Beverley Agbakoba-Onyejianya is a Sports & Entertainment lawyer and Entrepreneur. She is an accredited mediator with the Lagos High Court Multi Door Centre and a member of the panel of neutrals at the Lagos Court of Arbitration.
She has years of experience in the banking and capital markets in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. She is a Nigeria SEC-registered compliance officer, providing regional compliance, risk management, and financial crime prevention advisory support. Her broad experience in the compliance industry covers investment banking, brokerage, and fund management sectors.
Additionally, she is passionate about sports and youth development and founded the Lagos Tigers Football Club in 2012, the Little Tigers Football Foundation in 2017, and a social network for women called GFC.
“Delay is not denial. Things do not have to run at top speed to indicate that you’re on the right path.”
Beverley Agbakoba-Onyejianya
Worst investment ever
In 2015 Beverley and her good friend were talking about doing something to better their lives. They explored different things, and her friend suggested that they get into the peanut butter packaging business.
Beverley did some research and realized that there was such a massive market for peanut butter in the US, and so she paid the suggestion more attention.
Jumping right into it
The two friends jumped right into business. They did a bit of research, came up with a name and branding. They were reeling to go. The friend even suggested that they not only do peanut butter but cashew nut butter too. They went all out with different flavors. They received an incredible reception when the butter went on sale.
The clashing of two personalities
The butter was selling in their hundreds, and everything was going great except for the two business partners’ personalities.
Beverley is brash and rash, while her friend is very detailed and a risk manager. And so the two kept clashing whenever they would have different business ideas. Beverley, especially wouldn’t take feedback well.
Things turn ugly
Beverley wanted things done in a rush, while her friend would instead take things slow. Beverley was also very emotionally driven and would often react irrationally during disagreements.
Things got so bad that one morning Beverley woke up and changed all the factory locks locking her friend out. This was the last straw that brought the butter business to its premature end.
Lessons learned
Solve problems rationally
You don’t have to react immediately every time you are confronted with a problem or a misunderstanding. You don’t need to act on whatever comes to your mind first because sometimes the first thing you think of doing could put you in jail.
Develop emotional intelligence
People who have high emotional intelligence tend to be better leaders, teammates, and colleagues. You can have the best skills, you can be the best, but what is the point if your emotional intelligence is so low?
Draw the line between emotions and business
It is unnatural to expect your business partner to agree with everything you say and vice versa. You will often disagree, but it doesn’t mean that you should take it personally.
Meet people halfway
Everybody has their reference point, so meet them where they are and find ways to complement each other.
Everyone has something unique to offer
Everybody has different skill sets that add value to your business. If you keep measuring other people by your standards, you’ll never be satisfied.
Andrew’s takeaways
The ugly side of business
When books talk about building a successful business, they never talk about the ugly side of the hustle. It takes blood and sweat to build a business. Most books won’t tell you this.
Slow and steady wins the race
Don’t be in a rush to become successful. Take your time to build a stable business, and you will create an empire.
It’s not just about you
You may be the business owner, but your business’s success is not just about you. It’s essential to think about the well-being of all the people involved in building your business, including all the stakeholders.
You need different qualified people to build a successful business
To be successful in any startup, you need people with different skills. You need a salesperson, a product person, a marketer, an accountant, and many more. These people won’t always get along, because they’re coming from different places. Figure out a way to keep everybody together.
Actionable advice
You need to know deep down and intuitively whether this is for you or not at all. Don’t flog a dead horse, but at the same time, don’t give up too soon.
No. 1 goal for the next 12 months
Beverley’s goal for the next 12 months is to focus on creating digital content. She has another brand in the works right now, and her podcast Develop Your A-Game. Beverley plans to concentrate on these two projects for now.
Parting words
“Stay consistent and authentic.”
Beverley Agbakoba-Onyejianya
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