An entrepreneur may have an amazing idea for a business that will bring in millions of Naira but the business could fail or steadily decline over time. If it does not fold, the entrepreneur might be unable to make the business scale or expand.
Some other entrepreneurs do not lack finances for their business’s operations and still have a hard time making the business successful and making it grow. If ideas and finances are not enough for business success, what else is needed? The answer is simple “Habits”. Positive, success producing habits. It is the one consistent attribute successful Nigerian entrepreneurs have.
It is not coincidental that a lot of the successful business people in Nigeria who legitimately made their money, run their lives and businesses on positive habits. The two go hand in hand.
Dangote, for instance, wakes up by 5:30 a.m and works for about 18hours everyday. Bishop Oyedepo of the Living Faith church world wide read the biographies of top Universities in the world like Oxford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale etc. This was just so he could know how they ran those schools before starting his own — Covenant University. There are many more which will be mentioned in this article.
Dr, Stephen Akintayo, CEO/MD of GText Global was asked in an interview why some people cannot seem to maintain the financial success they achieve. He responded by saying there is a difference between making money and managing/multiplying it and the latter can only be achieved by having good habits.
All habits are learnable. It is not a “if you don’t have it, you don’t have it” situation where some people are born with it and others are not.
These are 7 habits of successful Nigerian entrepreneurs:
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1. Discipline
According to Brian Tracy, “Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it whether you feel like it or not.” Successful people are hardly found spending the majority of their time on frivolous activities like chattering about things that do not add value to them or their business or watching TV all day. They are up early and they go back to bed late, spending the majority of their time learning and implementing what their business needs to thrive. When Dangote was asked in an interview how he is able to work for 12 hours daily, he corrected the interviewer by saying, “I actually work 18hours daily”.
They always delay immediate gratification in the short term so that they can get better results in the long term. This is an indispensable prerequisite for success. For instance, they will never spend the capital for their business on personal needs.
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2. Boldness
Successful Nigerian entrepreneurs are bold and always willing to take risks. They always take action on things that are uncomfortable for them as long as it gives them an advantage. This is one major way to grow personally and professionally. These entrepreneurs always trust in their ability to complete tasks and take on projects even when they are not a 100% ready. Because of this they are always making progress. They are not afraid to make connections and build relationships with individuals and organizations that can help make their business bigger, no matter how inaccessible the individuals may be.
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3. Frugality
Frugality is the ability to spend as little as possible, or to spend efficiently to avoid unnecessary expenses. This habit has proven to be very helpful to entrepreneurs running a business. Successful business people curb their impulse to buy things that they had not budgeted for. No matter how rich they get, they always live below their means. As a result, they are excellent financial managers and always successfully multiply money.
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4. Studious/Inquisitive
Above anyone and anything else, successful Nigerian entrepreneurs are voracious readers. It is a daily routine for them. Tony Elumelu, said when he was young, his uncle read about finance and relationships for an hour every night. He picked up the habit and it’s one of the factors that led to his success. They are inquisitive; never satisfied with what they know. They would go the extra mile to get information about their industry and their business.
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5. Positive Outlook
Every business goes through setbacks. Every entrepreneur will face push back and challenges that will make them want to give up and close down their business. Those who are successful today developed a habit of looking on the bright side and believing that things will work out even when everything seems bleak.
Oba Otudeko always believes that whatever he will venture into will succeed and with that he started the Honeywell Group.
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6. Perseverance
“I refused to give up and I endured till it worked out.” In every success story, this expression exists in one form or another. Successful men and women keep pushing despite their failures and because of this they eventually reach their destination.
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7. Taking Ownership
Successful business people never put the blame for something going wrong on other people. They never make excuses for why their endeavors failed. Instead they recognize their responsibility, make adjustments, improve, move forward and achieve success.
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My name is Emmanuel Ejiga. Content lead of OG Capital
I am a writer. Technical writer, song writer, and sometimes fictional writer.
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