their “contributions” in a separate article sometime in the future. For the purpose of this article however, please indulge me by keeping in mind the fact that I am referring mainly to persons in paid employment.
As I explained in another article titled “Should You Quit Your Job or Start Your Business Part-time?”, while later reflecting on what some of my wonderful colleagues were supposed to have said about me, I could not help feeling sorry for them.
It was sad confirmation that they were still oblivious to the fact, that I had only done earlier, with my youth still on my side, what they would have NO choice but to do in the future.
For seven years I did the 9 to 5 job routine that made feel unfulfilled, saying yes-sir, getting periodically caught in corporate politics, till I could take no more. I wanted out – and I eventually quit.
They said I was mad to do this. But I KNEW I was curing myself of madness by doing it. Today, I know I am very sane. For those who think I should have started my business on the side, instead of quitting outright, please read my article titled “Should You Quit Your Job or Start Your Business Part-time?” and understand that our purposes will differ, and therefore we cannot all successfully follow the same path.
Below, I explain how some people in paid employment think, which makes them regard a person who takes the kind of decision that I took as “mad” – and also prevents them taking ACTION to live their lives doing what they truly desire – UNTIL it becomes too late.
By this I mean that they will one day have to seek income outside paid employment, and therefore need to LEARN HOW to do so – especially since no textbook or educational certification will prepare them better than EXPERIENCE.
Failing to see their self-employed former colleague as one through whom they can learn how to survive in the real world, they deprive themselves of cost-saving and pain-relieving access to experience based wisdom, that could increase their chances of succeeding when the inevitable becomes their reality.
Know this: No matter how long you hang on to that job, you WILL one day have to let go. Some who NEVER thought they could lose their jobs because they knew they were “good”, did so, due to the mistakes of others!
And guess what? Their companies did not fold up after they left. In most cases, the companies did not even pause briefly as a result of their being let go. I think the following quote says it best:
The graveyards are full of indispensable men. — Charles de Gaulle
Please get over your “It can’t happen to me mentality”, and begin to actively think of ways you can prepare for the inevitable. If it’s not already too late, find a way to contact a former colleague who is in business(or any other competent person) to help you with your “re-education”.
If s/he happens to be like me i.e. one who knows the true worth of his/her hard earned knowledge, experience and billable time, then you can be sure you will NOT be getting that education FREE.
In many cases, some of these individuals had spent 2 or more decades of their lives working for the company they eventually left as Directors, Senior Managers etc.
That was not bad in itself. The problem was they knew NO other life, and had acquired little or no other socially relevant and marketable skills to guarantee their successful re-entry into the real -world.
Many would have gone through all those years telling everyone “Look, I’m busy”, “I don’t have time for that now!” etc. Then suddenly, they find they have more time than they can use – and very little energy(or ideas) – to utilise it in the way they need to!!
Please note that most pre-retirement programs seldom achieve any significant/useful preparation that a prospective retiree can successfully apply in the real world.
Apart from the fact that they are hurriedly put together and last only short periods, little real-world education can be imparted in the classroom environment that is typically used by organisers.
The real learning and re-education will have to be done out “on the streets”. And so, the inevitable becomes unavoidable!
From his single-track album titled “Perambulator”, released back in the ’80’s, I excerpted the following lines delivered in his usual pidgin English(The song centered on the lack of direction or purpose in the way African societies were run/organised) :
For the benefit of the reader who is not (yet) initiated into reading “our” pidgin English, I have translated excerpts as follows:
Fela: “He would have gone to school earlier on in life” (Chorus = “No solution”: meaning BUT IT will do him little or no good)
Fela: “They will teach him how to speak good English” (Chorus = “No solution”: meaning BUT IT will do him little or no good)
Fela: “He will be taught nothing that will benefit him personally” (Chorus = No solution = meaning BUT IT will do him little or no good)
Fela: “They will give him a certificate, to work as an employee” (Chorus = “No solution”: meaning BUt IT will do him little or no good)
Fela: “They will give him a certificate, to make him a civil servant” (Chorus = “No solution”: meaning BUt IT will do him little or no good)
Fela: “They will give him a certificate, to make him a certified slave” (Chorus = “No solution”: meaning BUt IT will do him little or no good)
.
The choice is yours to make! The morale drawn from Fela’s lyrics is even more relevant to the my next point(see B. below).
Now before you ask for my head, I am NOT saying it is bad to be an employee, or to pursue a long and fruitful career in a good company(though this can be hard to find these days!).
What I AM saying is that while doing that, one should also prepare for the inevitable return to life out of paid employment, where, very often, the skills successfully used for survival in a salaried job can be found totally obsolete in the real-world!
Some corporate multinationals require employees in various cadres of management to take, and pass, certain certification examinations in highly specialised fields, which they are told will increase their career advancement potentials within THAT company.
The sometimes un-stated fact however is that most of these exams and qualifications DO NOT in any way make the holder more usefully skilled and therefore employable elsewhere. In a way that’s good for the employer – BUT certainly not for the employee with lofty career ambitions!
The shocking reality of how limiting a specialist qualification can be, hit me in a bad way when I got a refusal letter sent to me regarding my application(in mid 2005) to enter the UK as a self-employed person to explore opportunities for business in that country under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme(HSMP).
Instead, I wish to point out how holding what was supposed to be an INTERNATIONALLY recognised professional brewing qualification(i.e Associate Membership Certification) awarded – following success in the qualifying examinations – by the UK based Institute & Guild Of Brewing which has membership spanning organisations across many continents DID NOT help my case in any way.
1. OPEN the eyes of any persons in paid employment who may wrongly assume they know all they think they know about their job status, entitlements etc. I urge you to find out and be sure what you find out is correct, so your future personal/career advancement plans don’t blow up in your face.
2. Show that taking examinations which make you more equipped to do specialised jobs, potentially limiting choices you may have in future when the need for a career change arises(and it will!) is not in your best interest. You would be VERY wise to begin learning to be a generalist FIRST (as advised by Robert Kiyosaki) before becoming a specialist.
a. Request to work in other departments/functions of your company, so as to increase your skills and knowledge.
b. Attend seminars that will make you proficient in areas you think may in future hold opportunities for personal advancement for you. THIS MAY NOT EVEN be in your present company or on your current job!
c. Look out for opportunities for different job openings that will allow you acquire new, different and more varied knowledge and experiences which will come in useful later in your personal/work life.
In order to dissuade others still in the company’s employ from following his/her footsteps, some individuals or decision makers in a company, and/or sole proprietorship employers, make a point of publicising any setbacks a member who resigned to venture into self-employment suffers while s/he struggles to get the business off the ground.
When s/he records a significant advancement, they conveniently fail to “take note” or play it down.
BUT as soon as news of a setback comes their way, they tell others – especially the impressionable young one
“See, why it never pays to think you know…see how he is suffering now..? And s/he was warned, but just would not listen. You better think well before you do anything stupid and start regretting it!”
A feeling arising from seeing the former member demonstrate great courage(probably applauded by others at the time), to do something they had been unable to find the guts to do for years – despite being unhappy with their own jobs too!
I say to you who read this article at this moment. Do NOT let anyone deceive you into thinking the prolonged bouts of suffering a self-employed person may have to endure during his/her business startup is bad.
Those experiences are meant to build up the willing person to become ultimately capable of running his/her venture profitably – for the long term.
Take the wisdom offered by your advisers in paid employment(who very often have little or NO experience in self-employment), and compare with what YOU SEE when you closely study an authentic entrepreneur whose actions/activities catch your attention and interest.
Then pick up books written by those who have succeeded the honorable way and read(and I do mean READ!). You will eventually find the TRUE answer.
But take this from me now: Without the suffering, rejection, bitter disappointments, setbacks etc, a person is unlikely to fully mature into a competent entrepreneur, capable of achieving the tall ambitions s/he has.
If there is one group of people who seem to be obsessed with self-delusion when it comes to serious matters like achieving one’s life purpose, I have to say it’s salary earners – AGAIN.
Not all of them of course – but a considerable majority. If they made reasonable effort to keep their unfounded fears to themselves, it probably would not have been worth talking about.
Sadly, they hide behind the false sense of security provided by their jobs(and attendant benefits) to propagate all kinds of unfounded myths about the wisdom of venturing into self-employment.
i]. They Are Terrified Of Giving Up A Steady Income Source. They simply cannot bear the thought of not being able to say, “I’m off to work this morning”, knowing they might not have access to steady inflow of cash to carry on with their established lifestyles .
It gets even worse. When confronted with the reality of no pay(or if self-employed and unable to get clients to pay up), they will readily drop all pretences at being “honest” and accept to do illegal and/immoral things to avoid being seen “to be incapable of meeting their obligations”.
In a particular case, the person concerned argued that if one was to be a “man”, and support his family, one could not afford to insist on doing things right every time. What warped logic! The lack of social security/welfare systems in some underdeveloped countries like mine, make this problem even more relevant.
ii]. They Are Terrified Because They ALWAYS Put Money First. Many salary earners simply cannot imagine life without money to spend. They absolutely dread the thought of going through any period of time without the assurance of an inflow of steady income.
Since going into self-employment carries with it the heavy risk of enduring often prolonged periods of cash shortages, they therefore fail to see why anyone in his right mind would decide to take a decision to do such a thing.
My argument is that it would however be wrong for anyone who feels that way, to justify his/her position by deliberately publicising – or even seeking ways to ensure – the failures of another who goes ahead to be self-employed. And this happens quite a bit. Maybe that’s why the chinese have this entertaining proverb:
“Man who says it cannot be done, should not get in the way of man who wants to do it” – Chinese Proverb
What this group of fickle-minded individuals fail to understand is that the creatures called “entrepreneurs” – the authentic ones – many times do not put the desire for money ahead of their desire to create, and pioneer new ways of doing things, so as to improve the lives of others.
The authentic entrepreneur enjoys the thrill, the excitement and the challenge of doing something new, probably not done before or not done THAT way before.
Evidence even exists that proves many entrepreneurs enjoy the journey more than they do, the actual attainment of their valued goal, which probably explains why they keep setting new heights to conquer, by launching other projects.
This love for what they do, is also why most authentic entrepreneurs will readily continue their work, even when monetary rewards are yet to materialise.
But in addition to the “enjoyment” of their work, entrepreneurs also eventually “see” the money. As I said in my article titled “Should You Quit Your Job or Start Your Business Part-time?”, doing what you love WILL also eventually bring the ONE benefit(money!) that many people always seem to want to get first. That’s why Marsha Sinetar said:
“Do what you love, and the money will follow” – Marsha Sinetar
iii]. They Are Terrified Because They Lack Vision/The Capacity To Visualise. Considering that most of the ideas they come up with tend to be what the larger society(which includes the terrified salary earners) cannot even comprehend, have never even thought of, and do not consider attainable, it is quite understandable that entrepreneurs get called “crazy”, “mad”, “unreasonable”, “dreamers” etc.
Today, we all take for granted the “reality” of being able to receive messages/transmissions through thin air, without physical wire connections from broadcast stations to TV and Radio sets in our homes. But it was Marconi, who came up with a principle which he claimed could be used to make this possible, at a time when nothing of the sort had ever been seen or done.
Guess what Marconi’s “friends” did to him after he made this claim? They so “loved” him, and worried for his “sanity” that they forcefully took him to a mental hospital for examination!
I am sure they must have been convinced he had gone off the deep end! Today, it would be ridiculous for anyone to even question the principles on which the TV and Radio work in our various homes and offices.
We really should thank entrepreneurs for refusing to be “reasonable”, and instead being “dreamers” or simply “mad”!
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” — George Bernard Shaw
I urge you to give serious thought to all that I have said here. Endeavour to serve your employer well. But always remember that her obligation to you ends the day you are officially listed as retired, retrenched, redundant, rationalised – or if you’re lucky to find the courage…”voluntarily resigned”.
Begin today to think what you will do AFTER you leave that nice comfy job with the FREE medical benefits, pretty cars, free accommodation, scholarship for your kids, free meals at work, sponsored holidays etc. Don’t let those numerous nice things of life turn you into an invalid who does not know left from right by the time you get back into the UHK – University of Hard Knocks(aka the real-world). And YOU WILL one day have to return to the real-world.
Here’s another reason to take me seriously. For two years(prior to quitting my job) I tried very hard to highlight in my resume the wonderful specialised international qualification I had, in many applications for different jobs in other companies, and found NOT one interested in it. When I spoke with others at courses I attended, a blank look always came into their eyes whenever I told them I possessed this qualification.
Then it hit me! What useful value could I really offer any employer – especially in my country, where the brewing profession is not as established as in the UK – aside from the one I currently worked for with that specialised qualification ?
Almost nothing – except an employer who happened to be in the same/similar industry. I could only think of ONE other company that fit the bill, and I certainly did not want to go there!
It was then that I realised what it felt like to be “trapped”. And I became even more determined to do something about my situation. This led me eventually to quit my job, and start my own business in order to fulfill my own long standing personal ambitions. You are reading all this now, because I found my true purpose – and followed it.
If doing so is what it means to be “MAD” as some of my former colleagues are supposed to have said, then I hope to be diagnosed with the most extreme form of MADNESS possible by the time I breathe my last breath!
NB: This article was first published onile by Tayo K. Solagbade on November 02, 2006
Nothing compares to a passion-driven team of people, committed to giving their best at what they do. Whether in paid employment, sports or elsewhere, the results they get will often record spectacular results.
Very often, the success of a team of people will depend on the leadership they have. Typically, that would be a central figure, or personality who will make team members buy into, and actively work together, to achieve the team’s purpose.
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Success in any area of life will come to you more frequently if you believe in yourself – unwaveringly – and show it.
The foregoing FACT becomes even more important to keep in mind if/when you have to start-up or run a business of your own. Few endeavours in life, are as challenging as having to take a business idea from zero to rewarding success.
In approaching people you want business from, you must come across as self-assured/confident and enthusiastic.
I have “entertained” many friends, clients (and even prospects) with the story of how, back in 2007, I endured major humiliation one fateful day when I (mistakenly?) entered an office in Ikeja, here in Lagos, to introduce my custom spreadsheet software development service.
The owner of the company was so amused to hear me say I could develop low-cost and time-saving automated spreadsheet software for him using MS Excel, that he burst out laughing many times, as I spoke.
Eventually, he turned to someone seated next to him, and pointing to me said “Can you imagine him wanting to teach me Excel? I know more Excel than he knows! What can he possibly teach me?” Looking at me, with a mocking expression on his face, he said with a tone of finality “Anyway, I wish you all the best”.
And it was a good thing that I did so.
Guess what happened? Before the end of that day, I had won a project to build a custom application for a medium-sized company in Omole Estate, Phase 1 in Ikeja, Lagos. And I went on to sell THAT same application to a similar company – also in Ikeja – less than ONE month after finishing it.
Looking back, I realise that it was the way I carried myself that often “won” over the clients. I always presented my offer in an engaging manner.
Apart from showing that I was excited about getting an opportunity to tell them what I could do to help them, I was also careful to employ very graphic verbal illustrations, that instantly communicated the benefits they wanted.
Most importantly, I NEVER let unsuccessful sales attempts from my past faze me one bit – every time I had a new opportunity to make my sales offers. Anyone who wants to succeed in selling to others will need to be able to do likewise or possibly better.
This article offers you a unique opportunity to access practical wisdom shared by a successful entrepreneur about raising startup capital. It is based on my handwritten notes, from a seminar I attended in the year 2000 (24 months before starting my own business).

From my undergraduate days I have honed my skill at taking near verbatim transcriptions of speakers’ utterances! Even clients often compliment me on my knack for documentation.
In addition to the actual notes I took from the seminar, I have also included REAL-WORLD relevant comments and annotations on the subject discussed, by drawing from my 10 years of experience in applying the ideas in starting/running my own business in Nigeria!
This article treats one of ten principles explained: “How To Get Other People To Give You Money To Start A Business (ONE Big Mistake You MUST Avoid)”.
It is instructive to note that this veteran entrepreneur told the personal story of when he started out in business, to explain to us the concepts he wanted us to understand in order to increase our chances of succeeding.
S.O told us that between December 1983 and January 1984 he read two of Napoleon Hill’s books – “Think & Grow Rich” and “Positive Mental Attitude”. What he learned from them prepared him mentally for the journey he planned to embark upon into the world of self-employment/business.
In February 1984, he had no one to give him money to start his own business even though they had it.
It was due to a mistake he was making. Simply put, he was NOT addressing the issue of WIIFM translated to mean “What’s In It For Me?”
So he spoke a while to us on “How to get other people’s cooperation”.
Basically, S.O explained that you have to think of the interest of the other person. Ask yourself – “What do I give in return for the money?” and /or “How will the person giving his money get it back out of the business?”
In March 1984, he decided to put his idea of starting a business of his own on the back burner.
However, the decision by his then employer – a newspaper company (where he worked as editor) – to implement a 25% cut on staff salaries forced him to revisit the idea and eventually put in his resignation.
That got him N4,000.00 (Four Thousand Naira). Note that this was a significant amount of money back then in 1984!
S.O then went to an older friend/mentor, who without asking any questions gave him a N2, 500 cheque.
My experiences in trying to get money in my startup years, confirm S.O is right. Without offering WIIFM answers, people will either NOT help or they’ll STOP helping.
So, when you start planning to start your business, take time to THINK of useful benefits you will offer to those you intend approaching, in exchange for the capital, money or funds you need them to give you.
You could offer them a stake in the business – equity. Or promise to pay back at an interest rate attractive enough to make them feel justified in taking the risk to invest in your idea.
While making your offers and promises, be RESPONSIBLE – do not exaggerate the possibilities, and DO tell let them know the risks involved, as there will often be that chance that your idea might not get up and running instantly:-)
Very rarely will people be prepared to part with significant amounts of money, if they have nothing to gain in return for doing so. Cater to that identified need in people, and you WILL get ready cooperation from them most of the time.
NB: This article was first published in 2011
The more I “data-mine” my website mailing LIST of subscribers, and some actually go ahead and buy my products/services (sometimes years after signing up), the more I tell other business owners this:
“The money is IN the LIST”!
Curious to know what I mean? Keep reading then!!
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My DIY (Do-It-Yourself ) mental attitude is the reason I have relentlessly succeeded, in spite of myriad challenges, over the past decade as an entrepreneur. Many of the obstacles I encountered were intimidating, and would have stopped me permanently, if I had NOT possessed this DIY reflex.
For instance, this website (www.tayosolagbade.com), my newsletter, indeed my entire business life would have “died” years ago, if I had not formed the “habit”.
Example: Click here read how despite losing my 9 year old spontaneousdevelopment.com domain in May 2014, I built a superior reincarnation of my website on www.tayosolagbade.com all by myself, in a matter of weeks!
(NB: In a related article written about 7 years back, I described myself as a Jack of Many Trades. Click to read it).
TIP: Consistent with the theme of this article, was the over 3 hour battle it took me to send it out as an email broadcast to my newsletter subscribers. From 10pm Nigerian time on Monday 17 Dec 2012, till well after 1a.m the next day(I was still based in Nigeria then), my Etisalat internet connection simple went to sleep for some strange reason at the time I need it to be awake the most.
And that was happening NOT for the first time!
Luckily for me, I’d already published the newsletter as scheduled on this blog which auto-published to my Facebook business fan page and personal profile, as well as my Twitter page via RSS Graffiti.
As you can imagine, it turned out to be a good thing that I knew enough to set it up this way. Otherwise, I’d have been unable to publish the online version when due!
If you live and work in a developed society, the need to do things yourself sometimes, may not readily appeal to you.
However, for people, like me, in less developed social environments, like mine, one often has to develop multiple interests and competencies to make up for the shortage of RELIABLE solutions.
A few years ago, I met a Nigerian gentleman who had just returned from the USA where he’d been away for about 5 years. During that time he had made a bit of name for himself as an author and speaker. His published book had sold quite well in the small town he was based.
And the local media had given him enough coverage to make him close to being a celebrity of sorts. From what he and his pretty Austrian wife told me, it was at one of his book signings that they met – and fell for each other.
My friend wanted to republish one of his popular books from the USA with a local printer. He also wanted to produce an audio version of the book. This was part of the plan he had to launch himself into the Nigerian market.
According to him however, the problem was that there seemed to be no standard service providers like those in the USA that could do what he wanted. He said back in the states he would simply hand over his manuscript to his agent, and virtually everything needed to get the book published would be handled by the latter.
Out here, he complained about having to run around looking for business centers to type and typeset his manuscript. And then there were countless errors that he had to sit with a computer operator to work through and correct.
To make matters worse, by the time I got involved I discovered they were typing his manuscript in Corel Draw!
My friend had no idea the business centre operator was using an inappropriate software application for his work.
He said “I just want it done! Back in the states I never had to get involved like this. I know nothing about all of this stuff”.
To cut the long story short, I had to really get involved in helping him find the right places to get the help he needed.
And that included going out of my way to locate a studio where he and his wife could produce the quality of recording they wanted for the book’s audio version.
Here’s what he asked me at a point: “So how come you know about all these things?
You’re not even a book publisher or anything!”
My answer was that I’d learnt the hard way that it was better to know a little about most things I planned to engage others to do for me. That equips me to assess what they do for me – and also contribute intelligently to the process – even do a few things on it by myself, should they be unavailable.
Now, what my friend went through can happen to anyone in one form or the other.
Maybe you won’t be coming to speak or provide your expert service here in Nigeria. But right there in your base
things can still go wrong.
How ready will you be when that happens?
(NB: I recall reading New York Times stories that described the experiences of people who’d failed to heed warnings
issued about Hurricane Sandy. Some of them got trapped – a few even lost their lives, because they failed to prepare for the unlikely but possible!)
Maybe she’s a tech savvy person who prepares all your Power Point presentations, or does your graphic designs for your client projects for instance.
I hate to think negative too…:-)
But what if for some reason, she becomes temporarily unavailable?
Do you have ready access to someone else you can reliably reach out to? And if not, do you have any idea of how to prepare a Power point presentation as impressive as those she does for you by yourself?
What about preparing your speaker one-sheets? Or creating passable designs that can meet the client’s expectations?
God forbid you discover a wrong phone number or mistyped email address on the newly prepared speaker one sheet you want to give a meeting planner. Or maybe there’s a wrong phone number on the website header image/banner to be used for a client’s website.
If you had requested a copy of the raw Corel Draw or Photoshop file used to prepare
the speaker sheet or website graphic, maybe you’d be able to quickly edit it, and produce a corrected version.
But if you had NOT requested a copy of the raw document, or you did NOT know how to carry out simple editing edits of that kind using the relevant application…you’d risk making a poor impression on the client. Indeed, it could cause the client to lower his/her rating of you!
The truth is that even the most reliable of people – your trusted assistant or highly reputable provider inclusive – can sometimes make mistakes or fail to come through for you when it matters.
We are all human after all – which is why one must always have a fall back plan in place.
Will you be prepared with an alternative plan if/when that happens? Or will you just try to wing it?
That implies repeat business, even referrals, are likely to come from them for you.
Ironically, you may only need to know a little about most things, to achieve this significant impact.
Interestingly, learning those little things may just require PROACTIVELY spending a little time with those who do those things for you normally.
Or it could mean making out time to read – and practice what you learn from – a self-help (or DIY) tutorial!
In the end, quite often, you’ll find you have a LOT to gain, and nothing to lose by adopting this attitude, and acting diligently on it all the time.
They will enjoy a lot of positive attention and recognition from their peers and adults alike, for being that way. Attention that will over time earn them financially rewarding personal and career advancement opportunities.
Good luck!
PS: I practice what I preach…
And that’s just one of so many things they have learnt how to do. You can do the same for your kids. They will be forever grateful to you :-))
On 4th May 2014, Tayo’s 9 year old domain (Spontaneousdevelopment dot com), which hosted his website, was taken over by Aplus.net.
Within a few days however, Tayo used his advanced self-taught web development skills to build a SUPERIOR “reincarnation” of it the website http://www.tayosolagbade.com.
But updates are still ongoing to URLs bearing the old domain name in most of the over 1,000 web pages, and blog posts
he’s published.
If you experience any difficulties finding a page or document, email Tayo at tksola dot com.
Click “Tayo, What Happened to SpontaneousDevelopmentDotCom ?” to read a detailed narrative about how the above event occurred :-))
A Proven Strategy to Find Profitable Buyers Regardless of Your Domain Name
NB: This article was first published online via spontaneousdevelopment.com in 2012
