StartUp Success Trap -@segalink
It is simple to trace the trajectory of the failure of most startups in Nigeria. I can say this in the know because I have built a few and handed over to their respective owners before they failed months or even years after.
Here is why:
Whether you use Individuals, Firm or administration (Government), this analogy apply to all, from my personal experience going 20years. Firms work hard to meet their objectives, while adhering to their strategic plan up to the tiny details of their daily tactics and evaluation.
The moment they get noticed and start making waves they want to live the life of success. This is human from all Observations. To many, it is a reward system to live life based on what you can afford but they forget the trap of human adaptability.
Of course success have many relatives. The awards start pouring in, each day an interview or article comes out about you. Everyone wants a piece of you and writing about you creates a buzz with your mentions on Fire across platforms.🔥
You appear on almost every TV show and no news is ever complete without a sound byte from you. It won’t take long before your teeming fans begin to make demands on you. They want you to act a certain way and live a certain way. You will want to live up to this and hire more hands.
Your success story proliferate soft sells and by now investors are hounding you for a bite in the cake of your future as perceived. In your mind with their money you can achieve more. Even bank marketers are helping you to project your new bright future. They want to give loans.
You are heavily distracted. Your 10-man team that fought by your side in belief and dedication may even be suffering from the impact of the new status. They too want a better life by association. Society expect the success to rub off on them. Their kids need new schools. They deserve better homes and a change of environment commensurable to their new status. They want to make a statement with what they wear and drive. The office needs makeover and Government hacks are calling for you to handle their PR. You are suddenly the Bomb.
In other climes Bigger firms will be struggling in heated competition to buy your firm. The money would seem reasonable. Your phones are off the hook. Now you certainly feel the need to hire more hands who mostly are not even as good as your core team.
Quality gets defenestrated in rapid growth and you incure more liabilities as you proceed. People hardly think when in a hurry. So to break even you feel the urge to sign up more clients. But soon the weight of managing your newly found fortune will cripple you suddenly sell out and burn out in a couple of years.
What makes that decision easy is the number of devils at your new level. Businesses gone bad, previously unnoticed recruitment errors, ghost of girlfriends past, you name it. But how long does such payout last? How long will it take for you to know you are done?
This I discovered at a very tender age thus the rule we have been running over 15years at @AliensmediaComm We pick our clients and fire them as well. We are cautious not to allow our gift strangle us. We have our limit in retainers and don’t grow clients unduly.
We maintain our core team and curate interns carefully. We never rush to hire and even when we find the need to do so it is purely based on diligence, competence, discipline, prudence in matters and the recommendation of a credible sponsor. This is our corporate culture.
If we have 20 core clients of years and there is a need to add another, we may have to evaluate the ones we have and determine the weaker link to fire for the new addition. We don’t do proposals and emails are never our means of sealing deals or deliberating on cost of services.
So imagine what our waiting list looks like both on the clientele side, internship hopefuls and talent recruitment. We know who we are what we stand for. There is no desperation. The vision is clear. The policy is tight and we don’t compromise our conviction.
If our Corporate Social Responsibility can fill institutional gaps on the national scale across community, police and education intervention, as seen with the various advocacy programs launched through the fully registered @SIAF_NG imagine the root of the firm.
So don’t let your vision strangle you is all we are saying. Don’t do anything just to prove a point to your enemies. Follow the process and understand the meaning of purpose and fulfillment. Leave a LEGACY, be it corporately, personally or as an Administration Government wise.
Don’t be a flash in the pan. All that glitters are not gold. Nothing ever remains the same. Stop increasing liabilities just to appeal to people seeking distractions. Focus on your path and be mindful of your society for we are society.
Rush nothing. Force nothing. What will be will be. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. What works for others may not work for you, so be true to you and tap from your core. All that you can be is already in you. You just need to use your environment to activate purpose.
Grow through what you go through. There will be storms ahead but those waiting for a calm sea never leave the shore. Never get discouraged, you are your number one believer. If you don’t believe in yourself in confidence and faith, no one will.
Once your impact becomes visible you are indestructible. You’re you in your own class and remains the only competition to yourself. Strive to be better than you’re yesterday and put smiles on the faces of people you probably will never meet.
This is the leadership example of our Lord Jesus Christ ⛱
Picture : inc42.com
