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.