We’re all farmers, but our approach to farming is different.

Every farmer has two options.

Should I plant cocoa or maize?

It takes only about 90 days to harvest corn, but a long 3-5 years to start harvesting cocoa (that’s if you plant the hybrid seed, or else more years)

The truth is, most people will rather plant maize.

Who in the world has the 5 years to “waste”?

But wait, maize comes and goes, cocoa remains for many years.

You harvest your corn, eat or sell just in few weeks, but cocoa produces again and again for 25-30 years.

I wish you learn some lessons from my parable.

Good things takes time.

If you have a small dream, you can achieve that tomorrow.

However, if your dream is big, then you’ll need a whole lot of patience.

It may take 90 days to harvest onions, but it takes 7 years (or more) to harvest Olive.

What are you planting?

If you need a job, you can get one next week. However, if you want to build a company, it takes time, focus, determination and endurance.

Not many people can do this, but I wish you (reading this) will pay the price.What

I remember those days in the economics class when our teacher taught us that there are ‘’three worlds’’, first world countries, second world countries and the third world countries.

Some of us wondered why there are three worlds, until it was properly explained by our teacher that those worlds are actually categorized according to their economy. Unfortunately, most countries in our dear continent (Africa) is refer to as the third world.

Why are Africans so poor?

Some people are of the opinion that it was due to the unusually long (500 years colonization).

Why there is no doubt we were greatly affected by this long years of enslavement, I am of the opinion that we can, or should have heal that wound.

I don`t know what you think. That`s what I think.

Some other people are of the opinion that our poverty is due to bad political leaders.

While I would have loved to agree with this, I can help but to disagree.

Why?

Because leaders of any given society, club or country are just the picture of that society, club or country at large.

This is what I mean. People are trained by the society. The value system of that given society is what teaches them what to believe, how to behave, what to pursue with their lives and how to lead their people.

That is the reason why Joseph Maistre said, ‘’every nation has the government it deserves’’

You take for instance, an average America boy of age 16 may be happy to spend the reast of his life in the laboratory finding the cure for AIDS or Ebola. why?

Because he has been trained in a society that appreciate sacrifice for a better humanity.

Suggest a similar idea to a Nigeria boy of the same age and you will blame yourself, if you`re lucky not to see his parents` anger.

When a society defines success as making the world a better place and another society defines success as building five houses, do you think both of them will produce the same kinds of leaders?

You know the answer.

Yes. An average political leader in Africa is a thief. But I have the reason not to blame them, instead, I dare to blame our values as a continent.

Believe me, the president of your country did not change when he becomes a president. Presidency only gives him an opportunity to reveal his true self … that self our society built in him from his age 3-40.

So if I think we should have overcome the pain of colonization and I am of the opinion that our leaders are not the reason for our poverty… instead, they are the real picture of who we are, what then are the causes of our poverty?

You get it.

Who we are, how we live, what we believe etc.

Let me explain one after another.

7 Reasons why Africans are poor

1. Most Africans are religious, but not spiritual.

I don`t know why I started here but let`s move on anyway. Religion is a significant part of Africans, but unfortunately, an average Africans really don`t know how God works. Most Africans (blindly) believe that God can make them rich, if they will pray enough. This is heresy and unbiblical.

I love the way my pastor elder brother and friend, Pastor Bukola put it, God doesn`t give us money. He gives us business ideas and strengths to work it out.

God doesn`t give anybody money and praying for money is as good as praying for maize.

Yes, God is the one who gives us maize to eat, but we are the one to plant it. Though we may pray that it rains at the appropriate time, we have responsibility to go into the bush and get dirty.

Do you go to the mountain to pray for 21 days because you want God to give you maize?

If no, you don`t have to go to the mountain to beg God to give you money.

He is willing to give you money. He loves you and has already prepared all the money you need to live a good live, even before you were born.

Read Matthew 6:8 and see what Jesus says there, your Father (God) already know what you need, even before you ask.

God loves you and he Is willing to give you money, but you have to understand how money is being made.

Just as there are principles of planting, growing and harvesting maize, there are principles of money making.

I`ll explain further

2. Most Africans hate knowledge, including financial knowledge.

In the last point above, I made it known that farmers have to understand the principles of planting, growing and harvesting maize. How do they understand this? Well, not by praying or fasting, but by learning.

My grandfather was a farmer. He taught my father how to farm. My father has five men and taught all of us how to farm (I am the only one who doesn`t know much about farming because I am his last child).

Without the knowledge of how to plant maize, grow it, protect it from animals and insects and harvesting it, you can go and pray for 40 days, you cannot have a good maize farm.

Money making has principles… which has to be learned.

These principles have long being discovered by rich men of old, starting from Abraham. These men (not Abraham now) have written so many books to reveal their secrets.

Till today, books is still the greatest revealer of secrets. But Africans will not read.

If you want to hide something from an African

they say, keep it in a book.

I have tears in my heart.

I am crying and telling my fellow continent people, we cannot be richer than other people around us except we know what they don`t know.

May be I should repeat that.

You cannot be richer than people around you … until you know what they don`t know.

Abraham was not rich because God gave him money. Open your Bible and read it.

Father Abraham was rich because he knew what others didn`t know.

While many people in his day were working as labourers (what you`ll call employee today), Abraham was a business man with hundreds staff (over 300 to be specific).

Until we start learning, reading and upgrading our minds, Africa will forever be poor.

3. Most Africans still love job.

When will Africans start to hate job? We have to start to hate job today! We have to start telling our young children from age 9 and above that job is not available again, and if it does available, it is no more good like the days of our fathers. We are very poor because we love job.

4. Most Africans are not business oriented.

About three days ago I was reading about the youngest female millionaire, Elizabeth Holmes who started his company at the age of 19 (just as Mark Zukerberg, facebook founder did) and she later dropped out of school when her business required that she do so.

How did a 19 years old lady get courage to start a business?

Because she (and millions other young Americans) have been rightly oriented that job is a mess and that becoming a business owner is greatly rewarding.

What do you think an average Africa 19 years old guys and girls are doing?

Watching football matches, following fashion trends or best, getting busy with school to earn good certificate.

Nobody is out there to tell our young adults that they are the hope of this continent, that they are the one to create jobs for themselves and others, that they have to be entrepreneurs and not employees.

How can we be rich as a continent when we are not creating businesses?

5. Africans are poor because we run businesses like mere ‘’buying and selling’’.

Why majority of Africans don`t think about being business owners, those who think (or who condition forced to be business owners) are not running business like 21 century business, instead, they are running business like 15 century`s business.

You know, in the 15 century, all you have to do is to figure out a product or service to sell. If you can smile a little people will love you and patronize your business.

Now however, business requires more strategies and innovations than ever before, just as the name of Seth Godin`s book sound, Purple Cow.

If it is not purple cow (unique), nobody sees it or buys it.

If you`re dull and your product/service is dumb, nobody notices you.

Most Africans are dull and their businesses are dumb. More of the reasons (should you care to know) lie on what I discussed with you in the second point above… about knowledge.

6. Africans are poor because an average Africans is irresponsible.

After all I am your brother, so you won`t say I am abusing Africans. Most Africans are so much concern about what they get, and not what they give. Few years ago I heard a man of about age 30 complaining that his father didn`t give him money (or something like that).

How dumb is that?

Very dumb.

An average 16 years old boy in many advanced countries of the world has being planning how he will get out of his father`s home and create his own life.

Most 30 years old Africans still see themselves as infant, who need help. We love to receive a ready-made, stress free success.

Unfortunately, maize doesn`t come to life until a farmer gets dirty.

Africans have to (ungently) wake up and be responsible.

At around age 20 I started planning how I will be independent of my parent financially.

I started thinking, how can I make Nigeria (my country) a better place? How can I influence Africans for good?

When I was 21 and six months, it was time to forsake mediocre and get busy in the world. I announced to my parents and family that I am going to the business world, and that I will never need to collect my certificate from the school.

It wasn`t a smooth journey and I have not become a millionaire yet (as at the time of writing this) but, I was lucky to think different.

7. Africans are poor because we are still proud of school and certificate.

I can see a time coming, when our so called universities and polytechnics will all be destroyed and our youths will be taught to embrace education in its true sense, but for now, the situation is pathetic.

I have said it before now, universities and polytechnics are not giving the kind of education we need now and therefore should be killed.

There will ever be poverty in Africa until people embrace education and not certificate.

As for me, library and google are the best universities there are in 21 century.

Read. Read and read.

You want to be rich and wealthy? Go and start reading books about business and wealth creation. Do you desire a better marriage? visit a book shop and buy some good books about marriage. Do you desire to be more spiritual? Search google, download some great books written by the great Christians of old.

Read and read, then you`ll know how to be rich, how to have a great marriage, how to be more spiritual and how to do just anything worthwhile.

Does school teach you how to be rich? Does school teach you how to have a great marriage? Does school teach you how to be spiritual? Then, what does school teach us?

Africans have to start loving education (not school) if we want to be rich.

Finally, I want to thank you so much for reading this tutorial and I want to say that the above opinion is mine, and since I am a little boy, I may be wrong (or bias) in my expression.

You may contact us if you think I am dumb for my above opinion.

Thank you

Hi ABC family, today I want to share with you what business ideas are not.

This video is about the mistakes people are making and it will guild you to know how to REALLY discover business ideas in Africa.

Watch and share.

And very important, go and subscribe to our YouTube Channel because we’ll soon start daily upload of business videos to our channel.

You don’t want to miss them.

Join our YouTube business channel HERE

Enjoy the following video;

I just finished reading a mail of a man couples of minutes ago.

In his words, “I know how to make millions of naira in Nigeria. The only thing stopping me is funding (capital)”

This is an example of someone lying to himself.

You see, politicians lie to you every day. Media houses and movies lie to you every day, yet, no one has deceived you, until you deceive yourself.

We are living in a world where nobody wants to take responsibility for his life. Instead, people love to see whom to blamed for their woe.

“I wouldn’t have been poor, if not because my parents are poor”

“I wouldn’t have been unemployed, if not because Nigerian government is bad”

“I wouldn’t have failed in business, if I had gotten a million dollars”

One funny thing about all these excuses is that, they make sense.

Don’t you know?

You think about this.

I was born a sickly boy and I lived all my first one and half decades as “one of the most disadvantaged child” in the world.

I would be seriously sick, crying and praying for death.

Plus, I was born by poor parents who couldn’t even give me a token #50,000 to start a business.

Now tell me, if today I tell you, “You see, the reason why I’m poor is because I was born disadvantaged and by poor parents in the village”

Don’t you think my excuse makes sense?

That’s what I’m telling you.

Every excuse makes sense.

That your excuse (whatever what it is) is so “good” that it makes a lot of sense

But you see, you have to stop lying to yourself if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.

On Thursday, July 24th, 2008, I decided not to lie to myself.

Though I had no money (only #8,500), I went fully into the business world.

It was NOT easy, but I’m glad I did.

If I had lied to myself, I wouldn’t be here today. So, stop lying to yourself, if you want to be a successful entrepreneeur.

Though your lie (excuses) will make a lot of sense to you, it will lead you to NO WHERE.

Tell yourself the truth, and you know the truth?

You’re afraid of trying.

For most people, this is the truth; the fear of unknown.

And do you know how to overcome the fear in your heart?

Increase your knowledge about what you’re afraid of.

If you’re afraid of snakes, reading about snakes will help you to know more about snakes.

For example, you’ll discover that more than 90% of snakes are NOT poinsonous. This helps reduce your fear.

Instead of being afraid of business failure, get business education.

Read good books about business and your courage will be boosted.

Again, I tell you; STOP TELLING YOURSELF LIES.

ABC; Very Possible

There are couples of reasons why so many people are not able to start a successful business.

One reason is because most of us (unfortunately) spent the first 25 years of our lives learning NOTHING about money or how to build a business (don’t let me crucify school today).

One other reason is because most people are overwhelmed by the fact that they think they would have to invent something completely new before they could build a successful business.

These people are wrong.

In fact, the opposite is the truth.

What?

Yea.

If you want to become a successful entrepreneur, you must not be an inventor.

Have a look at the richest people in the world and you’ll understand what I mean.

How many of the 100 richest men are inventors?

Bill Gates wasn’t the “owner” of the software that made him rich. He bought it.

Mark Zukerberg wasn’t the first person to start a social media site. He added his creativity.

Google isn’t the first search engine. They make it better.

Dangote wasn’t the first man to produce cement.

I can continue mentioning but my ink is about to finish.

What then is my point?

Well, you don’t have to worry your good self about being an inventor.

Why all the headaches when you can “STEAL” what others have invented?

Steal? No. “steal”.

The fastest and easiest way to build a successful business is to look around for what others are already doing and then “steal” their models.

When you steal (“steal”) this business model, you can take it to another industry, twist and turn it, then launch a business or you can “steal” the model, add superior business skills and marketing, then some uniqueness, to compete in the same industry.

I have done this successfully on an industry and just starting out with the second industry.

I tell you, you don’t have to be an inventor.

But you have to be a business student.

You have to read business, think business and observe business games.

If you’re a good business student and observer, building a busiiness becomes one of those games.

I love the game of business.

I have met so many people in my life’s journey who were “born entrepreneurs”

But unfortunately, more than 90% of these people are employees.

This is what I term, “Lion in the zoo”.

Lions in the zoo are powerless.

They know who they are, fighters

But all around them are chains and constraints.

Is it the fault of these lions?

Not at all.

I tell you honestly, most people who are unhappy employees today would have become successful entrepreneurs.

But, they are like that lion in the zoo.

They know they belong to the free world where they could run and hunt the prey,

but here they are, they are the prey.

If we had built a school system that trains people how to be entrepreneurs, most people who are today unhappy employees would have be happy entrepreneurs.

But what can we do about the past?

Nothing much.

We can only work hard to correct the future.

Some of us were lucky enough to know the way of entrepreneurship so early in life.

I started my first business at the age of 15 and I have done, read about and failed in business than most of my mates.

If you were not so lucky to know about entrepreneurship early in your life, you really cannot do anything about yesterday.

But you can do something about tomorrow.

I plead to you;

Stop blaming anyone for your poverty.

Take responsibility for your life and be willing to do something.

It will start by learning from those who have gone ahead of you.

You could go to the bookstores and buy some good books about business.

You must read our free book (13 Secrets).

You may love to attend any of our business training.

Learn. Learn. Learn from the experienced entrepreneurs.

Then, act and don’t expect the journey to be easy.

If you could persist as you make mistakes and continue trying, you’ll become a successful entrepreneur.

Yes, Lion in the zoo could get his freedom!

ABC; Very Possible!