This month of June marks one year since i became a rebel
(Quit My Job to work for myself) and fought for a Title of Being a CEO. Am at a
point right now where I do not need the title anymore, it’s not that I have
given up on my venture but it would be cooler for me to be called a founder
rather than a CEO cos am yet to become a real one.
Little did i know what the title means, C- Chief E-
Everything O- Officer, It means you are everything to yourself and everybody,
it also means a year without a salary and yet being able to pay your rent,
hearing so many no’s to a point you are tempted to give up.
Your job as a CEO is to build a product that customer’s
love- the product has to do with something that is different from what is
current available in the market or changes to an already existing product,
recruit a team, raise funding from partners, investors or customers and also
come up with roadmap for the company. Finding a good working environment,
creating a company culture, hiring the first 20 to 50 employees and the first
customers and suppliers. At that early stage you are literary Chief Everything
Officer.
All this activities do not add to the bottom line, first
things first, you have to create a product that is valuable and the customer is
willing to pay. When you figure out the Value proposition the only remaining
part is to build the business which is a bit easier cos at this level you can
always delegate. It is the hardest point for any startup to get it right, cos
what you are selling should bring value to the customer which is the Key for
existence in this early stage. It’s always advisable to raise very small amount
of money enough to build the first version of the product or service and take
it to market. Be creative and build with what you have.