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A Conversation With The Queen of Fabric; Banke Kuku
Meet The 20 Year Old With A Business Valued @65 Million Naira
Women Who Did Wonders For Their Husband’s Businesses
How To Run A Business In School &Avoid Academic Failure| 7 Important Qualities Of Self made Millionaires| Amazing Business Story
Inside...
4th Edition
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|2
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|4
Cover BiBi: Nigeria’s Leonardo Da Vinci
18
Features A Conversation With The Queen of Fabric; Banke Kuku
10
Learn How A 16 Year Old Dropout Built A $7b Fortune
14
Women Who Did Wonders For Their Husbands’ Businesses
26
Lamentations Of A Nigerian Student
28
How To Run A Business In School And Avoid Academic
32
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|6
Never Too Young Or Old To Make An Impact
36
Meet The 20 Year Old Man With A Business Valued at 65 Million
38
7 Important Qualities Of Self-Made Millionaires
40
Amazing Business Story: Aliko Dangote
42
Columns Business Lessons From Amancio Ortega
34
It’s Time To Get Rid Of The Myth
37
Regulars Editorial Piece 8
Editorial
Piece The need to be responsible
S ome days ago I was with a friend when her
landlord came back from a trip. The scrawny
looking man went into his apartment, and after
a few minutes of rummaging around the house
came out with a plastic bottle of water that was frozen
solid. The ice was so thick it was obvious the bottle had bro-
ken.
I was baffled.
“I thought you said the man travelled” I said to my friend.
“Yes he did” She replied.
“For how many days?” I asked.
“Five days”
“Then how come he still has block in his freezer after five
days?”
“He left the fridge on when he travelled; he also left his fan
and some other appliances on”
I was appalled. Who travels for five whole days and leaves
his appliances on!? I later discovered the man got his elec-
tricity supply directly from PHCN pole and not using the
new Pre-paid system.
Where I live, we use the Pre-paid system where we are
billed according to how much power we consume.
But for people who don’t use such system they get
billed a flat rate every month (most times peanuts)
regardless of how much power they consume.
So I understood why my friend’s landlord left his ap-
pliances running while he travelled for days. He didn’t
see the need to be responsible. If he was being billed
by how much power he consumes he won’t dare try
such absurdity. What is more painful is the fact that
many Nigerians also share the same mentality as this
man; they don’t see the need to be responsible, to be
accountable for the works of their hands. No wonder
there is so much antagonism towards the system.
In the developed world there is a high level of respon-
sibility, if you must own a jet then you must be re-
sponsible to it (pay taxes for it), if you must own five
cars then you have to do same. It cuts wastage and
theft, and encourage productivity and responsible-
ness.
If we must grow as a nation then we must know that
it is nonsensical to waste resources just because we
don’t pay for them.
God bless Nigeria.
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|8
Yemzee’s Touch| Whatsapp: 07032648381, 08154485209 |Instagram: @yemzeestouch |Konga: www.konga.com/yemzeestouch|BB Pin: 7fed4e84 |
Email: [email protected]
Banke Kuku
S he is one of the fastest rising young designers in Africa. Her designs are so peculiar, so breathtaking, they have been featured on sev-eral world renowned platforms as Vogue, Elle,
Times U.K, Arise Magazine, Financial Times, House and Garden etc. Her creativity is so genius she has de-signed fabrics for reputed fashion houses like Duro Olowu, Jewel by Lisa, Virgos Lounge and Lot78 that have been worn by the likes of Michelle Obama, Kelis and Catt Sadler.
She is the winner of Women in the Making 2014 and one of the top 10 finalist in the She Leads Africa Entre-preneurial Showcase. She has been interviewed on Bellanaija.com, thisdaylive.com, cdnetng.org among others.
She has enjoyed so much success in young life, and with the very many active years still ahead of her, we, at Young Naija Entrepreneurs, see her attaining or even surpassing the heights of fashion legends as Cal-vin Klein and Ralph Lauren.
Q. Can you tell us about yourself? Who is Banke Kuku?
I’m a textiles designer that is inspired by Africa. I grew up in Nigeria until I was 8 years old and then moved to England. I love art, food and music. I love travel and as you can imagine textiles is my passion.
Q. Can you tell us about yourself? Who is Banke Kuku?
I’m a textiles designer that is inspired by Africa. I grew up in Nigeria until I was 8 years old and then moved to England. I love art, food and music. I love travel and as you can imagine textiles is my passion.
Q. Where do you get inspiration for such lovely designs?
I’m inspired by Nigeria at the moment I’m inspired by the Niger Delta which has been a running theme in my resent collections.
‘The Delta’ collection was partly inspired by the work of the photographer George Oshodi, in his collection ‘Paradise Lost’ who like me has taken his subject matter from the Niger Delta region.
INTERVIEW: BANKE KUKU
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|10
Banke K
uku
I chose to explore, tangentially, the theme of the oil produc-tion and pollution in the Niger Delta, using bold patterns to bring to life an otherwise bleak theme.
The main print tries to capture the intensity of an oil spill in the Creeks, water reflecting into the sunlight. Tales by Moonlight, the secondary print, is inspired by the sight of the Delta at night: I was struck by the vision of multiple gas flares (gas wastefully is burnt or ‘flared’ by oil companies) erupting like little volcanoes against a backdrop of a pitch black Delta night-sky.
Q. There are several other talented young designers in Nige-ria who are struggling to make their voices heard, how do you think you and other established designers can help them achieve their dreams?
Mentorship is really important. Throughout my design career I have had several mentors. Mentors are there to guide you, you can learn from them and sometimes they open doors for you.
Q. People who read your biography and learn that you travelled abroad at an early age would as-sume you never had any challenges in business, can you share with us any challenge that you faced starting up?
Start up businesses face many challenges where ever they are based in the world. Some problems vary from country to country. As I trained as a crea-tive designer, I found it quite hard to structure my business when I first started. I took business courses, read lots of books and got a lot of advice from my mentors.
Q. If you were not a textile designer what would you be doing?
Honestly, I don’t know! Being a textiles designer is my definition of success and my only option is to succeed.
Banke Kuku during an interview with Bella naija
INTERVIEW: BANKE KUKU
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|12
A mong the many stories of grass to grace, rags to riches, the story of Zhou Qunfei is perhaps the
most dramatic and most interesting. None of those who had worked with her as co-factory workers would have imagined that she would one day be the richest woman in the whole of China. Even if a soothsayer had whispered such monumental idea in Zhou’s ears she would most likely have regarded such talk as nonsense.
Zhou Qunfei was born in 1970 to a very poor family in a farm-ing village in Central China. Her father was blind, having suf-fered an accident in the 1960s. When she was five, her mother died. In order for Zhou to support the family she began to work in the farm. But when she turned 16 she had to quit schooling in order to take up another job that would help her-self and her blind father.
She first worked in a small family owned business that made watch parts. According to Zhou, the work was tough and the pay was too little. She was paid $1 per day and worked from 8am to 12am, and sometimes to 2am.
When the business Zhou worked with eventually folded, she left, and, under the advisement of her cousin started her own business of manufacturing glass lenses for watches. She had saved up HK$20,000 from her overtime. She was known to send her monthly sal-ary to her father. Her relatives (brother, sister and two cousins) also contributed financially to the start of Zhou Qunfei’s company in 1993.
In 2001, Zhou had a big break when she was contacted by a Chinese mobile phone giant asking if she was ready to retool her business for the production of screens for smart phones. She jumped at the opportunity, and that started her long fruitful journey into producing scratch-resistant screens for smart phones.
Having made good profit from the contract with the phone giant, Zhou Qunfei in 2003, launched Lens Tech-nology, a touch-screen manufacturing company. The knowledge and experience Zhou had gathered while she worked as a factory worker in her former job played an important role in the rapid rise of Lens Technology.
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Young Naija Entrepreneurs|14
Here are some valuable keys to Her success…
1. She refused to accept less than she wanted.
Zhou did well in school, but she had little choice but to
set aside her dreams of becoming a fashion designer.
Instead, she dropped out at age 16, to go to work in a
factory, "making watch lenses for about $1 a day," ac-
cording to the Times. It was hard work:
I worked from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m., and sometimes until 2
a.m. There were no shifts, just a few dozen people, and
we all polished glass. I didn't enjoy it.
Despite the fact that she needed the work and that
there were many others lining up to replace her, Zhou
wrote to her boss after only three months, thanking him
for the opportunity but saying it wasn't enough for her.
Instead of letting her go, her boss promoted her. This
brave move turned out to be step one on her long road
to immense wealth.
2. She thoroughly understood her business.
Because she'd started on the factory floor and risen
through the ranks at her first employer, Zhou thoroughly
understood every step of the lens-manufacturing proc-
ess before she launched her own company. Even now,
with a work force reported at between 60,000 and
80,000 employees, she's known for walking through her
factories and paying close attention to process.
"She'll sometimes sit down and work as an operator to
see if there's anything wrong with the process," one of
her general managers told the Times. "That will put me
in a very awkward position. If there's a problem, she'll
say, 'Why didn't you see that?'"
INSIGHT
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|15
3. She bet on herself again and again.
Zhou left her factory job to launch her own manufacturing firm
with a total of $3,000 that she and relatives had saved. This
was the first of 11 business she started, according to the SCMP,
most of which ultimately failed.
"Twice I had to sell my house to pay my employees' salary,"
she said.
In fact, it wasn't until 2003 that she had the opportunity to
really make her company successful, which leads us to--
4. She said yes to opportunity.
Zhou's expertise was in manufacturing glass lenses for
watches, but it was the rise of the newest generations of
smart phones that really enabled her success. In 2003, she was
contacted by executives from a major mobile phone company,
asking whether she'd be willing to retool her company to
make screens for phones.
(The timing on this is actually a little unclear; the Times says it
was Motorola in 2003; the SCMP says it was China's TCL Corpo-
ration in 2001. Regardless, Zhou jumped at the chance.)
"I got this call, and they said, 'Just answer yes or no, and if the
answer's yes, we'll help you set up the process,'"
the Times quoted her as saying. "I said yes."
5. She worked incredibly hard.
There's a saying in the Hunan dialect that describes
Zhou, her cousin (who serves on her company's
board) told the Times: ba de man. It means "a person
who dares to do what others are afraid to do."
Yet Zhou apparently demonstrates a rare combina-
tion of initiative and diligence. The Times described
her work habits as "lean[ing] toward the obsessive."
Her company's headquarters is at one of her manu-
facturing plants in Changsha. In her spacious office, a
door behind her desk opens into a small apartment,
ensuring she can roam the factory floor day or night.
6. She maintains balance and humility.
Despite her great fortune and success,
the Times described her as exuding both "charm and
humility," remaining silent during meetings, but com-
manding attention when she does speak up, and ad-
monishing a subordinate for failing to sit up straight
during one meeting.
"I'm not qualified to be a high-profile person," she
was quoted as saying in the SCMP. "I think it's impor-
tant not to get carried away when you are successful
--and not to let yourself feel gloomy when times are
bad."
INSIGHT
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Young naija EntrEprEnEurs
Editor Egbeyinka Segun
Beauty Editor Malomo Oluwatosin
Feature Writers Ime Ekpon John
Valentine Ogbamebor
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|18
T here are so many young Nigerians spread across the globe who are doing marvelous things and painting Nigeria in very bright colors. In fact, that was why Young Naija Entrepreneurs was founded in the first place; to help publicize the works of these young Nigerians, so as to correct the wrongful notion that every young Nigerian is an internet fraudster.
Bibi is one of such Nigerians, who is literally painting Nigeria in wonderfully glowing colors. I came across her while researching for something unrelated and I am supremely glad I did. She is an autodidact with such wonderful spirit, and has a command of the brush synonymous to that of Da Vinci.
She was born in Nigeria and when she was 19, she traveled abroad and took two years off her studies just to paint. At 21, she held an exhibition in her house and sold every single painting. That was when she decided all she wanted to do was paint and since then she has never looked back.
Bibi currently resides in Dubia, UAE, and has exhibited in the US, UK, Europe and Africa.
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|19
Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Bridget Oronya; BiBi
You are fast-raising talented young Nigerian painter, when did painting begin for you and how did you know painting was your calling?
I have always loved drawing and painting as a child, I started painting professionally after finishing high school in 2004. While waiting for my final result , I made the deci-sion to paint professionally because it was the only thing that kept me happy and satisfied with myself. I spent most of my time learning to paint and mixing colors. I took several art classes as well but most of all I learn bet-ter when I am alone and can think freely.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from all around me, my childhood memories, Exhibitions, traveling and visiting museums.
How would you describe your painting?
My style of painting is hard to describe, my work varies from traditional to modern African art, from semi abstract to abstract or symbolic, Most of all colorful and vibrant.
How long does it take you, on average, to complete a painting?
It takes from three weeks to six months or even up to a year to finish a painting. I like to take my time with each painting, chatting and drinking coffee looking at it every day till somewhere my brain decides it’s time to stop.
Why is ‘travelling’ a central theme for many of your paint-ings?
Traveling has always been a theme in my work, my fondest memories are the places and countries I visited with my mother as a child.
INTERVIEW: BIBI
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|20
Many Nigerians consider artworks exorbitant and over-priced luxurious items so they don’t think to buy them, do you think artworks are sometimes too expensive?
Some paintings are over priced due to value and name of the artist behind it, the value of an art work goes up the minutes it gets into a gallery or a dealers hands. The gal-leries have their bills and expenses to pay, the art busi-ness is like any other business. There are affordable arts it all depends on what the buyer is looking for.
What are your fondest memories of Nigeria? What do you miss most about Nigeria?
My fondest memories are the markets and fresh food, I love walking through the art markets and finding little souvenirs to take back home.
You have exhibited in the UK, US and Europe, do you plan to do any major exhibition in Nigeria anytime soon?
I am always excited to go back home let see what the future brings.
What advice would you give to Nigerian parents, who have talented children like you, but prefer them to be doctors and lawyers rather than go into painting?
I believe every child is unique and different, we should learn to appreciate and nurture every talent. In other ways being creative and studying something com-pletely different has both benefits.
INTERVIEW: BIBI
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|21
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|23
T here is a saying that, behind every successful man there is a woman. There is hardly an as-
pect of life where this saying holds true as in the busi-ness arena. Below is a brief account of women who stood firmly by their husbands and contributed in no small measure to the success that their husbands eventually became.
Zheng Ying is Jack Ma’s wife. Jack Ma is the richest
man in China and the founder of Alibaba and all
other subsidiary companies under that name
(Aliexpress, Alipay etc). Zheng Ma was involved in
the early building of Alibaba; she served as the Gen-
eral Manager for their China headquarters. But the
busy schedule of the couple was having a very nega-
tive effect on their only son, who was sinking deeper
into online gaming and gambling. To save their son’s
sanity, Jack asked his wife to step down from her
Women who
did wonders for their
husband’s
businesses
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|26
from her official position and become a full time house-
wife.
It was a difficult decision for Zheng, who was even more
educated than her husband. In the end she agreed. She
stayed at home with their son while Jack travelled for
weeks on business. She prepared food for business guests
and associates whenever they came to their house for
meeting, instead of being at the table also discussing
deals. In the end her sacrifice paid off. Jack Ma presently
has an estimated wealth of $23.9 billion and their son is an
undergrad student at the University of California. Jack Ma
attributes his success to the sacrifice and unflinching devo-
tion of his wife.
Helen Walton was Sam Walton’s wife. Sam Walton is the
founder of Walmart; the largest retailer in the world. Many
researchers believe that the idea of a store that sold every-
thing at a discounted price came from Helen Walton. Also,
it was by virtue of Sam’s marriage to Helen that he got a
$20,000 loan from Helen’s father to start his very first vari-
ety store. Just a few years after starting, Walton had prob-
lems with his landlord who refused to renew his rent and
consequently threw him out. Walton found another store,
but the store owner was not ready to give Walton the 99-
year lease he wanted, despite Walton meeting with the
store owner six different times. His father-in-law, by virtue
of Walton’s marriage to Helen, once again came to the res-
cue. He met the store owner in secret and paid him
$20,000 to finally secure the desired lease.
Henry Ford was known to be a stubborn and difficult-to-
convince fellow. He was also known for his dislike of Trade
unions. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, there were
Several bitter disputes between Ford and the Auto mo-
bile trade unions. Ford refused to recognize them de-
spite repeated appeals from many quarters. The crisis
got to its peak in 1941, when a sit-down strike was issued
by the United Auto Workers Union (UAW), causing
Ford’s plant to shut down. Ford announced that he
would rather break up the company than cooperate with
the union. He was about to destroy the company when
his wife stepped in. She threatened to leave him if he
dared destroy the company. Henry listened to his wife
and in June 1941 signed the most favorable UAW con-
tract that kept the Ford Motor Company in business,
even to this day.
Pauline Denyer is Paul Smith’s wife and partner for thirty
years, and in those three decades she was instrumental
to Paul Smith’s success and rise to iconic fame. Paul met
Pauline in 1969; then she was a Fashion student in the
Royal College of Arts. As of this time Paul never had any
formal training in fashion and design. Pauline greatly en-
couraged Paul and even provided him with her savings
so he could open his first shop in 1970; the shop was just
12ft in size. Times were difficult but she stood by him and
gave him the necessary motivation that he needed and
they grew together.
Today, Paul Smith’s products are wholesaled in seventy
five countries. He has seventeen shops in London and
over 200 in Japan. Other countries where his shops are
located include Paris, Milan, New York, Korea, and UAE;
all because of one woman.
In every of his interviews Paul Smith attribute his success
majorly to the support from his wife.
“a wise woman knows the importance of speaking life into
her man. If you love him; believe in him, encourage him
and be his peace” Denzel Washington
PRODUCTIVITY
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|27
Y ou say that I am half-baked yet you gladly
watch as I waste several months at home,
year in year out, due to countless and meaningless strikes.
And when we are finally back in session I am bombarded
on every side, so much that I feel my head spin with confu-
sion, a 12-weeks semester is automatically shrunk to 6
weeks, and who is left to bear the brunt? Me! Yet you ac-
cuse me that I am half-baked, wanting me to feel guilty for
my state, to cover my face in shame for a crime that is not
mine. You stab me with your words like sharp arrows, mak-
ing me feel like I am inferior to my peers all around the
world yet you are the one responsible for what I have be-
come.
You accuse me of being half-baked yet I have no sim-
ple thermometer in my lab, the best I know of it I
learnt from the pages of my textbook. You say that I
am half-baked; have you seen the microscope in our
lab? It was purchased twenty years ago, some of its
knobs are already out and hardly can you use it to fo-
cus on a specimen. One mouse is to thirty students, yet
you say I am half-baked. You direct your abuses at me
like I am the one to blame; you say I have chosen not
to read, have you given me the books? You say I have
failed how much have you done to help me pass?
You accuse me of being half-baked yet my lecturers
read out notes to me that they compose ten years ago,
and had since been reading to students every year
without any modification. They act with impunity be-
cause there is no one to caution them, no one to ask
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|28
questions. I am left at their mercy, so they request induce-
ment, tactfully or openly, so I can pass my exams. They
withhold my result so they can behold my pretty face in
private and share with me their lustful illicit intents; in my
hands are two things: my dignity and my success, I am left
to choose one and forgo the other. Yet you still say to me
that I am half-baked.
You claim that I am half-baked, yet three of my elder
brothers and two of my sisters are languishing at home
after years of hard schooling; they have no jobs and still no
hope. What motivation gladdens my heart? What do I have
to look up to? Those who were ahead studied real hard
still…nothing, and yet you finger me as someone with no
seriousness, that I have no drive nor burn with a fire to
learn…those pudgy fingers are most rightly directed at
you, for whatever attitude I display is as a result of your
failures.
You accuse me of being half-baked and that I am unem-
ployable, what have you done for my school? Oh! Pardon
my forgetfulness, your wards do not go to the same
schools that I do so you have never had any moral obliga-
tion to do much good for it. You couldn’t care less if I study
without seats to sit, or if I have to do my lab practical un-
der trees, as long your children are in the best ivy league
schools you are fine, yet you still turn around and accuse
me of being half-baked, when you are the one directly con-
trolling the oven. You have turned down the heat so low it
has become of no effect, no usefulness to my overall de-
velopment. Your words place a load on me like Atlas,
threatening to crush me to the very earth. You are respon-
sible for what I have become yet you push the blame to
me like I am the culprit.
This piece is to everyone who is, or was once, in the po-
sition to do something good in the educational sector
but yet withheld their hands from doing it. The evil that
you have cheerfully done will one day come around and
hunt you; you think those children of yours have be-
come successful, you just wait and see. There is no ref-
uge from the evil that you have done, the spirits of your
foolish deeds will continually haunt regardless of how
far you run.
Featured image is courtesy VOA Hausa. The image features Ayo Omolale, a 30 year old student of Political Science lament-ing the government’s inability to rescue the kidnapped school girls of Chibok.
It has been over a year since about 200 girls were kidnapped while sitting for their final secondary school exams. Since then the government has been unable to rescue them.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|29
Do you wish to be a featured entrepreneur on Young Naija Entrepreneurs? Then visit www.youngnaijaentrepreneurs.com/how-to-be-a-featured-entrepreneur-on-yne/ It’s FREE!
“ One time we had designed a fabric for a Bride, from colors to Pattern and all, every-
thing was fine, she approved the design and all, then we placed the order with our
manufacturers, and told the bride to come pick up her fabric on a particular
Date.
The Fabric got into Nigeria 2 days before that date but NAHCO (Nigerian Avia-
tion Handling Company Plc) decided to go on strike, Oh my Goodness, you
cannot imagine all the strings we tried to pull before the pick-up date we had
given the Bride-to-be; unfortunately we were not able to get the fabrics out
until 2 weeks later. The Bride that had never met me before and had sent
such a substantial amount of money tried to be calm the first 3 days but after
that, she lost it completely, she was having major trust issues and was calling
me almost every hour for those 10 days, trust me it got to a point when I see her
number on my screen I just get weak and tearful {laughs}. It is not an experience I
would love to happen again. Luckily, when the fabrics came out she was so in love
with it that she wasn't too upset when I personally went to deliver it and apologized
for the delay. Oh, and yes, she still ordered more but this time we didn’t use Cargo
{smile}. ” Our challenge now is to get befitting premises, because where we are
presently is actually a mechanic workshop and it is hidden, that’s why we
do takeouts only. Most of our clients want to come, sit and relax. We also
have a major challenge with delivery. Any order outside Surulere goes via
public transport, as a matter of fact I’m in a bus right now heading to CMS
for a delivery, the traffic over here adds to the delay. Getting motorcycles
which are very flexible and can maneuver their way through any traffic is
what we are looking for.
“
” Ok, let me share my worst challenge so far, there was a
time I lost over a thousand birds and that was when I
started, it was as if I won't bounce back, but I refused to
give up.
“
”
Share Your Challenge Inspire others...
Ngozi Elendu : Ms. Asoebi
Akanimoh E. Etuk and Christiana Samali: Yummy Delight
David Caleb Usman: Galaxy Team
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|30
Working with clients that are so difficult to satisfy. Operational
expenses; as it is a growing business makeup materials with high
quality are expensive. And then working at odd hours is another
challenge. You might be called for a job at 9pm and you will leave
by 12am due to delay by client.
…I had a bride, with so much spots on her face and she needed
glam. But she was like; I don’t want, my eyebrows are not so small,
my lips are not so loud and on and on, but thank God for His Spirit
and the gift of patience. After everything she called back to say
Oma thanks a lot.
“
” Owning any sort of small business in a struggling economy is diffi-
cult. But when your passion is beauty and fashion, getting off the
ground may be a hassle, but once that initial investment goes
through you’re off and running. Some of the challenges I faced was;
first and foremost, what course to register for and which school to
attend. Second; to excel in this business experience is requisite and
I had none so I decided to start with friends and family offering my
services at token fees. Now I have a strong database of
clientele mostly based on referrals.
“
”
The challenge of financing my dream wasn’t easy. Secondly, Nigerians
don’t believe in Nigerians. Most of these rich politicians like patronizing
foreigners, who would now take these jobs and outsource it to blacks, or
use blacks to execute it at peanuts prices. It is annoying, very annoying.
Currently, I am faced with financial constraint. I want to buy some ma-
chines that can increase my speed of work.
“
”
OHMA
Chioma Ndubuisi: OMA Beauty World
Emmanuel Ogar
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|31
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|32
Starting a business in the university can be nerve-
racking. This is due to the fact that you now have to
combine two very time-demanding activities –
studying and doing business. So many people have
failed out of school because of the division of atten-
tion that starting a business can bring to a student.
However, there are several people, like myself, who
have successfully combined business and academ-
ics, even though it wasn't easy at the start. With a
combination of the following rules, I was able to
successfully run a business in school and end my
academic pursuit on a high.
1. DON’T START A BUSINESS YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND:
Many people choose to go into certain businesses be-
cause they heard from somewhere that the business of-
fers huge profits. Many do not take the time to learn and
understand what it entails to run a business. As a college
student and an entrepreneur, you don’t have the time to
waste going into a business you don’t understand. Be-
fore starting my Cheapest Rate Enterprise on campus, I
took the pain to study how printing, photocopying and
scanning business works. Even though some may con-
sider this a trivial activity, it paid off for me. At least I
started out prepared and could set a very low price to
beat off my competitors. As the name of the business
implied, my price was the cheapest on campus.
How to run a business in school and avoid academic failure
SELF DEVELOPMENT
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|33
2.DON’T START A BUSINESS YOU ARE NOT PASSIONATE
ABOUT:
Before you even try to understand the type of business
you want to go into, you must be sure you have a passion
for it. Because when the going gets tough, and you begin
to get bouts of discouragement, it’s your passion for the
business that will keep you motivated and help you suc-
cessfully combine it with your school work.
3.BE FOCUSED:
When you decide to start a business on campus, you have
brought in another activity to compete for space in your
daily allocation of twenty four hours, which has already
being dwarfed by your academic activities. You need to be
highly focused on these two activities, and your energy
must be channeled towards these activities. This way, you
will achieve both business and academic success. All other
activities should be avoided as much as possible.
4.SET PRIORITIES:
After adjusting your focus to be on the two most impor-
tant parts of your life for now, you must set priorities.
Streamline all of your daily activities and eliminate those
ones that do not contribute to your overall goal of busi-
ness and academic success. Don’t waste your time to so-
cialize around your room or with friends. This is one of the
mistakes I made when I started CRE. If you are a night
reader, make good use of your day time and rest enough
once you have closed your business for the day, so that
you can have enough energy for night reading and doing
other academic assignments.
5.PICK NEW AND DROP YOUR OLD UNSERIOUS
FRIENDS:
With limited time on your side, you know that you
must pick your friends and not let them pick you. And
you must have the courage to break away from unse-
rious ones. Sometimes, you begin to have a lean circle
of friend like I experienced, don’t kick yourself, it’s
only natural due to your new commitments and focus.
Also, try to pick new friends. These should be indi-
viduals who are serious with their academics so that
they can help you meet up and make up for lost times
and missed classes that may be required. Dropping
your friends may sound harsh, however, cutting off
the influence of your unserious friends will only make
you a better student and successful entrepreneur.
6.BE DISCIPLINED:
Discipline here involves doing what is required of you
whether you feel like doing it or not. You have to fol-
low your priorities strictly and routinely, and work
from a list. Create daily to-do lists and discipline your-
self to follow through on every item on the list. I
started to effectively use my time for academic and
business purpose, when I started to write down my
priorities and follow them strictly. Don’t allow your-
self to do the things that are not contributing to your
overall well-being as a student and an entrepreneur.
7. SET YOUR BUSINESS TIME:
Regardless of the kind of business you are engaged
in, set time for it. You can do this either daily or to
favor of your school time table. If you don’t set your
business time, you will most likely find yourself spend-
ing most of your time chasing after money.
SELF DEVELOPMENT
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|34
The unfortunate result of this is that you will have less time for
your academic activities which could lead to academic failure.
8.DON’T ENGAGE IN MULTIPLE BUSINESSES:
I know there are people who would want to counter this
thought. However, this will not change its truth based on my
experience. I tried adding a computer repair business to my
printing business while in school; the result was something I
was largely unprepared for. This choked me of my time, even
though I had done my research right. The key is to focus on
one business at one time.
9.BE GENEROUS:
By being generous, I don’t mean taking all your profits and giv-
ing it away to a charity. What I mean is to be considerate while
dealing with your customers, who are mostly students like
you. We know for a fact that all fingers are not equal. There
will be instances where people will come to use your services
and offer to pay later or even just say they don’t have money
but need your help, always consider this people. It may be
risky because some may never pay you back, but you will
surely reap goodness someday.
10.PAY YOUR TITHE:
If you are not religious, you can still benefit from this act by
giving away 10% of your income to a charity or a cause you sup-
port. For the religious ones like me, it is very important to pay
tithe off your income. I must admit that when I defaulted in
following through on my tithing, my income and business pa-
tronage plummeted and I just knew that it was my unfaithful-
ness towards God was the cause. When I restarted, things
changed for good. Not forgetting the fact that it takes favor
for someone to skip your competitor and decide to patronize
you.
SELF DEVELOPMENT Business Lessons from Amancio Ortega
The benefits of Privacy:
I have heard many celebrities say they wish they could ex-change their fame for a little bit of privacy. They yearn for those times when they could walk on the street without be-ing harassed by paparazzi; they wished they could still take their families out to the park without being accosted by overly enthusiastic fans who want to take photos or want to have a chat.
The price celebrities pay in return for their fame is enormous, sometimes eating so deep into their private lives that it al-most turns them mad. Their personal or family matters be-come juicy headlines in tabloids.
But people like Amancio Ortega need no fear such mutilation of character by these newshounds. He has successfully man-aged to keep his private life private and so he has little to worry about as regards the paparazzi.
If only celebrities and societal figures would try to emulate Ortega, and strive to keep their private lives private, rather than uploading every photo of their lives on social networks, they would live much happier and longer lives, and divorce a little less than what is obtainable.
Cutting out the middlemen:
I run a business too, and my great priority is to strategize a means of cutting out the middlemen and selling directly to my customers. I did the Maths and I discovered my profit is being cut by as much as one third or even half by my selling to middlemen instead of consumers.
Amancio Ortega recognized this fact quite quickly so he de-veloped a business model where he could deliver directly to the customers rather than passing through middlemen. So not only was he producing, he was also selling to people who walked into his stores, hence maximizing profits.
Giving customers what they wanted as fast as they wanted it:
There is an old adage that says “customer is king”, whoever fails to treat his customer as king no sooner would be out of business. From the onset Ortega treated his customers as kings; he purchases quality but affordable fabrics, makes nice outfits with them and sells them to customers at pocket friendly prices. He was able to take designs from the runway and make them available in his stores for prices that the ordi-nary man can afford. For Ortega, it was all about satisfying the customers, and in the end it paid off.
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|35
Never Too Young or
Old to Make an Impact Elon Musk was 12 years old when he wrote the
computer code for his own video game called
Blaster which he sold for
$500. At 24, he founded his
first company, Zip2, and at
28, the company was sold
to Compaq for $307 million
making Elon a multimillion-
aire. Today, Elon is the co-
founder of Tesla motors, Paypal and SolarCity.
Carlos Slim Helu had a father that
valued business education very much
and taught his children the basic prin-
ciples of saving and investment. At
the tender age of 12, Carlos Slim
bought his first shares in a Mexican
bank, and at the age of 25 started
laying the foundation for his holding
company, Grupo Carso. Carlos Slim
Helu is currently the second richest man in the world,
with a net worth of $82.2 billion dollars.
Harland Sanders was 40 years old when he began to
cook for hungry travelers
and serve them from his
dining table. He was 62
when he finally succeeded
in franchising his recipe
to one of the largest res-
taurant in the city, and
when the name Kentucky
Fried Chicken (KFC) was
born. As of December
2013, there were 18,875 KFC outlets in 118 countries
making revenue of $23 billion. The likeness of
Harland Sanders appears on
every KFC post sign and meal
bucket worldwide.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
began composing from the
tender age of 5. He was so
talented that his father had to give up composing and
allowed his son to do all the song
composition. At the age of 17, he
was employed as a court musician by
the ruler of Salzburg. Mozart today
is remembered as one of the greatest
composers of all time.
Ray Kroc didn’t open his first Mac-
Donald’s restaurant until he was 52.
He was 59 when he finally had com-
plete ownership over the Mac-
Donald brand. Barely two years after he took full own-
MOTIVATION
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|36
ownership, Ray sold three billion burgers and
opened his 500th store. Presently,
there are more than 25,000
McDonalds in operation worldwide.
Nick D’Aloisio was 15 when he cre-
ated the application Trimit, which
later became Summly. In March 2013,
Summly was sold to Yahoo! for $30
million making D’Aloisio one of the
youngest self-made millionaires
ever.
What were you doing when you
were 12? Building sand castles
around your feet. What are some
people doing at 25? Wearing
their trousers below their but-
tocks and claiming to be the
‘don’ on their street. It is time to
wake up.
Are you 40 or 45 and you think all is lost? Take a
lesson from Harland Sanders and
Ray Kroc, and make an impact in
this world.
IT’S TIME TO GET RID OF THE MYTH
T here are a great many myths
about self-made millionaires. If
you want to become a self-made
millionaire yourself, you must dis-
pel these myths from your own mind. Remem-
ber, as the humorist Josh Billings once said,
“It’s not what a man knows that hurts him, it’s
what he knows that isn’t true”.
Many people have fixed ideas about them-
selves and money that are holding
them back. These ideas may be com-
pletely untrue, but they will cut off
your chances of success nonethe-
less. You must get over them. To
achieve something you have never
achieved before, you will have to
think in ways you have never
thought before.
One myth is that you have to have great education to become
rich. Another myth is that you have to
start off with a lot of money. Some peo-
ple are convinced that financial success
depends on getting a lucky break of
some kind, like picking a hot stock in
the stock market.
None of these myths are true, in fact, a
survey of members of the Forbes 400, the 400 richest men and
women in the united states, found that high school dropouts in
the group who made it to the list were worth, on average $300
million more than university graduates on the list.
MOTIVATION
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|37
W hen he first contacted us on one of
our social media platforms, I was
tempted to ignore him. He told me he
was 20 years old and he was in the
Agric business, I thought he was a joker or just somebody
who wanted attention. But for some reasons, I decided to
hear him out. Fifteen minutes into our conversation I was
gamed. I pushed aside everything I was doing and concen-
trated completely on him. His business story is by far one
of the most impressive stories that we have had on this
platform. I was completely blown away by what I learnt
from him.
Looking back, I am glad I exercised that little dose of pa-
tience to hear him out.
Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
I am David Caleb Usman, I am 20 years old, I am a Yoruba
but born and brought up in North Central, Nasarawa
state, I am a farmer.
Why did you choose to go into farming?
I have a passion for farming, right from a tender age, I
love keeping animals, and there's a saying that the se-
cret to a man's success is his interest.
Very true, so how long have you started your farm?
Exactly 4 years 11 months now
INTERVIEW: DAVID CALEB USMAN
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|38
Okay. Which means you were
about 16 when you started,
were you not afraid going into
business at such early age?
I was very bold, and the passion
was there, I was willing to take
any risk for success, because it's
more risky not to take a risk
Hmm. I like that. At such early
age what was the source of your
capital? Where did you get the
money to start?
Nice question. It keeps amazing
people how I started, especially
those who knew when I was in the womb, the truth is that
even my parents don't know how I
sourced money to start but I will
tell you.
I kept exotic dogs where I stay, and
it's a developing town, I was the
only one keeping such kind of dogs
then, so when the dogs litter I sold
the puppies and made 300,000
from it, which I used to purchase 2
hectares of land in a village. I col-
lected 500,000 from my mum and
raised 200,000 from my personal
savings. Then I started. I come
from an average family.
Very interesting. I am impressed.
Not many young people would
have thought of something like
that. Well done.
Thank you!
You mentioned to me earlier
that you started with 1,000 Lay-
ers, what is the present status of
your farm now? How many birds
do you have?
To the glory of God I now have
21,000 birds. My business was
valued at about 62 million Naira
last year by my bank valuers.
They wanted me to take loan but
I didn’t oblige.
Impressive. Do you deal only
with Layers or do you breed
other type of birds?
No, I deal only with layers.
Focus is very important in this
kind of business. I once kept
boilers and I had little chal-
lenge, but that's not why I
stopped keeping them just that
I wanted to achieve my aim be-
fore thinking of going into an-
other part of the business. You
know agriculture is very broad.
My aim is to be the largest pro-
ducer of eggs, and I see it com-
ing. We produce about 450
INTERVIEW: DAVID CALEB USMAN
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|39
crates of eggs daily now.
Do you have people working for you?
And how many?
Sure I do, 15 of them. They were 20 be-
fore but because I have begun to mecha-
nize the farm I had to reduce them.
Can you share with us some of the
challenges you have faced so far?
Ok, let me share my worst challenge so
far, there was a time I lost over a thou-
sand birds and that was around the time I
started, it was as if I won't bounce back,
but I refused to give up
That's inspiring. What is the great-
est need of your business right now?
What do you need most?
What I need now, to be honest, is the
spirit of focus. That's what my business
needs. These days I am getting dis-
tracted and that's not good for the
business, because money is not the
problem.
Okay. Where is your farm located?
At Akwanga, Nasarawa
state
Finally, Mr. Caleb
where do you see this
business in the next 5-
10 years?
Wow, going nationwide.
You are surprised I am
not saying international,
right? I want to take
over the market in the
north, then move to the
east, south and west. If I
can conquer Nigeria, I
have the world.
That's wonderful.
Thank you Mr. Caleb
for agreeing to speak
to us. We wish you
the very best in
achieving your
dreams.
Thank you sir, God
bless you!
INTERVIEW: DAVID CALEB USMAN
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|40
7 Important Qualities of Self Made Millionaires
I f you want to learn to cook, you study cooking. If
you want to be a lawyer, you study law. If you want
to be an engineer or an architect, you study engi-
neering or architecture. And if you want to be finan-
cially successful, you study others who have become finan-
cially successful before you. You find out what they did,
and you do the same things, over and over, until you get
the same results.
Below are seven qualities of self made millionaires that
you can learn and could place you on the track to becom-
ing one of them.
Honesty:
This is the number 1 quality of self made millionaires, and it
is one quality that can make you belong to their class.
How? Because, when you have a reputation for honesty,
people will find it easier to lend you money when you run
out resources for your business. People will find it easy to
refer you to people who can help you out of difficulties.
People will find it easier and they would be more comfort-
able to do business with you.
Ask yourself this question; who would you rather do busi-
ness with, a honest man who is plain and simple or a dis-
or a dishonest man who calls white blue?
Honesty, they say, is the best policy.
Self discipline:
Self discipline is not only essential if you want to be a
self made millionaire but it is also vital if you want to
live a meaningful life. Saving is one of cardinal pillars
of financial success. A man who lacks discipline can-
not save. A man who lacks discipline cannot plough
back the profits of a business deal to get greater
profit. An indiscipline man would always complain
about how little he is earning, and blame it for his in-
ability to save or invest.
Self made millionaires are reputed for their dogged
self discipline.
Good interpersonal relationship:
It is popularly said that your network equals your net
worth. The number of people you know, and have
good relationship with, will determine how successful
you would be in business. This point is most visible in
the Nigerian environment, whereby contracts and
juicy appointments are distributed not purely on mer-
DISCOVERY
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|41
but according to ‘who know who’.
Majority of the billionaires we have in Nigeria attained that
status by virtue of their relationship with different govern-
ments in power. As it happens in Nigeria so it does in other
parts of the world.
Supportive spouse:
Socrates once said, “a happy man is always a productive
man”, If you want to destabilize a man use his wife against
him. If you want a man to fail, use his wife against him. This
happens both ways, male and female. Once a person cannot
find joy in his home then it becomes difficult to achieve any-
thing meaningful.
A supportive spouse would also give encouragement, verbal
and material, they would give warnings about any possible
pitfalls, the ones you may be too blind to see.
Wives of men like Sam Walton, Henry Ford, Jack Ma played
very vital roles in the success that their husbands eventually
became. And Mary Kay Ash’s husband, before he died, also
contributed in no small measure to her company.
Hard work:
Self made millionaires are known to be hard workers. They
work hard and stay long hours. They know that there are no
tricks around being successful, so instead of looking for
short cuts, they exert their energies into what they believe
in. Thomas Edison, the most prolific inventor of all time, was
said to work so hard he sometimes forgot to eat. Jason
Njoku of iRoko tv once worked so hard during a week he
was on the brink of a breakdown.
We do not advice that you do harm to yourself while trying
to make wealth, because you need your health to enjoy your
wealth, but you have to work if you want a financially suc-
cessful life.
Love for what they do:
It is almost intimidating when you are advised to work
hard!, but there a trick to it; Love what you do. A famous
billionaire and inventor once said, ‘I have never worked
in my life, I just found what I love doing and I kept doing
it with all my strength”.
Linda Ikeji confessed that she had blogged every single
day for the past nine years, every single day!” the reason
she was able to do that is because she loved what she
was doing. Nine years is an awfully long time to be doing
one particular thing, but she did it.
You can only work as hard as is needed if you love what
you do.
Ability to sell their product or service:
Have you ever found yourself buying a product or pa-
tronizing a service not because you really need it but be-
cause of the salesperson? We have all being there. Ac-
cording to Brian Tracy 10% of all self made millionaires
are salespeople. They would never have been able to
achieve that feat if they didn’t have the special skill to
successfully sell their products.
Ability to sell product is a skill, it is learnable. Most self
made millionaires have leant that utter mostly important
skill of selling their products, service or even themselves.
The business world is becoming more and more competi-
tive. There is hardly a business niches that is not occu-
pied by three or four individuals, hence, to be successful,
you have to learn how to sell.
DISCOVERY
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|42
T he Dangote Group, a mighty con-
glomerate of companies owned by
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has interest in
virtually every sector of the Nigerian
economy, from oil and gas to building materials,
from textiles to commodities like sugar, flour,
spaghetti, etc. The conglomerate recorded reve-
nue of $2.6 billion dollars in 2012.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote was born in Kano state, Nigeria on the
10th of April, 1957 to the families of Mohammad Dangote
and Hajiya Mariya Sanusi Dantata. Although Dangote was
born into a very wealthy family he was not deceived by his
families’ wealth so as to be lazy and spoilt, instead, Dan-
gote, while still in primary school was known to buy boxes
of sweet and then sell it to his mates. From his very early
age he had showed an inclination for business.
Dangote studied Business at the Al-Azhar University in
Cairo, Egypt and thereafter returned to Nigeria to start
his own business.
In 1976, Aliko Dangote started his business, trading in com-
modities and building materials. His initial capital was pro-
vided by his grandfather and wealthy business mogul, Al-
haji Sanusi Dantata who had taken him in after the un-
timely death of his father. Dangote was given a loan of
500,000 to start his business which he was to pay back
anytime he felt like. This sum was a huge amount back
then; to get an idea of the sum, a Mercedes Benz car then
was sold for 5,000 and Volkswagen Beetle went for 900-
1,000. In June of 1977, Dangote moved to Lagos to con-
continue his business in building materials and com-
modities.
Having received exceptional business tutoring from
an astute businessman as Dantata, no wonder every-
thing Dangote touched instantly turned to gold. Dan-
gote’s trading business enjoyed tremendous success
and in 1981, he incorporated two companies. Since
then, his business has been growing in leaps and
bonds. Part of what has made Dangote so successful
is his ingenious ability to network and form strategic
alliance. For many years his businesses enjoyed exclu-
sive support from the government owing to his ability
to build relevant connections.
His flagship business, Dangote cement, is Nigeria’s
leading cement manufacturer with a market capitali-
zation of $20 billion (as of 2014). It has subsidiaries in
Benin, Cameroon, South Africa and Zambia. The Oba-
jana plant is the largest cement plant in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
Dangote is the leading producer of sugar in Africa, his
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|43
sugar refinery in Apapa port is the largest in Africa and
has an annual capacity of 800,000 metric tonnes of sugar.
The company also has another 100,000 tonnes sugar mill
in Jigawa state. The company supplies 70% of the total
market demand of sugar.
Dangote’s textile company, Dangote Textiles, produces
120,000 meters of finished textiles daily.
Dangote Group is also a major importer of rice, fish,
pasta, and fertilizer and it exports cotton, cocoa, cashew
nuts, sesame seed, ginger and gum Arabic to several
countries. It also has major investment in real estate, with
luxury flats and high rise complexes in Ikoyi, Victoria Is-
land, Abuja and Kano.
The conglomerate employs over 11,000 people across its
varying companies.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, just like many billionaires around the
world, has reached out to assist people with his wealth.
The Dangote Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the
group and has generously given out millions of dollars for
worthy causes both within Nigeria and outside. In 2014,
the Nigerian government said Dangote donated 150 mil-
lion Naira (US$750,000) to halt the spread of Ebola. Also,
during the 2012/2013 flood, Dangote donated millions to
displaced victims. Dangote foundation also donated $1
million to Nepal to relief victims of an earthquake disas-
ter.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote is listed as having three children;
Halima, Fatima and Sadia, although some accounts states
he has fifteen. He is currently the richest man in Africa
with a net worth of $17.7 billion.
BUSINESS LESSONS FROM ALIKO DANGOTE
1. The power of connection:
For many years Dangote enjoyed a monopolistic right to
import certain very essential commodities into the country.
This was made possible by his connection in government to
the people who mattered. It is popularly said, ‘your net-
work determines your net worth’. It took Dangote three
decades to earn a billion dollars, during this period he had
dealings with virtually all the governments in power, start-
ing from the Shagari regime.
Many people criticize the business mogul for his style of
business, but the truth remains, you need to network with
the people that matter, or else, you may remain a mediocre
player the rest of your business career.
2. Manufacture, don’t trade:
Dangote once said, “manufacture, and don’t just trade.
There is money in manufacturing even though it is capital
intensive. To achieve a big breakthrough, I had to start
manufacturing the same product I was trading on. I am an
advocate of manufacturing because it does not only im-
prove your business status, it also helps you give back to
your community and country; with respect to job creation
and economic development.”
Start up with trading in order to boast your confidence and
gather capital, and then later, move straight to manufactur-
ing. As a manufacturer you are directly in the driver’s seat,
you call the shots! A trader can never go higher than a
manufacturer, a manufacturer can get as high as he ever
wants to.
In whatever business you are engaged in keep ruminating
and strategizing on how you can begin to manufacture
rather than just being a trader.
AMAZING BUSINESS STORY: ALIKO DANGOTE
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|44
Aliko Dangote at the World Economic Forum
AMAZING BUSINESS STORY: ALIKO DANGOTE
Young Naija Entrepreneurs|45