THE HUSTLE OF AN ENTREPRENEUR: PART 1

It is said that "every great work is a product of small beginning", which I believe, is the starting point of most entrepreneurs, though to each, it's own. 

The hustles and jostles it's pretty much the case of every entrepreneur and the challenges and hurdles they face and cross or still facing or either crossing daily to get to the apex is a concern. I'm certain, every entrepreneur has role models and mentors, but you know quite a few everyone can refer to such as Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Oprah Winfrey, Mo Abudu, Bill gates and Donald trump amongst others.                

                 

       I remember quite well when I started the whole "buying and selling" I was still a student in the University, my cousin introduced me to the FM(Federico Mahora Distrubution Network) business, she was hinted about the business in order to register and engage in but she was procrastinating and I on the other hand jumped at it without a second thought, went straight to the bank to make payment and then to the cafe to register and become a distributor. I Waited eagerly for my sample pack and catalogues and it was delivered to me in school after three days. I can still remember the excitement when I got the call from the courier guy and received the brochure preceding the product package. For a while, I kept on looking at the amazing range of FM products, browsed all the pages over and over and read the manual till I got an idea on how to go about it. 

      I started introducing the brand to school mates who were not familiar with it because it was a foreign brand and started convincing them to buy. Luckily for me, it was the month of valentine which created the right avenue to sell. I remembered having to deal with students who were eager to buy, as a result, ordered items to give their loved ones for valentine which was some few days away, even when I was yet to receive my products package. At a point I began to panic because my product was yet to arrive and the deal day based on order was near but I managed to call FM office only to find out that my products was sent to my home address in Yola instead of my school address in Abuja and the challenge of getting the package from Yola back to Abuja before valentine began. Fedex, the courier company I engaged was giving me the option of getting it after valentine because they don't work on weekends and every indication potrays that the impatient students will have me for lunch before then. Luckily for me on same valentine day, I got my brother who took control of the situation and extorted me for all it's worth to get the package to the airport and straight to Abuja through the immediate available flight. I got exit from school to the airport and got my package, it was indeed the most stressful day of my whole semester not to mention the cash I spent though I was a newbie, yet I didn't let it deter me. I got to school late in the evening and met some students already waiting for me in my room to get their stuff and hand it to their loved ones. I quickly handed over the items to the buyers, the worse of it was complaints from customers claiming their expectations wasn't met, some said the products appeared smaller than the were on paper while others said that some lipsticks and glosses weren't the exact colours that was on the catalogues. 

      I had to take the blame even when I hadn't seen the products myself prior to that day, I saw it on the catalogues same way they did and also got the shocker when it was right in front of us but as a business person, I had to absorb it all and apologize, concurrently, a friend intervened saying, "I , like them didn't have an idea that the products wouldn't be as big as they were in the catalogues and besides objects on paper are smaller than they appear" after the speech every one calmed down and left in good fate. I was happy and grateful to her and that motivated me. I continued my business in good fate for sometime even as a student but got lazy and sometimes unserious along the line, but I still had my stuff and could pick up and continue whenever I want. My school stage phased out and I proceeded to serve as a teacher in a secondary school so I had ample time to continue the business again. Along the line I got a job as a marketer to replace my teaching job but such didn't give me enough room to combine with the business so I kept it for evening after the close of work and weekends and at a point it became stressful to do both, eventually it got me into some kind of trouble so I stopped. While all these were going on, my best friend had opened her beauty studio and was taking her entrepreneurial journey to the next level so this got me thinking of running my own bussiness and becoming my own boss too. Thoughts of quitting my job came to play and unfortunately I got sacked before I got to the resigning stage. Frankly, I felt bad, just like a failure who couldn't handle her responsibilities well enough. I remember being indoors for days, I wasnt my normal chatty self, didn't even go to my friends room to hang out. I was lost in my thoughts, sleeping, reading and praying was all I did. Oops, oh and eating too. 

      Finally, it hit me that I had a shop I abandoned back home because of my youth service. Upon getting home December 22, while others were getting ready for Xmas, I got right to work collected the shop key, went and checked out the state of the shop and the next day I got to purchasing items to set it up with the little money I saved during service year. I basically couldn't afford too many hands, so I joined the hired hands all the way, until the shop was set to my standards but not really my ideal standard but that which the money available could afford. Afterwards, I invited my parents to see all I have done so far and I went ahead to ask for funds to start stocking the shop. Typical with most entrepreneurs, I didn't get the money I wanted but at least it got me started. Here I am with a big shop, two large shelves and one showcase, barely enough money to fill the showcase meaning anyone who was coming to Nena's world( that's the name of my shop) was practically coming to an empty shop despite that, I didn't relent. Now it was time for me to get back to Portharcourt to pack my belongings to relocate to Yola but I had to make a quick stop at Lagos to attend a convention and a friend suggested that while at it, I should consider buying other items to put in the shop. In my desperation and awareness of an empty shop. I asked my mum for a loan and an uncle gave me his window's mite which got me going but it could barely fill up one of the large shelves staring at me. With a glimmer of hope i got from the reverend at the convention I attended, I once again started soliciting for funds by calling everyone that had promised me money, but all I got was excuses. I started getting depressed but still manage to remain calm and trust in God for a way out, yet none was forthcoming so I left Lagos and came back home disappointed and bitter at the sight of my shop but my parents and siblings never stop ringing it in my ears, "start small , all great people started small ", " despite not your small beginnings " though some of the advice was born out of the fact that they weren't willing or didn't have money to give me to expand yet and I also didn't want to be ungrateful by pressurizing them, after all they tried. At a point I got thinking of a way out, so I resorted to picking old and forgotten products, empty containers and packs of products from the house to place in the shop in order to make it look less scanty. It was still far from looking full yet my sister kept adding to the pain by asking me almost every blessed day on how I will feel if a customer touched an empty item, as my sister she would feel embarrased, as a result, I should stop such. I will just laugh and say i will exclaim in surprise " what? When did this product leak" I'm really sorry for that." Until it happened one fateful day and I was embarrassed and ashamed but I managed to voiced out an excuse for that. I braced up for days after and kept at it even with the lack of customers among other challenges small business owners face daily, every money I got was channeled towards growing the shop, every thought was directed towards the business and then I understood what my boss was going through when I was unproductive or not bringing in the "big bucks" to the office and he was suffering from lack of money to pay salaries and run the office efficiently. I just couldn't afford to be lazy or relaxed because their wasn't any salary at the end of the month. What you sow is what you reap is the case when running your own business, so I kept trying harder and every item I sold I invested the proceeds back to the business. 

Am still not where I want to be but I'm not where I used to be, it gets harder at times and i feel like quitting, heck, I even second guess my decision sometimes but since quitters never win, am still pressing on. Still learning and growing, hope you are too? 

"Capital isn't so important in business, experience isn't so important, you can have both of these, what is more important is ideas, the ability to start something and the spirit to keep going when the tide is rough." and to always trust in God to see you through.