Tag Archives: Business Tips

Startup chronicles: patriotism doesn’t make people buy products

This week’s theme for the Startup chronicles, aka “Why some Nigerian businesses fail,” is inexperience. We hope that you are both entertained and educated by this story. There was a Nigerian founder who decided to enter an industry dominated by foreign companies. She did not understand the sector, but it annoyed her that foreign companies were leading […]

Startup chronicles: generating revenue should trump publicity

Why startups must not sacrifice sales on the altar of publicity

This week’s theme for the Startup chronicles, aka “Why some Nigerian businesses fail,” is consumer biases. We hope that you are both entertained and educated by this story. A startup recruited two divisional heads (DHs) to run its business units. Both had relevant industry experience. One business unit targeted premium consumers while the other targeted low-income consumers. […]

Startup chronicles: don’t hire who you can’t fire

WHY STARTUPS SHOULDN'T HIRE WHO YOU CAN'T FIRE

This week’s theme for the Startup chronicles, aka “Why some Nigerian businesses fail,” is friendship. We hope that you are both entertained and educated by this story. A founder hired his friends as consultants for his startup. They signed a six-month contract with a vague scope of work, and no KPIs or penalties. These consultants supposedly had […]

Startup chronicles: social media numbers don’t always equate to sales

When social media followers don't equate to customers

This week’s theme for the Startup chronicles, aka “Why some Nigerian businesses fail,” is delusion. We hope that you are both entertained and educated by this story. A certain founder had one million combined followers on social media to whom he dished out business advice regularly. Then he launched a new product. It was a novel idea […]