Why do start-ups fail? I saw this question on a friend's Facebook wall and the first thing I did was to stop and think, really, why do start-ups fail?
I took my time to think, I wanted to reply with impressive response so I thought deeply and searched my soul for answers. I was receiving answers such as lack of capital, people problems, government policies and all those things that they tell us in conventional business seminars but all these didn't convince me, they are not the reasons for start-up failure as far as I am concerned, so I asked myself, what will I respond to this question?
Suddenly, something pop up in my mind, the answer just arrived shinning so bright like the sun and lighting up my mind. The answer is so simple that I would overlook it and go for bigger reasons or bigger grammars to convince the world that I know what I am saying, but it is not the big and generally accepted reason, I bet you would argue the answer with me as well.
Start-ups fail simply because they quit!
Woah! Is that the answer? You would ask. You've got to be kidding me! You would say. But trust me, there is no other reason start-up would fail other than this.
There are other several factors one could say is the reason for start-up failing, in fact, I believe that every new venture that fails is natural and should be expected, simply because it's a new environment and you are not used to it. I am sure you know all of the reasons start-up fail, you know them because you have read them in business books, heard people talk about them or maybe you're experiencing them yourself presently, but whatever the list of reasons you have, they are just shadows of the real thing.
There is an analogy about business start-up that goes thus:
For every 100 businesses starting up, half of that figure will be in business after five years and less than 10% Will stand the test of time after ten years. There can be a list of reasons why other 90% fail to remain in business for that long, numerous reasons that you may already know, but there is only one reason that make the very few 10% remain in business:
THEY DID NOT QUIT !.
At the beginning of this year 2017, I had a job offer that seemed really good. It was a driving job, I would be in charge of a bus that would deliver goods to customers at different locations in Lagos State. I had the opportunity to negotiate the time I would be available to work, I planned I would do it for just four days in a week so that I can have time to work on building my business / brand Quadoowear and also use the money I make to invest in the brand. This at first looked like a good idea, "I will do it", I said. After all, I had nothing to loose, since I would make some money and still have my free time. This is the period I had no roof over my head and I slept from place to place, no food to eat because I had no steady income, all my friends were getting married and having children, some are buying cars. And guess what I was doing, I just got back from Cotonou where I went to promote the brand Quadoowear and despite the success the brand achieved in terms of recognition all over, there was nothing to show for it. I wore same clothes for a whole year, couldn't eat good food and had no girl friend because no girl would ever think of me as a living being. I was more like a waste of space. Yet, my next project was to begin FREE GRAPHIC DESIGN CLASS to empower the youth in my community. I wasn't convinced myself that "them no dey do me from village".
Guess what I did, I choose the Free Graphic Class project and dropped the driving offer that would give me money.
What I am saying is that, even when I went through hell in Cotonou ( it could have been worse if not for the help of my friend Amah Usman Papi), and back with "nothing" to show for it, when everybody in my family and friends did not want to associate with my "failure", even when I had what looked like an opportunity to change my life, make money, start a family and Look good like other people, "I did not quit". I was different from everyone else in the community. I was literally looking like a mad man on the streets because I even had no money to cut my hair most times. But guess what, I DID NOT QUIT.
My brother would tell me: "you are a very good graphic designer, you are very creative, go and find a job, gather some money and I will support you with the rest money, I just want to know that you are serious about what you are doing".
I appreciate that, but that wouldn't just work for me, though it sounded easy and helpful.
Dangote is the biggest entrepreneur in Nigeria, he is the richest man in Africa, he wouldn't get there if he had quit during his challenging times as a start-up.
Nobody will help you, nobody will support you, government policies will not favour you, the system will be hard, you will not find the right people easily, you will make a few bad choices, you will have down times, you will have every reason to commit suicide because of shame, you will sleep hungry most of the time, life will not be worth living , you will be tempted to do lots of immoral things but please DO NOT GIVE UP, DO NOT QUIT.
Have you seen a day that has no night? A rain that never stops? A winter season that continued for a whole year? Or a night that didn't end in the morning?
Anything you face as an entrepreneur /start-up is not experienced by you alone, it is a general and universal problem. We are always tricked by our mind to believe that the grass is greener on the other side, especially we Africans, we believe that other developed countries usually have it easier, but trust me, though they may have better government policies and amenities, they have their challenges that seem designed for them.
Nothing is impossible when you believe. When you seek self improvement daily and when you do not quit. Mind your own business, study your own problems and provide solutions to it a step at a time. Quitting dreams is the only real reason start-ups fail.
Written by:
Alli Quadri Olakekan
(CEO, Quadoowear)
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