Many young men and women read and fantasize about rich men all around the world who decide to quit school to become billionaires, and are motivated to follow the same route.
What they fail to realise is that many have attempted this route and ended washed up.
Looking at Nigeria, here are some factors which could explain why dropouts rarely make it.
BrainTerm gave the following excellent reasons.
1. They drop into loneliness: What many people don’t know is that about 98% of the people who dropped out to become billionaires did it in pairs – they had close friends who dropped out with them and started the journey together.
a. Bill gates founder of Microsoft had Paul Allen.
b.Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook had Dustin Moskovits, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Huges, Sean Parker.
c. Steve Jobs founder of apple had Steve Wozniak.
d. Sergie Brin founder of Google had Larry Page.
2.They drop into confusion: Not knowing what to do in life to make a living is a big problem. Most people who drop out of school drop into complete confusion because they had no plan before dropping out. The whole path to the future became a complete maze. They never planned what to do after school. Contrary to this approach, billionaires who dropped out of school were already pretty certain what to be after school. The founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways already owned a newspaper by the time he dropped out of school.
3. They drop out because of laziness: Most people who fail in life woefully after dropping out of school actually dropped out of school as a result of sheer laziness. They couldn’t just study hard enough to pass so make the usual excuse that most billionaires around the world dropped out of school to become billionaires. Funnily enough, most billionaires who dropped out of school were actually workaholics by the time they were dropping out of school (read my write-up on starting the right business). Bill Gates had already landed a software production contract with IBM before he said goodbye. Mark Zuckerberg had already built ‘The Facebook’ before he called it quits.
“When I called my mum and told her I was dropping out of school, she laughed and said she knew I was never going to finish school when she saw the way I worked.” -Mark Zuckerberg founder of Facebook.
So why quit school if you can still continue.
4. They drop into thorny ground: Most billionaires who dropped out of school had a soft landing. They had rich or average parents who provided some sort of key support for them after they dropped out. Bill Gates had a well to do magistrate as his father and a mother who helped him secure the big contract at IBM. Mark Zuckerberg’s parents supported him with a $85,000 loan when he started. Aliku Dangote had a rich uncle who helped set him up in business and supported him through the early stages.
There are a few exceptions to this though: people like Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, and Atiku Abubakar, one time vice president of Nigeria actually started from the bottom. But there is something else to look at – they had a conducive economic climate. Things usually go as planned. Software does not get pirated as much. It is easier in their respective countries to find 1 million people who can easily buy your product online for $1 just to test it.
It is far easier to find investors there because of enlightenment. Generally, most people who made it landed on soft ground.
5. They drop out of school and out of learning: Most people who fail after dropping out of school actually dropped out of school and out of studying. The truth is that no one can succeed without self education. Learning new tricks of the trade, understanding the stock market, studying economics and accounting and so on. Quote me anyway: self education is priceless.
6. They drop into a non profitable business or idea: Before dropping out of school, most people who did, actually had a profitable business that was already making some sort of income or gaining traction. Nairaland had 300 members in its first month. Facebook was already the talk of the town with over 20000 members before Mark Zuckerberg quit. WordPress was already the blogging CMS with a community.
Most people who lose in life after quitting school actually never had a working idea before quitting: they quit then tried to work it out – wrong.
For those planning on dropping out of school, make sure that you have a viable plan ahead and already have something to kick back on.
If you have none of those, then don’t drop out of school until it is absolutely impossible to continue. Or don’t drop out of school before your monthly business income surpasses your school fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment