Salary is what they pay you to make your dream come true.
Here are top Nigerians who built their businesses while still holding down regular jobs
1. Uche Eze — BellaNaija
She started BellaNaija as a hobby in the same year she graduated, while in Canada and shortly before she resumed her first ever post-graduation job with Shell.
It grew into Nigeria's biggest lifestyle and entertainment platform.
2. Tope Awotona — Calendly
He landed a job at IBM as a sales rep, then moved on to Perceptive Software, Vertafore, and Dell EMC - all while attempting and failing at three startups before finally building Calendly.
He didn't quit employment until the product had real traction. Calendly is now valued at over $3 billion.
3. Tony Elumelu — UBA / Heirs Holdings
Elumelu built his reputation as an economist and worked his way through the banking system before eventually taking control of Standard Trust Bank and transforming it into what became UBA.
He was a career banker who eventually became the owner.
4. Jim Ovia — Zenith Bank
A pioneer in digital banking and financial services, his leadership helped modernize Nigeria's banking industry.
Ovia worked within the financial system before founding Zenith Bank in 1990, using industry experience gained on the job.
5. Mitchell Elegbe — Interswitch
Elegbe's Interswitch created the foundation for many of today's Nigerian tech industry leaders by digitizing payments and making them secure and scalable across the country.
He was a corporate professional who built Interswitch while still embedded in the Nigerian corporate world before going full-time.
6. Banke Meshida-Lawal — BMPro Makeup Group
Banke started makeup art as a passion while still in school, finding pleasure in making up her friends before occasions. Along the line she began to make fortune from her hobby - eventually building BMPro into one of Nigeria's top cosmetology firms.
The common thread across all of them:
They didn't wait to quit before they started building. They used employment to fund, learn, and validate, then scaled once the evidence was clear.
The 9-5 isn't the enemy; it's often the launchpad.
-BSAT Properties