I Faked My Business Success on Social Media for Eight Months

The office photos were a co-working space I paid ₦5,000 per day for. The "team meeting" picture had three friends I bribed with suya. The revenue screenshots were edited in Canva.

I was broke. The business had stalled. But on Instagram I was thriving — "building something big," "excited to share updates soon," brand new laptop in every picture.

Why? Because I had announced the business publicly and could not face admitting it wasn't working. Because clients were coming because of the image. Because I was terrified that the truth would end everything.

The faking actually got me a client — a real one — who paid me ₦450,000 for a project. The irony nearly made me sick. I used that money to make the business actually real.

I stopped faking when I didn't need to anymore.

I don't know if that makes me resourceful or dishonest. Maybe both.

What I know is: the Nigerian hustle space is full of people performing success they don't have yet. Some are grifting. Some are genuinely just trying to survive the perception game long enough for the real thing to arrive.

I was the second one. But I lived in the same neighborhood as the first — and that still bothers me.