For individuals and organisations, the thought of organising events can be a nightmare, but for Favour Nwankwo, managing director of Platonic World Ushering Services, it is a pleasure.
Favour was inspired to establish Platonic World out of passion and necessity in 2013. “It was necessity and passion that inspired me to establish the business,” she says.
“I needed to make money to assist my parents add up to what they had for my undergraduate education and today, I am a graduate of Mass Communication,” she explains.
The young entrepreneur started her business with N10, 000 which she got from family members and friends. “I started the business with N 10,000. I was able to raise the fund from friends and family members. Every one of them contributed what they could because I did not have a massive start-up capital.”
Favour says that creativity and innovation have helped the business evolve since starting.
The graduate of Mass Communication says that the customer base has continued to expand owing to her ability to embrace creativity and innovation in service delivery. Getting the right employees to work with has also helped her.
“It has been a mixed bag. We are in a business that hinges on marketing and visibility. Therefore, it has not been rosy, but with tenacity and creativity, the business has been able to come over a lot of bumps to keep moving ahead. The competition is fierce but we have been able to grow and relatively so.”
Favour currently has six full-time employees working in her event management business.
“I have a team of dedicated people that I work with at Platonic World. These are men and women that have bought the vision from inception and they have been able to offer effective operational service.
“These dedicated persons working with Platonic World are six in number and they work in different sections of the company ranging from videography, photography, beauty makeup and recruitment,” she says.
Responding to a question on major challenges limiting the business, she says, “The major challenges confronting the business are lack of sustainable marketing, increase in operational cost due to infrastructural gaps and payment of multiple taxes”
She urges the government to bridge the country’s huge infrastructural deficits to help businesses drive down their operational costs.
Speaking on the business expansion plans, she says, “Our expansion plan is to use technology to drive growth for the business. Also, we plan to expand into other sectors of entertainment management and media blogging from the third quarter of 2019.”
On her advice to other entrepreneurs, she says, “It would not come easy, but if it is worth it don’t let go. There is power in starting small and never despise the days of little beginnings.”
