Challenges are a vehicle to success — Olayeni

Mr. Kayode Olayeni

The Founder/Chief Operating Officer, Solution Point, Mr. Kayode Olayeni, tells IFEANYI ONUBA his experiences in a number of businesses including farm support, forex trading and Internet marketing

How did you get into the business world?

I started my business life with forex trading in 2008 and later ventured into a livestock/farm support business. Later that year, I became the sole distributor of an innovative product called D-skin protective disc skin. I was saddled with the responsibility of appointing major and sub-distributors in all the states in Nigeria.

In 2011, I started a brand development and an Internet marketing company for small and medium organisations. We provide advisory services for start-up companies, class branding, marketing and creative services for our clients without the kind of price tag charged by large agencies. We also offer services such as logo/brand development, web design and development, interactive/media presentations, business registration and online marketing.

Why did you decide to go into business and not a paid job?

My passion for creativity is the first reason for starting my own business. Secondly, I have always had the desire to proffer solution to challenges and problems around me at any given time.

The desire and determination to be in control of my own life and work in a company where I can apply and maximise the return of my most valuable asset also spurred me into setting up my own business.

How do you manage your business?

I have been in business since 2008. We make it our topmost priority to retain the interest of all stakeholders including our clients and vendors in order to operate a successful business. Our business efforts and activities are geared towards marketing. This is meant to bring in new clients. We also develop and deploy strategies and business models to grow the business. We try as much as possible to maintain good relationships with our clients, partners and manage them well. We develop and maintain winning business processes, procedures and systems.

Who are your target clients and how do you get them?

Our target clients range from established small businesses to new enterprises that cut across all sectors. Depending on the industry, we win new clients using a wide range of marketing approaches such as referral systems, joint ventures, advertising, direct mail, telemarketing and endorsement.

Is your business capital intensive?

I will say yes.  Every business requires a takeoff capital. But for me, I started out with almost nothing. There is a general belief that one needs money to start a business. But my opinion is that you need to possess the right knowledge and have the perseverance and dedication for a business for you to succeed. Being prepared to fail a few times is also vital to the ultimate success in any business. Most of the capital that will be needed is in marketing and for the expansion of the business.

What is your advice to graduates in search of paid employment?

Our school system has somehow narrowed the thinking of students, making them to believe that education only ends with the acquisition of good grades and using the certificate to look for jobs.

Our graduates should stop hoping that government will give job to everyone; rather they should put on their thinking caps and come up with ideas. No matter how small it may be, we should be thinking about generating jobs. The fact remains that every multi-national company existing today started with an idea and that idea became bigger over a period of time. So my advice is that they should engage themselves in such ideas and watch the ideas grow. The essence of being educated is to proffer solutions.

How can government encourage young people to embrace entrepreneurship?

There are several ways the government can encourage young people to embrace entrepreneurship but the most important aspects are through financing and giving opportunities. A lot of young people have ideas but limited opportunities have been the major constraint. For instance, if a young man who has his idea penciled out tries to approach a government institution for finance may be turned down, not because his idea is bad, but because the agency is asking him for documents that he will never be able to produce. He may be requested to produce tax documents for five years; some certificates for his properties and so on. All these make things difficult for people who want to go into business.

A lot of young people have started their businesses but got stuck midway because of limited funds with which to continue. Financial institutions in Nigeria will not give out loans to young entrepreneurs; rather they prefer to give loans to multi-national companies.

Since government is also responsible for formulating policies that will grow the economy, there is the need for government at all levels to be more involved in youth empowerment programmes such as skill acquisition, the creation of friendly business policies and micro-credit programmes that will help to provide funds after acquiring skills. What I have seen in my few years of being an entrepreneur is that a lot of people have the required skills but they do not have money to start their business. Some do not even want to acquire any skill because they do not know where to source for money after training. So, I think there should be a programme that can guarantee some form of funding for young entrepreneurs. It is only through this means that the government can discourage the people from spending years looking for white collar jobs instead of creating jobs for themselves and others.

What are the challenges that young entrepreneurs like you encounter and how do you tackle them?

Without challenges, there is no entrepreneurship. Business is born out of challenges; it is the bedrock of great entrepreneurs. So, I see challenges as a springboard to success. In Nigeria, there are many challenges for any entrepreneur. In my case, I faced and I am still facing a lot of challenges; but the biggest of them is finance. Financial challenge can derail the company’s expansion plans and lead to reduction in quality of products (commodity goods and house products). You are denied the opportunity of employing additional hands.

These challenges can be addressed by looking inwards and thinking up ideas of how to raise capital from friends, family members and other people in your areas who are financially buoyant.

I will advise that government’s policies should be geared towards making it easy for small businesses to get loans from banks and other financial institutions.

What are the key investment principles young people in business and those aspiring to go into business should imbibe?

Well, the first thing I will say is that you should not eat all that you have got; there is the need to save some for the ‘dry season’. A lot of young people have some money in their bank accounts and they go to their banks to withdraw every time they run out of cash. This is a wrong thing to do. You should spend the profit that accrues from the invested sum to expand the business. Entrepreneurship is not an escape route from skilful work; it is more about developing the business skills to be able to survive in this terrain. Entrepreneurship involves hard work and creativity.