As a small business owner with little to no experience in entrepreneurship and no money to consult professionals, learning on the job is one of the many opportunities you have.
When I engaged in the business of Nigerian desserts years ago, I was a university student joggling school and business together. It wasn’t easy being a creative director, public relations officer, customer care representative, sales rep, photo and videographer all together to ensure the success of the business, however, all the roles are important steps for your business survival.
Some people are lucky enough to start big because they have proper and easy access to funding, and adequate resources needed, however, many of us are not that lucky, so we wear the many caps of the various individuals that were supposed to be in the business with and diligently perform them until we attain success.
The video above is one of the many videos I shot to advertise my products. Being in a student environment, it was important to channel my adverts to make my products a need for them rather than wants. Even though it’s just desserts, it is important that I creatively create scenes where my products could be useful for them as students studying for their exams, or just relaxing, or hungry and not willing to cook.
Somehow, with the many videos, pictures, and stories that I created with the products, I created the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) in the minds of the people such that at some point, I had customers outside students. The first bulk order of chinchin I made was for a bridal shower. The second one was for a family outing, and the third one was for friends get together. I remember all these because they were important periods in the business.
In summary, as a small business owner, the task ahead can be really daunting, especially because you have to wear the cap of many roles at a time. However, the early days of your business is an important learning time for you so that when your business expands to a stage where you can afford to employ people, you’ll know what to look for and how to measure the growth of your business.
▶️ 3Speak
Starting up brings the cap of many roles to an entrepreneur but he will grow overcome all challenges and know how to manage each role and also succeed.
Exactly. Wear the many caps, gain the experiences, fail and fall, rise again to pick it up once more but this time, with a little more experience.