Adewale Aladejana is a successful Nigerian business man and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Sapphire Scents, the very first indigenous perfume making company in Nigeria which he began with a 30,000 naira start-up capital.

This morning, he took to his Instagram page to share with us 5 secret codes of success and we are getting so inspired by them. Hope you get inspired as well!


1. You will never be rich if you spend more than you earn.

In business this is tricky because in the beginning you will need money for capital projects and even make mistakes that will cost money but once you have succeeded and your product is doing well, make sure you start cutting costs. Last year we spent 60 million on billboards because we needed to get the name “Sapphire Scents” out there, all the campaign we will do this year will not be up to 30 million and they will still be effective.

2. You will NEVER attract what you don’t honor

There’s this guy who used to do business with us at Sapphire Scents in the past, he bought perfumes from us but he has been struggling to sell, you know why? Because in his store where he puts the perfumes he would badmouth me to people. I mix every single perfume of Sapphire Scents you see anywhere. The grace on the perfumes will fight him but make millions for others. If you want the grace on someone’s life, envy and jealousy will never attract it, only honor.

3. If you want to become a billionaire, roll with billionaires.

The 3 closest people around me are billionaires. You will become whatever the people around you have become. There is a Mercedes 2 of the closest people to me have and unconsciously when I wanted another car, I got the same car. You will attract the blessings of the people closest to you.

4. Stay away from the unfortunate and the unlucky.

Some people attract bad things. If someone threw a stone in the market it would hit them, if someone were to make a mistake they would be the one, if they had found favor, they would lose it. These people are dealing with a deeper issue and they may not tell you. When you feel vibes like this from someone, keep them at a distance.

5. Work hard and smart; there is no substitute for hard work. 

Anyone who works harder than you in your company deserves that post more than you. Nobody at Sapphire Scents works harder than me. You have to keep at it through the good and bad times, you must be consistent hitting the same spot.

There are many more but we will stop here for now. Begin to practice these principles, I am excited for your future.

This post was originally written by Wale Aladejana, the founder and CEO of Sapphire Scents.