Your Story
I have been in business in Nigeria for 15 years. I started my business by myself, with myself, the little experience I had and four thousand naira I had saved up. I started a security outfit locally, by looking for people and companies in need of security men. When I got such, I looked for people in need of employment and willing to do security jobs. I gave them uniforms, told them what to do, and then I took them to their place of assignment. At the months’ end, I paid them and pay myself too from what the client pays. Then I moved on to some other businesses, like mixing, selling Kunu and Zobo which are local drinks, during the hot season.
What has helped me is that I started thinking of my future while in my three hundred levels in the university, which was when I stopped collecting money from my parents. I would quickly come down to Lagos, hustle and get something to sell to take care of myself in school. Before graduation, I asked myself what I wanted to be. It occurred to me that I want to be really successful and that I love doing my own thing. So it was a function of what to do exactly because at that point, I was not sure.
The fact that I liked reading was a bonus. In secondary school, I was adjudged the best student, and yes, I was brilliant. In terms of intelligence, I was well above average. Most of the experiences I have with the things I am involved with such as management, negotiations, bookkeeping and leadership all came via reading. My library is worth millions of naira, without boasting and I read daily; I always have books with me, in my car, Ipad and on my shelves at home. I have thousands of books, and because I read, I spot opportunities in time everywhere. Soon as an opportunity jumps into my heart, I do some research on it and then give it a try. I have been doing a lot of trials and some have been successful, others. When I feel I am above that level, I leave it and move onto something different. I know much about different kind of printing and have experience in it. This was something someone told me about and within one day I caught up and started doing it. I decided to do more corporate business, so I dropped it and moved into branding, quarry, business card production along with importation of toys and diapers. Plans are ongoing to start setup farming, technology and cleaning business. For the tech business, I am developing an application, thus creating infrastructure for SME’s in the country. So ideas come my way and then I keep evolving, researching and connecting with people who have such technicalities or know-how and learn from them.
Which are your established businesses?
The businesses I dropped are the ones I felt I had outgrown, such as the printing business. The quarry business is a divestment, a big project; it is a solid mineral business based in Ibadan, whereby rocks are crushed into granite for construction. I do a lot of importation, POS items for branding for companies and that is another business on its own. The advertising business also has other businesses attached to it; such as the out-of-home which is out door such as billboards. We are also into BTL, Below- the-line business for brands whereby we do some designs and bring in some below the line products. Public and private trainings are also part of what we do under Richbrands Consulting Limited, RCL, in fact we are one of the consultants to the Lagos state government and have trained a lot of their staff members. Two years ago, the company won an award from the state government after delivered a paper presentation to its directors of Admin. Presently, we have nothing less than seven different businesses and are still growing because the vision is to have at least 115 different businesses within the next 23 years. I want to be among the biggest employer of labour Africa has ever seen, that is how big the vision is. Before the end of 2015, Richbrand plans to start three new businesses; we will establish it, train people and let them handle it. I am not so concerned about the size, maybe one will be big and worth one billion naira or two hundred million, no. the essence of all these is we want to create and add value to the economy, the people and provide employment. So as much as we are seeing these opportunities, we are filling the gaps and that is my own idea of entrepreneurship.
Rate Nigeria in terms of Business opportunities and environment
One clear thing is that I cannot leave Nigeria to any other country to live or work. If you are alive in Nigeria at this particular time, this is the best time to be in Nigeria, because it is when you are having the worst of events that have the most opportunities, for those that can see it. For instance when countries go to war, is when those who manufacture weapons and ammunitions make money. The business opportunity in Nigeria is endless, there is so much that has not been tapped into. For instance the tech industry is at its lowest level as far as Nigeria is concerned.
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Meanwhile there are enormous opportunities there because everybody wants to do something on their phones, they want things done easily. And that informed us to think in that direction by developing an app that can solve a lot of problems for people in terms of business. So do not see the challenges or problems and complain, see it and see what you can do to help the people and also yourself. Bear in mind that America will not come and help Nigeria and they never have; unless it will be beneficial to them because they are diplomatic business people, they will always weigh the cost and profit first.
In terms of the business environment in Nigeria, it is not so conducive. Entrepreneurs in Nigeria still have issues of financing and that is a big challenge. I have had challenges trying to raise funds for some of my ideas in the past and till date the situation is the same. Interview 1000 SMEs in Nigeria, 955 will tell you they have no access to funds. The government says the funds are there in the bank, the banks have stringent conditions and if you do not have the capacity to meet up with the conditions, you forgo it. If you intend using your own funds saved over time, then good enough but in situations where your idea or project is more robust than the funds available, how do you get the balance? If you want to take your business idea to someone that has the financial clout but not business inclined, it might rubbish the entire idea. An entrepreneur is one in his thinking. Some people are not willing to take a N1, 000, 000 or even N50, 000 risk, meanwhile some will take a risk worth N100, 000, 000. Most of those who work in the bank are not entrepreneurs, so they cannot have that spirit, they will always look for the last minute safeguard for whatever project you propose to them. But a businessman or entrepreneur will not see from that angle because he is willing to take risks. So if you are willing to take risk and the people you want to get the funding from are not willing to take risk, it will not work, as simple as that. People are now looking at other ways to pool funds together and lots of groups are actually coming out. There are some tech companies abroad, if you put your ideas up, its members will contribute maybe one or two dollars for you but we are not experiencing that locally in Nigeria. There are also issues with power generation and this has killed a lot of businesses. There are people that want to start their businesses with N50, 000 or N100, 000 but they need power to operate. Someone intending to start a barbing salon does not need to start with owning a shop, all he needs is a clipper, some chemical, mirror and a chair in front of his house. Once he is able to have four or five clients a day, in a month he can save up and within six months pay for a shop. So with power, a lot of people can start up smaller businesses. Another issue is bad roads and traffic congestion. Imagine having an appointment for 1pm; you left your home at 11 am, yet could not meet up the appointment because of lock jam. People try to outwit one another and then a minor accident happens occurs. The people involved disembark, start arguing and you are stuck and can be there a whole day. Maybe you are supposed to go to five places, you end up going to just one, defeating your aims and objectives.
As an individual and a brand, what drives you?
My vision drives me and not money, I can tell you and those working with me do not put money first. If you do, you will lose out, and that has happened to a lot of people. My vision is to employ hundreds of thousands people in Africa, thus I should be able to wake up every day and think how to actualize it. The money I have made is enough for my family and me because how much do I spend on myself on a daily basis? Everything God has blessed me with; I do not think I have consumed five percent for myself. But the main issue is, how do we solve the unemployment in Nigeria? I must be thinking of ideas, because it is what will bring those businesses. If the businesses come, it is the people who will work it, not me, mine is to give clear directives and also monitor it. Through this, people are properly engaged and can take care of their own lives and that of their families. They are happy and I am also, because I want people to be proud of what they do, ride nice cars, dress well and be able to afford a night in a five star hotel if they wish. That is why when I am having my dreams, what I want to achieve as long as this nation is concerned, so I think about Nigeria and then Africa before the rest of the world.
