Hey , this is going to be different from any thing I’ve shared with you. I wanted to tell you a true story about my life and I bet me and you have similar stories in some way…
Today makes it 4 years since I made a decision to start my entrepreneurial journey
4 years ago, I started a new company called ARREYB Media while I was in my second year of the university
I began my journey with a small phone which my elder brother NDIP gifted me (the same phone which later got stolen. And when I wrote my first book, I decided to dedicate it to the thief)
Do you know what happened ?
As a non-techy and naïve student with no skills in social media, I wasn’t able to make any money from my efforts the very first year
That was in 2017, around the same time when the Anglophone crisis intensified in Cameroon
I needed to find a MEANS of SURVIVING amidst all the gunshots
I couldn’t rely on my parents who lived kilometres away from me (and were battling the same crisis, trapped at home amidst the random shootings outside).
That time if my allowance came, I had to bite on a small amount of $10(5,000FCFA) a month
Can you relate ?
ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS WAS THAT I WAS GOING TO FAIL and not have anywhere to sleep or anything to eat
So when I decided to start, as a motivation to myself, I wanted to let go of every safety net I could fall back on
Guess what happened?
That year on my birthday I secretly called my mom and said to her “Thank you for everything, but TODAY I’d like to stop receiving an allowance from you and Dad”
That was how I started to BRAINSTORM
SOCIAL MEDIA SEEMED LIKE MY ONLY HOPE AT THE TIME
I wanted to learn how to fish for myself, find a way to foot my small bills and just to survive in all the troubles
But the big question was HOW DO I START?
That same year I DROPPED OUT FROM SCHOOL and moved out of Buea (to Mutengene)
during that time, I almost lost my brain
My friends thought I was crazy!
Everything started to seem confusing for me
It was very hard to get anything from my social media business
I TESTED EVERYTHING
If someone said to me ‘Arrey this will make you more money online” I’d jump on it desperately, and without a second thought
Most of the things I tried in that early stage DIDN’T WORK
But as I kept trying, a few of the REAL SECRETS that did work, started to compound on each other over time
Even though I failed multiple times…
Each new trial actually helped me to DISCOVER SOMETHING NEW which led to one thing and then another…
That was how I started to find my voice gradually
What seemed completely impossible before (making a small living from my social media), was slowly becoming a reality
Because of the social media secrets I have learnt and practiced in the years of my Entrepreneurial journey, I have set up a small business now making a living online with my small team
And while that is a happy life for me, that’s just one of the successes I’ve had
Interviewed live from the BBC, listed among British Council’s top 100 worldwide, writing a best selling book… are some of my successes
This equals several conferences and workshops me and my team have organized, training more than 2,000 young entrepreneurs on some of my social media secrets
But IT’S NOT JUST my books, the workshops or the little praises that excite me
Over the past 4 years, I’ve built a connection with thousands of entrepreneurs like you whom I call My Friends and I genuinely care about
so as I am BUILDING on these secrets and DOCUMENTING the strategies I am discovering in real time, I have always put them together and sharing my stories to young entrepreneurial friends and ambitious persons like myself that relate with my story
Documenting my observations, my failures, my road blocks, my success … have soon become one of the most favourite moments of my entrepreneurial journey
It is one of my fundamental beliefs that when we reach a small point of success in business (or in life), in order to continue GROWING, the STUDENT must become the TEACHER, and HELP OTHERS who are on the same journey
It’s been 4 years of an incredibly journey finding my voice, and most importantly, SERVING YOU MY DEAR
The dream is to BUILD one of AFRICA’S LARGEST INTERNET COMPANIES and GIVE BACK to my community sharing my money and my wealth of knowledge!
I have been secretly working on lots backstage and I want you to buckle up
The best way to always keep in touch with all the goodness I’m preparing is to be with me here – so thank you. But also let’s get on social media so we can always rub minds together, so I can read from you, comment on your stuffs, let’s chit-chat and share that energy
If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner and you’re looking to generate more clients this month, check out our marketing agency. if you’re a good fit for what we do, we will do ALL the marketing for you and let you keep the money from sales arreybismarketing.com
If you’re looking to START or GROW an UNBEATABLE BRAND online, get my best selling book right now at half the original price arreybate.com/bestseller (over 3,000 copies sold)
my hope today was that my journey relates with you in one way or the other
Like I always say…
Cheers to many more years of shamelessly living and crazily excelling in passion and purpose
Happy weekend
Arrey Bate
Internet Entrepreneur
AB Afrikpreneur