ENTERPRISE54 – If you plan to be successful as an African entrepreneur, there are a few things you need to put on your blacklist right now. Our business climate has been described as harsh and the importance of doing business in a deliberate manner cannot be over emphasized.

While there is no guarantee for success in business, the least you can do is to stack the odds in your favor, right? Take note of the following things that you must desist from doing:

Do not be envious of the success of others
Especially in Nigeria, people dive into a perceived lucrative business simply because they’ve seen a bold pioneer succeed at it. It simply distracts you from your own primary focus and sidetracks your progress. In the extreme, you may be derailed from your unique selling point and lose your niche in business. Rather, identify your passion and determine your skill set then let the success stories around you inspire and challenge you to do more! If Alibaba had followed the crowd 20 years ago, he wouldn’t be Nigeria’s king of comedy today.

Do not make excuses
When you goof, own it up! Don’t explain your bad business decisions away, rather accept your mistake and identify the root cause of it. Add it to your list of valuable business lessons and move on. When you make excuses for your mistakes, you will repeat those mistakes.

Do not stop learning
Whatever you do. Your age, qualifications, or achievements should never stop you from learning more. There is always something new to learn out there, whether from other entrepreneurs’ successes and failures or from an advanced class. Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) is a wonderful NGO platform for emerging Nigerian women entrepreneurs to learn and network. Young Africa Leaders Initiative is a US-backed group available to emerging African business leaders to develop. Coursera, iVersity and African Management Initiative (AMI) offer free online courses that are immensely valuable to entrepreneurs! There are just so many opportunities for learning.

Do not focus on moneymaking
While the aim of every business is to make profit, your focus must be on creating great value for customers through your products or services. This in turn attracts customer loyalty, free word of mouth marketing and a constant flowing revenue. Customer is king! Short-circuiting your paying customers and focusing on their pockets is a misguided perception that only leads to unclever strategies.

Do not stop when you fail
Most statistics state that eight out of every 10 new businesses fail. If your business fails for whatever reason, you should chalk it up to a normal part of growth, pick the lessons, and keep going. When you incorporate the lessons learned from your failure into your next attempt, you reduce your subsequent chances of failure.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. You are welcome to add in the comment box to those things entrepreneur gunning for success should not be caught doing.