When I conceived the predecessor of SkilledUp Life in April 2020, I came up with two concepts. Some said I was crazy. Some were very angry with me. But now I have social proof of them actually working out.

Am I a genius? Hell no! It was just stating the bloody obvious! Strangely, quite a few people found it unacceptable at the time. Those were the early days of Covid-19 outbreak, resulting in a lockdown that most of us experienced for the first time in our lives. Society became emotionally charged. Some were looking at scapegoats to get their frustrations out. And I became one of the victims.

But now, all of us have learned to cope with Covid-19 and lockdowns are no longer surprises for us. They have become a way of life. We now need to accept that we may need to live in this environment over the next few years. Better to be prepared than getting caught out in surprise – but please, don’t start emptying grocery shops like some of you did in the early days of Covid-19.

Let’s get back to discussing the concepts.

Concept 1 – The new Work Week

Assuming our workweek is 5 days (actually most of us now work 7 days a week just to survive), the new #WorkLifeMix could be 3 days of employment (get paid), 1 day of freelancing (get paid) and 1 day of volunteering (doing work-related activities you like and not getting paid for it, but gaining invaluable experiences and skills which could be deployed in paid work, help you to build your network and improve your mental health).

Concept 2: Volunteering as a way of Work Life

We can build tech companies with paid talent (employees, contractors and freelancers) and unpaid talent (friends and volunteers). The early days of tech companies are a very risky affair, especially if it’s the first time you have set up a tech startup.

Let’s analyse the birth of a tech startup. You had an idea, or you have a problem that existing solutions are not solving in the way you want. You decide to act on it. You start by speaking to your friends, colleagues and family members. Some would ignore you, but one or two might decide to help you.

Engagement 1 – Initial Team

If everyone laughed at you and you have not managed to convince anyone to join you in your journey, you might get stuck. If you don’t have sufficient savings to burn, then the chances of hiring at this early stage could become a disaster. Join SkilledUp Life and our Volunteers can help to validate your idea. And they would become your initial team members for free.

Engagement 2 – Post Idea Validation

Now that the idea has been validated, and given this is your first tech startup, you might decide to follow lean startup principles to move it forward. This usually results in prototyping. These days, there are so many free tools out there that could help you build a prototype. But if this is the first time, you might need help. Join SkilledUp Life and tap into the free-help talent pool.

Engagement x – Launching in Nigeria

Now that you are a successful tech startup with growth, you may want to launch your product in Nigeria. Why Nigeria? God knows why, but it seems to be the country that came to my mind. Join SkilledUp Life and assemble your go-to-market team.

SkilledUp Life is not just for poor startups in the very early stages of their life. It’s a companion product, a tech startup can tap into from time to time.

Birth of SkilledUp Life

I created SkilledUp Life to be the platform of choice for volunteering (providing free help in exchange for rich experiences and skills) into tech startups, which aligns well with helping tech founders at Techcelerate.

I’m not going to call names here to provide evidence, but I have seen the very early signs of both concepts becoming a reality through SkilledUp Life.

Coming up with new concepts are great, but if you don’t act on them, they are just thoughts among billions of thoughts. So if you have a new idea today, and if it validates, do something about it.

Disclaimer: I don’t promote entrepreneurship (even though I help tech entrepreneurs) and I am not responsible for the failures of others, as a very small percentage of tech startups succeed.