Who Is Actually Better Off?
Someone earning ₦1,000,000 monthly from one single source…
Or someone earning ₦800,000 monthly from two different sources, maybe ₦450K from one and ₦350K from another?
At first glance, the answer looks obvious. ₦1M is more than ₦800K. But if you look deeper… the answer is not that simple.
Now, there is no absolute right or wrong answer here. But let me break this down from experience and logic.
You’ll hear two popular schools of thought.
One says: “Focus on one thing. Build it till you become very successful before you diversify.”
They will use examples like Aliko Dangote, who focused deeply before expanding into multiple industries.
Another school of thought says:
“Have multiple streams of income. Don’t rely on one source.”
And both arguments sound correct. But let’s look at it practically.
The person earning ₦800K from two different sources is, in many cases, better protected than the person earning ₦1M from just one source.
Why? Because life happens. If COVID taught us anything, it is this: Any single source of income can disappear overnight.
Now imagine: The person earning ₦1M loses that one source. They go from ₦1M to ₦0 instantly. But the person earning ₦800K from two sources?
Even if one fails, they still have ₦350K or ₦450K coming in. That is stability. Now, does this mean you should just jump into multiple things randomly?
No. And this is where most people get it wrong. Some people try to diversify, it doesn’t work, and they conclude:
“Diversification is bad. I should have just focused.” But that is not the full truth. Sometimes, it’s not diversification that failed…
It’s how you diversified. My personal belief is this:
You should diversify but do it intelligently.
Don’t diversify in a way that destroys your main source of income. Your primary income should remain strong and stable…
While you carefully build other streams around it. Let me give you a personal example. When I started, my major business was data reselling.
I was making good money ₦300K, ₦500K profit while still in school. That was solid at the time. Then I discovered e-commerce.
I didn’t abandon my first business immediately. I introduced e-commerce alongside it. Over time, e-commerce started outperforming it…
And naturally, my focus shifted. Now imagine if e-commerce didn’t work. People would say:
“You shouldn’t have diversified.”
But because it worked, it now looks like a smart move.
That’s how life works. The outcome often determines how people judge the decision.
Even now, I’ve diversified into real estate. If it works massively, people will call it wisdom. If it doesn’t, they’ll call it distraction.
So you cannot build your life based on people’s opinions after results. You build based on strategy.
And the strategy is simple:
Protect your base. Then expand wisely. I’ll conclude with this: When everything is going well, the person earning ₦1M from one source may look smarter.
But real life is not always “everything going well.” So you must build your life in a way that can survive when things don’t go as planned.
And that’s why, in many cases… The person earning ₦800K from multiple sources is actually in a stronger position long-term.
So if you’ve tried something else and it didn’t work… Don’t beat yourself up. And if you’re considering expanding… Don’t rush blindly, but don’t be afraid either.
Just be strategic.
But let me hear from you, what do you think, focus or diversification?
Someone earning ₦1,000,000 monthly from one single source…
Or someone earning ₦800,000 monthly from two different sources, maybe ₦450K from one and ₦350K from another?
At first glance, the answer looks obvious. ₦1M is more than ₦800K. But if you look deeper… the answer is not that simple.
Now, there is no absolute right or wrong answer here. But let me break this down from experience and logic.
You’ll hear two popular schools of thought.
One says: “Focus on one thing. Build it till you become very successful before you diversify.”
They will use examples like Aliko Dangote, who focused deeply before expanding into multiple industries.
Another school of thought says:
“Have multiple streams of income. Don’t rely on one source.”
And both arguments sound correct. But let’s look at it practically.
The person earning ₦800K from two different sources is, in many cases, better protected than the person earning ₦1M from just one source.
Why? Because life happens. If COVID taught us anything, it is this: Any single source of income can disappear overnight.
Now imagine: The person earning ₦1M loses that one source. They go from ₦1M to ₦0 instantly. But the person earning ₦800K from two sources?
Even if one fails, they still have ₦350K or ₦450K coming in. That is stability. Now, does this mean you should just jump into multiple things randomly?
No. And this is where most people get it wrong. Some people try to diversify, it doesn’t work, and they conclude:
“Diversification is bad. I should have just focused.” But that is not the full truth. Sometimes, it’s not diversification that failed…
It’s how you diversified. My personal belief is this:
You should diversify but do it intelligently.
Don’t diversify in a way that destroys your main source of income. Your primary income should remain strong and stable…
While you carefully build other streams around it. Let me give you a personal example. When I started, my major business was data reselling.
I was making good money ₦300K, ₦500K profit while still in school. That was solid at the time. Then I discovered e-commerce.
I didn’t abandon my first business immediately. I introduced e-commerce alongside it. Over time, e-commerce started outperforming it…
And naturally, my focus shifted. Now imagine if e-commerce didn’t work. People would say:
“You shouldn’t have diversified.”
But because it worked, it now looks like a smart move.
That’s how life works. The outcome often determines how people judge the decision.
Even now, I’ve diversified into real estate. If it works massively, people will call it wisdom. If it doesn’t, they’ll call it distraction.
So you cannot build your life based on people’s opinions after results. You build based on strategy.
And the strategy is simple:
Protect your base. Then expand wisely. I’ll conclude with this: When everything is going well, the person earning ₦1M from one source may look smarter.
But real life is not always “everything going well.” So you must build your life in a way that can survive when things don’t go as planned.
And that’s why, in many cases… The person earning ₦800K from multiple sources is actually in a stronger position long-term.
So if you’ve tried something else and it didn’t work… Don’t beat yourself up. And if you’re considering expanding… Don’t rush blindly, but don’t be afraid either.
Just be strategic.
But let me hear from you, what do you think, focus or diversification?