Not long ago, I wanted to start a magazine project. I called some people to be a part of my team, and they responded positively. We had a prototype of a magazine we wanted to use. It has the picture of the founder boldly on the back page.
Seeing that, one of the people who was working with me asked if my picture would be on the back of the one we were about to produce, too, and I said no. My picture at the back of the magazine would make it look as if they were promoting me, and they would not want to do that.
I was nobody; I had achieved nothing enviable that they knew of, so I was not the guy people would want to promote and feel proud about. I understood that, without taking offense to it, the magazine project was successful, with the lady playing a vital role in making it happen.
Many years ago, I would have seen her as an antagonist and not worked with her, but that was not what I did. I simply understood her sentiment. We have produced more editions after that, and the franchise is still growing. That lesson came from a business failure many years ago.
Many years ago, I started what appeared to be a fast-growing social organization named *SOUL'E RHYMEZ AND FRIENDS (SRAF)*; we were doing a lot of stuff, events, and competitions; we were thriving. But we reached a halt.
Something happened to SRAF, and it was significant. After we hosted an Award Night in 2018, many of our sponsors backed out. That is not new for businesses, but if it kills the business, there is a problem with the insiders of the business.
I woke up the morning after the event, and I was all over the internet for all the wrong reasons. I had a lot of tags on Facebook, and different blogs have carried the news of our failure to deliver as promised without even hearing from me.
I was dragged by colleagues for daring to dream bigger than my ancestors. I was mocked for trying to do something that no one in my family could do. Yes, I failed, and it hurt; the worst part of it was that I had to let go of the name *SRAF* , abandon the website, and everything associated with it.
They roasted us, oh, no, they roasted me because there was no us. I was the brand. The brand was in my name, so people saw me, not the brand. Destroy me, and the brand was gone because it was inseparably attached to me.
To have your brand in your name always feels good, but the problem with it is that the brand's growth would depend on you. If people have issues with you, they will not associate with the brand. If you are involved in a scandal, the brand is gone forever.
I learned an invaluable business lesson from the painful failure—never to be an emotional entrepreneur. A lot of people struggle because they have not learned this lesson.
Now I have a lot of businesses that people do not know belong to me. If anything happens to my name or I am involved in a scandal, it will not affect these businesses. They will keep matching on, and I will keep making money from them.
As an entrepreneur, you have to decide what you want—do you want to be recognized as an entrepreneur even when you are turning over zero naira annually, or do you want to start a business that gives you money and solves problems for people?
The growth of your business often requires taking yourself out of the picture. If you cannot do it, you will answer to the name CEO, but you will turn over zero Naira annually for many years.
If you are emotionally attached to your business, you will not be open to partnership at all, and without partnership, especially in Nigeria, your business will die before it even begins.
I have started a lot of businesses that failed for one reason—my unwillingness to partner with people. Why was I unwilling to do that? There are a lot of reasons for it, which I will mention in my next article titled “100% of a Chicken or 10% of a Cow?”
In the article, I will explain to you the reason a lot of startups in Nigeria never hit the ground running. Most of them died in their first years, and sometimes after a few months, like many of my businesses.
If you want to read the article or have it sent to you personally, talk to me on WhatsApp at +2348163800077
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