6 Questions You Must Ask When You Are Ready To Start A Company In Nigeria
I have a dream! One day I shall start a business. I believe a lot of people share that dream. Okay, let us even say that I don’t have that dream; does it mean you won’t have it? It doesn’t make sense at all. That is why you will need to answer some questions to know when you are ready to start a company.
Starting a business is not as easy as enrolling in a skill acquisition program or going to school. It is much deeper than that.
In school, everything is thought out for you. You are not necessarily in charge. You just fit in. in starting a company, you are driving the entire thing with the help of some people. That is why you must be ready to some extent when you are ready to start a company.
Related: The lucrative way to start a paper mill company in Nigeria
Proper preparation prevents poor performance. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. It is just that easy and you will have to come to terms with that.
These questions or should I say major questions you must ask when you are ready to start a company will guide your and test your readiness and prepare you for the task ahead.
More so, it gives you an opportunity to make some major or minor adjustments to the plan and be more successful in terms of the output you will achieve.
Related: Everything you need to know about starting a business in Nigeria
Without much ado, I will give you the questions you must ask and answer when you are ready to start a company.
Questions You Must Ask When You Are Ready To Start A Company
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Am I having the desired impact?
There are diverse reasons entrepreneurs have starting a business. You don’t have to be a ragged fellow frustrated by the harsh realities of employment in Nigeria to start a business. Of course, you can be in that category.
There is this myth that some top entrepreneurs were not happy with what they were doing. It is not true. Some entrepreneurs actually had high paying jobs that they had to quit to start a business.
Related: 5 legal requirements for starting a business in Nigeria
Here is a story that will interest you culled from entrepreneur.com. “Erik Larson was a senior director at Adobe Systems before he launched Cloverpop, an online business software that uses behavioral economics to guide better and faster decision-making. Larson said the idea of building a business had captivated him for years. “It was always something I knew I’d do,” he said. “But, even more, I found it amazing to think about creating a business that employed people and generated real value in the world.”
There are other stories like that. We are not saying that everybody must have the same story. Some fit in into aforementioned myth.
What I’m driving at is that they thought of the fact that they wanted to give more to the society. They desired to have a high-level impact that they were not getting from their current work.
When you are ready to start a company, find out the impact you want to have and then you will know if you are on the right path or not.
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What problem(s) will the company solve?
Whether you like it or not, the root of all entrepreneurial ideas is the need to solve a problem. The society has a lot of these problems.
When you look at high flying entrepreneurs and businesses, you will notice one common factor; they are all solving problems for the society. Look at Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Dangote, Apple, etc and you will agree with this assertion.
Having said that, I want to tell you that when you are ready to start a company in Nigeria, you must ask yourself the question of the problem you will solve by establishing that company.
Zuckerberg wanted to solve the problem of connectivity. He saw the need to bring people from various countries together under one platform and he created Facebook.
Examples abound of entrepreneurs who were motivated by the need to solve problems and started a company to that effect and went on to become very successful.
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Who are my co-founders?
The success and failure of your business will be determined by the people you intend to start the business with. When you are ready to start a company, you must ask yourself if you have the right people to co-found the startup.
Your co-founders are meant to supplement the skills you have. They are meant to complement your abilities and your contacts so as to bring something to the table.
The people that will help to bring to fruition the company is the people you will make co-founders.
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Do I have the financial stability?
Finance is very important in any business you would want to start. You will need to answer that question. It is the game changer and you must be ready for it when you are ready to start a company.
According to Larson, “The financial question is probably the most important. No matter how long you think it’ll take to be a viable business, you need to be ready for it to take five times longer.”
Whatever your estimation is, there will always be unforeseen contingencies. That is almost constant. Get it together about the cash flow and you are truly ready to go.
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Do I have the personal support I need?
You will need to get some support from people to survive a startup. The importance of that support is not negotiable and it cannot be overstated.
At startup level, you will find out that there is lack of certain institutional structure such as benefits, salary, training, etc. To this effect, the founder must have a strong personal support.
There are ways the personal support can come for the executive. You have the co-founders, friends, and family. The impact is quite uplifting and desirable.
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What happens if I fail?
If you think you will always succeed, then you have another thing coming for you. Wake your ass up because it is not going to always be a success. Assuming you start succeeding immediately, a time will come when you will fail terribly.
Some other times, you will start failing from day 1 and you will need to stay strong and focused to have a huge success. There will always be days when you will succeed and the days when you will fail.
The idea is to be prepared for that eventuality. You must as a result ask yourself what you will do when you fail. How you handle your failure will determine how far you will go in the company you will start.
All we can wish you is a big success as you decide to start a company. It is a very noble thing to do and you will be helping this country and humanity at large if you stand out. All the best as you go through this process of self-inquisition.
