I Started My Business With ₦15,000 and a Phone. Here's Year Three.

Year one: I sold phone accessories from my room in Surulere. My "office" was a WhatsApp status update and a Jiji listing. Profit: ₦340,000. I reinvested all of it.

Year two: I rented a shared space in a tech mall, hired one assistant, moved to Instagram ads. Revenue: ₦1.8 million. Still living at home to keep costs at zero. Reinvested 60%.

Year three: I have three staff, a proper shop, a small online store, and a monthly revenue that would have seemed like fantasy to me in 2021. I also have a medical plan and a pension — things I thought were only for "office people."

What worked:
— I never spent profit on lifestyle until year two. The new shoes, the weekend trips — those came later.
— I treated every customer complaint as a product improvement brief.
— I reinvested obsessively. Business money was not my money until I formally paid myself a salary.
— I documented everything. From day one. Every naira in and out.

What nearly killed me:
— Trying to expand too fast in month eight.
— Hiring a cousin who expected family rates on his accountability.
— Comparing my chapter one to other people's chapter three on Instagram.

Start small. Stay consistent. The compounding is real.