Episode #4: The little beginning

The little beginning – How Ayodeji turned a $3 investment into a cashflow of over $100,000 a year!

She came from a middle-class background. Her family is academically inclined one, but somehow, she appears to be the odd one out in her family. To the family, education is the key to achieve success. Her parent did everything they could to ensure that she gets a college education. She could not pass her high school exams and so the dream of going to college abruptly came to an end. She was perceived as the black sheep of the family, some even call her a “dullard” She was sexually abused at a young age by some family members. She lost her self-esteem as a result of this awful experience. There was a point in her life she thought she could not amount to anything.

When she could not get into college, she decided instead to go to a shorthand secretariat school, she became a professional secretary thereafter. Upon graduation, she joined the Corona Schools in Lagos where she worked for 20 years. She was there, until one day when she became dissatisfied with her position in life. She just turned 40, and she was not doing as well as she desired. She resigned from her job, going from a life of steady paycheck to uncertainty.

Things got worse when one day she realized that it was only about $3 that is left between her and her husband. There was no food for their children to eat at home. How will she feed her family with just $3? She cried to God for guidance as to how to turn around her situation in life. This last $3 changed her story. She went to the market to buy beans to make bean cake for the family. The visit from her sister-in law helped propelled Ayodeji Megbope to start her business of moin-moin making.

With N1000 ($3) Ayodeji Megbope went on to build a business empire, she was chosen as part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 women entrepreneur initiatives. She is the CEO of No left overs, Nigeria. She took a step to achieve success. Today, No Left Overs has the capacity to cater parties and events for hundreds of people. She has expanded the business to include traditional Nigerian cuisine and she offers large-scale catering services as well as a cooking academy.

INTRO:

Welcome to another episode of Winners Ways Podcast, and I am your host Bola Alabi. I am so excited sharing today’s story with you.

Now if you are not aware already, at Winners Ways, our goal is to help you win in life – Win in career, business, relationships, and in your finances. We do this by sharing lessons from successful people that have done what you are trying to do.

This is Episode 4 and titled “The little beginning – How Ayodeji turned a $3 investment into a cashflow of over $100,000 a year!”

That was the success story of Ayodeji Megbope, a Moi-Moi (bean cake) seller who hustled against all odds to eventually grow a successful business with a turnover of over $100,000 a year!

Before we get into the lessons, I want to ask you two questions:

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you don’t know the next step to take?
Are you stuck at a job that is not bringing any fulfillment to you?

The story that was narrated is meant to encourage everyone that success is achievable no matter who you are or where you are located. Success can be achieved irrespective of your age, gender, or your status in the society.

Success can sometimes be found in the most unexpected places. How else can we explain how Ayo turned N1000 to create a business empire. Everyone wants to achieve success, but we have been programmed to look for our success in certain places. Some people have the pre-conceived notions that they can only achieve financial success by certain means. For example, most Nigerians believe that the easiest path to wealth is to become a politician. Some may assume that they must live in certain part of the world before they can achieve their financial breakthrough. Some including myself believe that it is only certain profession that can guarantee success.

I encourage everyone to know their talents and follow their passion so that they live the life they are meant to live. It is through careful alignment of passion and talents that we can achieve success at what we do. It takes gut and ability to stay focused through the growth process before anyone can achieve success.

There are various lessons that we can all learn from the just narrated story. You can learn about tenaciousness, discipline, dedication, hard work, focus, and many more.

I want Ayo’s story to be a source of inspiration for those people that are still struggling to determine what they need to do, if you have a side business and you feel that you do not have any real chance of real success this should inspire you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you are in a job that you do not like, where there are no growth potentials, I will encourage you to start your side business immediately.

Are you in a situation where you desire more in life?

I will be sharing five lessons from the life story of Ayodeji Megbope, owner of no leftovers Nigeria, who turned $3 into a successful business empire.

Lessons from the life of Ayodeji Megbope who used N1000 to create a successful business.

Start from where you are.

To many people N1000 is never sufficient to start a biz. And so they won’t start.
Use your skills to achieve results (To Ayo, cooking is one of her many skills). What are your talents? Freelance, designer, Barber go around.
Let your work show you off

Be a learner.

It was not all rosy for Ayo. Along the line as she was building her customer base, people were asking for food she doesn’t know how to cook. She did not let that stop her, she went on a quest to learn instead.
Are you stuck at a position in your job? What can you learn to open more doors of opportunities? How can you improve your skills? – Web designing, Data driven world, Primavera, PMP, Oracle, etc.
Goldman Sach training helped boost her business acumen. She learns how to keep proper accounting document after the training.

Build a structure.

Most businesses failed because of lack of structure. Ayo learned this lesson by building the right support structure to grow her business.
Separate business account, consider marketing, sales, customer services team, operations as the case may be.
Learn to develop your team. Trust your team. Invest in your team.
A good leader doesn’t try to do everything themselves, they listen to everyone’s ideas. Recently, I began training two employees who seemed ready for more responsibilities, although it was “heartbreaking” when one quit, we have remained committed to training and mentoring staff.
Provide excellent customer service. “When a company grows too fast, the focus can easily

shift from providing excellent customer service to trying to manage growth. As a result, customers suffer. When orders began to flow in, I recall being so excited that I didn’t want to turn anything down. We ended up compromising quality because our hands were too full and we couldn’t afford to hire more staff. That was a terrible experience, I lost a few clients before realizing i couldn’t do it all. Thanks to the program, however, I learned to identify our market and focus on the jobs that are more in line with the company’s capabilities.

Believe in yourself

Many people are unable to start because of FEAR
What will people say.
Challenges will come “She had issue with location, because she had to cook from her home kitchen which did not provide privacy for her family”. She also had problems filling large orders because of lack of cash”. Clients only pay after food delivery; bank interest rates were too high.
I used to be very timid and unsure of myself, but now I see the great potentials in me not just to succeed, but also to lift those who feel there is no good in them.