Today, we’ll reveal the business philosophies behind his
huge success that every ambitious entrepreneur should follow. Here are the Top
7 rules for success from the man who coined the term “Afrocapitalism”, Tony
Elumelu:
1. Stay focused
According to Elumelu, entrepreneurship is a long term
journey. “Stop seeing it as a short term journey. Great entrepreneurs or
companies didn’t build their businesses overnight. It’s a long term journey. So
dare to dream, implement your dream and stay focused.”
2. Have a vision
Talking about his illustrious career in banking, which saw
him lead one of the largest mergers in the banking sector in Sub-Saharan
Africa, Elumelu once said, “I grew up with certain beliefs and motivations, one
of which is: when you envision and take a position to make that vision come
through, then significant opportunities will crystalise.”
“We saw a banking industry that was growing very fast, and
we didn’t think the requisite human capital capacity was available to support
the continued support of these banks. So we took an early position in putting
in place a company that would help guarantee the survival of banks, and when an
opportunity presented itself, we were ready for it.”
3. Read and execute
Elumelu is an avid reader who tries to see learning points
when reading fiction or nonfiction materials. According to him, people
generally conceptualise ideas based on history or social environmental factors
and influences, so young people need to read a lot. “I’d recommend autobiographies
for many entrepreneurs out there who are looking for role models,” he said.
“Secondly, when you have a dream, you have to execute that
dream by working hard, which is what differentiates a successful person from
someone who isn’t successful. Combining the ability to read with the mentality
to translate an idea into reality will guarantee your success in life,” he
added.
4. Seize your opportunities
According to Elumelu, when running a business, entrepreneurs
must be quick and fast in their ideas to know when an opportunity presents
itself and how to seize it. “They say that success, to a large extent, depends
on being at the right place at the right time, and this philosophy has helped
us many times to take advantage of a situation and turn things around.”
5. Be disciplined
According to Elumelu, being financially diligent starts with
being prepared even before a crisis hits. “Growing up, my dad always told me
that if you earn a dollar and don’t save, when you earn a billion-dollar, you
won’t save anything. And so that discipline of investment, keeping something
and not consuming everything has helped me significantly.”
6. Work hard
According to Elumelu, hard work is what separates a dreamer
from an achiever. Combining the ability to work hard and work smart increases
productivity on another level. “I say to people who work with me that there is
no substitute for hard work. Today, we hear many people talk about “working
smart”, but I prefer a combination of working hard and working smart. So my message
to entrepreneurs is to work hard to actualise their dreams.”
7. Impact others
According to Elumelu, people should not measure one’s
success in the amount of money they have in the bank but how they’ve truly
impacted others. Speaking about the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, Elumelu
said, “Early on in my career, I realised that entrepreneurship was critical to
the development of this continent. And as a successful African private sector
business leader, I knew I needed to promote entrepreneurship so that we could
have more successful business leaders in Africa. This was why we started the
Tony Elumelu Foundation.”
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