I'm sure we've all heard the story of
Jumoke the bread seller who rose from grass to fame. Well, here are 7 top
business lessons from her story you
could find useful...
1. Never let your degree limit you.
Jumoke learnt the trade of hair dressing.
In her home city, Ire, she's known to be a hairdresser. Two weeks ago, she was
known to be a bread seller around Sabo,
Lagos. Today, she's a well known super
model. She could have stuck to hair
dressing even when it was not profitable
in her home city, Ire. She could have insisted on relocating to Lagos for the
purpose of continuing her hairdressing
trade but she made a switch to bread
hawking where destiny found her. As
entrepreneurs, we must learn to never to
be limited by our degree or trade, be fast to determine what's working and what
isn't as well as be quick to make changes
to mitigate losses.
2. Don't wait for conditions to be right
before you do something. So I know a lot
of young people waiting to get money to rent an office, buy large machines for
production and delivery vans before
commencing their business. What
happened to starting in your room?
Jumping okada or boda boda for delivery
and starting off with small sample production to test the market? Jumoke
could have waited to put money together
in lagos to start her own bakery instead
of hawking bread. Learn from Jumoke!
3. Take risks. Coming to Lagos from Ire,
Osun state would never have been an easy decision for Jumoke. It required
taking risks and leaving your comfort
Zone. Are you still holding on to that
security blanket? Remember, everything
you ever wanted is on the other side of
fear. Take that leap today! 4. Visibility is key. Be visible. Talk to all
about your business, you never know
who is listening. I say this all the time but
let's draw the analogy from Jumoke's
story. Her bread wasn't inside her room,
under her bed or in her cabinet. She was out there with her bread and everyone
saw it until the idea of capturing a bread
seller in a photo came to the
photographer. Learn from that. Be visible!
5. Flowing from number 4, I can hear you
say you've been talking but nothing is happening. Again, learn from Jumoke. Do
you have an idea how many times she
has hawked past that same spot destiny
met her? Do you know how many days of
no sales she has recorded? Are you
aware that even on the day destiny met her, there were voices shouting for her to
get off the set but she stayed? Now
those are familiar challenges for
entrepreneurs. Remember, all you need
is one main person to believe in you and
the will power to have your say even in confused situations.
6. Be disciplined. When Jumoke's story
first broke, many said it can't be true
simply because the shot was taken in the
evening and the type of bread Jumoke
hawks are typically sold in the morning. Who says you have to be typical? Who
says you have to follow norms and
customs? Entrepreneurs are meant to
break out, stand out, be outstanding and
set standards! Be disciplined and break
norms!! 7. Be cheerful and amiable always. As
simple as this sounds, imagine if Jumoke
didn't have an amiable disposition or
even a smile, would she have
photographed well? Many times, we
allow the challenges of entrepreneurship affect our disposition. Remember that
even customers love cheerful, amiable
people and can simply be your loyal
customers.
Phew! Okay!! I'm done!! Trying hard to
keep the smile on my face right now. As always, I hope you find these useful.
Have a blissful day friends.
