For the last two years have been working on Arrow Food Couriers, my initial startup and official foray into building a company in US that would stand the test of time and economical climate. Prior to that, I had started several small businesses in Nigeria and the US. I ran a motorcycle transportation, smart phone exporting, game boy rental (my first endeavor at 12 years old).
Through my work on Arrow Food Couriers, I discovered another big problem and market I plan to explore. Undelivered, lost or stolen packages are a very big issue and that’s why I started working on my new venture, mailhaven.
My Mistakes
Despite how excited I am about tackling problems in the consumer shipping market, I want to focus this blog post on my experiences at Arrow Food Couriers. I’ve made some mistakes like in team building, but was fortunate to correct most of them. My life experiences as an immigrant, and after losing my father on my birthday (a post for another day), has given me resiliency. Some parts of building this startup and the challenges I faced were not something I had prepared for, especially after my co-founder resigned to pursue his dream of becoming a lobbyist. PS: I love you Michael Gray, thanks for everything. There might never be an Arrow Food Couriers if we had not met in graduate school. To make up for this loss, I recruited several interns, trained and delegated some of my duties to them so I could take over his.
Results so far
Here is what I have learnt through my first startup, after working 12 hours every day, for 18 months, and taking only one 2 day vacation:
• Your team is everything
• Raise funding when you can, and raise a bit more than you need
• Don’t get frustrated if you can’t raise a round, especially when you believe in your vision and already have paying customers. Be creative and find ways of making money or cutting expenses. PS: Thank you Andrea Barrica for the advice and making me believe more in myself at my lowest point.
• Align your goals so you can achieve your required momentum with your first few angel investments.
• You don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to innovate. Growth might be slower and funds might be harder to get, but you will gain resiliency in the process.
• Know when to pivot and focus on what is working.
• Prioritize. The most valuable asset you have is your time and execution
• Don’t do things to impress investors (learnt the hard way).Do things what will bring growth and paying customers
• Public relations, blogs and media buzz are not a seasonal thing. Keep your prospective customers engaged and excited even several months before you launch
• Build your network. The inequality of network access is real and unfair, but if you network hard and smart you can partially substitute for this inequality.
I am sure there might be a few things that are left out on this list, so please feel free or maybe obliged ;) to comment below with whatever you might have learnt in your own entrepreneurial journey.
Thanks to Brian Wallace, Lara Kinne & Adam Casson for taking time out of their busy schedule to proofread and edit this post.
