The money you need to get MONEY is not small money
Everyone knows that money stops nonsense and opens the door to numerous opportunities.
I grew up hearing my father say “don’t chase money, if you chase money, it will run from you”. My father taught me to add value to myself and people will pay for it, which in turn gives me money.
As much as I understand the intent of that lesson from my father and I totally live by that principle, I have however realised something strange about adding value to yourself and getting money in return.
Unfortunately my father never added a phrase to this lesson. A phrase I believe would have made a big difference in how I applied the lesson growing up. That phrase is "all things being equal". I say all things being equal because in this age that we are, a lot of things don’t work the way they normally would. This reminds me of that saying by Dr. Olukoya, the general overseer of the mountain of fire and miracle ministries (MFM). Dr. Olukoya said "Insanity is being sane in an insane society". Why this statement is very important to understanding adding value to yourself to gain financial reward is that, as one would expect, people would give a fair price/reward (not necessarily monetary) in exchange for value. However this is far from the reality of what is experienced today.
It's so unfortunate that you can spend all your time and effort adding value to yourself and the reward you will get in return will be far lower than your expectations. The situation becomes even worse when you don't know how valuable you are.
Most people in this world are selfish and will take advantage of you at any given opportunity.
This discussion is not focused on the reward you get for adding value to yourself or to enlighten you on how valuable you are. I only want to share what I have experienced so far about adding value to yourself, so yes, this is about adding value to yourself including monetary value.
To get a clear understanding of what I meant by the money you need to make money is not a small money, let's dissect some points.
Point one: Quality Education
One easy way out of poverty for many people, especially in developing countries, is education. Also, research has proven that attending high ranking schools increases your chances at succeeding in the competitive job market, this directly.
As you already know, these schools are not cheap, the average price for education in US is $26,067 (about 35million Naira) per year compared to about $60,000 (about 80million Naira) per year for the highly rated schools.
After earning a degree/skill certification, things could become more tricky when you consider developing countries like Nigeria where you will need influence (connection) and money to get into certain jobs in the country.
This shows you that to get a sound education (at least by the standards of the society) requires money and to get a good job goes beyond your skill and qualifications, especially in developing countries.
Point two: Entrepreneurship/Innovation
Entrepreneurship and innovation is hard. Not only does it demand alot from you intellectually, you will require a lot of capital to bring your innovation to life. (As I have explained in my previous articles, I am certain I will do better if I had access to resources like constant electricity and internet, not to imagine how far money will help my implementation). The danger is that when you lack money, you have limited resources to experiment and you tend to make decisions that are geared more towards stability. This is unlike when you have a lot of money; you will be able to spend as much as possible to work out something. To get better context read the story of Henry Ford. Therefore to be a successful entrepreneur, you will require funding even if it is to develop your minimum viable product (MVP) and this money is most of the time not small money.
Point 4: Start a Business
The cost of starting a business in many country is very high and even worse if you will be needing special licences before you can begin operation. This is the reason in developing countries like Nigeria, you all find a lot of people doing menial businesses (low profit margin-low sale volume businesses). In the US, the average cost of starting a business is $40,000 as compared to $24,468 in the UK and $200 in Nigeria. This shows you that the higher the purchasing power of the populace, the higher the cost of starting
Nigeria’s purchasing power is ranked 138th compared to the US which is ranked 7th globally.
So if you think that a country like Nigeria with a lower entry cost is a better alternative, then you will need to be careful because whatever business you start in Nigeria is competing with food as many Nigerians are struggling to eat; when you begin, then you will know why it is an untapped market.
So what is the way forward…
From my research, you need a LEVERAGE to make the money you want even if you don’t have the money needed to get the money you want.
The first leverage is a quality education. This is because education gives you access, access to people, places and other opportunities. If you are an entrepreneur, then I will advise that you get a Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Getting a MBA especially in a highly ranked school will not only give you access to quality knowledge, but also allow you network with quality people who will serve as an EDGE to achieving goals (remember that your network is your net worth).
Another Leverage is what I call an apprenticeship system. Learn from a person that has gotten what you want. Learn as much as you can and ask questions; they have the blueprint that will get you ahead in your journey.
Another approach to the apprenticeship system is to join a company/organization that will allow you learn a lot and grow. Not everyone will be an entrepreneur neither will everyone be fit to run a business. Depending on what your life goal is, you can choose a company/organization that aligns with your goals and will allow you grow and achieve your goals. One major thing to consider asides whether or not the company goals aligns with yours is the leadership of the company (know who heads the company and who will be your direct Boss). You must check their anticident to determine if they are people you can learn a lot from and will be willing to guide you on your journey to getting the bag.
Overall, it is important that you remember that nothing is impossible and if you are determined enough to achieve a goal, then you will achieve it (always ensure that your goals are SMART though). You should also know that good things take time and you will need a lot of patience to build the kind of life that you want. That bag that you are chasing will eventually come if you are strategic enough and you don’t try to cut corners. Work SMART and Work Hard; there is always a place of hardwork.
Be open minded to learning vastly and build quality relationships that you can levergage on. This are steps I am taking at the moment; One thing that is certain is that regardless of the price needed to get the bag, I will pay it and get it (legitimately)
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Talk to you soon.
