How Aderinsola grew her business from social capital

Aderinsola Jolaosho undoubtedly stands out as a voice in today’s communication sphere. Like numerous others, she faced her fair share of challenges in the past while seeking a suitable career path for herself.

However, little did she realize that destiny had reserved a special place for her within the realms of digital communications in the country.

Inspired by her strong desire and passion to help brands, especially small businesses that require assistance to showcase their products and services, Aderinsola with Tobi Durosinmi-Etti – her co-founder established ThePush Consulting in 2021.

According to her, they raised initial start-up capital and grew the business from social capital. “I think the most important way of raising money for your business is social capital and allowing the business to finance itself,” she says.

“Our initial start-up capital is trust, promise, integrity, and connections which are all social capital because we did not start with an exact amount,” she states.

Since its establishment, ThePush Consulting has emerged as one of the leading start-up consultancy and communication firms in the Lagos metropolitan.

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“The business has grown from a two-man team to an eight-man team and we moved from working from home to having a physical office at Lekki Phase 1,” she says.

“We have grown in revenue, clients, and the number of services we are providing. The business has grown astronomically,” she adds. She and her co-founder have also leveraged training to grow their business.

According to her, ThePush Consulting is focused on helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses and establish their brands.

“We do not call ourselves an agency because we help organizations establish their media and communication channels in such a way that they can stand on their own and get results without having to depend on external agencies all the time.”

The young entrepreneur says her business has adopted cost-cutting measures to survive the current economic meltdown.

In evaluating the media industry, she notes that the country’s media industry is evolving and increasingly going digital, adding that opportunity in the sector lies in training.

“The future is to create diversity, bring more people in, and strengthen more people in their skills. That is the future of the media industry. It is about educating people,” she says.

She notes that her business plans to create several media products that can sell on their own in the short run. While in the long run, it plans to introduce courses for upcoming media professionals to learn and upskill.

On the major hurdles challenging the business, she states that leadership was one of the main issues the business faced in its early stage.

“My number one challenge was leadership. Having a skill and running a business are two entirely different things because you may be able to deliver to clients, but can you empower people to deliver?” she asks.

She states that her and her co-founder have been able to deal with the issue of leadership by taking up training and leadership courses. Also, she says, ThePush Consulting’s ability to equip and train people has helped to address the issue.

On her advice to other entrepreneurs, she says, “Money is not the first thing in starting a business, rather building capacity and social capital should come first. Money follows value, which is my most important piece of advice to other entrepreneurs.”