My Entrepreneurial Review
If there is anything I’ve learnt about entrepreneurship these past months, it is this: life is a risk, entrepreneurship is a risk and only the risk-takers lose themselves to find themselves again.
It’s been a roller coaster with 55 Africans from 14 African countries, who left family and friends to explore new waters in a land that most have never been.
The interesting part is that the adventure never stops as many will be moving to other parts of Africa they’ve never been to start businesses.
It’s all a cycle of risk but if you flow with the tide and enjoy every moment, being opened to learn something new every now and then, the experience would be worth it.
This has been my personal experience at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology.
I choose to write this because the experience won’t be complete if there is no story to share with others and let the world know that beyond your fear is a world of opportunities.
I didn’t know what to expect when I left the shores of Nigeria to find out what entrepreneurship and building a world-class business is all about but for me and for every African who has been a part of this journey with me, it has indeed been a game-changer.
Our lives are not the same again. We are not the same people we were when we crossed borders to another city. The risk has been worth it after all.
The road was never smooth nor easy. Mistakes were made, lots of ups and downs with much learning. We learnt how to start all over again in a process called “pivoting”.
We worked on several ideas through different capstone projects. We did a lot of user and market research — the lesson here for me is that there is nothing new under the sun.
The only new thing is the innovation you bring to your idea, and the touch of humaneness you bring to the service you deliver is all that will make the difference between your offering and that of a competitor.
I have also come to understand the power of networks. Even though I knew how powerful networks could be, I didn’t get to see that in action until I sailed into entrepreneurship.
I also learnt that mentorship doesn’t have to be done with one person (a mentor), you can have as many mentors for different purposes. It doesn’t even have to be a formal relationship, your mentors just need to be people you can call on when you run into trouble, need advice, or need someone to just speak with.
Entrepreneurship can be really tough. I felt its blows on some days but I’m happy I had people to turn to who had also experienced what I was going through.
The BBB Challenge is one I would ever be grateful for. It pushed my limit and showed me a side of me I never thought existed. I could be shy, introverted, wanting to be on my own but I found myself facing the market, listening to the needs of other (customers and prospects), and going out of my way to find creative means to solve problems. I had barely spent a week in an unknown land.
I could go on and on but I would like to drop the pen here. I reminisce on the past months and what growth has been for me and everyone I’ve come to know who made my 1 year. It is true that 1 year of practice is better than 10 years of theory.
To the Class of 2020, it’s been a great privilege encountering you all. To fellows and staff of the MEST community, you’ve been a family and I hope our paths cross soon.
Thank you for a wonderful year.
I now know how to recognize great opportunities and I look forward to the next best thing from us all.
With love from Mary Abiodun.
