Of assets and liabilities - Lessons from Mrs Awoshika

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  My dad became quite an entrepreneur in my teenage years. He tried out a couple of businesses, some successful and others, not so much. He decided to follow the lead of a friend and try his hands out at fish farming. Local fish farming is quite lucrative in Nigeria due to a high consumption of fish by Nigerians. Nigeria imports an estimated N125 bn worth of fish annually. That fateful morning, I woke up looking forward to visiting our new mini fish farm I remember being close to the fish farm and suddenly being aware of a putrid smell filling my nostrils. I got close and discovered all our fish were dead. I was really sad. My dad had purchased the fingerlings (finger-size cat fish) to try out his hands on fish farming and I ,being quite a curious teenager, looked forward to feeding them, watching them grow and selling them off at a good commercial value. (Yeah, i was business-minded quite early) But that was not to happen. We ventured into the unknown and set up a fish farm with little expertise in fish farming. Call us naive, but don't we all do that a lot these days? Every business venture seems feasible.  You feel all you have do is bobo (play smart) your way through. When Mrs. Ibukun Awoshika spoke to us about the asset equation, during a closed door session i and fellow nominees had with her.     It really struck home for me. Most people define Success =Assets (your strengths) + Liabilities (Your weaknesses) Truth is we can try to work on our weaknesses as much as we can but the best we'll ever get are 'strong weaknesses'. She gave us a better definition; Success = Assets (your strengths) + Assets (other people's strengths) i.e We should match your liabilities with other people's strengths. Back to my fish story. My dad and i should have hired an expert, at minimum. That way we could have avoided our loss. An expert that would have matched the strength of subject expertise with our weaknesses and ensured we we became successful fish farmers. Oh well, I guess that's a dream now. But the lesson sticks. Stop trying to be James Bond ( Hmm...maybe not a very good example because sometimes, he also needs help..anyway, you get the point) If you need help in a new career, find someone who can provide help. If you need help in crafting strategy for a new business idea, seek out help. Everyone needs a sounding board at some point in their lives. There's no crime in not knowing everything but not reaching out for help when you don't? That's a crime. It might sound like common sense, but you'll be surprised how often you do it. For instance, when was the last time you got an objective audit of the opportunities available in the market place for you based on your skills and needs? (emphasis on 'objective') You might think you can do it on your own but even the best CEOs in the world seek help from coaches. Take a step today to reach out in an area where you have been struggling on your own. hmm...just in case you're wondering who Mrs Awoshika is... She is, in addition to other notable achievements, the first female chairperson in the 121-year history of First Bank plc. She currently sits on the board of Cadbury Plc, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and House of Tara International. Choose to be remarkable. Tomie