Many reports have given accounts of the deadly activities of this heartless group, one of such reports is this that gives a detailed account of almost every attack of the group since 2010. Activities of this group began with what seemed like negligible misbehaviour as far back as 2002 in the now notorious north-eastern part of Nigeria, in notable states including Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

This perceived “negligible misbehaviour” has now worsened to heights that are just awful, the group is now reputed to be the second most dangerous terror group in the world, second only to the infamous Isis, and is said to have been responsible for more than 12,000 deaths in Nigeria, whilst leaving hundreds of thousands injured or displaced.

And the actual numbers depend on who you’re listening to. This Islamic extremist sect claims its objective is to fight western education and infidels.

Nigeria indeed has not remained the same since the advent of the sect and its devious activities, and this has had far reaching economic and political implications for Nigeria and the entire West-African region.

But as important as the foregoing is, both for Nigeria and the World, and with high expectation from all well meaning people that the sect will be crushed as soon as the government of president Mohammadu Buhari gets itself together; it is still not the aim of this post.

This post is aimed at helping startups find the business lessons in the midst of it all. WE CONDEMN TERROR IN ALL OF ITS FORMS.

Did you realize they were underdogs?
It is not unlikely for Startups to think of themselves as underdogs and possibly often believe that it’s a position of disadvantage. Business success stories around the world are beginning to demonstrate how in reality, being an ‘underdog’ can in fact be the Advantage.

In his book, David & Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell showed with researches, that it can in fact be an advantage to be an underdog. And teaches therein how you can play to that advantage to beat traditional ‘heavy weights’. All you need do is find your advantage. Have you?

Have you noticed a Niche?
Even though the Boko Haram sect may be unpredictable as to timing and frequency of attacks, you can almost always be sure of where they will attack.

Their model is clear. They attack religious places, motor parks, markets, viewing centers, government agencies and other crowded places. Without fail, they have attacked these sort of places again and again and again. And these are still the same targets for future attacks, same places. The question is, what’s your Startup’s Target? What’s your model? If you can’t define it, you’ve not started.

Who else is seeing Consistency?
The sect began its terrible activities as far back as 2002. And guess what? They didn’t stop, they kept at it. And today, as sad and grieving as it is, they are number 2 in the world.

For how long do you plan to do what you’re doing? Will your Startup endure? Will you keep at what you have set out to do? Is your startup a Fling? Whilst it’s not unlikely that you may startup a number of businesses before you find your flow, when you do find your flow, will you be Consistent? Will you follow through?

Did you see Growth?
As inappropriate as this example sounds, it’s one of the truest thing about the insurgency. They Grew. Whether they had it in mind from day one or not is a symposium discussion, but truth is the sect’s growth has been noteworthy.

What is the Growth plan for your Startup? Some believe that you shouldn’t worry about growth until you are sure you’ve found what works. I agree, but I believe that to make growth Organic, it must be part of the plan from day one. Read here, two compulsory growth engines your startup must have if you desire your business to achieve Growth without stress.

Do you notice periodic retreats?
If you have followed the activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria, you’d realize that they appear to have a calendar. In some season, they’d operate tirelessly wrecking all sorts of havocs and almost make it mysterious and inexplicable.

All of a sudden, you’ll find them retreat to their base and for a while, there will seem to be peace. The Nigerian military will even appear to have an upper hand, like it happened in the last six weeks of president Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure. But guess what? They returned, and with almost fuller force and frequency.

Have you taken time to retreat and take another look at your Startup? Have you sat back to ask, is this the right startup? Are we deploying the right strategy? Are we moving too fast or too slow? Do we even have a goal? You may need to retreat every once in a while to re-check your startup.

WE CONDEMN TERROR IN ALL OF ITS FORMS.

Source: http://africastartuplab.com/boko-haram-attacks-in-nigeria-africa-startup-lessons/

Ok

Yea

OP, you did a really great job. I read it with rapt attention and all the lessons resonates well.

Thanks

Wao! Great write up - Admin This Post Deserves Front page

yes o

Ok

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