by Ngo Nwanze
I never thought about this question while I was present at my online grocery store Nkataa.com, but since my absence I have realised its importance. Had I not been lucky enough to tailor my business to run without me, I would have some serious problems right now.
I never thought about this question while I was present at my online grocery store Nkataa.com, but since my absence I have realised its importance. Had I not been lucky enough to tailor my business to run without me, I would have some serious problems right now.
No one ever plans to be absent when
there’s a lot of money to be made and a lot of business to be done, but
sometimes life has a way of forcing us to be absent at some critical
points in the lifespan of our businesses.
I have seen that we are
just as addicted to Apple products after the passing of Steve Jobs as we
have ever been. Despite the high foreign currency exchange rate in our
country, many of us already have the iPhone 7 and are eagerly
anticipating the next Apple product to hit the market. Nigeria remains
among the highest purchasers of luxury goods and electronics regardless
of the incessant ranting on social media about the Federal Government,
the recession and the rising cost of FOREX.
This has caused me to
think a bit deeply. Are there ways that businesses can be set up to
outlive and outperform their founders? I am interested in this subject
because I believe that even when I am present, a successful business is
one that allows me to spend more time doing leisurely activities and
spending time with loved ones.
As a CEO, regardless of my presence
at work, my business occupies my mind 24/7. I always think about
salaries, staff welfare, how to break even, profitability, etc. In fact
there’s always something business-related on my mind. I believe that
these issues would be better attended to if they were the only issues on
my mind. Sometimes, one needs to be absent from the running of business
in order to focus on these issues.
I would also like some time
off to play, after work and on weekends. Furthermore, I need to reflect
on what I’ve done so far and how I can keep improving. This is better
achieved when I can step back from the day-to-day operations of my
business. I certainly would not like to continue this cycle of
overworking myself, until I am unavoidably absent again; something needs
to change.
The basic requirement for business survival for
start-ups is having a team. I have come to see a lot of start-ups with
brilliant ideas impeding growth because they have refused to set up a
team. They run their businesses so intelligently when they are
available, but whenever they are away it is a different story. The
business and customers wait impatiently while they flood their
customers’ social media timelines with fun pictures of their holidays or
family functions. Followed by an apology post when they return saying
“Sorry I wasn’t able to respond to you guys, Nigeria was driving me
crazy and I had to run away, but I’m back now. Yaay!”
Let me
quickly make it clear that there is absolutely nothing wrong with
running your business like this. Maybe sometimes it is better to enjoy
your holiday without getting calls from customers that their food has
still not come. However, if you want your business to
out-live/out-perform you as a founder, and operate in your absence, then
you need to get a team.
There are a million ways things can be
done and there are also a million excuses why things cannot be done. I
would normally encourage young CEOs like myself to invest in a team. A
lot of people would always say to me, “I love your team, give me Bose,
she’s pretty and intelligent. It is not easy to find smart people in
Nigeria. There is a serious gap in Nigeria for “good hands.” It is not
easy to find people who understand your vision. “Nigerians? They will
just run down your business…” I can keep going on but I think you get my
point.
Bose was always a pretty girl but she has not always been an intelligent girl. In fact we used to call her an olodo.
I worried that I had made a mistake in hiring her and we decided to
just ‘dump her in customer care to talk to customers jarey.’ That was a
BIG MISTAKE! We had customers and friends calling me and saying, “Get
that girl off the phone.” However, today Bose is known as valuable and
intelligent and people are wondering, “where did you find her?”
What
happened to Bose? How has she in a short space of time been able to
transform from being an ‘olodo’ to being an asset? I have seen this
‘Bose-like transformation’ happen to quite a few members of my team. It
has been a roller coaster with different personalities out there. It has
taken a great deal of investment. How did it happen? It took patience,
capacity building, team-building exercises, and a lot more. In fact, I
have lost some members of my team that I love so dearly because they
refused my investments. Like I said earlier there are a million ways
things can be done and there are also a million excuses why things
cannot be done. One thing you must get done is to “get good hands.” You
must build the capacity you need. This does not come through firing
everyone who doesn’t meet your standards; it comes through building up
the individuals you have to become the team you want.
Which leads
us to the next point: The second requirement for your business to
survive your absence is having a team that you have invested in. My team
is my brand and I will deploy the same level of effort and finances I
use to build my brand, to build my team.
I will conclude this
article with saying that usually the ones who we feel are the good hands
are often beyond the reach of start-ups in terms of being able to
afford them – unless your dad gave you a “small loan” of a million
dollars like President elect Donald Trump. However, this is not a
problem because the people you have invested in will manage your
start-up better than ready-made people you have employed.
I am
looking forward to the next article because I will focus on writing
about setting up the right team and how you can invest in them. In the
coming weeks, I will also cover other impediments start-ups face with
setting up a team.
Until next time, happy building!
Photo Credit: Spotmatik | Dreamstime.com
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