Lessons for the Journey: Bolanle Austen-Peters

If you are fortunate to come from a background that has provided you with the needed exposure and skills, you have no business staying in paid employment. You need to create jobs for others and not wait to be employed - Bolanle Austen-Peters.

 

 

Questions from Last week:

1.      That lots of people already do what you want to do doesn’t stop you from doing it. As Yorubas will say, the sky is big enough for all of God’s birds to fly.

2.      Entrepreneurship needs education; it is certainly not an option to going to school.

3.      I don’t know of any entrepreneur who has ever said is was all rosy from the very beginning, so I guess saying that the beginning might be a bit rough isn’t totally out of point.

 

Now to business,  Our ‘Girl’ entrepreneur for today is:

NAME: BOLANLE AUSTEN-PETERS
BUSINESS: TERRA KULTURE
POST: MANAGING DIRECTOR
INDUSTRY: ARTS & CULTURE  

                                    

1.      Born into a happy family and had an enjoyable childhood

2.      Was raised to be independent

3.      Worked in a Law firm and then United Nations

4.      Enjoyed her job but still constantly felt restless. Needed to be in a field where she felt more relevant.

5.      She identified a problem; many children were not speaking Nigerian languages.

6.      Proffered a solution by embarking on a project that would focus on teaching Nigerian languages hence, Terra Kulture.

7.      Decided she wanted to create jobs for people and thereby reduce the rate of unemployment in the society.

8.      First thing she did was to have a heart to heart discussion with her husband, needed the support to brave the journey.

9.      Wrote a business plan.

10.  Then sourced for funds.

11.  Invested time and money in learning and reading a lot of books and sourcing information relevant to her field.

12.  She took out about 8 months to set the foundations of her business right; talking to people, learning and setting the right business plan

13.  At the start of every business, one’s personal life suffers, she found a balance.

14.  Greatest challenges for her were the lack of skilled staff and finding investors.

15.  She ensured a strong relationship with God, she prays a lot

16.  Values are: Strong focus, hard work and prayer

17.  Exiting plan already in place i.e. a board is in place, staff are well trained

Her Advice to us:

§  First of all, Be sure of what you want to do

§  Learn the art of patience understanding that Rome was not built in a day.

§  Keep doing what you are doing and stay long enough to become good at it.

§  Learn the mastery of fear, don’t let it stop you.

§  Also, be open to challenges, they will come and go!

 

Now let’s talk…

1.      It’s not circumstances that ignite entrepreneurship; anyone can have a sense of responsibility.

2.      Being provided everything doesn’t mean you should be lazy and complacent, you still need to do things that would change your world

3.      There are still so many problems to be identified in Nigeria, what can you do to solve at least one of them?

4.      The road to entrepreneurship is a daring one; you need a strong support system, especially those of your loved ones.

5.      Write down your business plan, its unavoidable and of utmost importance.

6.      Before you run, you need to first learn to walk, you need to spend money and time on trainings, books etc. that will arm you with the necessary skills you need before stepping out.

7.      Strive to find a balance between your personal life and your business.

8.      It’s important that the team you decide to build and work with believe strongly in your vision

9.      Never joke with the spiritual, that area must be well secured. Despite all our efforts, we all need grace to experience our breakthrough. So, don’t separate God from your business, let Him chair it.

10.  It is important to state clearly your core values, those things that cannot be compromised

11.  Let your business plan include your exit strategy.

 

You know, at the start of this series I made it clear that this isn’t going to be just another session of talking entrepreneurship; that it will most certainly be a journey where together, we will take practical steps into transforming our ideas into a reality.

So, to kick the ball rolling, I ensured I got busy. From Last week’s Mrs Irabor and even Mrs Bolanle Peters who we will learn from today, one thing was greatly emphasised; we need to put our plans into writing. So, I started with writing my structured business plan. I also got talking to people who can help with branding as well as designing a good financial structure.

So yes, I’ve set the pace, I need to hear from you all too. What have you started doing?

In getting practical:

§  Anyone who needs a simple template for drawing up their business plan should just let me know.

§  An entrepreneurship competition/program is currently on going and it’s called; TEEP (Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program). Check out teep.tonyelumelufoundation.org for more info.

Challenge for the week:

§  Share those ideas (big ones) you penned down last week; talk to someone about it

§  Start writing your business plan.

 

Now, you don't want to miss next Tuesday's post, trust me, you don't!