In Nigeria today, almost everyone calls themselves an “entrepreneur.” The title has become a badge of honour. Once you start selling something, you’re suddenly a CEO or a founder. But truth be told, entrepreneurship isn’t a one-size-fits-all tag. There are levels to it.
South African business mogul Vusi Thembekwayo once broke it down in a YouTube session where he explained why most African businesses die before the second generation. According to him, many people build businesses that never grow beyond their personal hustle. They remain stuck at the level where everything depends on them.
That’s why understanding the 5 levels of entrepreneurship is crucial. It helps business owners identify where they are, what’s holding them back, and what it takes to level up.
1. The Professional: Building on Skill
At this level, everything starts with skill. The professional is someone who has mastered a specific craft or gained specialised knowledge. They could be a tailor, makeup artist, content writer, photographer, or mechanic. Basically anyone whose income depends directly on their personal ability to deliver results.
Their major role is to acquire customers and prove their competence. The goal here is simple: make income, pay expenses, and retain a little profit. In accounting terms, they’re learning to balance income and expenses while trying to stay afloat.
However, this level has a major limitation: once you stop working, the money stops flowing. If a hairstylist falls sick for two weeks, there’s no inflow. Many Nigerian professionals get comfortable here, mistaking skill for business. But business goes beyond skill; it’s about structure, systems, and sustainability.
Transitioning to the next level means learning to delegate. The professional must start trusting others with small tasks and focus more on how to multiply value.
2. The Self-Employed: Building Small Systems
At this level, the person starts expanding beyond themselves. They hire one or two people. Say an assistant, an apprentice, or a small team. The focus shifts from “how do I make money?” to “how do we make money together?”
This stage is where management begins. The self-employed person starts keeping proper financial records, drafting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for how work should be done, and setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure progress. These business jargons simply mean creating rules and standards that guide how the business runs daily.
Think of a small restaurant owner who no longer cooks every meal but has trained staff handling orders. She now tracks how many plates are sold daily and how much profit comes in.
However, there’s still a limit. The self-employed person is still too involved in operations. If they travel for a week, things might go sideways. This is the level where many Nigerian SMEs stay stuck because they don’t document their processes. Everything is in their head.
To level up, the self-employed must learn to create systems that work without their daily presence. That’s what leads to the next level.
3. The Business Owner: Writing the Rules
Now we’re talking business. At this level, the owner starts building systems that others can run. They move from working in the business to working on the business.
The major role of the business owner is to automate processes. It could be through technology, trained teams, or documented workflows. Their job is no longer to do the work but to make sure the work gets done efficiently.
But this level is tough. Vusi called it the stage of “implementation fatigue.” The era of Test, Try, Fail, and Improve. This is where many Nigerian businesses die because owners don’t know how to navigate growth pains. They want to scale, but they don’t want to make mistakes.
Take, for instance, a fashion designer who opens a second shop but struggles to maintain quality control. She’s used to doing everything herself, but now she has to trust others. Many business owners crumble here because they can’t let go of control.
Scaling requires structure. To move beyond this point, business owners must focus on process automation, team empowerment, and consistent performance reviews. It’s the only way to transition from survival mode to growth mode.
4. The Entrepreneur: Scaling the Rules
This is where the real entrepreneurial spirit shows up. The entrepreneur no longer just writes rules, they scale them. The goal here is expansion. The entrepreneur seeks ways to grow the business beyond personal or local reach through partnerships, franchises, or affiliates.
This level requires strong leadership and strategic thinking. Entrepreneurs look for new markets, form collaborations, and build brands that outlive daily operations.
For example, think of someone like Sim Shagaya, the founder of Konga. He didn’t just sell products; he built an e-commerce system that could handle thousands of vendors. That’s scaling the rules. That is, taking a tested process and replicating it for wider impact.
At this point, the entrepreneur understands leverage. They know how to use people, technology, and capital to multiply outcomes. But it’s also a demanding phase that requires data-driven decisions, strong governance, and resilience.
To move to the fifth of the 5 levels of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs must begin to think long-term, beyond profit but toward legacy.
The founder isn’t chasing daily profits anymore; they’re focused on vision, culture, and continuity. Their job is to define a long-term direction for the business, something that can outlive them.
At this level, the founder works on trademarking, licensing, and ownership protection through trusts or holding structures. They’re not just running a company; they’re building an institution.
Think of Aliko Dangote. Dangote doesn’t manage every bag of cement or sugar being sold. He’s built a system that runs through capable executives, with structures that can sustain his empire for generations. That’s founder-level thinking. Creating legacy through structure.
The founder ensures that the company’s DNA: its mission, values, and strategy, is so clearly defined that it continues to guide future leaders. This is what Nigerian businesses need more of: succession planning. Because as Vusi rightly said, many African businesses die before the second generation due to lack of systems and legacy planning.
Why It Matters
Understanding the 5 levels of entrepreneurship helps Nigerian business owners identify where they truly are. Many people think they’re founders when they’re actually self-employed. And many think they’re self-employed when they’re just a professional. And that’s not bad, it’s just the starting point.
Awareness helps you build intentionally. It shows you the next skill set to learn. For example:
The professional must learn delegation.
The self-employed must learn systemisation.
The business owner must learn automation.
The entrepreneur must learn scalability.
The founder must learn succession.
Once you know your level, you can focus on mastering the next one instead of faking titles you’ve not grown into.
Conclusion
The 5 levels of entrepreneurship aren’t about status, they’re about growth. From the professional level where it all starts, to the founder level where legacy takes root, every level requires a new mindset, new skills, and new systems.
The real question for every Nigerian entrepreneur isn’t “What’s my business name?” or “How many followers do I have?” It’s “What level am I on and how do I level up?”
