A Nigerian entrepreneur identified as @A_Feranmi on Twitter, recently shared how he became a millionaire at age 19, only to lose everything a year later.
According to him, everything was going well for a while until poor management and bad business decisions ruined it all.
At 19, I became a millionaire. A year later, I couldn’t recharge my phone on my own. In fact, the attached video represents what my life was a year after my first million.
A THREAD pic.twitter.com/AnYgt0X2io
— Black Jaguar (@A_Feranmi) April 5, 2019
Dreams come true
Sharing his story, Feranmi said his goal was to become a millionaire by 21. While accomplished this, he added that there is a thin line between becoming a millionaire and staying a millionaire.
I loved that! But you see, there is a difference between becoming a millionaire and staying a millionaire. Like Morgan Housel loves to say:
"Getting rich is hard. Staying rich is harder."
No lies there!
— Black Jaguar (@A_Feranmi) April 5, 2019
How he made the N1 million
Continuing his story, he recounted when he applied for a pitching competition that was worth N750,000. He said the panel was so impressed by his idea and decided to increase the pitch to a million. This made his dream come faster than he had imagined.
Life was good to me, my wish came earlier than expected.
I applied for a pitching competition with a grant of NGN750,000 for the winner. After my pitch, I guess the panel was super impressed, the grant was increased to NGN1,000,000.
Goal achieved! Millionaire at 19🎉 pic.twitter.com/IxXxerFLTN— Black Jaguar (@A_Feranmi) April 5, 2019
The pitfalls
His business idea was to redefine the way local cuisines are made, by making it more palatable. After he got his million, he set up his business. But as he noted, excitement/enthusiasm doesn’t grow a business. Instead, proper management skill does.
The first lessons you can learn from my experience are:
"Excitement does not sustain a business, understanding how to run a business does."
"There is a difference between the idea and the business of the idea"
— Black Jaguar (@A_Feranmi) April 5, 2019
He had little management experience
According to Feranmi, even though his business seemed like a brilliant idea to everyone, he had little knowledge of how to run it. Even the grant givers were a little reluctant to give away the cash because the management plan he had. But he found his way.
Once the money came in, he wanted to start off on a large scale. He got exotic wares for his business, and then the urge become a famous CEO became paramount.
In all these, he forgot to listen to anyone who had better advice. And this ultimately resulted in his failure.
Many lessons from Feranmi’s story
Always have a mentor – Feranmi added that one of his mistakes was never having a mentor. In his words, ”No matter how smart your idea is, you must have a mentor’.”
He continued that listening to mentor doesn’t necessarily mean they posses a better ideas than yours. It simply important that when in running a successful business, one humbles him or herself to learn from their mentor’s experience.
Ensure your decisions are the right one for the business – Continuing his thread, he noted that what killed his business was his zeal to be known. He also made wrong purchase decisions, negotiated poorly, and was bad at pricing.
Feranmi also pointed out that his bad decisions led to his closure. But now he has learnt his lessons. And even though his first business failed, he is now advising that one should never give up in the face of challenges. There is always a way out., he said.
There is another lesson here:
"It's okay to fail, but never go into hiding. Never! THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY OUT."
Till this day, those who know me are aware of my motto: HERE IS ALWAYS A WAY OUT.
— Black Jaguar (@A_Feranmi) April 5, 2019
Take risk, it’s worth it sometimes
Another advice he dropped was that the general advice to start small is highly underrated. He said it is important for entrepreneurs to always apply the 15% rule.
In other words, test out their ideas with 15% of the proposed startup budget for 3 to 6 months and make their mistakes.
My final lessons
1. The advice to start small is highly underrated. Apply the 15% rule. Test out your idea with 15% of the proposed startup budget for 3 to 6 months and make your mistakes.
— Black Jaguar (@A_Feranmi) April 5, 2019
