1k001:


Yeah it's pretty easy to find what my startup, thanks for not revealing. I'll deny it anyway, I want to keep this independent of it so i can say speak freely.

Nigerians are crazy indeed, i've got a few stories coming up! Running a team in Nigeria remotely is difficult!

Regarding your advise of limiting to a location, we started out broad and being for everyone and everywhere but it's difficult to get any kind of traction. The reason is when you're for everyone and everywhere you're for noone and nowhere. All the start up greats like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel will tell you to look for a niche and own it before you expand. So define a segment of the market and a defined location.

Examples of this in current succeses:
Facebook - Limited to Havard initially then, one university after another
Paypal - Focused on power sellers on ebay
Air bnb - started in san fransisco targetting conference goers, incredibly small niche but now are all over the world

It's counter-intuitive but it works. We have tested this ourselves. When we tried to be everything for everyone we couldn't get any users. Now we've narrowed to a particular location and sub niche and we're seeing results already.

So to all entrepreneurs, resist the urge to be everything for everybody. Start small and do things that don't scale. Read Paul graham here:
http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

Perhaps you have interpreted the advise a little differently.
The point was to go ahead with your niche, but do not lose sight of the fact that a potential for expansion exists.
To this end, you need to look far ahead, and identify some of the things which might hinder a smooth and organic expansion.

These things could be manner of branding etc
If Facebook (which started as Thefacebook) had started as Harvardbook or Collegebook, it would have had to rebrand at multiple stages in its growth.
If Airbnb started as Calibnb.. well, you get the point.

So, to reiterate; Go after a niche (regardless of the market), but keep the big picture in sight when making strategic decisions.

NaLaugh:

Perhaps you have interpreted the advise a little differently.
The point was to go ahead with your niche, but do not lose sight of the fact that a potential for expansion exists.
To this end, you need to look far ahead, and identify some of the things which might hinder a smooth and organic expansion.
These things could be manner of branding etc
If Facebook (which started as Thefacebook) had started as Harvardbook or Collegebook, it would have had to rebrand at multiple stages in its growth.
If Airbnb started as Calibnb.. well, you get the point.
So, to reiterate; Go after a niche (regardless of the market), but keep the big picture in sight when making strategic decisions.

You're right indeed. Scale is important and we certainly are designing for scale. It's Inherent in our DNA as not all founders are Nigerian.

As a matter of fact we've gotten several invitations to set-up shop in different countries but Nigeria is home to Mr CEO, moi, so i decided to come crack this market first. Also Nigeria is in dire need of what i'm working on. We'll see how things will turn out

Thanks for reading and thanks for the advice.

nice one. keep it up

going by yo last post I'm frightened you have embarked on the same thing I have in mind. I will be quite heartbroken if it turns out to be the same

Nmeri17:
going by yo last post I'm frightened you have embarked on the same thing I have in mind. I will be quite heartbroken if it turns out to be the same

My last post was vague so unlikely we are in the same field. What field is yours, i'll tell you if it's the same.

In any case never be disheartened about competition. Ours is a big country and a big world, no 2 products can ever be the same. All you need to do is your homework, position yourself right and you'll be in business.

Just look at how Facebook obliterated myspace, bebo, hi5 etc or how the almighty nokia fell.

If we turn out to be in the same field we could collaborate. The market is a hard one so the more synergy the better.
That's one thing lacking in Nigerian businesses, collaboration. Silicon valley is the way it is because of the amazing synergy the ecosystem they're in promotes. People there collaborate easily, we should aspire to the same. Read 'zero to one' to hear Peter Thiel go on about how competition kills companies and ultimately innovation. He makes several sound points.

debbydee:
nice one. keep it up

Thanks. Are you doing a start-up yourself?

1k001:


Thanks. Are you doing a start-up yourself?

yes. very soon you will see my post.

Product Development

I am not a coder so i defer to my technical founders a lot in the development process. However i've tried to be involved as much as possible as i have a clear vision of what i want the software to be able to do. I also have dabbled a tiny bit so that the code makes more sense to me. It's hard as i'm juggling a lot but i understand the basic syntax of HTML and python. Doubt i'll be enlarging my vocabulary any time soon as there's just to much to do.

I'll speak more on the broader aspects of product dev. I had clear ideas of what i wanted, however it was hard deciding on an MVP (minimum viable product). MVP is the minimum set of features your product must have in order for it to demonstrate what you're trying to achieve. After months of customer development and coding we finally arrived at what i think is an acceptable MVP. It's what we've launched with and already have a few customers using it and a tiny bit of revenue. What we are selling ultimately is not our current product but the destination we are headed. This is where finding early adopters is key, they are people who understand the destination and are willing to put up with the inconveniences now to get there.

Ours is a cloud based solution so we applied to microsoft who accepted us to their bizspark programme. I urge others to apply, they give your free hosting on azure among other benefits worth in excess of thousands of dollars. We would be nowhere mostly without microsoft.

Generally product is not often the problem for us in startups. We all have products and the ability to code them. The bigger question is will the end customer actually use my product to solve their problem. That's the real hard thing. The way to try overcome this is the customer development process. Well articulated by steve blank in his books and presentations. Basically he says that the first thing you should do, even before writing any code is to go talk to your end user and find out what their problem is and how their currently solving it. Only then can you truly make a product that will address his need. Even more ideal is convincing the customer to pay for it before you build (dream on in Nigeria!)

Our customer development process involved, phone interviews, emails and online surveys with well over 100 people. It took time, effort and money but it was necessary. We know as a result that even though we had a good hunch initially about our product, we have small validation from speaking to potential end users. We have a good sense of what the problems are and are applying ourselves to solve it for people. It also meant we could contact them to try the product when we launch, something we've done. Learning from this process, i will advice anyone to finely target your customer interviews as much as possible. We could have done a better job selecting our potential customers.

Few more gems i've read: Code for idiots because one will end up maintaining it.
Assume your customers are idiots when coding. Make things as user friendly as possible
Don't get too fancy for your MVP, concentrate on functionality. Think back to the first days of facebook and how simple it was.
Don't forget customer support. It must be done by all founders, coders and non coders alike.

Lastly and most importantly: Real founders ship! If you're not ashamed of your first product then you've shipped too late.

That's about it for now. Any thoughts from anyone?

debbydee:


yes. very soon you will see my post.

Awesome, would like to hear all about it. Never get enough of start-up stories and there are far too few in Nigeria so you must share

1k001:


Awesome, would like to hear all about it. Never get enough of start-up stories and there are far too few in Nigeria so you must share

I will. at the moment i am still building my profile. i have gotten some of the necessary items ready.

Jack of all trades

I just goggled 'how to publish a cook book' and couldn't help but chuckle and share my thoughts.

Since becoming an entrepreneur I've literally become a jack of all trades: photographer, graphic designer, copy writer, human resources manager, accountant, financial analyst, investment banker, statistician, marketer, salesperson, product designer, and now a cookbook publisher. I wonder what will be next, clowning?

Thank God for Google and thank God for being able to learn. Lack of knowledge is now no longer an excuse, the question is do you want it bad enough?

So if your're wondering whether to start or not? just do it! What other job would you get to do all these varied things?

If you end up failing, look at all the skills you can put on your CV

Nothing is as exciting and enriching as being in a startup!

Ideas

People always ask, i need an idea to start a business, how can i get a good one?

Well i'll tell you something, since becoming an entrepreneur. I've come up with tons of ideas. Unable to divide my attention however.

Ever noticed that a lot of entrepreneurs end up founding serial companies and products. Ever wondered why? That's because of the mindset an entrepreneur has. In order to get a business idea, you have to put your mind in the right frame.

I met a guy recently who left Nigeria and tried to come back to live but couldn't because of NEPA. He left and returned, guess what he does now? provides solutions to enable people get uninterrupted off grid electricity without a loud generator. That's the mindset that's needed, turn every problem to an opportunity.

Our big country is brimming with problems looking for brave people to attempt to solve them. If you can reliably solve a problem for enough people, in no time people will be looking for you so much you will have to hide.

So to get an idea find a problem, preferably one that afflicts you or people close to you and find a way to solve it. Learn, learn, learn and then learn some more. In no time ideas will be popping out of the walls. So even if your initial venture fails, you've put yourself in the frame of mind to see opportunities in the problems you face.

If after giving it a hard slog my venture eventually fails, trust me when i say i have a hundred more ideas i will pursue. Tasting this start-up life means i will not be settling for anything else. ( wife agreeing of course )

following.

1k001 sir please permit me to comment on some of your posts tomorrow

1k001:
Ideas

People always ask, i need an idea to start a business, how can i get a good one?

Well i'll tell you something, since becoming an entrepreneur. I've come up with tons of ideas. Unable to divide my attention however.

Ever noticed that a lot of entrepreneurs end up founding serial companies and products. Ever wondered why? That's because of the mindset an entrepreneur has. In order to get a business idea, you have to put your mind in the right frame.

I met a guy recently who left Nigeria and tried to come back to live but couldn't because of NEPA. He left and returned, guess what he does now? provides solutions to enable people get uninterrupted off grid electricity without a loud generator. That's the mindset that's needed, turn every problem to an opportunity.

Our big country is brimming with problems looking for brave people to attempt to solve them. If you can reliably solve a problem for enough people, in no time people will be looking for you so much you will have to hide.

So to get an idea find a problem, preferably one that afflicts you or people close to you and find a way to solve it. Learn, learn, learn and then learn some more. In no time ideas will be popping out of the walls. So even if your initial venture fails, you've put yourself in the frame of mind to see opportunities in the problems you face.

If after giving it a hard slog my venture eventually fails, trust me when i say i have a hundred more ideas i will pursue. Tasting this start-up life means i will not be settling for anything else. ( wife agreeing of course )

I have been silently following this thread. U doing a good job boss. Seems to me you have read so many books and researched a lot to put u in good stead. The problem with Nigeria I know today is so many people want to partner in an already set up biz. Few want to start from scratch and sacrifice at d start up.

I currently have a biz m developing. This idea is done physically in Nigeria and I wonder why not online yet. Heck erytin is going online now. But my issue is I can't do this alone. I need a team to push this idea with me. But no one seem interested so I'm developing the site myself and hoping this stuff works out.

Enuf of my rants. Keep the write up coming bro. M enjoying it

tooltip:
1k001 sir please permit me to comment on some of your posts tomorrow

You're welcome to. I hope this thread becomes a place where we can all come to share our respective journeys. The more experiences we share, the better for us all.

freetowns:

I have been silently following this thread. U doing a good job boss. Seems to me you have read so many books and researched a lot to put u in good stead. The problem with Nigeria I know today is so many people want to partner in an already set up biz. Few want to start from scratch and sacrifice at d start up.

I currently have a biz m developing. This idea is done physically in Nigeria and I wonder why not online yet. Heck erytin is going online now. But my issue is I can't do this alone. I need a team to push this idea with me. But no one seem interested so I'm developing the site myself and hoping this stuff works out.

Enuf of my rants. Keep the write up coming bro. M enjoying it

Thank you! I enjoyed your rant.

You're right you can't do it alone. Persist however and be strategic in approaching the right people. Also be willing to give as much as you want to take. When i was speaking to my co-founder to get on board, he was working on this really cool iOS app. I offered to help him market and sell it, told him his skills were too good not to share it with the wider world. This i think tipped his mind a little more in my favor. Funny enough since we started working together, he has shelved his iOS app.

You may have to approach people through an indirect means. Example, approach a few people who are doing it offline and become friendly with them. Study how they go about their business and pick the one who prides themselves in excellence, are passionate and not too egotistical. I've found in my short time in business that going indirectly can sometimes bring bring better results than otherwise.

Remember the only people you need initially in a tech start-up are people who code and people who sell, everything else is superfluous (Paul Graham not me)

Hitting the market

No amount of planning can get you ready for when you hit the market. We had been planning, learning and developing for about 8 months. Time had finally come for us to start selling and get customer feedback. We were no where near a finished product. In fact i don't think we will ever have a finished product. I plan to continue iterating indefinitely to provide more and more service and quality for my users.

I arrived in Nigeria, tired and jet-lagged but proceeded to hook up with my team on the same day. The next day, we had a sales pitch with a potential customer that could net us thousands of dollars in revenue. We arrived at the appointed time but you know Nigeria, we waited for about an hour. Finally we were ushered in to speak to the boss. We exchanged pleasantries and proceeded to reel him in.

We did a high level overview of the problem we were working on and they were in immediate agreement that it was a problem for them too. We proceeded to carry out a demo and outline the benefits of our service. The boss loved it and wanted to be signed up straight away. Sweet, we were happy to do a deal on the spot until the finance guy butted in, we haven't signed them till date although it still looks promising.

A few things i took out of that meeting is to zero in on the decision makers, no point wasting time pitching to a non decision maker. Always find out who makes the decision and then target him/ her. This targeting might not be direct but be strategic about how doing it indirectly will ultimately lead you to the decision maker. Also think and plan about the length of a sales cycle when pursuing clients. Often the bigger the deal, the longer the cycle. All well and good except you might your runway might finish prior to landing the deal depending on your burn rate. There's no point landing a million dollar deal after you go bankrupts. So strategize and look for smaller 20 dollar deals here and there to keep you going while you angle smartly for the bigger deals. The bigger deals may fall through anyway despite a large amount of worke whereas the small deals are smaller effort and you know quickly where you stand.

Furthermore, early on in our conversation we were asked: Are you a registered company? are you allowed to do this? Do you have an office. These questions were in line with the feedback we were getting initially. Even as an online business you need a physical presence where someone can call in and ask you questions face to face. You need some type of reputation and expert basis for someone to trust you. That's why i think that the ideas that are most likely to succeed and make it big in Nigeria are experts who innovate in their field. Our business environment hasn't progressed to accepting garage start-ups yet. Read on techcabal.com the founder of Prepclass write about the hustle actually being offline. What he writes is absolutely spot on. Us tech start-ups often forget that we are really a business and we don't differ that much from all other non- tech, brick and mortar businesses, particularly in Nigeria. I'll talk more about offline hustle in future posts.

So we set about looking for an office, the prices in my chosen city were eye-poppingly outrageous. My budgeted amount couldn't even cough at the prices they were quoting. What's worse is the crazy demand for annual or biennial advance rent payments. My retort always was: ' I could be out of business in 2 years yet you want me to pay for this office for that amount of time!'. After much looking and frustrations we finally settled on a place. Wasn't the most ideal for our purpose but was still expensive. I rejigged the budget to reflect this. What it meant for me and my family was more noodles and water for breakfast, lunch and dinner and no new or nice things for sometime.

You may have noticed here i've used more business lingo, get comfortable with it because that's how we all need to think and speak when it comes to business.

A small note about experts

People often don't quite understand expertise. All it is is knowledge asymmetry. You become a relative expert when you have more knowledge than whoever you a relating with at that time. So the way to become an expert is simple: Gain knowledge

To become an absolute expert - and not be a fraud - you need to gain enough knowledge to be within the normal knowledge range of other people who charge people for access to their services.

Aim to be an expert in the field you operate in order to be successful. When you become an expert the next aim should be to become a thought leader, this is often a natural progression if you are always striving to be on top of your game.

Human Resources

Managing people, particularly Nigerians is by far the most difficult part of running a business...

We'd decided to bring in my recommended contact in Nigeria as a partner with equity. I'd known him for around 10 years and he had some experience in the niche we are working in. So seemed like a reasonably good fit. He wasn't really tech savvy however i envisioned a more offline role for him. He had also recruited someone else who liked what we were doing and felt he could bring in connections that would see us land big clients and deals.

So after we set up our office we discussed our vision, targets and most importantly the kind of work environment we wanted. I have a dream of a workplace where everyone is comfortable to speak up and provide ideas of better way to do things. That i'm the CEO doesn't make me the keeper of all knowledge. Great insights can come from multiple places, in fact one customer we were pitching to last week gave us a great idea that we are now gaining some traction with. To attempt to stifle this channel for creativity would be disastrous. This is unfortunately what happens in many companies today. The owners manage like army generals and take any suggestions as insubordination. That's why you hardly find any long lasting Nigerian companies, most disappear when the owners leave. They never took the time to encourage and nurture the growth of their workers.

I'm aiming to build a company that will live on for centuries and create and capture value perpetually. Stifling any creativity would be counter to that. A great book to read is 'Built to last'. The book resulted from research done by some Stanford professors on what made the biggest, oldest and most successful companies last. It has many gems in it but one i took home is that they always promote from within. As a result when i hire, i ask myself do i see this person as a potential CEO. As the team is small it's very likely that an early hire will rise to that position one day.

Ok so after all that philosophy, we entered the labour market to hire our first staff. My goodness! To say we were grossly disappointed is an understatement. We were flabbergasted at what we saw. What is being passed of as education in our institutions is basically horse crap. A lot of our young people have been systematically disenfranchised by the education given to them. Those that turn out brilliant do so mostly out of their own work and dedication. The average student who depends on his educators will be left half-baked, if even. So if you're a student reading this, what you're education is supposed to do is teach you how to learn. Currently this is not being done so you need to put in extra effort to know how to learn. I digress, back to hiring. I basically learnt not to bother looking at results (who knows if they did it). What i tried to assess, with much difficulty was: Were they able to learn, were they willing to learn and could they present themselves coherently and hold an intelligent conversation. If i am interviewing someone and i know more about their field than they are able to display themselves then that's bye bye. I need people around me who are smarter than me otherwise as Guy Kawasaki says, you get a 'bozo explosion'. Greatness can't be built from mediocre efforts.

After much searching we were able to find one staff who ticked some off the boxes. You can never get all you need. Now our team is set up and we got to business. Will post more about the difficulty of managing people soon.

Business Practicalities

Short post about some practical things i did that some may be interested in

- Business registration - Did this with the CAC via a lawyer. We registered a limited liability company. Shouldn't cost more than 100,000 depending on where and who you talk to

- TIN number - Went to the FIRS, they will require a letter and a form filled. This registers you to collect VAT on behalf of the government (currently at 5%) and also registers you for corporate tax.

- Legal services - We retained the lawyer that did our CAC. He's drafted our formal partnership agreement. Website terms and conditions and privacy policy. Might seem like a luxury to some but if you want to go far it's always best to do things properly.

- Bank account - We opened a corporate account with one of the banks. We visited a few and quickly realized there wasn't much difference between all of them. Their customer service is all equally poor, at least in my experience.

- Branding - We hired a designer to come up with our logo, business cards, ID cards, letterhead, power point slides etc. It is important to look and feel professional, Nigerians will not take you seriously otherwise. Especially if you're trying to convince them to part with thousands of dollars.

If we ever come pitch to you, you'll be surprised to find out that we are only a few months away from going out of business if you don't give us some business and that the almighty CEO is surviving on noodles. We are all about appearances in Nigeria, i don't like it at all but i have to play the game if i hope to win. Leave the t-shirt and jeans for when you're in silicon valley. Here you wear your business suit, strangle your neck with a tie, sweat like a Christmas goat and pray you don't get heat exhaustion.

All the above cost too much money and effort that most people starting businesses are unable to afford. I hate to say it but the government if it's serious about jobs needs to reduce the cost barrier. Do things like make business registration free for under 35 year olds or provide one-stop shops for aspiring entrepreneurs. In the country i currently live in, you will not believe the kinds of incentives and resources that exist for people that are willing to create businesses. Don't wait for the Nigerian government though, you grandchildren might be old before things like this happen. I hope i'm wrong.

What's your experience of the above processes been like?

Setbacks

This start-up life is difficult. We've recently had some setbacks. My Nigerian partners who talked a big talk deserted us over the last few weeks. In one case, made way with some company funds. None of the high and mighty talk was ever delivered upon. This has set us back operationally and financially. We may now not be able to meet some commitments. We are not deterred however. We plan to regroup and go hard at it again.

Learning:

I want to say trust no one but that's impossible in business. Just be careful who you trust and have alternative options.
If you go into business with a friend know that things may turn sour and your friendship will be lost.
Be present, it's harder for people to screw with you when you are right there in front of them.

Consequently i've quit my job and will be focusing on my start-up full time in a few weeks. Wish me luck!

Sorry about your setback.

Selling to Nigerian businesses is very very difficult. It is not the same as selling in the US market.
If you are not promising more money or direct savings on money its hard to convince them to sign the dotted line.
Business owners also respond to products that boost their ego.

I agree a lot with NaLaugh, and like NaLaugh I believe I know what your business is.... I am a developer and actually got a contract to install a similar service for a business.

Starting a business in Nigeria is not easy....Good luck.

Good luck!

BetaQuick:
Sorry about your setback.

Selling to Nigerian businesses is very very difficult. It is not the same as selling in the US market.
If you are not promising more money or direct savings on money its hard to convince them to sign the dotted line.
Business owners also respond to products that boost their ego.

I agree a lot with NaLaugh, and like NaLaugh I believe I know what your business is.... I am a developer and actually got a contract to install a similar service for a business.

Starting a business in Nigeria is not easy....Good luck.

Thanks man, there's always setbacks but getting up after each one is what sets the winners apart.

...I doubt you're doing what i'm doing on a contract, if so you might consider just giving us the contract and you take a finders fee no need to do any work

I kid, the more of us the merrier. The market is the biggest obstacle currently.

hello op have u seen this thread

https://www.nairaland.com/2205594/real-hustle-web-business-offline

Nmeri17:
hello op have u seen this thread
https://www.nairaland.com/2205594/real-hustle-web-business-offline

yes, i referred to it in my post on 'hitting the market'

@ OP which site or books will you recommend us to read/visit that will help us in our hustle to success

great post . i love ur path. same path i wil follow. just registrd my company.
kick off 4 biz soon. hope all would be entrepreneur know s it all about knowledge. i was thinking people will assist me until i discovered that i need to know most aspects. the reason is that even if you employ someone, you dont want to be told stories. you want to know exactly what you want and are paying for.

1k001:
Networking and opening doors

I was going to post about something else but i saw an ad for an ICT expo that promoted the opportunity to network so networking it is. I've read a lot about networking and have been to a few events for that sole purpose. So here's what i think. Caveat: I've only been an entrepreneur for less than a year so take my experience with a huge dose of salt.

I find that networking can be quite hit and miss. You never know what you'll get and so could waste your time and effort and not get much out of it. A lot of people say to network for the sake of networking as you never know when something will happen, not sure i agree. My time as an entrepreneur is of the essence so spending it on activities with rather uncertain outcomes doesn't sit well with me.

I find the best events to attend are those in your niche not those general meetings for meeting sake. You can make real contacts in your niche and follow up with them later individually. Follow up is super important, i'm not great at it and continue to work on it, I've started to calendar in times to follow up with people to make sure i do it.

When following up don't do it with the aim of getting things from people, go with the goal to give. When you give freely, people will give to you freely too. Along the same lines don't be overtly focused on networking upwards, you'll be surprised how helping someone who is in no position to help you will turn out to provide a great opportunity for you.

Personally i've gotten the greatest mileage from searching out people on twitter i think will fit into my strategy then striking up a chat with them. I've been able to get a few great leads as a result. I never go with an intent to sell but to learn more about what they do and how i can help them.

Finally to enlarge you network, you need to wear your business on your sleeve. Talk about it all the time everywhere you go. You will be surprised what you'll gain as a result. This can be hard for a lot of people particularly techies who are often introverted and don't speak much.
I know all about it, I'm an introvert myself! If i could get away with it, i'd sit in my house by myself all day long and be fully content. That's not good for business however. I've this changed from being a private person to being rather public ( i don't recognize myself sometimes). If you had told me a few years ago i'd be doing some of the things i'm doing now, i would have bet my life on it that it would never happen. That's life however, you pick a goal and you alter what you need to alter in order to reach that goal.

I creep myself out now, i reach out to random people on the street, facebook, twitter, nairaland, everywhere. It's what you have to do to be a successful entrepreneur. I've walked in to offices off the street demanding to see the CEO confidently while absolutely quaking on the inside. [b][/b]There's no other way, you gotta do it. I read once somewhere that the founder of pinterest would go to every apple store and change the display page on every screen he could to his website. That's the kind of crazy stuff you have to start doing, anything less means your not ready yet.

Starting a business is not for the faint hearted!

to the bolded i feel you.

NaLaugh:
Keep at it.


If people tell you, it's a crazy idea, well, then embrace the role of the "mad scientist."

this statement of yours made me feel good... crazy idea <==== "mad scientist"..