What are some of the strangest governmental policies you have had to overcome whilst doing business in Africa?
What do you consider as the most important skill a CEO should have?
Who is a CEO? Is being a CEO a job or an inherited position?Is there a CEO school? Must you be your own CEO as a business founder. Guess what? I will answer the above questions during my multiple sessions on this platform. There is too much for me to elaborate on as far as CEO is concerned. Many Business startupers consider themselves as CEOs I'm forced to ask, how did we get there? This is mostly the justified reason why young Businesses fail even before they start in Africa. Let me not get out of my lane, let me answer the question of the day: The most important skill of a CEO: 1) Ability to identify and grow a version of another. 2) Good sense of power delegation. 3) Perfect communication skills4)Problem solver in teams. 5) Abilities to forsee future problems. 6)Good financial manager. 7) Project Development skills8) ABOVE ALL must have 5-15years of managerial skills and position.The above abilities can earn you the position of a CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER in a good company.
You with a 5-15 years work experience as a manager is better positioned for an Executive position then him with, a business idea, passion and money to start.
What can you say of the much recent talk of more young Africans becoming entrepreneurs?
It shows Africans are beginning to take their place in the world. I Always new, Africa will not be left behind for too long.Africa's problem can only be solutioned by Africa's
My prayer will be for entrepreneurs to forget getting funding before starting, they should start however, let the rest follow.
I also think Africans youths have always been into building self Businesses, just that they were hardly known, they were not recognized and so it looked more like they are all job seekers. Go to Nigeria, majority of youths seek and are expressing their worth as private business owners some team up in establishing more.
Again Africans are just doing what they had always been doing, I think the world is just noticing them now.
What has been your biggest challenge so far in running 5 companies especially as a lady?
Nothing! SBNAfrica, FACESmagazine, NestConsolidated, NestAgroFarms and Mofor'sDiary are babies I birth each from a particular place of pain, hope or peace.With each of them distinct and growing.I got all the skills when i started my first business at the age of 7. I discovered all the secrets of Business at a very tendet age.If I have not achieved any of my goals it should just be that I wasn't ready or it was a personal decision not to move forward. So my biggest challenge in running my businesses had been nothing. Nothing again because, I am INTENTIONAL in all I do. I never hesitate to let go or add some more flame to the engine.
Did I really say Nothing???
I definitely lost it, getting the right team on board has been my biggest set back. My inability to delegate powers and give clear assignments to my team held me back for many years.
See what I finally did. I had to study people's lives, watch real time business movies, read great books on business, communication, association and much more. I learnt to believe in my abilities to share my thoughts. I learnt how to trust blindly. I learnt and practiced and I am still learning daily.
Is there some magic formula for starting a business in this digital era?
No! There is no magic pill or formula to build and run a great business in this era. But as a Business consultant, i will give you three points that will help you climb up that business ladder gentle without falling back in a few moment.1) Don't start a Business based on passion. Start a Business based on the needs of your target clients, making sure they can appreciate it in monetary values.2) To start a business today, make sure to have a sense of direction and ready to sacrifice and make visible even when everyone around you doesn't sense a thing. Develop your own momentum to push upward no matter the odds 3) Desire to grow your Business with like minds and better deeper pockets. Have people around you whose pockets are deep enough to support your vision Now! Big good to all these! Try to start a Business which you can comfortable run alone for atleast 6months to 1year before looking for a staff body. Otherwise get partners.
What businesses and their models do you follow, and why?
What is Africa’s biggest challenge in terms of building global business brands?
Africa by nature is the leading naturally riches continent, but for artificial factor's seek, Africa has fast become the poorest of poor. To my candid opinion, Africa's Leadership is the strongest holdback for Africa's economic global inclusure. To think that no matter the terms and conditions for a Businesses, the most vital most important point which is hardly ever mentioned on paper is what Africa lacks the most. TRUST African leadership is not trust worthy at all levels. Africa's leadership has a permanent none reconciliable virus called Trust Issues eating down from the political leaders to the grass roots. How can we even mention Limited fundings and inability to provide required information and necessities for global Business brands Globally speaking, when our African Business owners, especially 1 and 2 decades backward are yet to understand the parameters instituted globally to grow a globally accepted Business brand? Africans who make up the leading population are so unteachable, the most they know how to learn and actually execute is greed and selfishness. We need to be more informed than getting excited. We must enquire and learn daily how the global marketplace works. The global marketplace has her language, if you most go global, you most study and understand the global market language. By language I'm not talking about English or French, but the way things are done globally. Things are done clearly, with faithfulness and above all dependability from all parties. My question then goes thus, Is Africa's policies dependable or are they looking up to God on the last day? Many will mention points of unfavorable funding conditions, climate change, terrorism, business registration issues, marginalisation at the international levels. This is also true a fact but what is the cause of all the above mentioned. Poor Governance.
Have you ever encountered moments in your business when it felt like things are not moving? Low clients,few sales...How did you survive the slow times but made the most of them?
This is not a far fetched story! I am actually in that state right now. In one of my businesses! I have not had clients for a while. The few who come can't afford, Some will pay a part and disappear with the balance. Some say I'm too expensive Some say they don't need it after they start. Others say they know where to get the same service and even better and cheaper. Guess what? For the past 2months, I halted all it activities. Ask myself deep questions on why I started that particular business in the first place. Who did i see as my ideal client? Can such clients pay? Do they actually need it? What was my marketing strategy? With all these questions to myself: only then did i notice i had a great Business but selling it to the wrong clients. I reinstituted my clients and my marketing strategy and i hope in the next 3months all will get back to better and greater.
My advice to all entrepreneurs: young, older and oldest, always make out time for your Business to be sure it's on track
Risk management is a common issue for small businesses. With less margin for error than larger enterprises,many smaller companies either play it safe and miss opportunities or take uncalculated risks that end in disaster Therefore, how do you think small businesses can improve on their risk management. .
As an entrepreneur, what business sector do you think is currently overlooked but whereas has very high prospects?
Media and content creation: insightfully speaking, with the out break of Covid, the world is forced to stay home more than ever before. Imagine a content creator with the right skills?Imagine waking up daily on your phone, TV and radia with new amazing touching and realistic moments to remember on media.Imagine how we could help mental health through media,Imagine what would happen to our young adults who commit suicide daily around the world. If only they could be feed with the right media content.Let me tell you a story!Just about 8months ago, a diplomate from my country called me asking for help. He said, he wanted me to get him someone who could take off some scandalous information about him online. So i told him, it will mean we hack into Google servers. I told him it was not only expensive to get that done but basically impossible. Then i suggested this solution to him. Considering, when you type his name on Google, the only information that comes up was the scandal. On checking I noticed, he had nothing else online except the scandel, so I proposed him to pay me to brand him online. Because as we add up information of him online, its going to push downward the older information. Yes he did accepted, within 1 month, we had putup over 215 articles accompanied with videos, pictures, blog post magazine interviews and so much more.Within 3months of that activity, he was appointed a minister. Now that's what content creation can do to us if only we could start creating the right media content for the right audience. So yes yes yesMedia is our way forward
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