Practical Daydreaming

Have you ever come across Dimitry Didorenko or Esref Armagan? They are both blind while one lost his sight during a digging operation in the forests of Ukraine, where they tried to find remains of Russian soldiers who were considered to be missing since the World War 2; the other was born blind and could never see as you and I do.

What stands these two men out however is that they are ARTISTS. Not musicians or anything that has to do with media, I mean painters. They draw and paint! Esref’s case is so overwhelming because he has never seen colours and does not know what red looks like neither can he differentiate blue from green nor can he tell you what a dog or a flower should look like. He was born blind and yet he paints!


Theirs is a case of daydreaming and seeing colours. Even though they might not be able to tell you what the colour of your dress is they can paint in colours, they have dreamt about colours and have brought it to life.

Once upon a time man used horse-drawn carriages to move from one place to another and dreamt of what it would be like to fly. He looked at the bird in the sky and the fish in the water and imagined having a machine that could do what they do.

Henry Ford, The Wright brothers, George Stephenson, Ernst Alexanderson, Thomas Edison and a lot of others all had daydreams like this too. They believed it was possible and knew that it would not be easy.

Edison’s dream for electricity is simply put in his words as "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."

They brought to life what was their musing and fantasy. What they hoped and believed could be possible and of use to the people in their environment; making their life better and making output more rewarding. From this daydreams inventions that we still make use of today became a reality; cars, airplanes, trains, radio and television, electricity, electric bulb; even years after they have gone.

This is practical daydreaming!!

Every business starts with a daydream, a fantasy of sort, wishful thinking of creating and developing a product or service to meet a particular need that they perceive in their mind could be of use to the people in their community. An entrepreneur makes a conversion from fantasy to reality by starting the business. His dream becomes a vision – a dream with a deadline - and achievable goals are set.

In 1891, Henry Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company; a company owned by Thomas Edison. It was while working here after his promotion that he started working on his daydreams and he created his first automobile in 1896. His daydream was not money or how to be rich, no! His daydream was how to make an automobile that would move on its own using a steam engine and one that would be affordable for all. He started the Ford Motor Company!

Meeting a need and doing it well brings the money, fame and recognition!!

In the 1800s working in the coal mines was almost always a death trap but it was the most common work then because of the unlimited need for coal in heating homes and a lot of other needs. The miners usually ended up going blind after been in the mine for too long because light in the mine caused explosions. George Stephenson an uneducated engineer invented a gas lamp that enabled the miners to mine without fear of explosion.

He saw a need, dreamt what could be used to meet the need and worked at it!

His most outstanding work however was the trains he created. The possibility of hauling heavy coal from one point to another on rail became his focus. He daydreamed of a contraption that could haul coal from the mines to designated spots. He saw the need for more efficient work, instead of using the horse drawn carts that was time consuming, a steam rail that initially used wooden rails and later iron rails was developed by a miner who wanted more efficiency in his and his community’s work. He knew this would also result in survival of lives, increased output and more money for the people.

His was a daydream that was practical!

Every success story in life comes from one man’s daydream and belief that it can be done.

Just like Esref and Dimitry, who although blind still created beauty that even those who can see admire and spend money on. Every business man can still create products and services from circumstances in which he finds himself.

All that is needed is that we be practical in our daydreaming and bring our fantasies to life. Any daydream that is solely based on money or financial reward is not practical but if it is a dream that puts others first and seeks a way to make life better then let it loose and the money will come.

Happy practical daydreaming!!

SMALL BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA: WHY THEY REMAIN AS SMALL BUSINESSES

Some weeks ago at the office, I called on a lady hawking food. My colleague and I had made up our mind to buy the food because we were very hungry; we had the belief that the food might not be that good but we were in need of something to eat as it was a Saturday and none of the canteens in the area were open as that area was a business community with offices as the main occupants of buildings in that location.

To our surprise the food was properly cooked and tasted nice; more pleasing was that the lady had good customer service and she was very pleasant. However, there and then she asked if we were employing and if she could bring her resume for future vacancy. When asked why she wanted a job, her response was that what she did was temporary and “a means to an end”. Something she did just to keep body and soul together until she could get a job. I was worried!!

Who you decide you are can determine who you will become!

Most Nigerian youths leave school with a certificate that cannot be used to get employment. They spend years going from one company to another in search of a job. Some go as far as looking for just anything to make ends meet. For those who have work, they are underpaid and overworked but cannot leave the unsatisfying employment because they are worried (with good reason) that they might not find another one. The banks that were the major employers for many years have now cut back on staff and salary.

Unemployment has pushed a lot into starting a micro or small business “just to make ends meet” while they still have the hope of getting a paid employment.

The incident above is true of a large percentage of Nigerian small and micro businesses. We are not into it because it is what we love to do and because we want to meet a need and make use of opportunities that we see available open to us. We start businesses because we feel we have no choice because we need money and cannot get paid employment. The thing about money is that it would take a lot from you before it gives to you, or it would not even bother to come pay you a visit.

Remember life is give and take it is what you give to the environment, nature or your fellow man that comes back to you as a harvest.

Since the business owner is in it because of the money he thinks he can get from it or because he is tired of always been hungry and not because he wants to meet a need and that he loves what he does; he fails to start right. He does not do a proper analysis of the business before he starts, not taking time to find out if the business will be feasible and make good profit enough to run itself with time and meet his ever growing needs.

He starts and he is faced with a lot of questions and challenges most of which could have been avoided.

That is why I like the typical Ibo Business Man, he would apprentice with his ”Oga” to learn the rudiments of the trade or business for years before starting his own. He knows how many cups can be found in a bag of rice, beans, garri. He knows how much he needs to start and how much he can make on particular quantity of a particular product, he know where to situate his shop and how to start and maintain a saving culture so much so that before you know it he has expanded his business and has his own fleet of apprentices or “boys”.
People call this Ibo Business Men traders but the thing is that have taken time to get to know the industry and the market in which they intend to do business. Many years ago Inter-State transport was not an organized business, but involved individual persons been in charge of just one vehicle or hiring it out for transport. But the same Ibo Business Man saw a need and opportunity and today we have the likes of Associated Bus Company (ABC), Chisco, Ifesinachi, Young Shall Grow, just to mention a few. These same transport businesses branched into haulage and courier services and are now in the international road transport to other West African Countries.

But the same Ibo Business Man saw a need and opportunity.

The thing about a business is that just like every other creation it would develop a life of its own with time and maturity and would want to be free. It is at this stage of freedom that the entrepreneur has to use the creativity arising from his love for what he does to direct it on the right part and develop strategies that would ensure sustainability. If this freedom is not given to the business, it would suffocate and die or be eternally challenged and continue to have a stunted growth.
Nigerian micro and small business owners go through unwanted challenges such as:
1. Under-pricing or over-pricing of products and services
2. Been unable to differentiate the thin line between what belongs to the business and what is personal in the sales and income generated by the business
3. Financial drought due to lack of having a saving culture. Every business owner should be able to set aside a percentage of their gross profit for the lean times
4. The most annoying is that they don’t have an accounting system. They can’t track how much money comes into or goes out of the business
5. Most don’t even have a bank account and so all the transaction are cashed based so that when the thief comes to steal they do not have a fall back savings to continue their business

With these, the micro or small businesses will always continue to be just that – small or micro and nothing more.

It is important that business owners or individuals who want to start their own businesses take time out to actually have an understanding of the business before they start. Let’s learn from the Ibo Business Man’s way of doing business. Get to know about the business, the industry and the market. Let’s learn how much profit we can make and where our customers are. Let us make use of what has stood the in good stead and has ensured that they continue to grow in every business and to expand.
This is the only way that Nigerian micro businesses can become small businesses and continue to grow; it is also through this way that our small businesses can grow to become conglomerates. Remember ABC Transport started small and has now grown into an international business same goes for all those Alaba boys (funny as that may seem).