Entrepreneurs love to declare, “I’ve registered my company!”
But here’s the reality: registering with CAC doesn’t make you a company. At best, it makes you a startup.
And a startup is not a smaller version of a company. It is a search. A search for two things: a repeatable model and a scalable model. Until you find both, you are not yet a company.
Why a Startup Is on a Search
Every line of your business plan is an assumption. You believe the market wants your product. You believe the numbers will work. You believe customers will buy again. But belief is not validation.
Validation happens only when the market proves you right. When real customers pay, not once but repeatedly. When you test your model at ₦10, scale it to ₦20, and it still works at ₦200. That’s when you know you’ve moved from theory to reality.
Until then, you are searching. Searching for proof. Searching for survival. Searching for what works.
Assumption vs. Validation
Many founders collapse because they confuse assumption for validation. They decorate offices, build “corporate” structures, and spend as if they are already a company.
But a startup is fragile. It is still being tested. Still tweaking. Still discovering whether this idea can stand in the real world. If you act like a company before you have earned it, you burn money, waste energy, and kill your chances.
That’s why the startup phase is not glamorous. It is filled with experiments. You try, you fail, you adjust, you test again. Until the model repeats. Until it scales.
The Transition Point
The most important moment in the life of any business is the transition from startup to company.
A startup is fragile. A company is stable. A startup tests. A company executes. A startup hopes. A company forecasts.
The transition happens the day your model is both repeatable and scalable. The day you can confidently say:
- If I put ₦10 into this system, I will get ₦20 back.
- If I put ₦20, I will get ₦40 back.
- If I put ₦200, I will get ₦400 or more.
When your model behaves that way, you have found the formula. That’s when you stop being a startup. That’s when you can build with confidence.
The Danger of Confusion
Too many entrepreneurs confuse startups with companies. They think the moment they register, they are ready to expand.
That’s why many collapse within 3 years. Because they tried to expand before validating. They mistook the assumption for fact. They scaled chaos, and scaling chaos only creates bigger chaos.
The truth is this: you cannot skip the search. Every startup must pass through the fragile phase. Every idea must face the market. Every assumption must be tested.
Practical Lessons for Entrepreneurs
- Don’t decorate before you validate. Office furniture won’t save you if your model doesn’t work.
- Don’t expand before you repeat. Expansion without proof only multiplies losses.
- Focus on validation, not branding. Until you can show repeatable results, branding is noise.
- Treat every plan as a hypothesis. The market is the only laboratory that matters.
- Measure progress by proof, not paperwork. Registration is legal. Validation is survival.
The Search Is Not Failure
Some entrepreneurs feel ashamed when their first idea fails. But that’s not failure. That’s the search. That’s the work of the startup phase.
Failure is refusing to adjust. Failure is acting like a company when you’re still a startup. Failure is pretending you’ve found a model when you haven’t.
The startup phase is about humility. It forces you to admit you don’t know yet. It forces you to keep learning.
Conclusion: From Searcher to Builder
If you are still testing assumptions, you are still a startup. And that is fine. Don’t rush. Don’t pretend. Respect the stage you are in.
But be clear about the goal: to find a repeatable and scalable model. That’s the key that moves you from fragile to stable, from assumption to validation, from startup to company.
The day you achieve that, you stop searching. You start building. And that is the day your company is truly born.
Dr. Smith Ezenagu is the Chairman of Esso Group, a diversified conglomerate shaping real estate, finance, education, and media. Dr. Smith Ezenagu is recognized as a real estate & investment mogul, life coach, and private equity expert. He leads Esso Group and its subsidiaries: Esso Properties (awarded Nigeria’s Most Innovative Real Estate Company in 2024 and recognized as the best real estate company in Nigeria), Esso School of Enterprise (the leading institution equipping entrepreneurs), and Esso Capital (delivering smart, trusted financial solutions across Nigeria).
