CROSSROADS CHAPTER ONE OF ON YOUR MARKS

CHAPTER ONE: CROSSROADS

You are dissatisfied.

You know there is more to life than what you are currently experiencing. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you are, or even how much you are making; you believe there must be more to life and there is.

But why do you feel this way?

Perhaps you are a white collar worker who has been passed over for promotion several times, or a graduate tired of interviews, maybe you are unhappy with the type of work, you are doing and you feel caged or you are undergoing a conflict of values with your current employer. Nevertheless, you have reached a crossroads in your life and you stand at the fork of the road wondering which way to go.

You could take the path you are familiar with, it’s the safe path. You wake up in the morning, put on a  suit or dress, manoeuvre the city traffic and arrive at the office at the designated time. You then go on to spend the next eight to ten hours at your desk or in meetings. You do this, every day, and at the end of the month, your account is credited.

Then there is the second path. This path is jagged and shrouded in mystery, you are not even entirely sure where it leads but you are becoming increasingly curious about the path. When you think about it you are scared and excited. But how can you take this path when it is so uncertain? What if you lose your way?

This analogy is designed to help you understand the emotions most people experience when they begin to contemplate entrepreneurship. By definition, an entrepreneur is an individual who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. And these are the risks that give you pause. Transitioning from full-time employment, or even unemployment, to starting your own business can be daunting. After all, there are no assurances and no way to know whether or not you are making a huge mistake leaving the certainty of paid employment behind.

However, there is no escaping the fact that you are no longer content with working for someone else and your discontentment may be due to a myriad of factors.

Financial Challenges

It is often stated that labour is cheap in Nigeria. This is the case whether you are the hired help in a home or the manager of a bank. Because of this, many of us will experience frustration with our pay. Due to the current state of the economy, many employers are paying salaries in inconsistent and incongruous ways; meanwhile, the cost of living is steadily rising.

So it is no surprise that your thoughts are leaning towards creating an environment for yourself where you can be responsible for your own salary, even if it means your salary will be lower than what you are used to for some time.

Career Hiatus

You have been working for your employer for five years and you have only been promoted once. Your career has stalled, the engine that keeps it running has died and nothing you do can get it to start again. Reaching a lull in your career is a tough place to be in, as it can cause you to question many of your choices even if you are reasonably paid. It is a state that can result in a lot of pent up frustration and confusion as to what to do next. Naturally, you begin to consider another line of work, one that affords you the opportunity to reach your goals.

In my case, I had worked in an organisation for more than eight years and I had never been promoted. Occasionally, all the employees would be given an increment in their pay and I had my job title revised on a couple of occasions, but it was basically the same job. I knew I could do more, I wanted to do more and so I resigned.

Age

Birthdays and the realisation that one is ageing universally inspires reflection on one’s life – What is your purpose in life? Are you doing what you want to do? Have you achieved what you set out to achieve? Are you happy?

Men are known to experience mid-life crises, named thus because the individual has reached a point in his life when he believes half his life is behind him and he begins to panic because he is under the impression that time is running out. This is not unique to men; women also regularly battle fears that come along with ageing; menopause can be a trigger.

You maybe turning 40, and the phrase a fool at 40 is lingering at the back of your mind. You may be asking yourself; if you are indeed the fool. Many of us reflect on our life’s choices at events like school reunions - where you come face to face with the achievements and failures of those you spent your formative years with.

If you’ve been in paid employment all your life, this may be the time that you realise you want to leave a legacy behind when you go, and what better way to do this than by building a business that will outlive you.

Passion

Nigeria has seen more and more individuals succeed in industries that our culture typically restricted to hobbies. Gone are the days when the only careers open to you were law, architecture, medicine, engineering and the like.

You are dissatisfied with just subsisting at work. The desire to try to succeed at what you love is growing inside you. It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be – blogging, consulting, interior design, or gardening – so long as you are passionate about it and want to take a stab at turning your dreams into reality.

Value System

None of us agree with our employers 100% of the time, but you can’t see eye to eye with your employers on any of the important issues. You don’t agree with the decisions they make or the way they run their business.

Perhaps you are in a situation whereby your boss is taking money under the table, you are forced to keep different accounting books, or you are being maltreated at work. Integrity is a core value for you but in the business, you are in, integrity is a no-no if their operations are to continue. Under these circumstances, you may begin to contemplate striking out on your own. You want to do things differently from how they are being done in your workplace and you are struggling in that environment.

New Challenge

You are more bored than dissatisfied. Perhaps you have reached the peak of your career or you simply find what you do to be uninspiring. Starting a business is a way to give new meaning to your life and provide with you with problems to solve and obstacles to overcome.

A friend of mine turned down an NYSC internship with a major oil producing company for one that at first yielded him a measly N25,000 a month. His family and friends all thought he was crazy. The problem was the company had placed him in Logistics and that was not what he wanted to do. Today, he is doing very well in his own enterprise.

For this of people, money is not the issue or the answer. In fact, the question is – Am I doing what I’m meant to be doing?

Dr Christopher Kolade took on the job of Ambassador (High Commission) to The United Kingdom at age 61, at a time when his peers were typically preparing for retirement. Today he is 85 and his hands are still full, proving that it is never too late to make a change.

Unemployment

Graduates are coming out of Nigerian universities in droves and finding that there are no jobs. In fact, the current economic climate is such that people are actually losing jobs and there is no certainty that they will find one to replace it in the near future. In that situation, you are forced to be creative. You have rent to pay, mouths to feed and you can’t sit at home doing nothing.

Starting a business is an obvious solution under the circumstances and the urge you feel to pursue this idea is growing daily.

Often in life, when all roads seem closed to you, you have to make your own way. A while back I wanted to take advantage of a program on the radio but the radio station kept on procrastinating and giving me excuses. One day my contact called me.

“Ah Jane, a long time. How are you?”

“I am well sir. How are you?”

“God has been good.”

“I am so sorry that we were not able to get you on our station.”

“Don’t worry about it dear, I have started my own radio program.”

She stuttered, confused. “What did you say, sir,”

“I said, I have started my own radio program…”

I had realised that I was not going to be able to achieve what I wanted if I waited for someone to provide me with the service I needed. I took the initiative and created a platform for myself.

Near Death Experience

Much as with ageing, a near-death experience forces the individual to look back on his/her life – Am I a good person? What is my purpose? Have I fulfilled my purpose? These questions encourage the individual to try a different approach to their life. This could include starting that business that they have been putting off.

I attended a conference years ago where Dr Pat Utomi spoke and told us about his involvement in an accident and left for dead. After the accident, he became a different person. Today, he is an entrepreneur and a mentor.

But you don’t have to wait for a close call with death before you realise that you are not in the driver’s seat of your life.  

This time of your life may lead you to other major life choices but for the purpose of this book, we are focusing on entrepreneurship. Wherever you are in your career, whatever the issues you are facing, the desire to start a business won’t sit quietly in the recesses of your mind. It is making you restless at work and irritable at home. You believe there is something you should be doing and you are not doing it.

Let me paint a picture for you. There is a woman in labour. Her baby presses against her uterus. She is not ready – the crib hasn’t been assembled, she only has one pack of nappies and her mother hasn’t arrived yet. She wants the baby to wait another week, but the baby is determined to come out into the world. Beads of sweat decorate her forehead and her breath is forced. She is told to push and so she pushes. She pushes hard.

The baby is the desire that you are trying to suppress. This is a nerve-racking place to be - stay where you are and continue to feel unsure and unfulfilled; or take a chance at being an entrepreneur and risk losing stability and money.

Destiny is beckoning and it is demanding to be birthed. 

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