Quitting for many is a credible alternative to tough business challenges. If you can’t keep your business floating why not quit and take a rest? After all, you won’t be the first to try and quit. This negative line of thought has led to the death of many businesses, the failure of many firms and businesses. But for the CEO of CashBox, an indigenous online savings platform, Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun, giving up should never be an option for any one desirous of making it in the world of business.

“It’s tough, but you have to be tougher. Problems will always come, but when you’ve made-up your mind never to give-up, the problems really won’t scare you. Most importantly, having a great team is key, people who believe in the same vision with you,” he says.

Taking a trip down memory lane to share his thoughts on the difficulties and prospects of starting and sustaining a business brand in Nigeria, the CashBox founder explained the significance of turning adversity to strength, adding that service to the public must hold a value. “Our population is key and every business should learn to use that to their advantage. Also, nobody is going to help you at the initial stage, it all rests on your shoulders. But with a great product and a never say die attitude, the business will grow and before you know it, everyone starts coming onboard to help out,” says Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun

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On procrastination, Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun noted that business ideas must not be allowed to gather dust if originators of such ideas want to see changes in the society. Thus for him, the idea is to get up and start. Lack of funds, support and whatever should not be a hindrance, he says. “I advise everyone to just get up and start that business. That idea you are nurturing, don’t waste too much time nurturing it, take it to the market and let the market guide you. Too many entrepreneurs waste time at the idea generation stage and almost never get their product into the market for fear of the unknown,” Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun lamented.

Currently making waves across the land, CashBox overcame many challenges from the onset, some of which the CEO shared with the public in an interview recently.

“Lack of funds is one of the things that kill businesses. Banks are not helping, the government isn’t doing enough, and for someone without a rich family, it’s a lot harder. That’s where ingenuity comes in; the never say die attitude. At our early stage, I used to have so many meetings with prospective investors that never yielded anything. It used to be so frustrating. So instead of all the many meetings, I channelled my energy towards our product and that has yielded so much more,” Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun says.

Although the business can today be described as a success, the CashBox boss insists that there is more to come particularly within the next one year. Pressed on to reveal what to be expected, Aigbogun, typical of successful entrepreneurs, declined, saying, “I’m not letting the cat out yet, just keep watching our space.”

Nigeria is witnessing the power of the internet revolution and Aigbogun is the happier for it. Given the ease with which “the internet of things,” has made life easier, it is expected that people who see themselves as part of civilization will key into this and do away with the old order. From the onset, Nigerians were scared of online transactions particularly given the manner people fell prey to phoney schemes. All these have changed according to Aigbogun.

“People were initially scared of CashBox, especially our first six months in operation, but right now, that’s no longer a worry for us. Our presence online is very visible and they see so many reviews from users saving with us, seeing these reviews gives new customers confidence in us. We have clients all over Nigeria. As long as you have a smart phone and internet, you can save with CashBox from anywhere in Nigeria,” he stated elatedly.

Calling the shots as Chief Executive Office of a company comes with its own challenge and for Aigbogun, being a boss is not just enough. There are hurdles to surmount, decisions to make which can impact positively or negatively on the image of the company as it were. “Waking up to so many errors with our app and complaints from customers, is an experience that I wouldn’t forget. We had a lot of errors going on, people couldn’t save and the app was having issues. My team and I didn’t sleep for almost 48 hours till we resolved the issues. This happened in our first year though and we immediately put in measures for it never to happen again,” he recalled.

Although a number of online savings platforms exist in the land, the CashBox honcho explained the uniqueness of his financial services brainchild this way: “We are not just focused on getting people to use our app, instead we are focused on our customers. We are helping them make smarter financial decisions. We are also big on research and development. We are constantly coming up with features and ways to make financial transactions easier for everyone.”

Not surprisingly, CashBox is today the preference of many Nigerians who are constantly taking advantage of its ease of use to save a part of their income for the rainy day. Its investment attribute makes it more than a savings platform but a tool for smart decision making such as online purchases and contributory schemes.