Category: Small Business and Entreprenuership

Our Reporter

Former presidential aspirant, Chris Emejuru has launched a nongovernmental organization called The Chris Emejuru Foundation.

According to Nigerian Americans, the foundation aims at alleviating poverty through the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

“The plan is to alleviate Nigerians out of poverty throughout the six Geo-political zones (Northwest, North Central, North East, South West, South South, and South East) through water distribution and nutrition programs, Health, Education, Business Opportunities, Solar Powered Electricity, and other services. We feel this is very urgent and necessary given the current situation in Nigeria and we plan to begin operations next year (2021)”, said Emejuru.

Emejuru who is very passionate about Nigeria also notes that a better Nigeria can be achieved only with good leadership and proper system of governance.

He recalls the Lekki Tollgate shooting which triggered him to join the protest at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C, U.S.A.

“Like many Nigerians, I was bothered by the incident that happened at the Lekki Tollgate on 20/10/20. Images of peaceful protestors being shot at, some pleading for their lives as they held a blood-stained Nigerian Flag firmly in their hands. Like many, I was disgusted by what had happened and knew that I also had to join the #End Sars#EndBadGovernace #EndPoverty movement. A movement I have always advocated for but risen from the Youth tired and weary of Police brutality and injustice. So, immediately, I drove to the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C, U.S.A and protested with my fellow Nigerians raising our voice for those who are voiceless”, says Emejuru.

He has also written a book that reflects his vision for a better Nigeria. “As a Nigerian American, I knew the significance of International pressure. Having traveled to Nigeria for over 15 years, knowing the ins and outs of business, philanthropy, and politics, I knew REAL CHANGE could only come from the patriotic voices both at home and abroad. That is why I have written a book that will be available in Nigeria soon and also why I support every Nigerian citizen who sacrifices to make our country better”.

Our Reporter

As a founding partner of Monopolize, a marketing agency that offers brand promotion, paid media, creative strategy, e-commerce, and production, Brett Knutson believes in the power of personal branding.

After starting multiple seven and eight figure companies across several industries, he has taken the lessons learned along the way and applied them to create his current successes.

However, this growth didn’t happen overnight. “Fear of judgment from others is a big challenge I’ve had to overcome,” Brett explains. “I failed my first business and it was a very public failure. I had a lot of “I told you so” moments from loved ones. I almost gave up trying to be an entrepreneur after that. My decision to keep going anyway, despite the fact that almost no one believed in me, was critical.”

Brett’s career began to pick up steam during his time at Hive, a social network that connects users with like-minded individuals in their area which was recently valued at $22 million.

READ ALSO: Ivan Tapia shares key lessons learned on entrepreneurial journey

During his time at Hive, he also launched Mediphone and Amare, a watch company whose products are now shipped all over the world. Brett credits these successes to having the right mindset. He says, “Mindset is mandatory. Unfortunately, everyone rolls their eyes the second anyone starts talking about it, but I see the right mindset as a prerequisite for success. You simply can’t have one without the other.”

For Brett, the right mindset means giving relationships the utmost importance. As a result, he has had the opportunity to work with many of the world’s most notable brands and investors, as well as many celebrities, professional athletes, and influencers.

Nevertheless, Brett doesn’t look to these relationships as indicators of success. He explains, “Success is different for everyone, but I would determine success as freedom: freedom from the stress of too little money, freedom to do what you wish with your time, freedom to be around only the people you want to be around. A lot of people say success is happiness, but I disagree because happiness is a temporary emotion. You will never be happy all the time. Instead, you should focus on being grateful all the time. It’s pretty hard to be miserable and grateful at the same time.”

Our Reporter

No doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on businesses globally. Entrepreneurs have had to rethink new ways of doing business and adding value to their customers.

Adebowale Zainab, a beauty entrepreneur and also the founder of Glowessence Skincare Brand says though the Covid-19 pandemic initially affected her business, she has had to adjust and now profiting from being flexible.

“If I have to be sincere the COVID-19 pandemic affected our business because it caught us unaware. However, with adversity comes advantages. It made us rethink new ways of meeting the needs of our customers. We had to create a new business model and improved on our online visibility as a brand. It wasn’t easy, but now paying off”.

Adebowale also stated that innovation is needed to survive and thrive in the Nigerian business terrain.

“When it comes to doing business in Nigeria one has to be innovative and dynamic. Because Nigerian business terrain keeps changing, one needs to adapt to the change in order not to be left behind.

In addition, you need to develop a thick skin if you desire to succeed in doing business in Nigeria. Things won’t always work out according to your plan. You must stay persistent and have an unshakeable faith in your brand”.

Asked about the inspiration behind the name of her company, the bubbly skincare expert said: “Glowessence Skincare brand was crafted out of my belief in making our customers glow which is my essence. Anyone who comes in contact with our skincare products will have a positive feedback”.

Going down memory lane, Adebowale shared some of the challenges she experienced when she started out Glowessence Skincare business.

“When one is just starting out in business it takes time for customers to believe in one’s expertise. That was the challenge I encountered. However, I was able to win the trust of my customers through excellence service delivery”

Our Reporter

Growing up in Egeln, Germany, Richard Buettner never would have imagined he would one day become a self-made millionaire.

He knew that he didn’t want to settle for a mundane job only to pay the bills, but he struggled with the belief that he would never be successful coming from a small town.

As the son of two entrepreneurs, Richard credits his mom with teaching him how to cultivate a business mindset and compassion for others.

Consequently, in 11th grade, he dropped out of school and started a sales job in pursuit of financial independence. From there, Richard’s career skyrocketed.

Although he claims he was a slow learner in school, his ability to quickly adapt to real-world situations and to learn while doing have been the lasting keys to sustaining his success. “It might sound funny because we are learning for the first 12 years of our education, but nobody really taught us how to learn,” Richard explains.

“I had a problem with the things we learned in school because I did not yet understand what I would need them for. Understanding why you learn to be more effective was key. I went from being a slow learner to become a fast learner just by adaption.”

This skill has never been more useful than it is today. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020, Richard’s business could have taken a huge hit. Instead, he applied the skills he has learned over the course of his career, motivating and inspiring people along the way.

“My main focus is observing what happens right now and adapting in alignment with my dreams, values, and imagination. A few hundred years ago, the strongest people succeeded. In the last 200 years, the smartest and most educated people were succeeding. I believe now the most adaptable people will succeed. We truly live in a new time.”

Looking to the future, Richard hopes to share his skills with the next generation of entrepreneurs. He is launching a global movement with impactful influencers from around the world, empowering people to become the best version of themselves.

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As a servant leader, Richard isn’t afraid of sharing the stage, inviting others to grow, and even encouraging them to aspire to greater success than his own.

“In school, we get judged by our mistakes instead of learning from them,” Richard says. “My advice is to fail forward and improve. The master has failed more times than the beginner even tried.”

And while Richard is certainly a shining example of the success that can be achieved with adaptability and hard work, he encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to forge their own path.

He plans to continue sharing his wisdom and know-how through public speaking events, leveraging social media, and his bestselling book, The Success Formula.

However, Richard hopes to influence his followers not to compare themselves to him or anyone else. He charges, “Compare yourself to the only person that’s comparable: You. Get better every day and become the best version of yourself. I dare you.”

Our Reporter

Many entertainers in recent years have proven themselves to be business savvy as they take advantage of the opportunities in the entertainment industry to become entrepreneurs.

One of the notable examples is Judith Chinenye Edega ( aka Jaysplash20) CEO, Jay and S Offsite Ventures.

In a recent interview, the Enugu State-born 28-year-old, who studied physical and health education at the Federal College of Education, Kano, offered an insight into her humble beginning, detailing the hard work that went into building her brand from scratch.

“In a highly competitive business environment such as we have in Nigeria, the major challenge I had was how to attract the right audience to my brand and converting them to loyal fans, supporters and followers,” she said.

On how she overcame the teething challenges, Jaysplash20 submitted: “I was able to achieve this through confidence, competence and consistency.”

She noted that she had to make a sacrifice in term of time and resources before she could become a reputable brand that she is today.

To a generation of young people striving to build themselves into a brand, Jaysplash20 offered a piece of advice: “Know yourself; self-awareness comes first before anything and also build your competence because the more you know, the more confident you’ll be since competence is the ability to apply your knowledge. Also, try to be consistent in your ways. Consistency keeps you going no matter what. In other words, be focused and don’t give room for detractions.”

Our Reporter

There are two things young entrepreneurs can learn from the grass to grace story of the Chief Executive Officer of Ojaayo, Ikechukwu Madu. First is that dreams come true, also hard work pays.

Born 36 years ago, Madu grew up like a normal Nigerian child. Being the first child with three beautiful sisters, he knew he had to live by example to his sisters and he didn’t disappoint.

Madu didn’t just become an entrepreneur overnight. His desires to build his own business started as a young boy, hawking different wares for his mother on the streets of Emene, Enugu state and subsequently started his grocery store before gaining admission into university.

“In my day at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), I had few businesses and my first failure occurred. I invited my friends to help me form my first registered company ‘The Unbranded Magazine,’ which turned out to be my first business lesson.”

Ikechukwu Madu started Maxicoin Group of companies and one of the subsidiaries is Ojaayo Eserve Limited.

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He lives in the United Kingdom where he operates his vast businesses from finance, consulting, real estate and eCommerce. And despite being a busy Group Managing Director, he still finds time for his family.

A music lover, mentor and a philanthropist, he has used his companies to impact both the Nigerian economy and lives. His foundation has also supported a lot of young and aspiring individuals with business tools and funds.

Speaking on Ojaayo, Madu explained: “The idea behind Ojaayo.com was born out of solving problems. I wanted to assist small and medium scale online vendors who faced the challenge of trust a buyer and seller face on daily basis. Everyday, you will hear people complaining about online vendor scam, pay on delivery scam, online vendors shipping, the need for buyers to negotiate in real time. I saw all these as major problems facing these the e-commerce sector and Ojaayo.com was born. Right now, we are solving these issues with sales. People trust us with their funds until they get their products.”

According to him also, the need to help reducing unemployment gave birth to Ojaayo Apprenticeship Programme, which is designed to randomly select 5 people that will “serve” literally and get “settled” at the end of each year with the sum of N500,000 to start their own businesses.

Madu added: “So we have been busy creating enabling business opportunities for everyone who currently sell or aspiring to.”

The world generally generates income from a broad spectrum of economic investment, one of which includes cryptocurrency spearheaded by various financial technology companies in Nigeria. We have these companies in large amounts who are working with an A-game, just so there would be an effective trading system.

This new venture has prepared Nigeria for a great change which involves taking an individual from zero to a hundred on a legit basis. This legal economic trade only requires individuals trading at the comfort of their homes.

On expository research, the reporter scales up to finding a Nigerian financial trading company that is involved in cryptocurrency. Which is; Otutu Enterprise. This virtual trading company is owned by Mr Otutu Johnpaul Ifeanyi who hails from a notion equals to hard work and consistency.

READ ALSO: How Virtual Paypal Terminal is making it easier for Nigerians to receive money from other countries

Otutu Enterprise was created to satisfy the missing end of safe trading as a solution to the problem of fraudulent acts in terms of trading wrongly.

On the other hand, the well-known digital trading has added to the economy of the nation and as such, those in charge of the business keep creating awareness about the various cryptocurrencies which includes Bitcoin, Ether Litecoin, Ripple, Exchange Chinese Rmb etcetera.

Otutu Enterprise has given an edge to Nigerian digital businesses through cryptocurrency.

The company stands for the notion; “Honesty is the soul of business”.

It is beyond a reasonable doubt, why it is paramount to trade with a cryptocurrency company like Otutu enterprise. When one finds it hard to sell or buy his or her bitcoin, Otutu enterprise is definitely the first choice because of its first-hand system, security, and easy access.