The journey of an entrepreneur does not begin with many, neither does it begin with money, it begins with a meaning. The journey of an inventor begins with an entrepreneurial idea. An entrepreneurial idea is a unique solution to a problem that has potential for wealth creation.
I began my entrepreneurial journey during my undergraduate days at the University of Ibadan where I read Zoology. Even though I was interested in the Medical Sciences, I knew I had something for the creative industry and the entrepreneurial economy.
In 2011, I was deployed to Bayelsa State for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps. Before this time, I was an inventor in my own right. I carried a prototype of my invention everywhere I went. The invention has nothing to do with Zoology or Medicine, it was an entrepreneurial solution to a social problem—an invention indeed!
Ideas don’t come out fully formed. An entrepreneurial idea, however, is like a fetus. Its conception is finished at the beginning, while its expression is perfect at the end. Unlike an idea, an invention is a finished product waiting for perfection. I was not going about with a meaningful idea, I was carrying an entrepreneurial solution. I didn’t have to pitch it. Inventors don’t pitch, they launch. What poetic licence is to a poet is what creative confidence is to an inventor. Inventors create out of necessity and not out of curiosity. Necessity lunches! Curiosity searches! Inventors create products, but innovators connect the dots. The energy of an invention is from zero to one – radical, the energy of an innovation is from one to infinity—incremental. One beautiful thing about being an inventor is the infinite confidence that comes from the possibilities that an invention carries with it. An invention is the womb of innovations. Possibilities are responsibilities. Innovation is the application of creative solutions to problems and to opportunities to enhance and to enrich people’s lives. For every entrepreneurial solution or invention, creative solutions or innovations are possible from one to infinity! What more can I say about entrepreneurial confidence? Inventor confidence is the strength of an inventor. Becoming a successful inventor however, is not about being confident, it is about being committed to the progress of the product idea from indoors to industry – from finding to funding.
I gave my invention a face with my first NYSC allowance. The journey of an inventor begins with the function of necessity and progresses with funding a product idea to fruition. If an entrepreneurial idea is not funded, it will be found dead. This is my philosophy about inventor confidence. It is about finding and funding necessity. Necessity is the mother of invention! Inventor confidence comes from finding and funding an entrepreneurial idea. It is funding that gives value to findings. Research findings are at the mercy of robust funding. Entrepreneurs, Academics and Researchers bubble with confidence when their Findings, Innovations, Solutions and Hypotheses (FISH) are given a face through adequate funding.
Finding an entrepreneurial idea does not require being confident, funding it does. You invest in what you believe and believe in what you invest in. I had become an inventor, but I needed to prove it first with my resources before soliciting funding. Inventor confidence became real to me when I gave my invention a face with my money, this is my testimony. Imagination without implementation is a waste of inspiration. Build entrepreneurial confidence deliberately. Don’t wait for crowd-funding, start by bootstrapping! Bootstrapping is basically the opposite of crowd-funding. Bootstrap entrepreneurs build their businesses from the ground up with little or no additional capital. It’s been the path for decades of successful business owners, and with good reason. Bootstrapping gives company founders ultimate control – founders confidence.
Having built my product from prototype to the minimum viable stage, I was fortunate to meet an investor in the United Kingdom in 2022 who took the invention from a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to a “Minimum Enviable Product” (MEP). We were just beginning to move an entrepreneurial idea from indoors to industry by turning a creative idea into a lucrative opportunity.
Inventor confidence
The tests of Relevance, Usefulness and Necessity (RUN)
Every inventor believes in the relevance and usefulness of their invention. Necessity is the womb of an entrepreneurial solution. To an inventor, Intellectual Property (IP) success is measured by the spread of impact through relevance and usefulness of the invention in enhancing and enriching people’s lives. I could say from this background, that, I became a successful inventor long before I found an investor. This also is my testimony and confidence as an inventor in my own right, that is, transforming lives. I for one believe that there is money in a good testimony. Your testimony is your money. Keep the fire burning and the testifier, that is, the consumer (fire tester) satisfied by constantly improving your products.
Investor confidence
The tests of Feasibility, Acceptability and Necessity (FAN)
To an investor, investment success is measured by the speed of profit (ROI) – Return on Investment.
Investor confidence is rooted in the feasibility, acceptability and necessity of a product. It is worthy of note that investors are not looking for relevant projects, their investment appetite is spurred by projects that are financially feasible and socially acceptable. What necessity is to inventor confidence is what acceptability is to investor confidence. Even though investors know the place of necessity, they are particularly interested in the number of potential users as well as unified acceptance. My UK investor did some background checks on the potential customer base for our product before he committed to the funding of our first invention.
Inventor confidence is not investor confidence
Inventors ‘RUN’, Investors ‘FAN’.
The only thing that is common here to both inventor confidence and investor confidence is NECESSITY. To an inventor, necessity is the driver of an invention. To an investor, acceptability of an invention is the driver of an investment in the invention.
RUN with creativity!
#creative confidence
FAN confidence to flame!
#inventor confidence
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward.
– Hebrews 10:35
PS: Happy 40th birthday to me.
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