The Business I Built Because No One Would Hire Me After Graduation
From 200+ rejected applications to ₦5M monthly revenue. The raw truth about turning rejection into opportunity.
Welcome to Daily Reality NG, where we break down real-life issues with honesty and clarity. This isn't another motivational "I made it" story. This is the raw, unfiltered account of how repeated rejection forced me to build something I never planned to build—and how it changed everything.
I'm Samson Ese, founder of Daily Reality NG. I've been blogging and building online businesses in Nigeria since 2016, helped over 4,000 readers start making money online, and my sites currently serve 800,000+ monthly visitors across Africa. But before all that success? I was an unemployed graduate nobody wanted to hire.
📧 The 200th Rejection Email
October 2015. I'm sitting in a stuffy cyber cafe in Yaba, Lagos. The fan overhead isn't working properly, and I'm sweating through my shirt. My email loads slowly—you know that 2G internet speed that makes you question your life choices.
Then I see it. Another email with that subject line I'd come to dread: "Re: Your Application for [Job Title]." I don't even need to open it. I already know what it says. Some version of "Thank you for your interest... unfortunately... high volume of applications... wish you well in your future endeavors."
I opened it anyway. Confirmed. Rejection number 200-something. I'd stopped counting precisely around 180, but it was definitely over 200 by this point.
The cyber cafe owner—Mama Put—noticed my expression. She'd seen me come in twice weekly for months, always printing CVs, always looking defeated afterwards. "No luck again?" she asked. I just shook my head. What could I say?
Here's what people don't tell you about graduating from a Nigerian university: your degree means almost nothing if you don't have connections. I graduated with Second Class Upper from University of Lagos. Good grades. Active in departmental activities. President of a student association. Did my internship diligently.
All of that? Useless without "uncle" or "aunty" in the right place.
The job market in Nigeria isn't just competitive—it's rigged. Companies post vacancies they've already filled internally. HR managers collect CVs they never read. Interviews are conducted for positions already promised to someone's nephew.
I'd sent applications to banks (every single one in Nigeria, I think). Consulting firms. Oil and gas companies. Telecommunications. FMCG. NGOs. Government parastatals. Startups. Even applied to positions I was overqualified for out of desperation.
Results? Three interviews in ten months. Three! And all three ended with "We'll get back to you" (they never did).
💔 The Breaking Point
Truth be told, that day in the cyber cafe wasn't just about another rejection. It was about the accumulation. My parents asking when I'd start contributing. My younger siblings looking up to me. My NYSC friends posting their new jobs on Facebook. The girl I was dating losing interest because "you're not ambitious enough." The constant borrowing just to survive.
I paid Mama Put her ₦100 for internet time. Walked out into Lagos heat. Stood at the bus stop watching danfos pass. And something shifted inside me.
Not inspirational-movie-moment shifted. More like anger-fueled-desperation shifted. I was tired of begging. Tired of hoping some HR person would finally see my CV and think "this one is good." Tired of the whole rigged system.
I made a decision right there: if nobody would hire me, I'd hire myself. Whatever that meant, I'd figure it out. I had to, because this system clearly wasn't working.
📋 Table of Contents
- The Pivot: From Job Seeker to Business Builder
- My First (Failed) Business Attempt
- The Breakthrough: Finding What Actually Worked
- Building the Business Nobody Believed In
- The Growth Phase: From ₦0 to ₦5M Monthly
- Brutal Lessons from Building Under Pressure
- Where We Are Today
- Practical Advice for Unemployed Graduates
- FAQ
🔄 The Pivot: From Job Seeker to Business Builder
Let me be honest: I had no idea what "hiring myself" actually meant. No business experience. No capital. No clear skills beyond my degree (which clearly wasn't opening doors). Just determination born from desperation.
The first thing I did? Research. Proper, focused research. Not the "how to get rich quick" nonsense. Real investigation into what unemployed graduates were doing to survive and eventually thrive.
I spent two weeks—every single day—in that same cyber cafe (Mama Put eventually gave me discount because she felt sorry for me). Consuming information. Reading success stories. Watching YouTube tutorials. Joining online forums where Nigerians discussed side hustles.
What I Discovered Changed My Perspective
The Nigerian job market crisis wasn't unique to me. Millions of graduates were facing the same thing. But some—not many, but some—were figuring out alternatives. Small businesses. Freelancing. Service provision. E-commerce. Content creation.
These people weren't necessarily smarter than me. They didn't have better degrees. Many had worse grades, honestly. What they had? They'd started. They'd taken action despite not knowing everything. They'd failed, learned, adjusted, kept going.
I realized something painful: I'd been waiting for permission to succeed. Waiting for some company to validate me with a job offer. Waiting for the "right opportunity." Meanwhile, opportunity doesn't wait for anyone.
The Mental Shift
Changing from employee-mindset to business-owner-mindset is harder than people admit. When you're raised being told "go to school, get good grades, get a good job," pivoting to "create your own opportunity" feels like failure initially.
My parents certainly thought so. "You went to university to become a businessman?" my dad asked sarcastically. My mom kept suggesting I "try one more time" with job applications. Friends thought I was wasting my degree.
But here's what I understood that they didn't: the old system was broken. Following the traditional path was leading nowhere. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results. I needed different results, so I needed different actions.
✨ The Mindset Breakthrough
I stopped seeing unemployment as personal failure and started seeing it as forced opportunity. Nobody hiring me wasn't a reflection of my worth—it was a broken system showing its cracks. My value didn't decrease because some HR person didn't recognize it. I just needed to create my own platform to demonstrate that value.
⚠️ My First (Failed) Business Attempt
November 2015, I launched my first business. It failed spectacularly. And I'm going to tell you exactly what happened because the lessons from failure taught me more than any success could have.
The business? POS operations. Everyone was doing it. Seemed simple. Buy a POS machine (or partner with someone who had one), provide withdrawal services, collect commission. Easy money, right?
Wrong.
What I Got Wrong
I borrowed ₦50,000 from my cousin (still hurts to remember). Used ₦40,000 to buy a used POS machine from someone "upgrading." Kept ₦10,000 as float for transactions.
Set up a small table at Ojuelegba junction. Early mornings to late nights. Hoping for customers.
Week one was okay. Made about ₦3,500 in commissions. Not much, but it was something. Started calculating—if I made ₦3,500 weekly, that's ₦14,000 monthly. With that and maybe another hustle, I could survive.
Week two, problems started. Network issues meant transactions failed repeatedly. Customers got frustrated. Some cursed me out (as if I controlled MTN network). The POS machine itself started malfunctioning—kept printing receipts twice, sometimes didn't print at all.
Week three, I realized the machine I bought was faulty. The guy who sold it to me? His phone was suddenly "switched off." I'd been scammed. Classic Lagos story.
Tried getting it fixed. Repair cost? ₦25,000. Nearly as much as I'd paid for the whole machine. Plus I'd already used part of the float money for personal expenses (rent was due, had to eat).
By week four, the business was dead. ₦50,000 lost. Cousin asking for his money back. Me, back to square one.
🚨 The Real Lesson
Want to know the truth? That failure was necessary. It taught me crucial lessons: Don't enter businesses you don't understand just because others are succeeding. Research properly before investing. Have backup capital for emergencies. Verify what you're buying. Most importantly—rushed decisions from desperation usually lead to losses.
I was depressed for about two weeks after that failure. Avoided my cousin. Avoided family gatherings. Felt like a complete failure. Not only could I not get a job, I couldn't even run a simple business successfully.
But you know what? That rock bottom moment forced me to think deeper. To get more strategic. To stop jumping at "quick money" opportunities and actually learn something valuable first.
💡 The Breakthrough: Finding What Actually Worked
December 2015. Still unemployed. Still broke. But something was different—I was learning. Properly learning, not just trying random things.
After the POS disaster, I went back to research mode. But this time with different criteria. I wasn't looking for "quick money" businesses. I was looking for skills I could develop that had genuine market value.
The internet kept showing me the same categories: coding, graphic design, writing, digital marketing, virtual assistance, e-commerce. I evaluated each based on my strengths, interests, and realistic time-to-income.
Why I Chose Content Writing
I chose content writing for specific, strategic reasons:
Low barrier to entry: Needed just my phone/laptop and internet. No expensive equipment or software. Could start immediately.
Leveraged existing skills: I was decent at writing. Always scored high in essay portions of exams. Edited my department's newsletter. Had the foundation already.
Clear learning path: YouTube had thousands of free tutorials. Blogs explained everything step-by-step. No need for paid courses initially.
Scalable income: Could start earning small amounts quickly, then increase rates as skills improved. Path from ₦5,000 per article to ₦50,000+ was visible.
But here's the critical part: I committed. No more jumping between opportunities. Three months minimum focused on just content writing. Learn it properly. Build a real skill.
The Learning Phase (December 2015 - February 2016)
Those three months were intense. Woke up 5 AM daily. Studied writing techniques for 2-3 hours. Wrote practice articles every single day. Read professional content to understand structure, tone, engagement techniques.
Used free tools exclusively. Grammarly free version for grammar checks. Google Docs for writing and saving work. Hemingway Editor for simplifying sentences. Answered The Public for topic research.
By January 2016, I'd written over 30 practice articles on various topics. Nigerian politics. Technology trends. Personal finance. Health tips. Relationship advice. Testing my versatility.
Published some on Medium (free platform) to build a portfolio. Others I compiled in a Google Doc portfolio. Nothing fancy, but it proved I could write coherently on different subjects.
First Dollar Earned
February 2016, I created accounts on Upwork and Fiverr. Spent two days crafting my profiles—no exaggeration, I rewrote my Upwork bio maybe 15 times until it sounded professional yet authentic.
Started applying to content writing gigs. Entry-level positions paying $5-$15 per article. My proposal strategy was simple: personalize everything, reference relevant samples from my portfolio, keep it short and professional.
First 20 applications? Zero responses. None. Not even rejections, just silence.
Application 37? A response. Small project—write 3 blog posts about digital marketing for $10 each. Total earning: $30 (roughly ₦11,000 back then).
I remember the day that payment hit my account. Went to the ATM three times just to confirm the balance. Called my best friend at midnight. Couldn't sleep from excitement.
₦11,000 might sound small. But it proved something massive: people would pay me for something I created with my mind and laptop. No boss. No office politics. No begging. Just value exchange.
That feeling? Addictive.
🏗️ Building the Business Nobody Believed In
Making your first dollar online feels magical. Building a consistent income? That's the hard part nobody warns you about.
March 2016, I was earning $50-$80 monthly from content writing. Not life-changing money—roughly ₦18,000-₦30,000. Barely covered rent and feeding. But it was progress.
The problem? Inconsistency. Some weeks I'd have 4-5 articles to write. Other weeks? Nothing. Clients would come and go. Projects would end abruptly. Income fluctuated wildly.
I realized freelancing alone wasn't sustainable. I needed something more stable. More scalable. Something I controlled completely.
Birth of Daily Reality NG
April 2016, I started Daily Reality NG. Not as a business initially—just a blog where I'd document my journey. Share what I was learning about freelancing, making money online, navigating post-graduation life in Nigeria.
Used free Blogger platform. Basic template. Nothing fancy. Just honest writing about real struggles and small wins.
First article? "How I Made My First $30 Online as an Unemployed Nigerian Graduate." Raw. Detailed. Numbers included. Posted it and shared in a few Facebook groups.
Got 47 views that first week. Three comments. Two people thanked me for being honest about the struggle. One person called me a scammer (classic Nigerian internet).
But those 47 views showed something: people wanted this content. Honest, practical, Nigerian-context information about making money and building opportunities outside the broken traditional system.
The Dual Strategy
I developed a dual approach:
Income Stream 1 - Freelance Writing: Continued taking client projects. This was my immediate income. Bills needed paying while I built something bigger.
Income Stream 2 - Blog Building: Published 3 articles weekly on Daily Reality NG. Topics: freelancing, online businesses, graduate survival tips, side hustles, Nigerian entrepreneurship. Every article was based on real experience or thorough research.
The blog made ₦0 for the first six months. Zero naira. No monetization. Just me creating content, hoping it would eventually pay off.
Everyone thought I was wasting time. "Focus on finding real clients," friends advised. "This blog thing is not serious," my uncle said. Even I doubted sometimes—spending hours writing articles nobody was reading.
But I persisted. Why? Because I believed in compound effect. Every article was an asset. Every piece of content brought potential for future traffic. I was building infrastructure for long-term success, not just chasing immediate money.
💭 The Loneliness of Building
Let me be honest about something nobody talks about: building a business as an unemployed graduate in Nigeria is incredibly lonely. Your friends are posting their new jobs on social media. Family members are asking when you'll "get serious." You're working 12-hour days on something making ₦0, looking unemployed to everyone around you. The mental struggle is real.
The Turning Point (Month 8)
November 2016, something shifted. Daily Reality NG traffic jumped from 100-150 daily visitors to over 1,000. One article—"7 Side Hustles You Can Start in Lagos with ₦20,000"—went viral (by Nigerian blog standards).
People shared it everywhere. WhatsApp groups. Facebook. Twitter. Email inboxes received over 80 messages that week from readers asking questions, seeking advice, sharing their own stories.
More importantly, brands started noticing. Got my first sponsored post inquiry—₦15,000 to write about a business service. Then AdSense approval came through. First month earnings? ₦7,400. Small, but it proved monetization was possible.
By December 2016, I was earning ₦120,000 monthly combined (freelancing + blog). First time in my life crossing six figures monthly.
Remember, this was just over a year after sitting in that cyber cafe reading my 200th rejection email. Twelve months from absolute rock bottom to six-figure monthly income.
📈 The Growth Phase: From ₦0 to ₦5M Monthly
2017 through 2020 was all about scaling. Taking what worked and doing more of it. Eliminating what didn't work. Reinvesting profits. Building systems. Growing strategically.
Let me break down how the business grew from that initial ₦120,000 monthly to consistent ₦5M+ today:
Year 1-2 (2017-2018): Foundation Building
Revenue: ₦120,000 → ₦400,000 monthly
What I did:
- Increased content output—3 to 5 articles weekly on Daily Reality NG
- Improved freelance rates—went from $10-$15 per article to $30-$50
- Added email list building—started collecting subscribers (got to 2,000 by end of 2018)
- Diversified income—AdSense, sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, freelance clients
- Invested in tools—bought decent laptop (₦85,000), got better internet, subscribed to Grammarly premium
This phase was about proving the model worked. Showing this wasn't a fluke. Building credibility and authority in the Nigerian make-money-online space.
Year 3-4 (2019-2020): Rapid Expansion
Revenue: ₦400,000 → ₦1.5M monthly
What changed:
- COVID-19 lockdown drove massive online traffic—people desperate for remote income opportunities
- Created digital products—ebooks, guides, mini-courses on freelancing and blogging
- Started YouTube channel (The Blogging Zone)—added video content to reach different audience
- Hired first contractor—social media manager to handle platforms while I focused on content creation
- Expanded to WhatsApp community—built engaged audience of 5,000+ members by late 2020
This phase was chaotic but exciting. Working 14-16 hour days. Burning out twice (literally stopped working for 2-3 weeks each time). Learning to delegate. Understanding that growth requires systems, not just hustle.
Year 5-Present (2021-2025): Maturity & Optimization
Revenue: ₦1.5M → ₦5M+ monthly
Current structure:
Blog Revenue (₦2M monthly): AdSense, sponsored content, affiliate partnerships, display ads. Daily Reality NG now gets 25,000-30,000 daily visitors during peak periods.
Digital Products (₦1.5M monthly): Comprehensive courses, ebooks, templates, consultation services. Focused on high-value offerings that genuinely help people.
Freelance/Consulting (₦1M monthly): Now selective. Only premium clients. High-ticket projects. More consulting on content strategy than actual writing.
Other Ventures (₦500K monthly): YouTube ad revenue, email marketing for partner products, speaking engagements, brand collaborations.
This phase is about sustainability. Working smarter, not just harder. Having time for life outside work. Building a business that doesn't require my constant presence to function.
✨ The Reality Behind the Numbers
₦5M monthly sounds impressive. And honestly? It's life-changing compared to where I started. But let me keep it real—after taxes, business expenses, team salaries, software subscriptions, content creation costs, marketing, and reinvestment, my actual take-home is around ₦2.5-₦3M monthly. Still excellent, but not "buy-a-Range-Rover" money like people assume. I'm comfortable, not rich. There's a difference.
📚 Brutal Lessons from Building Under Pressure
Building a business out of desperation teaches you things business school never could. Here are the hard lessons I learned:
1. Rejection is Redirection
Those 200+ job rejections? Best thing that happened to me. If any of those companies had hired me, I'd be earning ₦150,000-₦250,000 monthly today (if lucky). Probably stuck in some soulless corporate job, too scared to leave because of "job security."
Instead, I'm earning 10-20x that amount, working on my own terms, building equity in my own business. The rejection forced me into a better path.
2. Start Before You're Ready
I wasted months waiting to feel "ready" to start. Waiting to have enough capital. Waiting to know "enough." Waiting for the perfect plan.
Truth? You're never fully ready. Just start with what you have. Learn as you go. Adjust based on results. The people succeeding aren't smarter—they just started while you were still planning.
3. Consistency Beats Intensity
I've had weeks working 80 hours. Burned out. Accomplished less than weeks where I worked focused 30 hours.
What builds businesses isn't heroic bursts of effort. It's showing up consistently. Writing that article even when you don't feel inspired. Applying to that client even after 20 rejections. Publishing content even when nobody's reading yet.
Three years of consistent, moderate effort beats three months of intense hustle followed by burnout and quitting.
4. Desperation Can Fuel You or Destroy You
Desperation made me try content writing. But it also made me waste ₦50,000 on that faulty POS machine.
The difference? With content writing, I learned first, then applied. With POS, I jumped in blindly hoping for quick money.
Use desperation as motivation, not as decision-maker. Let urgency drive your work ethic, but let logic guide your strategy.
5. Document Everything
Daily Reality NG exists because I documented my journey. Every struggle. Every small win. Every lesson learned.
That documentation became content. That content built an audience. That audience became a business. All because I was willing to share the real story, not just the highlight reel.
Your journey—whatever you're going through—is valuable content for someone else a few steps behind you. Document it.
6. Revenue Diversification is Survival
Early on, I relied too heavily on freelance clients. When a major client left, my income dropped 40% overnight. Panicked for weeks.
That taught me: never depend on one income stream. Build multiple. Blog traffic drops? Freelance income compensates. AdSense earnings fall? Product sales balance it out.
Diversification isn't just smart—it's necessary for long-term survival.
7. Invest in Yourself Before Anything Else
Best investments I made weren't in fancy equipment or expensive marketing. They were in knowledge and skills.
Free YouTube tutorials taught me content writing. Free blogs taught me SEO. Free courses taught me email marketing. Then, paid courses refined these skills once I had basic income flowing.
Your mind is your most valuable asset. Feed it constantly. Read. Learn. Practice. The skills you develop are the only things nobody can take from you.
8. Your Network Determines Your Net Worth
Cliché, but painfully true. Every major opportunity that accelerated my growth came through connections, not cold applications.
That first big client paying $100 per article? Referral from another writer. Featured article in a major publication? Someone I'd helped previously connected me. Partnership deals? Built on relationships, not pitches.
Stop competing. Start collaborating. Help other creators. Share opportunities. What goes around genuinely comes around in the online business space.
9. Patience and Urgency Must Coexist
Sounds contradictory, but it's necessary. Be patient with results—building takes time. But be urgent with action—don't wait for perfect conditions.
I was patient with Daily Reality NG growth. Didn't panic when it made ₦0 for six months. But I was urgent about publishing consistently, improving quality, engaging readers.
Patient with outcomes. Urgent with inputs. That's the balance.
10. Mental Health is Business Capital
Burnout isn't a badge of honor. It's a business liability. When I burned out in 2019, I lost two months of productivity. Revenue dropped. Opportunities missed. Clients frustrated.
Taking care of your mental and physical health isn't selfish—it's strategic. Rest. Exercise. Socialize. Your business needs you functional, not exhausted.
⚠️ What I'd Do Differently
If I could restart with current knowledge: 1) Start the blog immediately, not after months of freelancing. 2) Build email list from day one. 3) Invest in networking earlier. 4) Set boundaries to prevent burnout. 5) Charge higher rates sooner—good clients pay well, budget clients cause problems. But honestly? The mistakes taught me things success couldn't. Maybe I wouldn't change much after all.
🎯 Where We Are Today (December 2025)
Let me paint the current picture honestly—no exaggeration, no fake lifestyle:
Business Stats: Daily Reality NG serves 800,000+ monthly visitors across platforms. Email list: 34,000+ subscribers. WhatsApp community: 12,000+ members. YouTube: growing steadily. Revenue: consistent ₦5M+ monthly, sometimes hitting ₦7M during peak months.
Team: No longer solo. Have 3 regular contractors—social media manager, occasional writers, technical support. Considering hiring full-time as we scale further.
Lifestyle: Moved from that one-room apartment to decent 2-bedroom flat in a good Lagos neighborhood. Bought a car (nothing fancy, but reliable). Can afford proper food, healthcare, small luxuries without constant money stress. Most importantly? Financial security. Have emergency funds. Can handle unexpected expenses without panic.
Impact: This is what matters most. Over 4,000 documented success stories of Nigerians who used Daily Reality NG content to start earning online. Countless others I'll never hear from. Emails weekly thanking me for "changing their life." That impact is worth more than any revenue number.
But It's Not All Perfect
Real talk: running this business still has challenges. Competition is intense. Algorithm changes can tank traffic overnight (happened twice this year). Dealing with copycats and content thieves is frustrating. Balancing growth with quality is constant struggle. Pressure to stay relevant never stops.
Plus, there's the Nigeria factor. Unreliable power means I lose hours to generator noise and fuel costs. Internet issues disrupt client calls. Payment platform restrictions complicate international transactions. Economic instability affects advertising budgets and purchasing power.
Some days, I still wonder what life would be like if I'd gotten one of those jobs I applied for. Would I be happier? Less stressed? More "successful" by traditional measures?
But then I remember: I'm building equity. Every article published, every subscriber added, every product created increases the business's value. In a job, I'd be trading time for money with nothing to show after years except experience letters.
Here, I'm building an asset. Something that can outlive me. Something with real value beyond my monthly paycheck.
💡 Practical Advice for Unemployed Graduates
If you're where I was in 2015—fresh graduate, no job, no clear path forward—here's what I wish someone had told me:
1. Stop Waiting for Permission
You don't need a job offer to start building. You don't need anyone's approval to create value. You don't need perfect conditions to begin.
That degree you earned? It gave you discipline, critical thinking, research skills, ability to meet deadlines, capacity to learn complex topics. Those skills transfer to entrepreneurship. Use them.
Start something today. Not next month. Not when you have capital. Today. With what you have. Where you are.
2. Pick One Thing, Master It
Don't try blogging, YouTube, dropshipping, forex trading, and cryptocurrency all at once. You'll spread yourself thin, master nothing, earn from nothing.
Pick ONE skill or business model. Give it 6-12 months of focused effort. Learn it deeply. Execute consistently. Become genuinely good at it. Then—and only then—consider diversifying.
I chose content writing. Stuck with it. Got good. Built from there. If I'd jumped between opportunities, I'd still be broke today.
3. Document Your Journey Publicly
Whatever you're learning, whatever you're building, share it. Blog about it. Tweet about it. Make videos. Write posts. Create content around your experience.
This does three things: 1) Forces you to learn deeper (you can't teach what you don't understand). 2) Builds an audience who follows your progress. 3) Creates opportunities you can't predict.
Daily Reality NG started as documentation. It became my primary business. You never know what doors your content will open.
4. Build Multiple Small Income Streams
Don't aim for one big break. Build several small streams:
- Freelance services (content writing, design, VA work, social media management)
- Digital products (ebooks, courses, templates, tools)
- Content monetization (blog ads, YouTube revenue, sponsored posts)
- Affiliate marketing (promote products you genuinely use and believe in)
- Consulting/coaching (share expertise with those behind you)
Each stream starts small. ₦20,000 here. ₦50,000 there. But five streams earning ₦100,000 each = ₦500,000 monthly. That's financial stability.
5. Invest Profits Back Into the Business
Your first ₦50,000 earned? Don't buy new clothes or expensive shoes. Reinvest it. Better laptop. Paid course. Marketing. Tools that increase your earning capacity.
I spent my first year's profits almost entirely on business growth. Painful to do when you're broke. But it accelerated growth exponentially.
Live below your means. Delay gratification. Invest in assets, not liabilities. This is how you scale from ₦50,000 monthly to ₦500,000 monthly.
6. Protect Your Mental Health Aggressively
Building while unemployed comes with massive psychological pressure. Family expectations. Social comparison. Self-doubt. Fear of failure.
You need coping mechanisms: Exercise regularly. Sleep properly. Talk to someone (friend, mentor, therapist). Celebrate small wins. Take actual rest days. Limit social media comparison.
Your mental state affects your work quality, decision-making, consistency. You can't build effectively while mentally exhausted.
7. The First Year is About Learning, Not Earning
Adjust expectations. You're probably not making ₦500,000 monthly in year one. That's okay. You're building foundation. Developing skills. Making mistakes. Finding what works.
If you earn ₦50,000-₦150,000 monthly by end of first year, you're doing great. That's proof of concept. Year two is when income scales significantly if you stay consistent.
8. Connect With Others on the Same Path
Join online communities of Nigerian entrepreneurs. Follow creators who share real journeys. Engage in groups focused on your chosen field.
These connections provide: accountability, collaboration opportunities, emotional support, practical advice, potential partnerships.
The journey is lonely. Community makes it bearable.
9. Don't Compare Your Chapter 1 to Someone's Chapter 20
You'll see people on social media showing their success. Range Rovers. Luxury apartments. International trips. "Self-made at 25" captions.
What they don't show: the failures before success, the support systems they had, the time it actually took, the struggles behind the scenes.
Focus on your own progress. Compare yourself to who you were last month, not to who someone else is today. Your timeline is yours alone.
10. Remember Why You Started
When it gets hard (and it will), remember the pain that pushed you to start. The rejection. The frustration. The determination to never feel that powerless again.
I keep email number 200-something saved. When I want to quit, I read it. Reminds me why going back isn't an option. Only forward.
✅ The Truth About Success
Success isn't about overnight millions. It's about sustainable progress. Going from ₦0 to ₦50,000 monthly is success. From ₦50,000 to ₦200,000 is success. From unemployment to self-employment is success. Stop chasing other people's definitions. Build the life you actually want, not what looks good on Instagram.
🎁 Key Takeaways
- Rejection can be the best thing that happens to you. My 200+ job rejections forced me to build a business earning far more than any of those jobs would have paid. Sometimes what feels like failure is redirection toward something better.
- Start before you feel ready. Waiting for perfect conditions, enough knowledge, or sufficient capital means never starting. Begin with what you have, learn as you go, adjust based on results.
- First business failures are tuition, not defeat. The ₦50,000 I lost on the faulty POS machine taught me lessons worth way more than the money. Fail fast, learn faster, move forward smarter.
- Pick one skill, master it deeply. Jumping between opportunities equals mastering nothing. I chose content writing, committed for 6+ months, got genuinely good. That focused effort changed everything.
- Document your journey publicly. Daily Reality NG started as me sharing my learning process. That documentation became content. That content built an audience. That audience became a ₦5M monthly business.
- Multiple small income streams beat one big gamble. Don't chase one massive opportunity. Build several smaller streams—freelancing, products, ads, affiliates, consulting. Diversification is survival.
- Consistency beats intensity. Three years of steady, moderate effort defeats three months of extreme hustle followed by burnout. Show up daily. Build systematically. Compound your progress.
- Invest profits back into growth. First year's earnings went into better tools, skills, marketing. Delayed gratification and strategic reinvestment accelerate scaling from thousands to millions.
- Mental health is business capital. Burnout costs months of productivity and revenue. Rest isn't weakness—it's strategic necessity. Protect your mind as aggressively as you chase income.
- Your timeline is unique. Don't compare your Chapter 1 to someone's Chapter 20. Focus on personal progress. From ₦0 to ₦50,000 monthly is massive success. From unemployment to self-employment is victory.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long did it take from unemployment to ₦5M monthly revenue?
About 5 years from absolute rock bottom in 2015 to consistently hitting ₦5M monthly by 2020-2021. But progress wasn't linear. First year I made maybe ₦200,000 total. Second year around ₦1.5M total. Third year about ₦5M total. Then it accelerated—year four hit ₦18M total, year five exceeded ₦30M. Current run rate is ₦60M plus annually.
What would you tell yourself on the day of that 200th rejection?
I would tell myself: This rejection is protecting you from mediocrity. The job you think you need will trap you in a system designed to keep you average. In five years, you will earn more in one month than that job pays in one year. You will own your time, build equity, impact thousands. This pain is temporary. Your potential is unlimited. Start building today.
Did you ever regret not taking a job when opportunities finally came?
Yes, briefly. Around late 2017, I got offered a ₦180,000 monthly marketing role. I was tempted because business was still inconsistent. But I declined because I knew taking that job meant killing the business dream. Best decision ever. That job would have capped my income. My business has no ceiling. Some opportunities are actually distractions from your destiny.
What if I don't have any marketable skills like writing?
I didn't either, not really. I just happened to be okay at writing from school essays. But there are dozens of learnable skills—graphic design using Canva, video editing, virtual assistance, social media management, data entry, customer service, transcription. Pick one based on your interests and natural inclinations. Spend 2 to 3 months learning through free resources. Start offering services. Skills are built, not born with.
How did you handle family pressure during the unemployed phase?
Honestly? Poorly at first. Avoided family gatherings. Made excuses. Felt ashamed. Then I realized their pressure came from concern, not malice. I started showing small wins—my first dollar earned online, growing traffic numbers, client testimonials. Once they saw progress, pressure reduced. But real talk: you need thick skin. Family won't understand your path until it succeeds. Their doubt is noise, not prophecy.
Is it too late to start if I graduated years ago?
Absolutely not too late. I know people who started at 30, 35, even 40 and built successful online businesses. Your experience actually gives you advantage—better discipline, clearer focus, deeper expertise in some area. The best time to start was at graduation. The second best time is today. Age is not the barrier. Action versus inaction is the only barrier that matters.
🎯 Final Words: Your Turn
I've told you my story. The ugly parts. The failures. The loneliness. The pressure. The small wins that became big wins. The rejection that became redirection.
If you're reading this as an unemployed graduate, frustrated, feeling stuck, questioning your worth—I see you. I was you. That pain is real. That fear is valid. That pressure is crushing.
But here's what I need you to understand: your current situation is not your final destination. Those rejection emails don't define your potential. That lack of "connections" doesn't limit your possibilities. That broken system doesn't control your future.
You have everything you need to start building. A phone or laptop. Internet access. Time. Determination. That's enough. More than enough if you're willing to work.
The business I built wasn't because I was special. I wasn't smarter than other graduates. Didn't have secret advantages. No rich parents. No powerful connections. Just desperation converted into determination.
If I could go from ₦340 in my pocket to running a ₦5M monthly business, so can you. Not the exact same path—your journey will be unique. But the principle holds: start, persist, adjust, grow.
Ten years from now, you'll either look back at today as the moment everything changed, or as another day you let pass while waiting for perfect conditions that never came.
The choice—like it was for me—is entirely yours.
Stop waiting for someone to hire you. Hire yourself. Build something nobody can fire you from. Start today.
💬 We'd Love to Hear from You!
This story is deeply personal, and I hope it resonated with you. Now I want to hear yours:
- Are you currently an unemployed graduate? How long have you been searching, and what's been your biggest challenge in the job market?
- Have you ever considered starting your own business instead of job hunting? If yes, what's holding you back? If no, what would it take to make you consider it?
- What's the most rejection you've faced—job applications, business attempts, or other pursuits? How did you handle it emotionally?
- If you're already building something, what's your biggest struggle right now? Is it income inconsistency, family pressure, self-doubt, or something else?
- What part of this story hit home the most for you? The rejection phase, the failed first business, the lonely building period, or the eventual success?
Share your thoughts in the comments below—we love hearing from our readers! Your story might inspire someone else struggling with the same challenges. Let's build a community of resilient Nigerian graduates creating their own opportunities.
📚 Related Articles You Might Find Helpful
Ready to Build Your Own Success Story?
Join 34,000+ Nigerians getting weekly insights on entrepreneurship, freelancing, and building businesses outside the broken traditional system. Real stories. Real strategies. Real results.
Comments
Post a Comment