This document provides advice on building a successful business. It emphasizes establishing God as the cornerstone of one's business and having a strategic vision. It stresses the importance of understanding the market, having capable management, and strong financial controls. The document warns that businesses can fail due to uncontrolled cash flow, insufficient sales, high costs, or incompetent managers. Overall, it presents building a business as requiring hard work, perseverance, and focusing one's efforts on developing a niche in the market.
2. My Road Map To Success
If success means
Making God my Cornerstone
Praying and fasting hard
Establishing a God Given Dream
Working very hard 24/7
Empty panadol packs
Attending numerous seminars
Overcoming several Challenges
Then definitely
I have a
successful business
3. Where Are You Now?
Starting a new business?
Working to grow current business?
Enjoying success in your business?
What is the cornerstone of your
business ?
4. Are you Ready?
Are you cut out for this?
Why are you doing this ?
Where will your business
be 5 years from now?
What makes your business
different
5. 20 Years Proven Track Record
Story of
Determination, perseverance, hard
work, patience, long suffering
Grew Gic
From 13 students to 600 students
Grew Global Bookshop
From one customer to
World of fun
From to over 200 in attendance
Total Turnover for all biz
Now N350 million
6. Steps to a great Business
An Entrepreneurial Spirit (Traits needed)
A Sound Business Concept and Vision
Growing Market
Understanding the Market
Capable Management
Able Financial Control
Consistent Business Focus
7. Consider This:
Have you chosen your corner stone?
Have you prayerfully established your
business idea, vision and mission
God wants you to succeed
Joshua 1v8 Read
Word + Obedience = Success
Jeremiah 29V11
Deutronomy 18v18
ASK GOD FIRST!!
Ask God for an idea, a clear vision.
8. Personality Traits You Need I
Ambition , Drive and Achievement
Optimistic Attitude
Calculated risk taker
Innovative and Creative
Works under stress
Skilled Organizer
9. Personality Traits you need II
Goal and People oriented
Eye for opportunity
Self-confident & Self reliant:
High level of energy and Hard worker
High tolerance for ever changing situations
Disciplined, persistent & Determined
10. Strategic Business Vision
See into the future
A Divine Vision
that fills a need
necessary capital
burning desire
Clear picture of how
to reach destination
Job33 v14-15
Proverbs 29 V18a
Hebrews 2v1
11. A Sound Business Concept
Is your idea sound?
Do you fill a need?
Do others fill that need?
Will a lot of customers buy it?
Are your returns attractive?
Are the risks acceptable?
12. Business Concept Validation
Check your idea for faults
Be ready to answer questions
from investors and bankers
Is the market ready for it?
How soon will your idea be
put into operation?
(Assume delays, worst case scenarios)
13. “I never perfected an invention
that I did not think about in
terms of the service it might
give others
…I Find out what the world
needs, then I proceed to
invent”
Thomas Edison, Inventor
14. Opportunities In Nigeria
Unsatisfied needs
Transportation, alternative to energy
Changing government policies
Privatization - telecoms, ban on importation
of biscuits, juice, furniture
Technological changes
Internet cafes, website pages for coys, flash
disks, cake graphics
15. Opportunities In Nigeria
Demographic changes
Working mothers - daycares
Environmental changes
Poverty- breaking bulk, more demand for
repair shops & Tokunbo markets -cars,
Okadas, clothes etc
Trends
Entertainment, sports, leisure, eating habits
16. Growing Market
You must attract and retain a
sustainable growing market
Potential customers
Why will they purchase it from you?
Identify your market
size and locations.
How will you reach your customers?
How will you advertise & market your
products services
Explain your pricing strategy
Define your revenue streams
17. Finding A Niche Market
Select specific target market
Ensure right configuration:
Products/services, Quality, price
Least direct competition
Know & analyze competition
Competitive advantage?
Delivery of better quality service
18. Marketing Strategy
Who can you better serve than your competitors?
Tailor your product, prices, distribution, promotion
Profitably meet unmet customer needs?
Determine customers needs by market research
Analyze your competitive advantages
Develop a market strategy
Select specific markets by target marketing
Satisfy needs by identifying a market mix
19. Capable Management
• Look for experienced people
• Who you like and admire
• Have good ethical values
• Have complementary skills
• Are smarter than you
• Hire the skills you lack
• Define your unique ability
• Seek others who turn your
weaknesses into strengths
20. Consistent Business Focus
People who specialize in a
product or service will do
better than people who do
not specialize.
Focus your efforts on
something that you can do
so well that you will not be
competing solely on the
basis of price.
21. Explain your source and the
amount of initial equity capital.
Develop a monthly operating
budget for the first year.
Develop an expected return on
investment and monthly cash flow
for the first year.
Provide projected income
statements and balance sheets for
a two-year period.
Discuss your break- even point.
Financial Control
22. Financial Control
Explain your personal balance sheet
and method of compensation.
Discuss who will maintain your
accounting records and how they will
be kept.
Provide "what if" statements that
address alternative approaches to
any problem that may develop.
Have a hands on approach and
ensure you monitor your daily income
and expense
Keep Costs Down
23. Stay in a field you love.
Know your business before you start
Work for someone else in it
Develop human talent
Value your customers
Establish a loyal customer base
Make your business “process, not
people” Dependent
Document your business processes
Keep a very close eye on your
business especially the financials
Other Tips For Success
24. …And
Copycat the winners in your business
Specialize, even to a single product
Find a product or service that is:
Needed or desired
Thought by customers to have no close substitute
Not subject to price regulation
Set a cap on your liability
Learn computer skills
Learn communication skills
Have a lawyer, accountant, and
insurance agent before you start.
25. …FINALLY
Prepare a business plan
Prepare the site criteria model for your
particular business
Do "for and against" lists for major decisions
Buy when everyone is selling
(and vice versa)
Deal with those you like, trust and admire
Learn accounting
Create your own internal control plan
Keep going to school in important subjects
Give back to the community
26. Rewards of Entrepreneurship
You will be your own boss.
Hard work and long hours benefit
you, rather than someone else.
Earning and growth potential are
far greater.
A new venture is as exciting as it
is risky.
Endless challenge and
opportunities for learning.
Independence
Satisfying way of life
27. Rewards of Entrepreneurship
Work harder, earn more money, and are happier
than if you worked for a large company.
Opportunity to gain control over your destiny
-- achieve what is important to you.
Opportunity to make a difference -- combining
concerns for social issues with the chance to
make a good living.
Opportunity to reach your full potential --
situations where your growth is limited only by
your own talent and energy.
Opportunity to reap unlimited profits.
Although money is not the driving force for most
entrepreneurs, profit can be a motivating factor.
28. Why Businesses fail
Uncontrolled cash flow:
Run out of cash, you crash.
Project cash flow for expansion very
conservatively
Be sure to:
Forecast income (sales) very low
Forecast expenses very high
Provide for unanticipated contingencies.
Insufficient sales:
Ruthlessly cut costs.
Higher costs:
Increase volume of sales?
Offset with higher prices?
29. Business failure
New competition
Business recessions
Incompetent managers or
employees: Act swiftly to rid
yourself of them.
Dishonesty and theft.
Study your most successful competitor
30. Why Businesses fail
Slow growing Market
Lack of experience
Insufficient capital
Poor location
Poor inventory management
Over-investment in fixed assets
Poor credit arrangements
Personal use of business funds
Unexpected growth
31. Do’s of Business
Motivate your managers with
monetary incentives tied to their
individual success.
Copycat the successful marketing
and policies of your large
successful competitors.
Stick with what you do best during
downturns in business cycles.
Compartmentalize your expanding
business into profit centers.
32. Do’s of Business
Copycat the internal controls used by
your successful competitors.
Prepare monthly financial statements
of your individual profit centers.
Act swiftly to rid yourself of
incompetent or dishonest
employees.
Take the initiative to keep creditors
informed of your problems and
needs.
33. …Don’ts
Never sign a lease without your lawyer's
review.
Avoid a "commodity" business
(one without pricing power) i.e. Trading
Don't burn bridges of job security to start
a business if you can help it.
Don't become a business zombie:
take time off.
Don't compete with category killers
(Shoprite) unless you have a special niche.
Don't even think about your second store
until the first one is reliably profitable.
34. …Don’ts
Do not give you personal guarantee
unless absolutely required; then limit
your liability.
Do not let commissioned salespersons
set prices.
When required for any reason, do not
fail to promptly cut cost to maintain
positive cash flow.
Don't cut the value or quality of your
product or service.
Do not delegate signing checks (any
amount) or making capital
expenditures.
MUST HAVE A SOUND GODLY VISION
An idea from God that makes the unseen visible and the unknown possible
It was the vision of light that possessed Thomas Edison to invent the light bulb
It was the vision of giving every person access to people friendly software that inspired Bill gates to develop and invent the Microsoft global empire
God created each person with a unique vision. He has tremendous plans for you that no one else can accomplish.
A Sound Business Concept: The single most common mistake made by entrepreneurs is not picking the right business to begin with. The best way to learn about your prospective business is to work for someone else in that business before beginning your own. There can be a huge gap between your concept of a fine business and reality.
The path to self-employment, owning and managing your own business, can come
about quite fortuitously or it can happen by design. For example, a new mother builds a makeshift baby-carrier that frees her hands, keeps baby comfortable, and converts to a seat for grocery carts. When she goes out with it, she is asked so many times where she bought it that she decides she should go into the business of producing them. This mother has hit upon a market opportunity quite accidentally; for many entrepreneurs like her, their ideas came about as a result of hobbies or an out of the blue inspiration. But these revelations are few and far between and they require a lot of patience; waiting and hoping an idea will surface. So, for the rest of us, we need to force the issue and figure out where and how to look for business opportunities.
The most common source of new venture opportunity arises from past work experience. Studies have shown that about 45% of venture ideas are formed while working in the same industry. Some good questions to ask yourself when searching for business opportunities are:
Could I do my current job on my own instead of as an employee?
How could this product or service be made better?
A customer has asked about a certain product or service extension, is this something I can provide?
Is there a business opportunity that my company has rejected that I could pursue independently?
When searching for an entrepreneurial venture it is important to recognize that the discovery is not a result of random actions, it is a structured process that is based on solid observations about how to do something better or different.
New product or service: This is the type of new venture strategy that most people think of first, but it also involves the most innovation, creativity and time.
Parallel Competition: Do what others are doing; only, do it better.
Buy a Franchise: No ingenuity required, but it is important to thoroughly research the franchiser, purchase price, and obligations including royalties.
Geographic Transfer: Look for successful businesses in other cities or countries and bring the product or service to your own region before the original company expands.
Exploit a Supply Shortage: Is there something that is hard for you, your customers, your friends, etc to get? If so, figure out how to supply it profitably.
Buy a Business: This strategy requires systematic searching for the right opportunity: confirm that there is adequate cash flow and that the price reflects the cost of asset acquisition and a reasonable premium for profitability and goodwill.
Regardless of the method used to uncover an exciting new venture opportunity, the real work has just begun. You now have the task of evaluating your idea and yourself to make sure that the prerequisites for success are there. With a good idea and good leadership, your entrepreneurial dream can come true. Start the process now, and begin observing the many ways you can serve the market directly
Understanding Of Your Market: A good way to test your understanding is to test market your product or service before your start. You think you have a great kite that will capture the imagination of kite fliers throughout the world? Then hand-make some of them and try selling them first.
A market in its entirety is too broad in scope for any but the largest companies to tackle successfully. The best strategy for a smaller business is to divide demand into manageable market niches. Small operations can then offer specialized goods and services attractive to a specific group of prospective buyers. There are undoubtedly some particular products or services you are especially suited to provide. Study the market carefully and you will find opportunities. As an example, surgical instruments used to be sold in bulk to both small medical practices and large hospitals. One firm realized that the smaller practices could not afford to sterilize instruments after each use like hospitals did, but instead simply disposed of them. The firm's sales representatives talked to surgeons and hospital workers to learn what would be more suitable for them. Based on this information, the company developed disposable instruments which could be sold in larger quantities at a lower cost. Another firm capitalized on the fact that hospital operating rooms must carefully count the instruments used before and after surgery. This firm met that particular need by packaging their instruments in pre-counted, customized sets for different forms of surgery. While researching your own company's niche, consider the results of your market survey and the areas in which your competitors are already firmly situated. Put this information into a table or a graph to illustrate where an opening might exist for your product or service. Try to find the right configuration of products, services, quality, and price that will ensure the least direct competition. Unfortunately, there is no universally effective way to make these comparisons. Not only will the desired attributes vary from industry to industry, but there is also an imaginative element that cannot be formalized. For example, only someone who had already thought of developing pre-packaged surgical instruments could use a survey to determine whether or not a market actually existed for them. A well-designed database can help you sort through your market information and reveal particular segments you might not see otherwise. For example, do customers in a certain geographic area tend to purchase products that combine high quality and high price more frequently? Do your small business clients take advantage of your customer service more often than larger ones? If so, consider focusing on being a local provider of high quality goods and services, or a service-oriented company that pays extra attention to small businesses. If you do target a new niche market, make sure that this niche does not conflict with your overall business plan. For example, a small bakery that makes cookies by hand cannot go after a market for inexpensive, mass-produced cookies, regardless of the demand.
Every business has a specific marketing strategy that usually works best and has already been proven by your most successful competitors. You can benefit from their experience by copying successful marketing plans, including selling methods, pricing and advertising. Make a list of the most successful businesses that fall within your field of interest and study them (and even go to work for them). Visit these businesses and be prepared to ask the questions that are most important to you.
Learn as much as you can about the needs of your customers and how to gain feedback from them. For example, if you open a restaurant, a displeased patron will probably not complain because it is not a pleasant experience. Instead, he will not return. So, for example, you must take care to inspect the plates as they are returned to the kitchen.
Will your customers be looking for convenience, pricing, quality and/or service? It will be difficult to make sound marketing and promotional decisions without being informed on their real wants and needs. If a specific geographical area defines your market, low cost demographic reports based on the census can be obtained that will furnish information on population by race, income and home ownership
.
Most employers agree: the toughest part of being an employer is finding and keeping good employees. Begin your search for the good employee as soon as you decide that you are going to be an entrepreneur.
Define what you need from an employee.
List the characteristics you require.
Network: get the word out that you are looking for help.
Develop and maintain sources for building your workforce.
Consider family members, retired workers and students.
Your customers need to feel confident that they are dealing with people who are knowledgeable and helpful. Five characteristics customers like most when dealing with a sales or service person are:
Product or service knowledge
Presentable appearance
Courtesy
Honesty
Sincerity
To achieve these qualities, look for marketing employees who:
Like what they do
Are quick learners who have curiosity to expand their knowledge
Project a pleasant and positive image
Like people and relate well to them
Are helpful to customers as well as to fellow associates
Are ambitious and hope someday to have your job
NETWORKING
Surround yourself with successful people
Mingle with the rich and successful to make valuable contacts and to find out exactly how they got there and utilise their expertise to your advantage
Be cost conscious and cut down on luxurious expenses
Invest in more than one business
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Whilst your focus on running your own business also make investments in blue chip companies, funds that are solid and respected.
Make savings a habit always put aside at least 10% of your salary into fund or stock
SET PRICES FOR SUCCESS
Your product or service must be priced to entice buyers and cover your overhead, production, distribution labour and marketing costs and most importantly make a profit
Look at the shop rite concept – revolution in supermarket business and our prices – high volume
PRACTICE OPEN COMMUNICATION
Communicate, communicate, and communicate. When you think you’ve communicated enough, do it again.
Use several different channels to inform the people in your company. Company newsletter, town meetings, bulletin boards and plain old chat sessions are just a few.
Do more listening than talking. Your employees have their fingers on the pulse of activity in your company. Help them help you.
Basic rules for Handling Serious Business Problems
Identify and acknowledge your problems with brutal honesty.
Immediately reduce your losses by unemotionally cutting your costs to maintain a positive cash flow and profitability. This is the first and most important action to take.
Don't switch horses. Stay with the business you know unless its future is fatally defective.
Take the initiative to explain to your creditors what your problems are and why slow or smaller payments will be necessary. Never write post-dated checks or send late payments without an explanation.
Don't cut value or quality of your products or services. Make them even better.
Improve every aspect you can of your performance and image.
Look for opportunity in adversity. Sometimes there will be bargain opportunities during business slumps.
Remember that businesses have cycles. So, hang in there and ride out the adverse periods.
Suggested Activities
Review case histories of the most successful businesses in your field.
Review the case histories of failed businesses to determine their mistakes. Was it inadequate testing, planning and experience?
Identify a typical business problem in your intended business and plan a solution.
Identify a combination of problems in your business and plan a solution.