Three Critical Tools Required To Navigate Life

“A vision without an action is a daydream, an action without a vision is a nightmare”.  Japanese Proverb

This fundamental reality of life forms the bedrock for making informed decisions and engaging in a fulfilling life journey. Several tools will be introduced in this write up that will stimulate your strategic thinking and create an ambience for a robust approach to your decision to choose.

A chronicle of knowledge acquisition is outlined below;

1. A processed text becomes an information.
2. Processed information becomes knowledge.
3. A processed knowledge becomes wisdom.
4. An applied wisdom is power.

Hence the quote “Knowledge is power if and only when applied” 

The objective of this write up is to help you navigate critical decision taking when establishing your path in the journey of life.

The three critical tools required to navigate life itself are knowledge, skills and talent. Most times emphasis are given to knowledge seeking which end point becomes white collar jobs i.e. Lawyers, Doctors, Engineers, Bankers etc; While skills are inherent in every individual that can identify its area of specialization early enough which now becomes the basis for their engagement in life i.e. Mechanics, Carpenters, Plumbers, Tailors etc; While talent is termed as gifts from God that are usually implicit or explicit. In most cases it is related to sports, music, dancing, comedy, actors and actresses in the entertainment world. Given the enumeration above, one could draw the conclusion that knowledge actually improves both skill and talent. Though it is said that only few individuals have a combination of the three, in most cases humans always have two, however when you add knowledge to both skills and talents it becomes an improved products or services, thereby creating a brand of itself i.e. Dr. Socrates (the legendary Brazilian footballer), Davido (the remarkable Nigerian musician), and David Beckham (the illustrious English footballer).

Knowledge being the foundation of every discipline is termed a very powerful tool because of its superiority of information within the specified discipline skill or talent. 

Dreams are a vital aspect of human expectations, therefore a dream is a wish and could come as an aspiration, it metamorphoses into your ambition which means your desire to achieve a set out goal, then passion becomes your driver. Passion is also a vital drive towards achieving your dreams, it is one of the most critical tools you must deploy in pursuing your set out goals; for me as an individual, I embraced the importance of knowledge seeking early enough in life, I acquired the requisite knowledge that enabled me to identify my skill which is carpentry, pursued it vigorously to achieving my dreams which is to become one of the best furniture manufacturing companies in Nigeria (ITEX Furniture Limited). It was a huge ambition given the fact that the dominant furniture company in Nigeria then was Julius Berger (AFP), it was a tall order competing with them, I had to go to Europe to acquire the necessary training to improve my skills, where I trained in Leather and Woodworks in Milan (Italy), Glass and Metal Works in Hamburg, Germany. 

I was passionate about the furniture industry, hence I needed to study the market trends to define my space in achieving my path, plans were then put in place to achieve the necessary knowledge, skills and talents to assist me navigate the complexities of the industry. 

The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja created the right opportunity I was looking for, so many unoccupied buildings both completed and uncompleted, residential and offices created a potential that gave us the privilege to design a module for the Business to Government (B2G), Business to Business (B2B), and Business to Customer (B2C) market. We adopted so many strategies, identified the need to penetrate the market using the principles of Availability, Acceptability, Affordability, and Accessibility. Endearing ourselves to the potential end users, creating a standard that is commensurate with the European standard thus making us “THINK GLOBAL but ACT LOCAL”. Majority of our end users never believed that our products were locally manufactured because of the quality and standards we introduced in our products. Through innovation and a relentless pursuit of excellence, ITEX and I spearheaded a transformative revolution in the furniture industry, propelling Nigeria from the realms of roadside carpentry to the pinnacle of sophistication and precision with the integration of cutting-edge CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing) machines. This enabled us to create a reputation for products that are durable, efficient, affordable, and functional with ergonometric designs that create comfort for the end user, and thus establishing the integrity of our products that stands the test of time. ITEX became a household name in the country for office furniture and residential furniture alike. 

It takes the vision of a Founder or Leader using a lens to envisage a market potential by adopting so many strategies i.e. Michael Porter 5 Forces and SWOT analysis to give the company a unique position in the industry. We created a competitive advantage by introducing Architects to conceptualize design using AUTOCAD and other 3D Softwares to meet potential clients aspiration, while the Engineers (Mechanical and Electrical) who operates our machines interprets the designs through production to meeting the clients needs, this is what we refer to as “custom built” hence my slogan "We give you what you want, others give you what they have”.

This automatically created a brand of our products whereby our products and services surpasses people’s expectations, creating a sense of durability, functionality and comfort. Just as recently as yesterday, I watched a conference held at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Auditorium in Abuja (furnished by ITEX). The seats and table installed since 2000 are still intact and we have not been called upon for maintenance – That is the integrity of products and the reputation of ITEX.

As the MD/CEO of ITEX Furniture Limited, which I founded in 1996; I knew the importance of organic growth, putting all the requisite strategy in place starting from my carport garage to an ultra modern manufacturing factory that occupies  2.5 hectares land in the industrial area of Abuja. The sole purpose of establishing a furniture manufacturing company in the new capital city of Nigeria, Abuja was aimed at meeting up with the influx of populace drift into the new capital city, which has very many newly completed buildings for occupation either as residences or offices to meet government needs. In the early 2000s, the Nigerian furniture industry was ripe for transformation and possessed a lot of growth potentials since more and more government institutions were relocating to Abuja from Lagos under government directives so as to make the three tiers of government (the Executive, the Legislation, and the Judiciary) interface adequately in proximity to each other. Hence the need for furniture arose. Our growth was premised on good work ethics laced in discipline, studying market trends, defining our market space, establishing the David Baron 4 I’s Non Market Strategy: Institution, Information, Issues, Interest. This rapidly built our strong social and marketing network, with a huge portfolio of clientele all over the country.

Result is absolute, 99% of effort is less than 1% of result, so emphasis was laid on result-oriented approach to any project; To count on the success of an entity, 100% of result will only be good enough for me, hence all staff were orientated into the culture of result achievement. I never take no for an answer. As  A result, it is the end point of a well mapped out plan to achieve your goals using your passion to drive your dream. I therefore conclude this by saying, “A dream is only achievable if positive actions are taken along the line.”

I hope this write up meets the readers’ expectation of me and motivates the youths towards achieving success in life, knowing fully well that good ideas are better than finance. Ideas bring finance. Finance brings wealth.