#018 Nigeria (Next Step Forum): 7-Principles of Entrepreneurship That I Learned Building Campus Consultancy (Whatsapp Chat)
Hello & welcome. This is a special episode. On this episode of the Campus Experience, you will hear the condensed of a 2.5hr workshop that I ran for the Next Step Forum in Nigeria where 256 young Nigerian leaders came together to hear about my journey. By using a combination of Whatsapp messages & text responses to questions, we conducted the session so it was mobile compatible & internet friendly for those who didn’t have strong connection. They were so engaged & I wanted to share this with all our 800+ listeners as well as the students themselves so I’ve downloaded each of the audio clips, stitched them together & over the next 30-minutes you will hear 7 of the principles that have helped me build Campus Consultancy. It’s raw, it’s to the point & I hope there is something in here that can help you too! Enjoy!
Principle #1 – SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS
PROBLEM: I didn't have any friends
SOLUTION: I got involved in "on campus life" e.g. clubs, societies, or groups like THIS, the Next Steps Forum.
VALUE = social connection, support, growth etc.
When I became President of my club & society, I wanted to know how to help more people come together & make friends.
I went to the head of engineering & asked, "What do you need us to do to help more students?" He said, "I want more students to stay engaged," so it's good for business & for the university.
BY SOLVING THEIR PROBLEM, they supported us to solve the student’s problem (around friendship).
Principle #2 – SCRATCH YOUR OWN ITCH
"Scratch your own itch" inspired by Tim Ferriss is my 2nd principle!
Tim (as if I know him), is a NYT best-selling author, so he stared his first business based on a problem HE experienced. He turned what COST him money, into an opportunity. If you can solve a problem for yourself & others, that's valuable.
When I was at university running my club, I had 0 experience leading a team before (except in yr-9 cricket), so many people had no experience with teams either.
SO - I built a training program that helps young leaders be better at running organisations. I know I had at least 1 customer, because I WOULD HAVE PAID for it back in my day
Find something that you are experiencing & see how could you solve it for yourself.
Q: What's a problem you're facing & how could you solve it?
Principle #3 - ADD VALUE FIRST
Try to find a way to EDUCATE your audience on the problem you're solving.
You don't have to be cheapest, that's only what you do when you have run out of creativity (as Seth Godin would say).
Principle #4 = ONLY DO THINGS THAT GIVE YOU ENERGY
We all have our demons & things we have done wrong in life.
THAT IS OK. We all have that.
I focus on things that make my life better & the lives of others better. I see my different sources of energy as:
1. Mental
2. Physical
3. Emotional (relationships)
4. Spiritual (not in a religious sense)
I try to do something EVERY DAY that gives me energy in everyone of those categories.
If I push myself & grow every day, I show up better in my relationships.
I tell young people to develop THEMSELVES so they can be the best leader, the best team member & help others.
If you can be better every day, you'll have more to give to other people
Principle #5 = FOCUS ON OUTPUTS & OUTCOMES
Outputs = what you produce e.g. sell 1000 books, take 500 students through a course
Outcomes:
1. Financial (jobs, profit)
2. Natural (land, air, waste)
3. Physical (Shelter, clean energy, water supply)
4. Human (skills, leaders)
5. Social (communities, relationships, mentors)
#1 Financial, e.g. you sell chocolates & employ 5 of your friends & you make profit for you & jobs/profit for them.
#2 Natural: saving plastic from the waste & turning it into something good.
#3 Physical: Solar engineers, if you create a clean energy solution that you make a solar light that you can give to students so they can study at night, you're creating CLEAN ENERGY + skills/education (next one)
#4 Human: Skills & leaders. This is my USER focus. Students get to learn new skills (like you are all learning) & you get to teach this to others. Or repurpose these points & make your own speech out of it & share it to others.
Maybe you turn this into a LinkedIn article & share it?
Maybe you write it up in an article & share it to your university or local newspaper?
Maybe you record your own 7-Tips & share it on Youtube or on your Facebook page.
#5 Social = relationships. Can you help people build relationships? Campus Consultancy does this too!
Principle #6 = SUBTRACT RATHER THAN ADD TO SOLVE PROBLEMS
This is a quote from Seneca, that Tim Ferriss (again) mentions a lot!
When I have a problem in my life, I used to say, "What extra thing do I need to solve this problem?
I've found that a BETTER QUESTION is asking, "What do I need to remove that's painful, a waste of time, or a bad habit that's causing me issues?"
It could be friends, an employer or an employee... but these are EXTERNAL. I look internal.
I stopped drinking alcohol because it caused problems:
1. It cost lots of money.
2. I didn't like not being in control of my feelings
3. I got hangovers which ruined my Sundays.
So I stopped. I subtract a problem rather than added in something else.
I now, in my business do just 4 things:
1. Present Programs
2. Create Programs
3. Sell Programs
4. "Give"
Presenting programs helps me impact people & get my social/human outcomes.
Create programs is new innovation & creating the change I want to see in the world for the future.
Selling programs allows me to impact more people & build a sustainable business model around what I do & hopefully employ people in the near future!
"Giving" is about all the free work I do to help others. I love doing this & it fills up my 'spiritual bucket' (from Principle #3). It’s all about building relationships with students, universities & all stakeholders.
Principle #7 = KEEP LEARNING
Check out TED talks, Podcasts, Youtube or even renting books from libraries that are all 100% FREE.
A series on Youtube around Business Model Canvas is really valuable & something you might enjoy if you want to build your own business.
Finally, share your story & ask for help.
1. Sharing your story helps others connect with you & be inspired by you.
2. Ask for help because none of us do it alone. I had a mentoring session on Thursday with one of my earliest mentors who gives the fatherly advice that I need, along with a kick up the butt, "Josh, you need to think about ABC, value yourself & your time if you want to help more people." So it's fun, but challenges me & helps me grow!
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