Ever heard of Hopstop? It was an Apple acquisition in 2013. So go ahead and Google it.
Chinedu Echeruo, a financial analyst with J.P. Morgan, wanted to solve the problem of moving from point A to point B in New York and working with an independent developer, he was able to develop Hopstop.
Here are some of the lessons he learned on his journey as shared with us on an episode of the SME Forum:
- Solve a genuine human problem with your business idea and you can never go wrong: His mission was solving the problem of getting from point A to point B in New York as people he spoke with found the daily commute a challenge.
- Leverage networking, you never know who the person you are talking to knows: He leveraged networking and showed his plan to someone who introduced him to the top guns in his company. His first investment was $50,000 which helped him keep the business going before they finished the negotiation for a million plus.
- Education should be a catalyst and not an obstacle to that business idea.
- When pitching to investors, always ask yourself “what is the story?”: what is the story of your investors, what is the story of your customers, what is the story of your team. What do they want to come true
- Understand empathy. Have empathy for people. Understand what you need to make their stories come true.
- The best marketing strategy for entrepreneurs is family.
- Never let the business environment be the challenge: Entrepreneurship in the US and Nigeria are similar in the fact that problem solving is the key success factor in every climate while the difference is that in the US, the market is larger, but the competition is smaller in Nigeria.
- Leverage information.
In Conclusion, for entrepreneurs to create wealth through ideas that help to solve problems ravaging a community, they need personal passion and energy.
They need to understand business structure, gather information and knowledge, find a problem and proffer solutions, and above all, be daring.
Chinedu Echeruo is currently the co-founder of Love & Magic company, a start-up studio. They help create incredible value for entrepreneurs. His previous experience helped him start love and magic.
Love & Magic Company helps change-makers develop enthused and powerful business solutions that addresses key challenges. They do so by engaging in deliberate engagements and creating harmony within an organization to deliver concepts, beacon projects or fully functional revenue-generating startups that achieve innovation goals. They help bring ideas to life.
Chinedu’s true passion is the process of entrepreneurship, and it is what he shares.
