A friend once asserted that "blacks are Blacks' problem". I immediately disagreed with him and he explained further his reasons for such assertion. He narrated the story of how an uncle of his who lived abroad once gifted him a shirt and shoe worth $4500 when he had earlier requested startup capital for his business from the same uncle but said he doesn't have such fund.
I smiled at his narration and replied, "your uncle is not actually the problem, ignorance and how Africans define startup capital is the problem." When many people hear the word 'startup or business capital' what comes to mind is a huge sum.
He looked at me and nodded affirmatively. His uncle said he didn't have "that kind of huge money" because he thought of startup capital as a huge sum. I know many persons may have also received this kind of disappointing response from people they sought startup capital from at one time or the other. The question is what is "that kind of money" called "startup capital"?
Startup capital, simply put, is the money entrepreneurs use to pay for any or all of the required expenses involved in starting a new business. This includes obtaining office space, licenses, inventory, pay new hires salaries, product manufacturing, marketing, or any other expense. There are usually three sources of startup capital: personal investment by the owners, outside investors, and the sale of shares in the company. Now let's dissect the problem.
The problem: starting big.
When I read the book "Think Big", I also became hasty to start my business on a large scale. Also, a former boss of mine used to say "Start the way you want to continue", so I was convinced starting up a business must be on a large scale. Like I initially did, many young entrepreneurs also prepare business plans with a huge capital base because they want to hit the ground running (start big). However, I've learned that this idea may not be feasible except you have a rich background or connection. I'll rather say, break your business plans into small phases and milestones and start small to grow big. For instance, I had a 100 million studio idea, but I did not have the resource to access a 100 million Naira to startup so I broke the plan into phases.
PHASE ONE: A mini studio.
I didn't have to start the studio using expensive pro equipment worth millions because the fund is readily not available. So I developed a mini-budget for phase 1 which made me plan the whole studio around 5 to 10million Naira. Then I set a growth plan for Phase two to improve and step up the equipment and space as the business grows.
Many businesses are still in incubation today because of big budgets business plans built on funds that are not available. Young startuppers should adopt the phase-by-phase business plan model to start small and grow big.
Clearing the "Expensive" Misconception
Finally, I must clear the misconception for those who think capital has to be or is a huge sum of money, that it doesn't have to be. Especially for our peeps abroad, monetize the value of goodies you send to folks (especially young entrepreneurs) at home as a means to invest in their phases of the business plan. You can finance a shop rent for them as against buying them $4500 worth of clothing, which is also capital towards a startup. Capital is anything you put in a business to grow it. Cheers