Lessons From Spurstack at 3
Random tales from the journey so far, and then some.
Silence can be an answer to prayers.
The year was 2018.
I had just passed out from the national youth service, however, I stayed back at my PPA for a couple of months to do what almost every other corp member does after passing out — decide what next.
At that time, most of my friends seem to have figured it out, they were heading to Lagos. It sounded like a good idea, after all, Lagos was the commercial hub of the nation, and Ogun state was pretty close by. But I had a personal quarrel with Lagos. I had gone there a couple of times before NYSC for a couple of job interviews(that bore no fruit), and it wasn’t a good experience. In hindsight, maybe I wasn’t ready for it. I did not feel like coming back home to Warri either, I’ve lived all my life here and I felt a change of scenery would be beneficial — here lies my conundrum.
So I decided to stay back and you know….pray. On my 3rd day of fasting and prayer (or was it my fourth? I’m not so sure), I received a call from an old senior friend. “Old” not because he is that advanced in age but because we never talk much. He used to be my fellowship president while I was in school, and prior to that call, we haven’t talked for almost 2 years.
After exchanging pleasantries, he asked me what I was up to. I told him I had just finished my service but was still in my PPA seeking God’s face for what next. He laughed — the kind of laughter that comes to your head when you see LOL. I was shocked because I was expecting a response more like “the lord is saying this and that…” needless to say, I was disappointed. He asked if I’ve heard from God yet, I replied “No.” Then he said something that has stuck with me ever since “It is not that I don’t want you to but know that wherever you decide to go, you will find God there.” That was how I packed my bags and came back to Warri, Delta State.
A few months afterward, in one dingy room, Spurstack was born.
I’ve thought about that day a lot.
When we say we are waiting on God, what exactly are we expecting? Some sort of supernatural sign? Or a mighty voice from behind the clouds saying “my child, go left.”? I’ve since learned a very important lesson — silence is also an answer. The burden is on you to understand what kind of answer it is.
It is good to seek God’s face in situations that involve making important decisions. However, what we call seeking most times is just us hiding our fears and insecurities behind religious activities.
If I had gone to Lagos instead of coming back to Warri, maybe I would have been successful, maybe not. Faith is in action. We must trust that as long as we are in God’s will, every step we take is the right one, as long as we are at peace with it.
P.S: I’m still going back to Lagos very soon. We have unfinished business. 😂
Nothing usually makes sense at the beginning.
If there is just one lesson, I’ve learned in the 3 years of Spurstack being in operation, it is that starting anything worthwhile requires no special input but the will to start, and the drive to see it through a period of time. I said “a period of time” because you can never really know the end of what you are starting from the beginning. The vision we had for Spurstack is not what it is now, what we are now will not be the same in 3 years. The journey is never linear, you have to iterate as you go along.
This is why I encourage people to have intermittent goals instead of long-term visions. I’ve heard young people proclaim that they want to build a company that will employ thousands of staff, or takes millions out of poverty. This is all well and good, but positive declarations do not build a business, people do.
Do you want to build a global brand that employs 20,000 staff? Well, start with building one that employs one, even if that staff is you. Then move to three, then five, and so on. This is how things are built.
Forget the Optics. The real work is always behind closed doors
I decided to tell these random stories today so that you will not think this is easy. Someone asked me once in an interview what my advice to young would-be entrepreneurs was. I replied, “don’t be an entrepreneur.” It is not very motivational but it is the truth. The entrepreneurial path is a very hard and often lonely one.
However, if you do decide to be an entrepreneur (because you have coconut head like the rest of us) then be ready to put in the work.
Forget the optics and pictures you see on social media.
Social media is important but you don’t build a business with likes and comments on Instagram, you do so by putting the necessary effort and energy.
For us at Spurstack, we understand this one truth, that whatever it is we have done these past 3 years, there is still much to be done. There are more services to offer, products to build, and platforms to create. Who knows, in another 3 years, we might just become a full tech firm, or maybe a modeling company 😁.
The possibilities are enormous.
This is only the beginning.
