LEAD THE CHANGE: THE EXECUTIVE SQUARE

Remember the Brian Tracy seminar organized by Leadership 300 (an arm of Benson Idahosa University aka BIU) I attended a while back that I blogged about and you loved? Well, I had the similar privilege of attending another powerful seminar held on the 23rd of August and organized by BIU’s Knowledge Development Centre, only this time I paid so don’t expect me to spill all the goodies I learned.

This seminar was titled The Executive Square and the Guest Speaker was Julian Kyula, the CEO of Mo-DE Africa (Mobile Decisioning) and the winner of IBM’s 2012 Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award. His company is the owner of the Telco, “Borrow Me credit” feature so whenever you borrow any amount from your network he gets richer, hehehe.

I had never heard of this Kenyan before but I felt a strong urge to hear what he had to say. Most millionaires make their money silently away from the watchful eyes of the paparazzi, while improving different sectors of countries economies. Enough of my philosophies, here’s an overview of what he taught or shall I say what I learned from my two hour session with him.

Starting out as an entrepreneur
The world of e-commerce is going global due to the value placed on people to share information e.g. Facebook - pictures and stories. The saying that entrepreneurship is not for everyone is a lie. We are moving into a world of partnerships, no one can do business alone, so anyone can become an entrepreneur. The world of entrepreneurship is one no one is prepared for. It feels like a lot or responsibility thrown at you very quickly once you decide to start a business. You don’t have to do it alone. The world is full of people that have the potentials to make your dreams come true.

Your passion/business is personal; nobody else is as passionate about your vision as you. Don’t confuse it for other people’s passion when talking to people like future investors/partners. Do not personalize your business plan; make it factual because people are driven by bottom-line (aka profit). Study who you are speaking to – what excites them, what their passion is, how your passion can be relevant to them and listen when they speak. Investors are serious about investing in people who will bring result and they spend a greater percentage of time assessing the risk factors associated with your business. Be ready to rewrite your business plan over and over again.

On your journey as an entrepreneur
Look at your business like a science, do your maths, get experts to partner with you, know your market size, get statistics on the sector you are venturing into to enable you position your business and break into the market. Get an accountant, history of your longevity in the business, a clear analysis of your competitor and outline the risk factors associated with your business in your business plan. Deliberate planning for positioning is vital for the survival of your business and it prevents you from being sidetracked by success when you’ve not attained your ultimate goal. Have a structure for your business and put people into it, people who will question what you do not yes men. Failure is part of your journey; it teaches you when you don’t get it right. You need to be resilient when venturing into business and plan to live off the interest of your interest. E.g. let’s say your seed is 1 billion and your interest is 10% (100 million) take 10% of your interest (10million) and live off it then invest the remainder or save part of it in Trust funds for your future generation and invest the rest.

What you must do today:
1. Take Charge of your dream because no one else will care about it until you’ve made it. Your passion is more important than your enterprise.

2. Take responsibility. Your time is very precious; don’t waste it on things that won’t add to your life. Find your compass and your true north, you’ve been inspired enough.

3. Take the fire. Don’t let your dream be crushed by external forces. What you have will be rejected so many times but you must have the fire to keep your dream alive.

4. Study your dream. Is it the solution to a problem that a bigger company is looking for? Start looking for global problems to solve. Whose problem are you solving?

5. Pray over your plans.

Lessons of Life
 Relationships are paramount for your next level. Ask yourself, who is my introducer? There will always be someone that will take you to your next level so be careful about ‘burning bridges’.

 Be grateful for the sacrifice of your parents but ensure you are living your dreams not theirs so you don’t pass yours on to your children.

 Spend time writing out your plans. Think trans-generational, let the legacy you leave for your children, their children and their children’s children be your focus and motivation.

 When people say you’ve changed, it means you simply stopped living life their way.

 Stop trying to perfect things, get it out there. There are people out there who are willing to put money into what you started that isn’t perfect.

Now that you have all this information, what do you do with it? Position yourself.