Image credit: Sola Adesakin
On the #LadyBossQuickFive series this week, we sit with Sola Adesakin, Founder of Smart Stewards – a Platform for teaching sound principles on personal finance management, especially for women.
Sola has authored 5 books; her latest being the “40 Frugal Rules For Your Journey To Financial Freedom”; A Practical and Pragmatic Guide For Wealth Management and the “Smart Financial Organizer”; A One year Money Diary to help people gain control of every area of their personal and Family Finances.
1. What does Entrepreneurship mean to you?
Entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is a fusion of passion, purpose and profit. Entrepreneurship is what you love to do (passion) on the journey to whom you want to be (purpose) and which meets your needs, the needs of people around you and the world at large (profit).
2. One of your favourite quotes/taglines is “What you earn isn’t what makes you wealthy.” Can you shed more light on this topic?
From my experience, making money is only a part of the requirements for building wealth. To build and sustain wealth, you must be able to make, manage and multiply your resources. And the skills to do each of these differ. Some people have made so much money in their lifetime and have nothing to show for it; because making money only will not keep you rich.
A tap that flows (making money) into a leaking basket; no matter the volume of water that rushes and gushes out from it, it cannot fill up the basket because there is a leakage. And even when there is no leakage and there are no deliberate plans to either scoop the water into other buckets, (multiplying), there still would be wastage.
“You’ve got to make it, manage it and multiply money/resources deliberately.”
Image credit: Sola Adesakin
3. What inspired you to establish Smart Stewards and what 3 greatest lessons you have learned on your business journey while building a global brand?
My years of financial-illiteracy and the resulting experiences led me to establish Smart Stewards.
Qualifying as a Chartered Accountant many years ago did not amount to good use of funds on my part. I was chartered, but my finances were scattered. I made a lot of financial mistakes and took bad decisions. Once I was able to retrace my steps, I made up my mind to help as many as I can, tow the path of financial literacy and help them navigate their journey to financial freedom.
4. Three great lessons I have learnt in the process:
i. You cannot effectively and efficaciously preach what you don’t practice. (You can empathize and understand the emotions people have when dealing with money issues because you have been there).
ii. Be passionate about what you do, but be equally passionate about the people you are seeking to help.
iii. Be courageous because life and business will test you.
4. Can you share some entrepreneurship myths you have encountered on your journey?
Entrepreneurship requires a lot of money to start/ huge funding.
Entrepreneurship gives you more money/wealth than working for someone else.
Entrepreneurship gives you more time.
Image credit: Sola Adesakin
5. What are the 3 top resources (book, podcast or website) you’d recommend for entrepreneurs in our community?
For books, I will recommend:
i. My book, “The Real Profit” – It’s your quick MBA for understanding the accounting aspect of a business.
ii. “Ï will Teach You Business” By Ronald Nzimora.
iii. “How To Win Friends and Influence People” By Dale Carnegie.
The Leading Ladies Lady Boss Quick 5 Series is a weekly interview series focuses on women of African descent, showcases their experiences across all socio-economic sectors, highlights their personal and professional achievements and offers useful advice on how to make life more satisfying for women.
Do you know any woman of African descent doing phenomenal things? Send an email to lead@leadingladiesafrica.org and we just might feature her.
