True

Most times businesses fail when most owners want to start big. .without learning anything about the business and trade secrets...even if you have 10million..start from buttom.and learn .this will prepare for eventualities..

Koolking:
Heartbreak is an understatement.

Near-suicide experience is more like it.

When you invest your life-savings in a business and it's gone down the drain upon how much you incubated the business, that's near-suicide experience.

Business risk is for tough people. My utmost respect to self-made business women.

Note: Church business is not included

U have said it all...

Started a business with 4M with help of loan, the business has colapsed totally, I have sold the machines and other materials, yet, the loan never finish.
Currently using my salary to pay loan of a business that is no more. Thank God for the backup job.

Onnasucs1:
Every single day I visit the business section here on nairaland, It's either I find the crew who have money but don't have a business idea or I find those with business idea but lack money.

Whatever crew you are, please never start up a business if you're not dogged. That business idea might appear rossy in your brain until you start it up in the real world.

I started up a business barely a month ago and I'm almost loosing my mind. Is it the sleepless nights(sometimes working from 1am-7am) I'm going to talk about or the failed projects or the rude customers or the unnecessary but compulsory expensis or the pressure to give out the best at all times or the uncertainties.?

Hehehe...Because of business, I am now a professional Liar. Lord have mercy!

Now I know why most businesses don't last long. Not everyone is willing to go through the stress.

I now respect Dangote, Otedola, Adenuga, Jim ovia, Tony Elemelu...they are many

Your business will break your heart so many times. (I'm heartbroken at the moment)

Please if you're not dogged, don't think of starting up a business.


If you have started one, never back down. If it gets tough, you too get tough. In the end, you'll succeed.


I have made up my mind to continue to press on. No going back



My respect goes out to all business people.

Depending on the type of business and location but all in all it's crystal clear that all business encompass their different risks.

Onnasucs1:
Every single day I visit the business section here on nairaland, It's either I find the crew who have money but don't have a business idea or I find those with business idea but lack money.

Whatever crew you are, please never start up a business if you're not dogged. That business idea might appear rossy in your brain until you start it up in the real world.

I started up a business barely a month ago and I'm almost loosing my mind. Is it the sleepless nights(sometimes working from 1am-7am) I'm going to talk about or the failed projects or the rude customers or the unnecessary but compulsory expensis or the pressure to give out the best at all times or the uncertainties.?

Hehehe...Because of business, I am now a professional Liar. Lord have mercy!

Now I know why most businesses don't last long. Not everyone is willing to go through the stress.

I now respect Dangote, Otedola, Adenuga, Jim ovia, Tony Elemelu...they are many

Your business will break your heart so many times. (I'm heartbroken at the moment)

Please if you're not dogged, don't think of starting up a business.


If you have started one, never back down. If it gets tough, you too get tough. In the end, you'll succeed.


I have made up my mind to continue to press on. No going back



My respect goes out to all business people.

Please respect me too. I resigned and started my business 5 years ago. Walahi the stress wanted to kill me after surviving the first 2 years and opening a new branch this year. I began to have more respect for entrepreneurs.

Businessmen dey suffer o.

I can relate very well,I nearly commit suicide sometimes ago due to should I say frustration, depression or anger I don't even know sometimes you will start blaming yourself

Contact us for your Business Startup Idea at Abbakin.com

Well,everything is a risk if you fail keep trying until you succeed

True talk. Underestimating or "no be just to ...." kind talk, go use you do yeye.


Research and continued knowledge in the business are helpful. No go sleep ontop bicycle, you go either crash, fall, or park well.



All that, i have been doing this for so.... long no go count if you fail. Everyday is a new day with prepared plans of action or new ones. People skills is also a factor or else people go use your business do yeye. And many more.


Business ownership is not for everybody, you can still grow as a staff or a manager. Just be realistic to one self and continuously assess thyself.

I don tire I want to quit, make I go become politician.

Setting up a business has its appeal. It also has its benefits. You will understand why a lot of Civil Servants who retire and are paid gratuities etc. cannot successfully manage a business. The conflict of interest rule does not allow them run a business. After 35 years of handling a minute component of an organization, they try to delve into business. But how do you give what you do not have unless you want to deceive yourself or other people?

It requires effort and experience. You need to understand the business to a very large extent. The applicable regulations, direct and indirect influences of market forces, competitors, the associated services, sourcing raw materials/inputs,the processes of creating your output, your type of customers, your type of staff, the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of/to the business, etc. You need to have these and more covered before venturing. You could also decide to have a mentor. Before starting, have conversations with people in the business. Visit various same/similar ventures like a customer and ask questions.

Additionally, business is done to create value of some sort. Every organisation exists to create value. Even NGOs. You have to enjoy the process of meeting people's needs. It wont be easy, especially at take off stage. You will need to understand cash flow, basic book keeping, business terms like invoice, quotation etc. depending on your type of business. The general rule is be sure to know what you are getting into before getting into it.

Haven't forgotten the pain of losing my 40k to mmm

Koval12:
Wonderful thread. Spent over 4m to set up my supermarket business about two years ago. Till today, am still battling for stability. It's been one loss after another. Now am heartbroken because of expired goods totalling about 200k. Even people owing me don run comot

Same here & dat is business for u...
I spent close to 1.5m on a business last year...i no dey bother go there again. Na my friend just dey go at times...Same happen to my dad and i thought he was not serious, until i experienced it myself. I have told all my siblings to use their money to buy land and resell or keep it in the bank. I trust no business...if business show u shagay ehn...lol

I respect you.
More grease to your elbow.

Onnasucs1:
Every single day I visit the business section here on nairaland, It's either I find the crew who have money but don't have a business idea or I find those with business idea but lack money.

Whatever crew you are, please never start up a business if you're not dogged. That business idea might appear rossy in your brain until you start it up in the real world.

I started up a business barely a month ago and I'm almost loosing my mind. Is it the sleepless nights(sometimes working from 1am-7am) I'm going to talk about or the failed projects or the rude customers or the unnecessary but compulsory expensis or the pressure to give out the best at all times or the uncertainties.?

Hehehe...Because of business, I am now a professional Liar. Lord have mercy!

Now I know why most businesses don't last long. Not everyone is willing to go through the stress.

I now respect Dangote, Otedola, Adenuga, Jim ovia, Tony Elemelu...they are many

Your business will break your heart so many times. (I'm heartbroken at the moment)

Please if you're not dogged, don't think of starting up a business.


If you have started one, never back down. If it gets tough, you too get tough. In the end, you'll succeed.


I have made up my mind to continue to press on. No going back



My respect goes out to all business people.

1zynnvn:
lol, month don end about 4 staff dey wait for their pay, for the past few months we started we've been paying them off our pockets, the business cannot pay them yet, this month I just dey look them as money no even dey. I've been brainstorming on how to enlarge the market. Abeg Any marketing gurus to advice us on how to enlarge the customer base? money no too dey for ads

As long as you don't quit there is still hope.

ARM YOUR case is no biggie , you have people working for you? you can take advantage of that, but before then what are you doing?

What does your business do? Can you DM me?

1zynnvn:
lol, month don end about 4 staff dey wait for their pay, for the past few months we started we've been paying them off our pockets, the business cannot pay them yet, this month I just dey look them as money no even dey. I've been brainstorming on how to enlarge the market. Abeg Any marketing gurus to advice us on how to enlarge the customer base? money no too dey for ads

As long as you don't quit there is still hope.

Afospecialk:

Especially that forest trade

hahahahahahaha

whytediamond:
I have a very funny and annoying case I'm dealing with right about now.

A company contacted me to design calendars for 2019 for them. After 2weeks of designing and countless tweaking plus product photo sessions, it got to the print stage and I suddenly the company said they can't pay the amount I requested for the print job.

I said OK fine, this is the soft copy of the job, get a printer to do the printing for less than what I offered,

It is at this point that you should have insisted on pay, before handing over the copy. Or at least a promissory or IOU. If you have the right evidence, it's an easy case to win in court. Do you have evidence they received the copy from you?

whytediamond:
I have a very funny and annoying case I'm dealing with right about now.

A company contacted me to design calendars for 2019 for them. After 2weeks of designing and countless tweaking plus product photo sessions, it got to the print stage and I suddenly the company said they can't pay the amount I requested for the print job.

I said OK fine, this is the soft copy of the job, get a printer to do the printing for less than what I offered, they went ahead and printed elsewhere even though the manager later confirmed they paid more for the printing compared with what I offered.

Now, the issue is this, I need my money for my intellectual property and time put into the design for calendar that they have already shared to their customers. To my greatest shock, I was told I won't be paid a dime.

What is their reason for not paying me? That I wasn't the one that printed the job, hence I won't be paid for the design. Like wtf are they talking about.

I'm already getting legal advice on how to recover my money from them.

Starting up a business ain't child's play people. Perseverance will surely pay in the long run. Stay focused, don't give up.

Mtchew..

Why did you give them the soft copy without pay first?

1zynnvn:
lol, month don end about 4 staff dey wait for their pay, for the past few months we started we've been paying them off our pockets, the business cannot pay them yet, this month I just dey look them as money no even dey. I've been brainstorming on how to enlarge the market. Abeg Any marketing gurus to advice us on how to enlarge the customer base? money no too dey for ads

As long as you don't quit there is still hope.

You must pay them.

whytediamond:
I have a very funny and annoying case I'm dealing with right about now.

A company contacted me to design calendars for 2019 for them. After 2weeks of designing and countless tweaking plus product photo sessions, it got to the print stage and I suddenly the company said they can't pay the amount I requested for the print job.

I said OK fine, this is the soft copy of the job, get a printer to do the printing for less than what I offered, they went ahead and printed elsewhere even though the manager later confirmed they paid more for the printing compared with what I offered.

Now, the issue is this, I need my money for my intellectual property and time put into the design for calendar that they have already shared to their customers. To my greatest shock, I was told I won't be paid a dime.

What is their reason for not paying me? That I wasn't the one that printed the job, hence I won't be paid for the design. Like wtf are they talking about.

I'm already getting legal advice on how to recover my money from them.

Starting up a business ain't child's play people. Perseverance will surely pay in the long run. Stay focused, don't give up.

They are wrong for not paying you. But I suggest you apply caution in the matter. I hate when things turn out this way. I hope you get your payment from them.

Have you ever wondered why successful business people tend to make more money and do well when compared to successful employees. It’s the reason above. Nothing good comes easy.

MiaB:
Haven't forgotten the pain of losing my 40k to mmm

Lol...mmm na business

lele007:


It is at this point that you should have insisted on pay, before handing over the copy. Or at least a promissory or IOU. If you have the right evidence, it's an easy case to win in court. Do you have evidence they received the copy from you?

Yes, I have evidence. The raw file is in my laptop, I transferred the file to thier flash drive. They can't reproduce the original work. I acted on blind trust, never knew I was dealing with a fraudulent multi-million naira company.

emmabest2000:
OP are you for real ? Discouraging people to start up a business just because yours didn’t moved well ?

You forgot that everything in this world depends on your luck and star , that its didn’t workout for mr A doesn’t mean its will not workout for mr B


By the way business is not for everyone!
You can try something else abeg !

Read very well, no one is being discouraged, op is only saying be prepared as isn't as rossy as the strategic plan

Most of you lamentators do not know what is takes to run a business successfully.

A great product is just one of the 4 steps process to guarantee profiteering and each of the 4 steps requires precision and supra level of market engineering and sales execution.

Money making is an art. Building generational wealth requires a template.

It is a science that only few have mastered.

Get dis mind set bros, Dangote must Partner you soon.

OP u very correct, running a business in Nigeria is not easy at all, its as if everyone is against you, even the customers are ready to dupe you, we have lots of very bad customers in this country, they dont care if your business folds up the following day, more reason y you see alot of businesses failed, this is my 8th year in business...........

1zynnvn:
lol, month don end about 4 staff dey wait for their pay, for the past few months we started we've been paying them off our pockets, the business cannot pay them yet, this month I just dey look them as money no even dey. I've been brainstorming on how to enlarge the market. Abeg Any marketing gurus to advice us on how to enlarge the customer base? money no too dey for ads

As long as you don't quit there is still hope.

I can be of help,send an email to apakoso2020@gmail.com

Rubbiish:

Same here & dat is business for u...
I spent close to 1.5m on a business last year...i no dey bother go there again. Na my friend just dey go at times...Same happen to my dad and i thought he was not serious, until i experienced it myself. I have told all my siblings to use their money to buy land and resell or keep it in the bank. I trust no business...if business show u shagay ehn...lol

Businesses are not that bad.

What I have noticed is that the Nigerian environment automatically compels you to monitor your business every minute. If you take your eyes of it for one minute, your staff or customers try to cheat you. The environment puts a lot of pressure on you as an entrepreneur. If you cannot monitor, then you need people you can trust to monitor/manage the business. But how many Nigerians are trustworthy? The system puts a lot of pressure on businesses so much that the pressure is passed onto the customers, leading to poor service and then a positive feedback ensues affecting the business.

In other instances, expectations are too high for the budding business. And in a society where most people do not understand entrepreneurship and cash-flow, etc. I have seen people expect too much from a business where they are spending too much on labor, land/rent and raw materials among other overheads.

It is not a simple thing analyzing why businesses struggle or fail. However, it is common knowledge that every new business goes through the ''storm'' phase.