 The day was Thursday 24th of July, 2008. I woke up in my parents' home and announced to them that I would be getting out of their home. I packed my books and a few tattered clothes and traveled to another state in my country. I had with me less than $50, so it's safe to say that I had no money. Yet, I wanted to start a business because I was scared to death with the thought of getting a job and getting hooked on a job forever. That was over 11 years ago. Today, when I look back at those horrible years that followed the day I started in the business world, I wondered how stupid I must have been to even think that I could do what I did. In today's video, I'm going to be sharing with you 10 lessons I've learned in my career as an entrepreneur. If you're new here, don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss other interesting videos like this. 1. Time will never be right to start a business 12 years ago, when I was preparing for my intrapreneurial journey, I wasn't alone. I had people around me who told me that they wanted to be intrapreneurs too. Today, most of them are only intrapreneurs on the social media profiles. But why? Well, they waited and are still waiting for the right time. Millions of people in the world are like that, waiting for the right time to do what they want to do. Listen to this. My Bible tells me in Ecclesiastics 11 verse 4, those who wait for the perfect weather will never plant seeds. Those who look at every cloud will never harvest a crop. The day I started in the business world, everything was wrong. Nothing was right, except for the business books I owned and I have read. If you genuinely want to start a business and you're hoping for a perfect day, I'm sorry, you'll never begin because such a day will never come. 2. You don't need money to start a business Ok, so many people won't believe this and I won't struggle much to convince you. For those of you who are willing to listen, you don't need money to start a business. Or let me say, you don't need your own money to start a business. As I have told you, the day I started out as an intrapreneur, I had almost no money. The only thing I had was a determination to succeed at all costs, the knowledge I had gathered from hundreds of books and my willingness to fail as much as needed before succeeding. I tell you, if you have all these attributes, you already have 90% of what you need to build a business. 3. It's better to start when you're young Today I see many people saying, I'll start a business after I work for 5 years. The problem with such thinking is that your 5 years will become 10. And then you'll discover you have lost many of the blessings that come with being young. Here's the thing, entrepreneurship is difficult. It's the hardest hell after the military. Take for example, you can say, I'll join the military when I'm 40. If you want to join the military, you better do when you're 20 or as early as you can because it's a difficult thing to do. I tell you, if I had not started my intrapreneurial journey the year I did, I probably would never have. This is not to discourage those who are old but to tell the truth about the nature of entrepreneurship. It's difficult and the earlier you start, the better you'll be able to cope with those difficulties. 4. There is no trusted formula for entrepreneurial success Okay, why did I say that entrepreneurship is difficult? Well, entrepreneurship is difficult because there's no trusted formula anyone can give you that can guarantee your success. Yes, there are millions of books out there and I've read hundreds of them. But even if you can read a million books about entrepreneurship, you won't still find a magical formula for success. Every success in the business world is arrived at through trial and error. No certainties, no guarantee. You simply have to believe that the dud will connect itself and run as hard as you can to make it work. 5. Nobody will believe in you I was the favorite to everyone in my family. Until that horrible day I announced to them that I wanted to leave school to start a business. You see, everyone knows that you're nine times more likely to fail than to succeed as an entrepreneur. Why would they believe you're capable of beating such odds? Unfortunately, many want to be entrepreneurs because other people don't believe in them enough to support them. Stop waiting for other people's approval. They want to prove of you anyway. 6. Friends matter While I was not fortunate to get any of my family members to believe in my dreams, I was lucky to have a few very helpful friends. You see, it's easier for your friends to believe in you and support you than for your family to do the same. I don't know why this is so, but that's been my observation. My friends, though they are few, are the source of inspiration and support to me. So, I would advise you to keep good friends. Make friends with people who are ambitious, positive and actors. Don't hang around people who make excuses and complain about everything. 7. Focus on learning how to sell When I started, I loved to read anything, just anything related to business. However, at some point, I discovered that 80% of everything called entrepreneurship is about selling. So, I started making 80% of my studies about selling and marketing. Forget everything anyone can tell you about inventing a new product, packaging or business management. Business is about selling. Everything else is a documentary. You must learn how to sell yourself, your business and your product. Again, business is all about selling. Everything else is a documentary. 8. You must become a learning machine I don't know any single successful entrepreneur who doesn't learn all the time. And the reason for that is because someone is always at the corner planning to send you away from the market. If you don't know what I know about the market, our customers and the product, that will kill your business in a matter of months. 9. One year of success makes 10 years of failure feel like 10 days I woke up one day in February 2016 expecting my day to be like the previous day. But that day was going to be different. That was the day I discovered the business idea that gave me my first big break in the business world. Yes, that happened 8 years after I have been in the business world. But I can tell you, those 8 long boring and terrible years look like 8 short days to me today. Because when you eventually succeed as an entrepreneur, your years of failure start looking like dreams. Yes, failure is bitter, but success is so sweet that it has the power to make you forget those years of bitterness. This is my encouragement to everyone who wants to build a successful business. Don't be afraid of terrible failures. You just have to succeed once. And you'll think it's all a dream. Mark Cuban once said, You can fail as much as you need to. You only have to succeed once. 10. It is worth it, even if you die trying So, let me say this to those people who are afraid or start in a business because they could fail. Trying to build a business is worth it, even if you die trying. You see, building a business if you fail you can do it is by far one of the greatest things anyone can do with their lives. The reason for this is because business is the blood of humans. Don't mind those people who criticize entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. Everything in life has its strength in business. There's no money without business. There's no economy without business. There are no jobs without business. There are no great products without a business. There's nothing without a business so any man who dreams of building a business dreams of saving the world. What else would you have to die for? If not a worthy cause, like this. So, if you've tried to build a business and failed a few times, you should be proud of yourself. If you're planning to start a business and fear is keeping you from venturing out, you should look in the mirror and tell yourself the truth, which is building a successful business is a worthy cause and so it is worth it, even if you fail. I honestly hope this video helps someone. If you have not subscribed to our channel, don't forget to subscribe. We love you.