One of the greatest mistakes people make is to confuse a good salary, an impressive job title or a comfortable lifestyle with financial security. You may occupy an important position and enjoy several privileges, yet have very little to show for yourself when the job ends.
The question is not simply how much you earn today, but what you are building that will continue to provide for you tomorrow.
Financial freedom does not come from earning a salary alone. It comes from building assets, creating businesses and establishing multiple streams of income.
Many people spend their entire working lives depending on monthly salaries. They pursue promotions, prestigious titles and official privileges without making plans for life beyond employment.
There is nothing wrong with having a good job or seeking promotion. However, you must not allow your position to become your only source of financial security.
If your employer provides accommodation, transportation and other benefits, remember that these privileges belong to your employment. They may make life comfortable, but they do not necessarily make you wealthy.
I remember how my wife encouraged me to start investing so that we would have something to fall back on if invitations to preach eventually stopped. I took that advice seriously. I began acquiring properties, building schools and establishing businesses.
The lesson is simple: use the income from your employment to build something that belongs to you.
This principle applies to civil servants, professionals and politicians.
Political office, like employment, is temporary. You may win an election today and lose the next one. The people who surround you while you are in office may disappear when your tenure ends.
I was once approached to become the Labour Party’s governorship candidate. I considered what such a commitment would require, particularly at my present stage of life. I was not prepared to abandon my established work and investments to pursue political approval.
Anyone entering politics must understand that public office is not permanent. Invest, build assets and avoid unnecessary spending on fashion, expensive cars and lifestyles designed to impress people.
Live with the understanding that your tenure may be your only tenure.
Inflation gradually reduces the purchasing power of money. The cost of fuel, food, transportation, education and healthcare can increase while salaries remain relatively fixed.
A civil servant with children to educate, especially children studying abroad, understands how exchange rates and rising prices can affect family finances.
Business owners can sometimes adjust their prices to reflect increased costs. Salary earners do not always have that flexibility.
This is why depending on one fixed income can be financially risky.
You must develop other sources of income and acquire assets that can help protect your financial future.
What is financial independence? It is a position where you are not entirely dependent on another person or employer to sustain your life.
I have invested in properties, schools and businesses because I want to create something that will continue to provide value beyond my lifetime.
My children do not have to send me money to sustain me. My concern is what I can leave for them and their children.
Proverbs 13:22 says that a good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children.
That is a responsibility worth taking seriously.
Why should you work hard throughout your life, raise children and leave them with nothing to build upon?
Consider Jacob’s well in John chapter 4. Generations after Jacob had established it, Jesus still drank water from that well. Jacob created something that continued to serve people long after his lifetime.
What are you building that will benefit others after you are gone?
Will you leave behind only clothes, perfumes, cars and other possessions, or will you leave productive assets, businesses and opportunities?
Wealth is not just what you accumulate; it is also what you leave behind.
We get old too quickly and wise too late.
Ask yourself: Can you sustain your present lifestyle when you are 60 or 70 years old?
Your energy may reduce, your responsibilities may increase, and healthcare expenses may become more significant. You cannot assume that your present income and physical strength will always be available.
I opened my first professional practice at 29. I got married at 26 and bought my first car towards the end of my National Youth Service.
At the time, I was unemployed, but I did not sit around waiting for opportunities. I worked in a hospital, engaged in other businesses and sold second-hand clothes with my wife to raise money to establish my practice.
I understood that I had to work towards the future I wanted.
Do not spend your most productive years waiting for the perfect opportunity. Start with what you have, develop your skills and build gradually.
In 2 Kings 4:1–7, we read about a widow whose husband died and left her in debt. When she cried to Elisha for help, he asked what she had in her house.
She had a small jar of oil.
Elisha instructed her to borrow empty vessels, pour the oil into them and sell it to pay her debts.
There is an important business lesson here: she already had something she could use to generate income.
If you want to create wealth, identify what you have and turn it into something valuable.
You can do this in several ways:
- Sell products: Identify goods people need and make them available.
- Offer services: Use your professional knowledge, skills and abilities to solve problems.
- Invest in assets: Acquire properties, equipment and businesses that can generate income.
- Develop opportunities: Look for ways to improve existing products and services.
- Learn from failure: Do not allow the fear of making mistakes to prevent you from starting.
You do not need to begin with millions. You need an idea, a willingness to work and the discipline to develop it.
You do not necessarily need millions of customers to establish a profitable business. A relatively small number of regular customers can generate substantial turnover.
Consider this illustration:
If 40 people buy a product worth ₦250 from you every day for 20 days in a month:
- Daily sales: 40 × ₦250 = ₦10,000
- Monthly sales: ₦10,000 × 20 = ₦200,000
- Annual sales: ₦200,000 × 12 = ₦2.4 million
- Ten-year turnover: ₦24 million
This is turnover, not profit. You must still deduct production costs and other expenses.
The lesson is that you should not underestimate small transactions. Find a product or service that people need and build a consistent customer base.
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is depending on only one source of income.
Take a school, for example. School fees may appear substantial, but the school must pay salaries, electricity bills, maintenance costs and other expenses. Depending entirely on school fees can limit its growth.
In my schools, I have developed other businesses around the educational enterprise.
These include:
- Printing press: Producing exercise books, notebooks and drawing books for our students.
- Bookshop: Selling educational materials to our students and neighbouring schools.
- Uniform sales: Providing school uniforms, stockings and other clothing items.
- Canteen: Generating daily income through food sales.
- Transportation: Providing school transport services.
- Agriculture: Using farm produce for products such as coconut candy.
These activities complement the school’s main business and provide additional sources of revenue.
The principle applies to other businesses too. A restaurant can expand into catering and packaged food production. A farmer can process and package agricultural produce rather than sell only raw products.
Your main business can become the foundation for several related income streams.
Remember this principle:
Income is a stream, while wealth is a reservoir.
Income is the money flowing into your hands. Wealth is what you accumulate and preserve.
The more streams that flow into your financial reservoir, the greater its potential volume. But earning more is not enough. You must also manage expenses, save, reinvest and acquire productive assets.
Do not allow every increase in income to result in an increase in your lifestyle.
Use part of the returns from one business to develop another. Gradually build a financial structure that can sustain you even when one source of income becomes weak.
There is a limit to what one person can accomplish through personal labour alone.
If you want to expand your business, you must learn to employ people, delegate responsibilities and supervise operations.
I often illustrate this with 12 employees working eight hours each. Together, they contribute 96 hours of labour daily. The business owner then uses additional time to supervise and coordinate their activities.
That is the idea behind my expression of working 100 hours a day.
You cannot do everything yourself and expect your business to grow beyond your personal capacity. Build a team, provide direction and establish systems that allow the business to function effectively.
Your vision should not be limited to what your two hands can accomplish.
Financial freedom requires deliberate planning. You must look beyond your present income and consider what your future will look like.
Do not depend entirely on your salary, political position or professional title. Develop skills, sell value, acquire productive assets, employ people and establish multiple income streams.
You do not have to start big. Begin with what you have and develop it consistently.
Don’t spend your entire life working for money without building something that can continue to generate money for you and create opportunities for others.
I remain your friend,
Dr. Charles Apoki
