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Unlocking opportunities in the environment
October 23, 2015 : Babatunde Fajimi
Babatunde Fajimi
The
economy can accommodate more entrepreneurs than we have today if
everyday people know how to identify and convert opportunities in their
environment into viable businesses and income earners.
The conversation
Beatrice ordered green tea and Bisi, a
cup of cappuccino. They had not met since their mandatory national
service some four years ago.
Beatrice and Bisi were graduates of
Mathematics. They had had their share of weal and woe in life from the
labour market to job offers with meagre salaries, marriages, quitting
jobs to start a family, and the second waves of job search.
They
ran into each other on Facebook and agreed on the rendezvous. Memories
were relived with giggles and light sobs until a dramatic couple across
interrupted their reunion.
It was an unusual couple. They had been
bickering over their only son’s poor performance in Mathematics ahead of
his junior secondary school examinations in few months. They were
really having a difficult conversation.
“Ms, my son is going to fail Mathematics
and my husband seems unperturbed!” the woman mechanically walked up to
Bisi who obviously was irritated by the behaviour. Beatrice’s quick
reflex seized the moment! “Madam, we understand your frustrations,” said
Beatrice “and coincidentally we are Mathematics teachers.”
“Can we coach your son?” she enquired. The couple agreed and engaged the friends as private tutors.
Opportunity resides in difficulty
People encounter opportunities every day
but it disguises as difficulties. Opportunity presents itself as
problems to be fixed, crises to be resolved, services to be rendered,
issues to be tackled and solutions to be procured.
When there are unhappy customers, a long
queue, delayed delivery, extra money in your account or you are broke,
down and out, there you find an opportunity to become an entrepreneur.
Problems are not designed to humiliate
you. You should solve them. If you fail to do so, others will and you
will pay a price to enjoy the solution.
The irony of Ali Hafed
Russell Conwell narrated the story of Ali
Hafed in his Acres of Diamond lectures. Ali Hafed was a wealthy Persian
farmer who after a discourse with a visiting priest sold his property
and went in search of a mine of diamonds.
He searched and searched. Penniless,
ragged, wretched and hopeless, he ended it at the Bay of Barcelona in
Spain. Meanwhile, the buyer of his land dug in his backyard and
discovered a mine of diamonds.
People should ‘dig their backyards’ for opportunities.
The International Office on Migration
stated that over 40,000 illegal migrants have lost their lives since
2000 and another 55,000 caught in smugglers’ web of human trafficking
and crime as they tried to enter Europe through the Sahara Desert and
Indian Ocean or Mediterranean Sea.
The numbers of undocumented people who are wasting away on the home frontiers are more.
Unlocking opportunities
The everyday people can uplift themselves
from socio-economic problems of hunger, homelessness, unemployment and
other vulnerabilities to become economically self-independent.
A positive mental attitude to life is the
first requirement for unlocking opportunities. Skepticism, cynicism,
pessimism and anger against government cannot fuel the inner drive to
find opportunities.
You need
“I-am-born-in-the-slum-but-the-slum-is-not-born-in-me” mentality to
fight. It is not over unless you quit. Problems can be solved. It begins
with a strong belief in yourself. Life is a risky venture and you lose
nothing taking a calculated risk. Never surrender your will to live and
succeed in life!
You should not get too familiar with
yourself or environment. Familiarity encourages complacency and robs of
you of innovativeness. The approach to problems that creates
opportunities is to not complain or grumble but take a critical look in
order to gain insights capable of generating solutions. You can sell the
ideas to others if you do not have the competences to offer the right
solutions. Either way, you are creating wealth from unlocking
opportunities.
Problems speak the language of
opportunities if you learn to listen attentively when others speak.
Always approach every conversation with diligence. Simply put, always
allow people to talk and learn to listen more than you talk in a
conversation. You open up a world of infinite impossibilities when you
listen.
You should not be afraid to ask
questions. Gaps and deficiencies crop up in service delivery when people
settle into routine. You should be bold to interrogate any process, ask
probing questions. However, ask with the intention to help find
solutions instead of irritating others or projecting an air of
superiority.
Problems give way when you interrogate
them. Can it be done better? Is this the best we can offer? Are the
customers happy? Are there simpler or easier ways to get things done?
Knowledge of the customers and market
opens up the frontiers of opportunities. A customer survey or market
research can determine gaps, areas of needs and viability of
opportunities you have identified, and how you can convert them.
Becoming an entrepreneur is easier when
everyday people begin to unlock opportunities and interrogate problems
as a springboard for generating ideas to power start-ups and new
business ventures.
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