Skip to main content
FROM 9-5 HUSTLE TO ENTREPRENEUR BUSTLE (Part 1)


Right from my university days, I knew that I wasn't cut out for a 9-5 job so I made a mental note to start my own business right after graduation.

During lectures, I would often catch myself in class daydreaming about my business empire. I could describe it vividly to anyone who care to hear about what my office looked like, the number of staff working for me and of course, the annual returns in dollars.

In my final year, I moved from daydreaming to visualising and documenting what I saw in my mind's eyes. I was so sure that starting my business would be a piece of fresh baked cake. Oh boy, was I wrong!

My final examinations dragged for so long, I thought the year will never come to an end. Impatiently, I waited for the graduation ceremony. Then there was the compulsory NYSC. It was as if the government and the school authority conspired to delay the start of my business.

Suddenly I finished service and life happened to me. I didn't need a prophet to tell me to get a job or die hungry. After 5 months of fience battle in the labour market, I got employed in a bank. As if working in a 9-5 job wasn't enough nightmare, the hostile experience as a marketer added salt to the injury.

Plus I had to spend excruciating hours in horrible traffic every working day. I would wake up at wee hours in the morning to leave for work by 5am and return home late at night. For two years I didn't know my neighbours and it was impossible to hang out with friends because of the crazy schedule at work.

I didn't understand why anyone will live like that but then again, I needed the money. So the 'armed robber' salary as we called it back then, became a strong motivation to endure the misery. At work, I was compelled to sit in after marketing and do routine work I wasn’t even passionate about. This made me depressed, unhappy and frustrated.

I changed my job three times yet real joy, peace and satisfaction were missing in my life despite the money I was earning. Finally I resigned from my job and revived my dream of owning a business empire. Then I took the bold step and started my business with only passion and little  knowledge about building a business. So it wasn't a surprise when I began to sink like a metal object thrown into the sea.

I struggled to make my business work, sacrificing all I had including my savings but everything crumbled. Just when I was about to give up, I found people who taught me how to climb the robes in business.

To be continued...


By Anita Okanighe-John


Anita helps entrepreneurs and businesses build system and sustainable structure for high performance and growth.

#fromdreamtoreality
#doitafraid
#buildyourbusinessempire
#impossibleisnothing
#startup
#entrepreneurship

Please do remember to send in your comments/feedbacks and if you have any inspiring write-ups or articles, please send it here:

purposediscoveryschool@gmail.com

For any enquiry, advert placements or showcasing events, please call the contact below:

+2348169653332.

Remember: To live MEANINGFUL, it begins with being PURPOSEFUL.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Most Successful Nigerians Who Never Went To School By OlaPurpose James Asu Education is considered by many Nigerians to be the gateway to success and the passport to a better life. Debunking this myth that one cannot be successful without a formal education are these successful Nigerians who have been able to survive life’s challenges and cross the hurdle of a formal education to become who they are today. Take a look at some of Nigeria’s mist successful individuals who didn’t have formal education or complete schooling experiences. 1) Mercy Johnson Mercy Johnson is a Nigerian actress who made her acting debut in the movie, “The Maid” in which she played the role of a possessed house help. Her performance in the movie shot her into the limelight and has acted in other major movies ever since. Mercy reveals she got into the Nigerian movie industry (Nollywood) because she failed her Jamb exam. Johnson has appeared in over 60 movies. 2) Cosmos-Maduka I...
FROM AN INSECURE HOUSEWIFE TO AN INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATED MAKEUP ARTIST By Love Olaleye As an undergraduate in the university, I engaged in different business like buying and selling clothes, making zobo, just to earn some money to augment the pocket money that never seemed enough. None of these businesses brought me the kind of joy I experienced when I decided to pursue my passion in makeup. First I became a Mary Kay rep; I would sell and show students how to use the products they bought. The joy that beams on their faces was fulfilling, despite the frustration of running after debtors. I remember my first bride who happened to have been my friend who was kind enough to allow me experiment on her face. As I drove out early hours of the morning around 6am, my car brakes suddenly failed, I ran into a tree off the road but God saved me, no scratch, I came out and the car was badly damaged. As the car was being towed home, it was a decisive moment, I had to decide w...
GIVE YOUR TALENT A ROOM FOR GERMINATION AND FRUITING! “I didn't have to stumble and grope stealthily in the darkness, stride recklessly on the rocky paths or swim nonchalantly in the murky waters. Neither did I gamble with the hypothetical cards, nor stroll through life at ease with no aim and subjected to all whims and caprice.” By Olajumoke Hadassah It wasn't a submission to hobby, desires and ambitions! The story of my talent is a reality settled before my existence. It was one predestined from the foundation of the world. Am I a born writer? I think so. But more importantly, I am made, and still in the making. I started writing at a young age. I was an ardent writer of 'story books.' And I finished my first 'complete' book at the age of thirteen. My writing has an history, one which began right in my home. With my Father as a writer, my first experience in the literary world was inside his 'Room-Library'. At a point I felt my ...