Even if you have a job, starting a business is something that can make a difference in your finances and even change your life in great ways you couldn’t have imagined. We asked some entrepreneurs why they started their own business, and it all came down to two major reasons:
- Entrepreneurship is about creating solutions. There’s a need waiting to be met.
“AnyWork was born out of necessity. My father has always been uncomfortable with the idea of live-in maids and we have done without one for more than a decade now. After I started working and my sister was in another state for her NYSC, it became really hard to keep up with the housework. I decided to find a non-live-in maid to help out every time we needed help around the house and tada! The idea for AnyWork was born.” ~ Eniola Suley, Anywork Services
“My family had just moved to where you’d call ‘a new site.’ Newspaper vendors didn’t come to my neighbourhood. During a conversation with my uncle, I thought, “hey, why don’t I start supplying people in the neighbourhood newspapers?” And with the spare time I had on my hands, I moved on the idea. After 3 months, I decided to focus on international magazines.” ~ Stanley Oyovota, Barow21.com
“The idea for cupcakes grew out of a shortcoming of most weddings: not everybody got to eat the big pretty wedding cake. Sometimes, they’d slice the cake up into tiny bits and pass it around, but still, not everyone got to have a piece, so the idea of having a cupcake/dessert table at an event so everyone would have these beautiful cakes, as much as they wanted, just grew on me. So I decided to specialize in, and focus on making the best cupcakes in the world. I also bake large-size cakes, but I am more about cupcakes.” ~Ugonma Chiori, McCreamyz Cakes
“Being tall, I’m always on the lookout for nice, affordable, good-quality flats. SlippersbyKene started from me designing a pair of slippers for myself. I wanted something interesting that wasn’t in the stores, and that was incorporated in the popular African fabric–Ankara. I had them made, wore them out and everyone loved them. Family and friends placed orders, the word spread, and two years later we are where we are now.” ~ Kene Rapu, Slippers by Kene
“Buyam was started out of a need to get the same convenience in shopping others enjoy around the world. With the terrible traffic situation in Lagos and the cramped and busy stores, the idea of goods and services coming to me in the comfort of home or office was very appealing. Not only did we not have to go to all the shops, we could go to more than one shop at the same time. The idea was to blend the familiarity of the shops we already knew and loved with the convenience of online ordering and delivery.” ~ Emeka Mordi, Buyam.com.ng
- You have a talent or a flair for something, and it can make money for you.
“I’ve always loved cooking and entertaining and I had very little fulfilment from the job I was doing at the time. So it seemed like an obvious choice.” ~ Morolayo Damilola Shaba, MCatering Concepts
“I have always been interested in beauty products because I like to know what goes in whatever I put on skin… In my final year, I had become a bit popular on Twitter for recommending products and I had also started to make body scrubs, mix creams and oils at home for myself and it was amazing. I decided to start a skincare consultancy for free just because I enjoyed it.” ~ Kafilat Umar, Sherry Organics
“The idea for Broad Street PR & Events was birthed out of frustration over losing my job at the biopharmaceutical company. I was unemployed and bills were piling up. So I thought about what I liked to do and how I could make money out of it. And that was how I decided to start my event planning business that spiralled into what it is now.” ~ Andrea Kamara, Broadstreet International
Do you see a need you can fill? Is there something you really love to do? Consider building a business out of it today!