Collaborative effort is something that is important for young Nigerian and African entrepreneurs who are espoused to the one-man business idea. We need to learn how to bring in others who have skills that complement ours and together create something greater than the sum of both of our individual efforts.

At the start of your enterprise when you don’t have the financial girth to hire the right hands you need, partnership and equity are a wise options to consider.

Similar Article: 4 Master Secrets Super Successful People Know: The fundamental Reasons They Became Great

It appears that the guys in IT domain have mastered this truth. Here is what I am saying. When Apple computers started, it was the product of two Steves, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. One made the product; one knew how to sell it.

When Bill Gates caught the Microsoft idea, he didn’t go all out there alone. He invited his friend Paul Allen to join him on the adventure. Larry Elision started Oracle, and he didn’t do it alone he had Bob Miner with him.

Yahoo is the product of two guys: David Filio and Jerry Yang. And what about Google? Larry Page and Sergey Brin breathed life and profit into it.

Need I mention Facebook? Yes, you know Mark Zuckerberg, what you don’t know is that the success of Facebook is more a product of his partners Eduardo Severin and Dustin Moskowitz who were actually his roommate at Harvard. Ok, what of Twitter? It was started by the duo of Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams and Biz Stone.

Need more proof? Do you know that the HP brand is owned by two friends David PACKARD and William HEWLETT? What of e-bay, the company that started the online retail revolution. Everyone know Pierre Omidyar, but, what you don’t know is that when he conceived the idea, he went to his friend Jeff Skoll and asked him to buddy up with him to make it a reality, and not only did it become a reality it was a huge and massive success.

I am sure you use ‘Whatsapp’. Well, the smart founders knew to buddy up. Brian Acton and Jan Koum shared the check from the sales when face book bought whatsapp, but truth is, there might never have been a check or if there was one, it would be infinitesimal to the $19Billion dollar they got, had they not collaborated!

Nigerians too are beginning to pick it up. We now have companies that are products of collaborative efforts [or partnerships] like the duo of guys at Jumia Raphael Afaedor and Tunde Kehinde. Jobberman got the trio of Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude & Ayodeji Adewunmi. It pays to not go the ride all alone.

I hope you get the gist. I challenge you to dream real BIG, make it happen and don’t forget; there is a whole lot more you can achieve when you collaborate with the right partners.

If your goal is such that you can achieve all by yourself, then how small are you, and how petty your goal? Dream big, dream real big and get big people to buffer up your area of weakness to help you achieve easier, faster and better.

Leave a comment: What’s your take on the idea of collaborative effort?

Sharing is caring! Please share with your friends.