At 19, I became a millionaire. A year later, I couldn’t recharge my phone on my own. In fact, the attached video represents what my life was a year after my first million.
Every Sunday in 2013, on my way from church, there was a billboard that always caught my attention. It was a post-sermon message for me; something on becoming a millionaire by 21.
I loved that! But you see, there is a difference between becoming a millionaire and staying a millionaire. Like Morgan Housel loves to say:
“Getting rich is hard. Staying rich is harder.” No lies there.
Life was good to me, my wish came earlier than expected. I applied for a pitching competition with a grant of NGN 750,000 for the winner. After my pitch, I guess the panel was super impressed, the grant was increased to NGN1,000,000. Goal achieved! Millionaire at 19🎉
What was the idea? A refined approach to local fries:
– Local fries served with corned beef sauce and grilled turkey
– Akara Burger; round loaf stuffed with akara and prawn sauce (inspired by acaraje servings of Brazil)
I was excited! Everyone was also excited!!
The first lessons you can learn from my experience are:
“Excitement does not sustain a business, understanding how to run a business does.”
“There is a difference between the idea and the business of the idea”
By @A_Feranmi
