7 Business Lessons To Learn From Ants 7 You Need Helping Hands

Now, back to the cla.s.s. Do you know that the best place to learn the power of team spirit, networking and synergy is in the Ant kingdom? There is nothing like one man-riot-squad in the Ant kingdom. In other words, there is no one- man business in that kingdom; they build trans-generational 'corporations', though they start small. And if you don't mind, permit me to a.s.sume that ants are born again Christians (please don't laugh). Why do I say so? They truly understand the Bible pa.s.sage that says one will chase a thousand; two will put ten thousand to flight.6

scripture religiously. And they follow that.

In addition, do you know that there is great division of labour in the ant's kingdom? Each ant has its own job description; and every one works to achieve a common goal: building and sustaining the empire.

Just for the record; ants are named according to the work they do. Research shows that there are three types of ants in each specie. The queen, sterile female workers, and males. Some workers gather food for the colony; when an ant finds food, it lays down a scent trail for others to follow to the food. Some ants store the food they harvest in special chambers in the nest. Other workers feed and care for the queen and her developing young ones. Still others build the chambers and tunnels.

They use their saliva to make the dirt walls hard. Some worker ants are soldiers. They defend the colony and fight off their enemies. The queen has her own chamber for laying eggs. Some chambers are nurseries for the growing young. Food is stored in other chambers. Still other chambers are resting places for hard-working ants.

Please bear with me. I hope I have not lost you inside the ant's colony? I just want us to understand vividly, the organised structure that operates in the ants' business world so we could adopt the model that will enable us build businesses that will outlive us.

To take this further, let me ask if you have seen ants carrying food, may be a dead c.o.c.kroach into their colony. Or have you taken time to look at the height of the ant's hill? Can you ever imagine that those tiny insects will be able to build such a gigantic empire? I mean some are about 20ft high or deep (equivalent of the Great China wall) and can weather great storms.8 At times, they build the colony underground, if they sense any threat to the success of their 'business operation'.

Again, the ants have different compartments or call it departments inside the colony. Aren't they business strategists, like I called them before? Now you can see why some multinational corporations and some business schools of the top universities of the world are adopting the Ants' business model.

Now the business lessons. Successful businesses that outlive their founders are not one-man-shows, even if they started as a one-man-business. They employ competent people with the right att.i.tude to help achieve the corporate vision and mission. In reality, some of the employees come into the organisation with wrong att.i.tudes. However, upon recruitment, they are trained; re-orientated about the corporate values and culture that operates in the organisation, which the staff must live by if they want to work in that organisation. Let me add, successful businesses have organised structure.

The big question to you is, what kind of business do you want to build? Do you want your business to outlive you? If your answer to the last question is yes, then I must say, you need to employ the right people as the business grows. There is a limit to what only you can achieve as a business owner. For example, for the fact that you are not an omnipresent being, you can't be in two places attending business meetings at the same time.

I can write a whole book on this subject matter because I have seen the impact of this simple truth in the growth of my business.
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My mentor used to say, "Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad, because there is no one to help him. If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break."9 This is not in any way suggesting that you start popping champagne when your business move from being a one-man-show to becoming a 'two- man-show'. It is basically reiterating the need to have dedicated people with team spirit, as employees in your organisation.

Let me emphasise that you need helping hands (reliable employees) in your business venture, if you really want it to grow into a multinational company or conglomerate. If your business remains a one-man- show beyond a certain time frame, it will begin to lose money. This is because you will not be able to get the 'big projects' that will bring the 'big money' to your business. In fact, some big clients are very sceptical doing business with a sole proprietor (i.e. a one-man- business).

Before I end this chapter, let me state that I am not advocating the idea that you start employing people you don't need at the commencement of your business. Rather, you should decide ahead of time that as the business begins to grow, you will employ more people to help you achieve your vision. Hence, you must have a structure on ground (i.e. on paper) at the outset of the business.

In conclusion, here is a word of caution from the CEO of one of the leading retail pharmacy stores in Nigeria (Mrs. Bukky George) with regards to Human Resources Management. She said, "It is all about your people. Find the right people; mentor them; lead them; motivate them; and reward them."10 And Sir. Richard Branson of the Virgin Group puts it this way; "look for energetic and enthusiastic people with the right att.i.tude; create the right environment that allows great ideas to be generated; let people become friends; pay fair wages and share the profits. We only live once and most of our time is spent at work, so make your people feel good." That is phenomenal!

Without being told, I know that this lesson has been more detailed than the others. It was intentional because business is all about people; your people will sometimes be your greatest challenge but they are also your greatest a.s.sets. Therefore, you must get it right with your people. To achieve this, you must be prepared to work hard and smart. This is lesson No. 4