It has been a minute since my last post. I am happy to tell you that I have been busy perfecting my best work yet and I cannot wait to share it with you all. First we must explore the topic at hand and how #myBiabookjourney showed me that failure was my path to eventual success.
I smile whenever I watch this video, I was so afraid then. What was I doing? I wish I could tell her that- no matter what was ahead, you will survive it and that survival will be the key to what you were trying to achieve. I am not one to write long tales, but I will use an extract from my upcoming publication to do the first tale in this series justice.
In becoming my ideal target audience, did I see the missing piece to my products puzzle. Now I see that falling was the only way up.
- Adesola Akindele
15 years ago, I discovered something in me. I had a knack for business and creating news ideas. This was great for a 20-year-old however, I was not in the right environment to develop the skills within. Rebellious in nature, I tried to make my voice heard. I gravitated towards fashion then and for someone studying Economics and Business at one of England’s top Universities, it was almost impossible to get an ear to listen or better still guide me.
My spirit grew even more resilient. Little did I know I would fight for personal growth over the next 15 years in my journey to success. At 21, I graduated from University College London with an Economics and Business Studies Degree. I had lost interest in my degree in the most important year and there was nothing to console me because I was focused on one thing, starting my own fashion line. I handed my degree to my mother and with her help began a floor assistant job in a fashion house. Within 3 months, I had learned how to cut and sew.
I grew the confidence of a leprechaun and begun making outfits for friends. I was excited as I made a lot of money and grew a healthy client base in a short time. What I did not know was how my first mistake would wreck my budding business. It was not about my creativity, it was about the business. What did I lack here? I had the ambition, determination and energy but I did not have formal business training or a mentor to check my steps. I did not have the patience to shadow processes and operations at the fashion house I was opportune to work in right out of University.
My success was short-lived. I had now grown to manage a team of tailors but with no formal system in place. I handled haute couture with poor time management and did not have a social life. I found myself starting to hate what I had wanted for so long. My clients, who were high school friends, got disappointed. This crushed me and all I wanted to do, for most of the aftermath was hide. Little did I know I had begun my path to self-sabotage. I started to believe I did not deserve to be successful if I could not manage my first business. Eventually, I wrapped up the fashion house and within a month I opened a bakery, my second love.
There goes my second mistake, failing to recover and reflect on where I went wrong. I could not manage my emotions let alone myself. My IQ gave me a massive ego but to my own detriment and just as rebound relationships fail, the bakery was soon to follow. It would be another 3 years before I mustered the energy to start a new business which opened the doors to so many more experiences. I was a child in more ways than one, with no true experience or awareness of my weaknesses. I let my intellect rule and my ambition, though admired by others, get the best of me. If my EQ was in check and I was self-aware, I could have cautioned myself better. I would have asked for help.
YOU are your business. When my mind was in turmoil, so was my business. Now looking back 15 years later, I see my mistakes because I have taken the time to master me. Imagine if I had done so all those years ago. This is why I want Biabook users to deal with this first and throughout their journey so they can learn the art of not only adaptability but self-correction for a better and productive future.
I have started almost 15 businesses and can count on one hand the functional ones. Am I disappointed in myself? Not at all. My experiences make me the best writer for Biabook.
A note from Adesola in Chapter YOU; Biabook; Adesola Akindele
I made a lot of mistakes and it was when I became my target audience, where I had absolutely nothing materially, did I have all I needed to move forward in my pursuit to fulfill my life's purpose. Will I alter the landscape for entry-level entrepreneurs? This remains to be seen. Failure truly was my path to success and I have cumulated all the lessons learned for all to see. My hope is to simply light the way!
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