10 Rules That Will Make You RICH | A Billionaire's Plan | Tony Elumelu

Entrepreneurship is a long-term journey.

And when you envision and take position and that vision comes through, then significant opportunities crystallize.

They say that success to a large extent is dependent on being at the right place at the right time.

He's an economist, visionary entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He's the chairman of the United Bank of Africa and has a foundation named after himself. He has an estimated net worth of $1 billion. He's Tony Elumelu, and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 6 is my personal favorite, and I'm curious to figure out which one you guys like the best. Also, as Tony is talking, if he says something that really resonates with you, leave it in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired as well.

So entrepreneurs who are listening, quick one, short one, straight to the point.

Entrepreneurship is a long-term journey. Stop seeing it as a short-term goal.

Long-term journey.

Great companies, great and accomplished entrepreneurs did not make it in one year, they didn't make it in three years. It's a long-term journey.

So move in, dare to dream, implement your dream, and stay focused. I grew up with certain beliefs and certain motivations. And when you envision and take position and that vision comes through, then significant opportunities crystallize. And that is what drove our interest initially in taking over a distressed bank. We saw a banking industry that was growing very fast, and we didn't think the requisite human capital capacity was available to support the continued existence of these banks. And so we took early position in putting in place a company that would help to guarantee the survival of banks. And so when an opportunity presented itself, we were ready for it. We took advantage of it. We turned it around. We grew value for stakeholders, shareholders. And when we needed more capital to do other things, people were ready to invest in us because we delivered value.

When I read, I try to see learning points, you know, from, you know, whether fiction or nonfiction, people conceive ideas, conceptualize ideas based on either history, past, or based on certain environmental factors and influences. So whether or not they are real, the key thing is someone, people, I love the plot and I thought we should try it out. So, but the message for people who are listening, because for me that is very important, is at some point in time in our life, and that's why I'm commending this initiative, We all, you know, there gets a time in our lives that we are fertile and it depends on what you plant in us. So we need to read as young people, autobiography is better, but if you can't, whatever you read. Two, identify some role models. And three, say to yourself, if this role model achieved this, I can even do better. And then make sure that you don't only dream. When you dream dreams, you have to work hard to actualize the dream. And that is the difference between a successful person and one that is not successful. Some have read more books than some others, but those who decide from reading not just for entertaining yourself, but reading to adopt or shape a pattern for your future, and realizing also that even if you've read and agree this is what you want to do, the most important element is ability to translate that idea into reality, and that is what is important. So to everyone, I'm saying, let us decide who we want to be, what we want to be, and let's work hard. 99% of it is the hard work that we put into making it a reality.

What do I want? I want a partnership with UBA. I want UBA to be the payment, the transaction operator for my platform. That's what I want. That's why I'm here.

You see, you see, we're unleashing a lot of entrepreneurs and aggressive entrepreneurs on the continent. So better be careful what you ask for, eh. So this young man has heard the case of Nasru and his own. I said, okay, this is my point to pitch.

This is what we want. By the way, entrepreneurs also, aspiring entrepreneurs, some other points I forgot to mention, or one in particular, is what just happened now. A business, an entrepreneur must— I wouldn't say situational, but it must be quick and fast in your ideas and be able to act very quick and be able to act very quickly. Know when an opportunity presents itself and don't fail to seize the opportunity. They say that success to a large extent is dependent on being at the right place at the right time.

So this man is at the right place at the right time, so he's taking advantage of this opportunity.

What my dad always told us when we were growing up, that if you earn a dollar and you don't save anything, if you earn a billion dollars, you won't save anything. And so that discipline of investment, keeping something, don't consume everything you get, actually helped me significantly.

What I say to people who work with me and people I mentor, interact with, is there's no substitute for hard work. If you read this book, Outliers, the outliers, you know, it tells you about the 100,000, 10,000 work rule, okay? Hard work rule to hard work, you know, success. You— I tell people I work with that this is not— to me, it's not just about working smart, because what you hear these days, that what's important is working smart. I say, okay, okay, I want the combination of working smart and working hard.

You work—

if you work hard in a smart form, of course, productivity will be extra, will be super. So the comment and advice I have for younger generation is let us remember what I said about dreaming dreams. What makes a difference between a dreamer and an achiever is that one dreams and works hard in a smart fashion to actualize the dream. The other dreams and believes that manna will fall from heaven, and most times it doesn't fall.

I realized that entrepreneurship was key to the development of this continent. And that as a successful African private sector business leader, one's success should not be measured in the amount of money that he has in bank account, but how he's been able to truly impact others. And if you are successful because you start— you're an entrepreneur, then the question should be, how many more entrepreneurs have you helped to create so that you have more successful people on the continent?

And so the Tony Elumelu Foundation was founded basically to promote entrepreneurship across Africa.

My parents and my mom in particular had so much confidence in me, and I wonder, you know, at times they would think I always come like first or second in class.

I'm like, I don't think I'm this intelligent, but well, since they think I'm intelligent, let me work hard not to let them down. So that puts a lot of pressure on me. So this idea, in fact, of like for parents criticizing your children a lot, I mean, if you are a parent, you need to let your children know you have confidence in them, but be very realistic in the way you guide the areas where they need to improve. But I felt that was— I thought they were—

they had over-exaggerated impression, opinion of my intellectual capabilities. But then it helped me because it was always— if I read a lot, because I used to like, these people, I can't let them down. They count on that. They think I'm very brilliant. So that was very good. And it has always helped me in life in making sure that I always try not to disappoint my people who have confidence in me, be they my colleagues in the office, my associates, people I do things with. Once confidence is there, you know, one rather dies than let people down.

Lots of it in English, okay? You earn a dollar, let's encourage you to save 20 cents at Standard Trust Bank. And the only thing that will make you save 20% of your salary are two things. One is that it's capital you're ready to risk, and two, service is good. So that if service is good and you think you're risking 20% of what you're earning, over time you grow confident and grow confidence and now begin to embrace it.

And so that was what happened.

So over a short period of time, the confidence level grew and people were now patronizing us more, and we grew very far.

We were fastest growing bank at the time.

We opened 100 branches in a short period of time and grew to acquire the third largest bank in the country and then created the, the huge Pan-African bank that exists today, United Bank of Africa.

But I feel that I've been born there, made some reasonable, created reasonable wealth for both myself, my family, and people who invested me, my shareholders. And it was a time now in my life, a defining moment.

Okay, so that question about defining, so this is not defining moment.

A defining moment in my life to, for a higher calling, a higher purpose, to think about legacy. We all pass through this world. One day we all be passed too. How do I want to be remembered? We all talk about Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation. These are foundations that celebrated 100 years of existence. The founders long gone, but they continue to impact society and mankind in different ways and across geographies. And I have the wealth to do this, and I thought if I endowed 100 million out of my money to do it, of course it pinches, and I could use that 100 million to do that, buy more suits, do other But if I use that 100 million in this manner, it will give me and my family a kind of psychic benefit, satisfaction, return that no— I don't know the investment that can give it. Seeing all of you here, 1,000 Africans from across the world, is satisfying.

And to me, It's about legacy.

It's about legacy defined as, you know, ability to touch many lives in a manner that beyond yourself, oneself.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Victor Columba asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it down in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of the 10 rules had the biggest impact on you and why? What change are you going to make in your business or life after watching this video? Leave it down in the comments and I'm going to join in the discussion. Finally, I also wanted to give a quick shout out to Thomas and Nina Assenmacher from sambatours.co.za. Thank you guys so much for buying a copy of my book. Really means a lot to me. For those of you watching, you want your chance at a shout out in a future video, make sure to pick up a copy of the book and email in your receipt so we can keep track.

And send you the bonuses.

Thank you guys so much for watching. Continue to believe, or whatever your one word is, and I'll see you soon.