Business

The Diary of a business Midwife

Turn your passion into your profession

Good Morning/ Afternoon/ Evening Londoners and readers from other parts of the world. If you have been following my recent articles for ONIN London, you may have noticed I have been quiet for a short while.

We are currently in the third month of 2013 yet it feels like we have already gone through twelve months of the year. In the first two months of 2013, I have personally been able to achieve some of my goals and most importantly I have learnt so many lessons in such a short space of time and I will be sharing some of these lessons with you as well as giving you insight into my journey through January and February 2013.

In my last article, I mentioned that I had taken up a new challenge in the form of becoming a new father to a beautiful daughter and I can assure you that this has been a very interesting journey so far; one which I will share with you in due course. In the mean time, let me tell you what I have been up to as a business man living in London.

In November 2012, I achieved probably one of my greatest achievements so far in business and one which took my entrepreneurial journey to a whole new level. I completed my first book titled ‘Turn Your Passion Into Your Profession’ and launched it at the Houses of Parliament in London, this event boosted my credibility as a Business Coach as well as increasing my personal and professional brand awareness. After launching my book, I set myself a challenge as I always do. My greatest passion is bringing out the potential in individuals especially young people. When I was in University, I didn’t get an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship and looking back, I wish I had the guidance that I needed to become an entrepreneur as it would have meant that I may have started my business from an earlier age. Saying this I could never discount the experience that I have gained along the way and I can assure you that it has been a very interesting journey for me (another story that I will share with you at a later stage).

Looking back at my experience as a University student, I decided that I wanted to ensure that other students had the opportunity to experience something that I didn’t. I wanted to create an opportunity for university students to explore their entrepreneurial potential and also believe within themselves that they have what it takes to create their own future without subjecting themselves to the current doom awaiting many Graduates which is a high level of unemployment.

I decided to launch a University tour called ‘The Passion to Profession Tour’. This tour was targeted at universities across London and it was meant to run throughout December. The theme was ‘End 2012 on a High’. By the end of November 2012 after getting through my first month as a new father, I realised that there was not enough time to carry out the tour as my fatherhood responsibilities had taken much of my time and I had underestimated the amount of energy that I needed to adjust to my new responsibilities. I had been warned against carrying out the tour in December by several individuals but I decided to go ahead anyway and I ended up facing the consequences. I learnt the following lessons through my mistake:

1.      Do not be afraid to dream big. If you have a dream or vision, go for it, write it down, make it plain and go for it.

2.      An entrepreneur is simply a problem solver. Your business must be solving a problem. I experienced a problem and decided to become a solution to the problem. If you see a problem, don’t complain about it, find a solution.

3.      Don’t take on more than you can handle. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Be patient through your journey and map out the steps you are going to take carefully.

4.      Listen to the advice of those who have been where you are going. It will save you from making the same mistakes they have made in the past.

5.      Most importantly, just because it doesn’t work the first time doesn’t mean it is never going to work. It may just mean that it is not the right time. I will go into this in more detail in the part two of this series.