24
So You
Wanna Be In
Business?
“ Marketing is the whole business seen from
the point of view of its final result, that is,
from the customer’s point of view.”—Peter Drucker
I
s the glass ceiling giving you neck ache? Have you considered
setting up your own business? Before you tell your boss what he
can do with his lowly job, have a look at our guide for business
start-ups by Emmanuel Ohajah.
Your Biggest Asset is You
Ask yourself a few searching questions and answer
honestly. What are your main talents? What
experiences can you draw upon to create a platform
to launch your business? Don’t restrict your selfexamination to your working life. Think broadly
about what knowledge you possess. What are you
genuinely interested in? Look at your background,
general life experiences, educational achievements
and cultural interests. All have value. All areas can
and should be exploited.
What are the personal qualities that account for
your greatest successes so far? What personal
abilities have got you to where you are today? How
could you apply those same skills and abilities to
starting and developing your new business? What
are you good at and what areas will you need
assistance with? What has been your biggest
failure? Why did it happen and how did you
bounce back. Running a business means thinking
creatively, learning quickly from mistakes and
continuously moving forward. All of your life
experiences will be useful in helping you to
formulate how to get your idea off the ground.
The most important point about your
entrepreneurial journey is for you to make a
start. Take one significant action and the next
step will be easier. The limits to your success
are largely in your own mind.
Problems Need Solutions
Find a problem and solve it. Val McCalla launched
The Voice newspaper in Britain in 1982. He had a
vision for a black newspaper that would articulate
the aspirations of and meet the needs of the
generation of black people born in Britain in the 60s
and 70s. There was also a government need to
promote equality in British society in the wake of
riots and wholesale urban disquiet. McCalla’s Voice,
in the 80s and 90s, met both needs and was very
popular and very profitable. Conversely, look for
solutions. Find a way to supply a product or a service
cheaper, better, faster or easier. Big companies get
lazy and are slow to innovate, leaving space for
smaller entrants to the market. Claim your niche
in the market place and grow your business.
The Customer is King
Jim Barksdale, the CEO of Netscape Communications
Corporation during the dot com era, once stated
that Netscape’s business purpose was, ‘to create and