Chuks Ogbekile is the founder of Colorvine Integrated Services Limited, a start-up facility management firm that operates in Lagos.
Chuks was inspired to establish Colorvine in 2012 owing to his love for entrepreneurship right from his childhood days.
“Right from my secondary education days, I discovered that every little move I make towards business always succeeded. This inspired me to resign my job with MTN Nigeria to establish Colorvine Integrated after working for some years,” he says.
Apart from owing a start-up business, Chuks is also actively involved in entrepreneurship coaching, youth development, and sales and brand development.
The economist-turned-entrepreneur says his strength and motivation come from unique insights into the entrepreneurial opportunities in the Nigerian business ecosystem.
He tells Start-Up-Digest that he started his business small and that it has grown quite well still starting.
He advises youths with excellent business ideas not to allow inadequate capital to deter them from pursuing their goals, noting that ideas drive capital.
“I had the required skill and network. Industry knowledge and social capital were the main forms of capital I had,” he says.
“In my first job, after the interviews, I was given a 75 percent payment upfront and that was how I raised my first working capital,” he adds.
Chuks says his business expansion strategy has moved beyond the planning stage. He states that the business is making arrangements to have more trucks for its relocation management unit.
He adds that the business is leveraging social media to grow its client base and also doing things innovatively to ensure customer satisfaction.
On challenges of the business, he identifies huge truck maintenance cost and high rate of insecurity as major issues.
“We have had to reject some relocation jobs to some parts of the country for security reasons,” he explains.
Similarly, he says that the huge road infrastructure gaps, inadequate finance and policy flip-flop are other major challenges confronting his business.
He urges the government to bridge the country’s huge infrastructural gaps and provide more funding for start-ups to scale up their businesses.
He also calls on government at all levels to address the huge security challenge in the country as it has continued to deter growth and development.
“Security of lives and property should be of utmost concern to the government of Nigeria today,” he advises.
In evaluating the facility industry in Nigeria, the economists- turned- entrepreneur says that the outsourced form of it is relatively new in the country.
However, he says that awareness is growing by the day as many businesses now see how it can ensure optimal performance.
“Business owners should entrust the facility management practitioners with cleaning, gardening, handling functions like plumbing, electrical challenges, fumigation, space allotment &management, sewage disposal, and generator maintenance, among others, for efficient management,” he advises.
“We as facility management practitioners are better trained to proactively handle these to give them peace of mind. Colorvine Facilities handles the aspects of buildings, estates, malls, and other space facilities such sports and car parks,”he says.
On his motivation for becoming an entrepreneurial coach, he says he believes that it is a God-given potential to everyman and his insights into the enormous opportunities that abound in the country’s ecosystem as well as success stories of successful entrepreneurs.
On advice to other entrepreneurs, Chuks says, “Engage in continuous self-development and do not lose focus particularly in building a customer-centric team. Be innovative, continue to acquire skills, develop your brand continuously and ensure customer loyalty always.”
Josephine Okojie
