14 great articles about start-ups in Nigeria

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Be it startup founders, startup enthusiasts, startup employees and the likes, one very important thing there is is that we read far and wide about start-ups in general. While there are not-too-great articles flying around, there are that ‘some’ which are well informed and go a long way to guide your baby steps. We’ll be taking a look at almost 14 of those.

1. This solid article –How to operate a profitable internet business in Africa  by Yemi Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at hotels.ng highlights up to 14 pointers to be considered, if you want to build a successful, and profitable internet business in Africa. Even if the article claimed to “only scratch the surface” on points raised, trust me, it was well detailed and would prove useful to any(every)one in the startup ecosystem. 
2. Victor Asemota’s, The Jollof Rice Test  article isn’t just popular for the sake of being popular, it holds substance. The article encourages (potential) founders, when building an African startup, to do the “Jollof Rice Test” and “see if people will long for it and are prepared to dress up in their Sunday best to go wait to be served. See if people will celebrate it and fight wars online over it.” In essence, the test let’s you know what kind of reception your product would receive. 
3. Valid argument by Mark Essien in this article titled – Startups in early markets easily drown when given too much money I fully concur as rightly mentioned by Mark, after infusion of cash, the issue of growth comes in and often times, these companies aren’t able to sustain. Every founder needs to read this one. 
4. Are you into, or interested in FinTech? Then Big Chief was at it again in this great article titled Cash To “Cashless” in Africa – An Alternative Mobile Payments Hypothesis, which tells you exactly where to look, if you want to beat cash. Thing is, if you’re going to cut it in FinTech, beating cash should be a major for you. 
5. Victor Ekwealor highlights, on behalf of TechPoint, how to keep you business afloat in the internet age. The article was (most likely) born out of the frustration that Nigeria was still ranked 145th (out of 190 countries) in the Ease of Doing Business index.
   
6. Almost everyone in Lagos is insane. Most especially, those who are building businesses and startups. But… there is a remedy as Editi Effiong talks how to stay sane building a business in Lagos .Useful piece I must say. May we NOT run mad.
   
7. This one might surely hit a nerve, as Tayo Oviosu thinks approximately 95% of people building businesses in Lagos should quit and get a job instead. Well, he probably hasn’t met you, yeah?
   
8. You can’t be a startup and NOT look/yearn for investment funds at some point. Except your current revenue is able to sufficiently sustain you, which I doubt. So, in case it doesn’t, here are nine (9) things you need to understand while you search for funding. You’ll thank me later. 
9. You must have heard of Paddy Adenuga and how he almost bought a country branch of Chevron (Netherlands) without his family’s support.  Paddy went abroad just so he could be on his own, and went through ups and down in his bid for Chevron Netherlands. At the end, he lost though, but his story teaches resilience, and hiring too.
   
10. Are you caught in between the devil and the blue sea? (in a good way, though). You must have been contemplating if to bootstrap or raise funds. This article Bootstrapping VS Fundraising by Deborah on TechPoint (culled from TechPoint Build) takes a good look at “both sides of a horse”.
    
11. Scalability is one thing every startup founder wants to be able to achieve with his/her business. In this article, Dr. Dotun provides ten best practices on how to scale a business.
    
    
12. Muyiwa Osifuye, the CEO of Stom & Ruby Services highlights in this article, 9 proven steps CEOs can take to make business strategies work. The writer knows so well that things don’t go as expected even in a small family, talk less of a business. He also knows that the bigger the organisation gets, the tendency that some top executives over-delegate and fail. Good thing is he has a way out in the article.
    
13. Running a business in Nigeria can be tough and lonely. In this article, Dr. Ola Brown (Orekunrin) shares 3 tips for running a successful business in Nigeria.
    
14. Lastly, you want a rant on why you should favour ‘sales co-founders’ instead of ‘technical’ ones, here’s one. Please keep an open mind while reading this (with the comments), and choose what works best for you and your startup.

Bonus: Here’s an unconventional guide to building your startup in Nigeria

Truthfully, the 14 articles above touches on various (very) important areas that concerns any startup. Do tell us which you value most.