Every entrepreneur in Nigeria has a unique story to tell and usually an inspirational story of how their entrepreneurial journey started.
For Ore Okuboyejo, the founder, and Munaf Nassr, partner of The Legacy Custodian, their inspiration came directly from their personal experiences while traveling to several countries and running other businesses.
The Legacy Custodian (LGC) is a start-up business that recruits, trains employees, consults, and provides financial services and operation solutions for high-end restaurants.
“I started Legacy Custodian out of frustration and my personal experience with recruiting for my other business,” he says.
“Whilst studying Economics at the University of Houston in the year 2015, I also attended the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management and this also sparked my interest in the hospitality industry,” Ore says.
To change this for businesses in the hospitality industry, Ore established Legacy Custodian in 2020 to recruit, train, and consult for them.
Despite launching LGC at the peak of the pandemic, the business was able to survive the difficult moment of the pandemic as it leveraged excellent service delivery for its clients.
“Customer service is important because it inspires customer loyalty and makes employee jobs easier. This, in turn, helps businesses grow. By providing great customer service, organizations can recover customer acquisition costs, retain talent, and foster brand loyalty,” Ore says.
Since then, the business has grown steadily and is getting new clients through referrals. “Word of mouth has been our greatest form of advertisement. I believe if you truly prioritize customer experience, be rest assured you’d be recommended. So yes, we have grown,” Ore notes.
“Exponentially, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Our ambition is to keep growing but at an organic rate as our services are untainted,” Munaf says.
Currently, LGC is equipping its recruits with the needed skills to fill in vacant positions by Nigerians relocating abroad in the hospitality industry and also for the 21st-century workplace.
“There’s an SOP we follow; our recruits need to be qualified to meet the vacancy spot. Training would be held, but after that, if they don’t pass the standard bar,” Ore says.
He notes that LGC now offers career mentorship and therapy from certified therapists to its candidates upon employment, adding that mental health is no joke and should be prioritized.
“It’s expensive but necessary. Human capital is our most important intangible asset.”
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Speaking on how the business is surviving the country’s inflationary economy and the cost of doing business crisis, Ore says he and his co-workers have applied a positive attitude to the situation to survive.
He added that he has increased salaries to support his employees amid the cost of living crisis in the country. “The team needs to be happy to perform, otherwise the business structure wouldn’t work. We have made salary increments and from time to time, we hang out as a team.”
“Being a master of one or a jack-of-all-trades in today’s world does not bring about success if you are unable to work as part of a team,” Munaf says.
“The importance of teamwork cannot be stressed enough. We constantly motivate one another to be a better version of ourselves,” adds.
On the business expansion plans, Ore states that LGC targets to recruit 500 employees for the industry in 2022. “Every single goal we set has been met. We said we wanted to reach 500 jobs this year, we exceeded it by 175.”
“This week, we will provide over 200 staff to various F&B ventures within Lagos, Abuja, and Owerri. Yes, we have expanded operations into Abuja and Owerri and we plan on taking it even further.”
Munaf adds that: “Ore said it best. We are working day in and day out to serve our clients and make sure we are serving The Legacy Custodian Standard to exceed their expectations.”
On how businesses in the hospitality industry can reach LGC for their service, Munaf urges them to visit the company’s website for its services.
