Building businesses is a passion for Adagbada Dipo, the Chief Executive of Exzie Business Hub. He gives tips in this report by DANIEL ESSIET.
MANY university graduates or youngsters with a few years of experience and innovative minds are entering the digital space and trying to create a place for themselves.
These young minds are smart, well-read and witty, and know the industry well. Owing to their deep knowledge and skills, they are changing the dynamics of the industry in various ways.
The Chief Executive, Exzie Business Hub, Adagbada Dipo, a budding entrepreneur, falls into this category. He has built businesses and is unable to resist the urge of starting something. His passion is driven by several factors, including the desire to define the entrepreneurship space.
He runs his digital hub that is using latest financial technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and big data, to provide solutions to challenges faced by micro, small and middle-scale enterprises in developing countries.
Dipo has been involved in 12 businesses, including fashion. He said: “From 2007 to this moment, I have embarked on over 12 businesses. I started with a trading business called The Perpetuals. I sold fashion accessories and that was while I was in my first year at the university.”
He discovered that starting a digital hub that will create solutions for innovation-driven entrepreneurs to take their business to the next level is his forte.
He said: “Having embarked on numerous businesses in various sectors in an economy like Nigeria’s, it became imperative to create a platform where entrepreneurs would have business solutions at their finger tips. I faced challenges ranging from manpower to finance, and even lack of basic business administration and management tools set. This gave birth to Exzie – providing solutions to challenges I went through as an entrepreneur.” Exzie started with less than a N100,000, but today, the business is self-sustaining with 10 people on his payroll.
The business consists of mentorship, advisory services, access to investor and corporate networks and workshops on business.
He considers the hub a support mechanism for businesses that have the potential to grow the digital economy by creatively using new technologies.
For Nigeria to be considered a true nation of technology, he believes digital entrepreneurs need a platform for success.
He wants to be part of initiatives that provide the resources for aspiring entrepreneurs to collaborate with one another, make the most of modern technology and create jobs for a new generation of digital natives.
He wants the hub to make a huge impact on the country’s industrial sector, leading to many digital start-ups blossoming.
He said there was a need to enhance small businesses’ potential and help them create more jobs and induce sustainable and inclusive growth.
He finds it easy to transfer learning from one venture and build on networks of clients to gain a headstart in a fiercely competitive market.
For him, Nigeria is underpinned by an attitude and healthy creative tension, which forces a fusion of talent and innovation.
He wants to be counted among young Nigerians who are building solutions that will contribute to help the country to be recognised internationally as a tech city.
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