People who succeed in business are not necessarily those who have the best ideas, products or services. What they have is the best application of their ideas. What counts is what you do with your idea and how you commercialise it.
Knowledge is important. That is why it is good to acquire degrees, diplomas and certificates and brandish them when looking for employment. However, what is more important is what you do with that knowledge.
Good business idea is one that will serve people and provide solutions to problems. If you are able to satisfy people’s needs, you’re in business. Money comes as a result of service provided. On the other hand, in this country, people easily acquire huge amounts of money without providing equivalent service. They make money through dubious means and connections. That is why some professionals abandon their professional practice to get rich quick and easy. Today, many of such people are uncomfortable with the current wave of fight against corruption.
How you commercialise your idea depends on many factors such as your contacts, influence, capital, marketing and advertising skills. Successful people know how to apply their ideas. They understand marketing and have the right people around them.
When God gives you an idea, write it down. There is power in the written word. This is scriptural. Habakkuk 2:2 (NKJV) says, “Write the vision. And make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” On 21st December 1978, God gave me the vision for Pharmanews and I wrote down all the ideas that came to my mind in a notebook. As I was writing this piece, I pulled out that notebook with hard cover to glance through the original ideas which have not changed significantly for the past 37 years.
When God gives you a vision or an idea, He makes provision for its materialisation because He takes glory for the success of the idea. He plans successfully because He knows the end from the beginning. That’s why He declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10).
Most times, your vision is not what you can execute alone. As a matter of fact, nobody succeeds working alone. Helpers and facilitators are always needed to run with the vision. Encouragers are needed when there are obstacles and detours as you work out your vision. Bear in mind that Samballat and Tobias are always around to frustrate God’s plans but their plans and strategies never prosper. Your vision must be shared with the right people in order to ensure their support and collaboration.
Ideas have short shelf-life. Therefore, you must act on them before the expiry date. Don’t allow your God-given idea to evaporate. It is like God selecting you for a mission and you decline. In order to establish the purpose of God, a substitute will be chosen. Do not delay unnecessarily or procrastinate when a good idea comes to you. Do not wait for a perfect time. No one is perfect and no work of man is perfect. Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NKJV) says, “Whoever watches the wind will not plant, whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
Do not be like my friend, Johnson. For the past four years he had been planning to resign from his place of work to start his own business. Each time he visited me he had a list of things he needed to accomplish before putting in his letter of resignation. As he continued thinking and planning how to quit employment, he was showing signs of job dissatisfaction.
Last December, he visited me with a letter he gave me to read. I excitedly received the letter thinking he wanted me to help him edit the draft of his letter of resignation. Behold, it was his employer’s letter terminating his appointment. Starring at me, he said his employer surprised him because he was not yet ready to go.
You will need passion and enthusiasm. You have to be genuinely excited and passionate about your ideas. Continuous learning is essential for success. With improving knowledge you can maximise your opportunities and minimise your mistakes. With this knowledge you can do things you couldn’t do before. If you are interested in learning, you will find out that any event or situation or person is a potential teacher. Everything that you try but fails is a chance to learn and do things better. You learn from those above you and those below you. Life offers opportunities for learning.
Individuals who succeed have a belief in the power of commitment. If you look at successful people in any field, you’ll find that they are not necessarily the best or the brightest. Rather, you’ll find that they are the ones with the most commitment.
One of the keys to success is doing what you love to do. Let your work invigorate and excite you. Let certain aspects of what you do at work be what you do at your leisure time. Mark Twain said, “The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation”. See your work as a way of stretching yourself and learning new things
Very much on point. Our world more people like you