The African Entrepreneurs Playbook Series

The African Entrepreneurs Playbook Series......

For every game, there is a game plan, to every entrepreneur, there must be a playbook."

The African Entrepreneurs Playbook series outline #51 solid rules of engagement in business with #Africa-wide best practices within different markets, value chains and ecosystems, using tested strategies, tools, approaches and models that can make your business profitable and sustainable. I bet your current #business is either #striving, #surviving or #thriving. Whatever stage you are in, you can learn in 2 days what seasoned and failed entrepreneurs have acquired in 20 years!

#Motivation: I'm moved by numerous requests from family, friends and acquaintances to share my entrepreneurship experience through the following series.

So today, I'll talk about Rule # 1...

#Rule 1: Don't Focus Too Much on Starting a Successful/ Profitable Business; Start the business first and try to make it Successful or Profitable later.

For a start-up, don't wait unnecessarily to develop a full-proof or a perceived profitable business model before you start your business. If you do so, you'll never start. You also risk loosing the opportunity of learning from your mistakes and adjusting your product/service based on your customers feedback. Just like humans, businesses have their own rites of passage. Allow your business to undergo the different stages to become a strong brand. It has its own brand identity and right to evolve!

As toddlers, we start to sit, crawl, clutch a support, take few weak steps, and perhaps slam our heads against a chair or a table. With time, when we become teens and later adults, our agility and speed quadruple. In all these, we learn in the process; we gain stamina, confidence and resilience. The same lessons apply in business. Don't try to shortchange or cheat your business out of the life-long lessons and best practices in the industry or sector.