Paul Nelson Stainz is the founder of Silverspoon Creatives, a start-up into branding and skills acquisition that leverage technology to transform the industry.
He is an author, life coach, musician and entrepreneur with over four years of specialised experience growing and managing businesses.
Paul possesses interdisciplinary experience, having developed businesses in the music, media, and branding industries.
The young entrepreneur was inspired to establish Silverspoon Creatives after identifying opportunities in the promotion of upcoming artists.
“I started my entrepreneurship journey as a music artist during my undergraduate days; soon I noticed I was better on the business side of music than the rhythm part. I knew how to sell, negotiate and promote upcoming artists,” he says.
“I got some artists that I started managing and soon they were growing and I decided to start Rapture soundz. I later stopped the music management because of lack of funds when I couldn’t raise the funds needed,” he says.
“So, Silverspoon is just me using my gifts to make others better and more positioned to grab opportunities life can present,” the young entrepreneur adds.
He started the business on his laptop in 2017 and since then, it has grown steadily, as Paul now gets new clients online constantly.
In 2018, he partnered with the Lagos State University law students society to organise the ICT Meets Law conference themed ‘Making of a 21st century Digital Lawyer’
He says Silverspoon has a presence on most campuses in the western part of the country for its training and tutorial programmes.
“We launched the Silverspoon Masterclass in 2018 for training and tutorials and we made money teaching these students, selling online classes and other services,” he explains.
“That was how we sustained Silverspoon till 2020 when we launched LEAP by Silverspoon, an omni-channel business suite that helps businesses with PR, Marketing, Delivery & ICT Support to increase their sales and visibility,” he adds.
The business currently has three full-time employees and freelancers and interns who support operations. “I work with a small team of three, supplemented by freelancers and interns and we work virtually mostly.”
He says Silverspoon Creatives plans to expand its youth empowerment and digital training programmes to the eastern parts of the country in the short-run, while hoping to set up tech spaces on campuses in the region in the long-term.
Also, he says the business plans to expand its operations to Ghana owing to the increase in the number of Ghanaians currently using its services.
Paul states that his business through the Silverspoon Mega Skills Acquisition project is helping tackle the country’s high rate of youth unemployment.
He notes that the business had to focus mainly online to survive the difficult moment of the pandemic. “The pandemic made us focus more on our online presence, we did a couple of IG lives and lots of free and paid training on Telegram & Whatsapp. We tried Zoom classes too for a while but stopped due to poor turnout and preference of our students to use Whatsapp/Telegram,” he explains.
On major challenges confronting the business, he says his business has been limited with inadequate funding, and the country’s bad reputation is hurting its ability to seal business deals online.
“It takes a lot of convincing someone to buy a product or service that he/she needs because of online fraudsters and the country’s bad reputation. So, we focus on social proofs, referrals, client feedback, and results to convince them to buy our products,” he says.
He urges the government to provide more financial support to entrepreneurs, while calling on banks to help in tracking online fraudsters.
On his advice to other entrepreneurs, he says “collaborate more, build a great team that can do the job even when you are unavailable, and be consistent with your brand. Growing a business is not a day job, it is important gauging your expectations so you can handle disappointments when it happens.”
