Unusual Entrepreneur Interview with Connor Gillivan of eCommetize.com
In today’s edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews, I have on the hot seat Connor Gillivan a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple eCommerce businesses starting from his college days.
He lives to make a positive impact on others through the use of his passions. Without further ado, here’s the unusual story of the unusual Connor Gillivan!
Part One: Connor Gillivan Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
-
Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
My name is Connor Gillivan and I am a serial entrepreneur living in Orlando, Florida. I am the founder and Chief Executive Officer of eCommetize.com, a company that builds and manages online stores for high-traffic online influencers.
I am the co-founder and Chief Technology and Content Officer of FreeeUp.com, a company that takes a hands-on approach to outsourcing within the eCommerce industry.
Finally, I run my own site, ConnorGillivan.com where I write about my experiences as an entrepreneur and attempt to guide aspiring entrepreneurs through the first year of starting their business. All of my entrepreneurial endeavors stem from my passions and wanting to continually grow as an individual.
I am forever inspired by others, especially the visionaries that have made a lasting impact on the world, i.e. Nelson Mandela, Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison.
-
How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
I have always been attracted to the idea of being your own boss and building something that can eventually have a true impact on others. One of my first work experiences was working for my older cousin who had started and owned his own landscaping business.
Working for him taught me that hard work, determination, and persistence can allow you to be an entrepreneur. From what I learned while landscaping, I even started my own company to earn some extra cash during high school.
As I moved into my college years, the idea of starting another company was always on my mind. I was an Economics and Math student so I was constantly being taught new strategies that I would be able to apply to my eventual business. When a fellow classmate told me that he had started his own business and was looking for a cofounder, I jumped at the opportunity. Things haven’t slowed down since then.
-
When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
My first major vision stemmed from an internship with ThinkImpact where I traveled to Mpumalanga, South Africa to build entrepreneurial ideas with community members in remote areas of the province. For the three months that I was living there, I recognized the lack of resources and the major need for a better system of delivery to the most remote areas of the world.
While I have been unable to pursue that exact vision yet, it pushed me into the eCommerce space because of the similarities. At the core of eCommerce, retailers are attempting to connect a good to the end consumer via the Internet. I am still driven by my vision of delivering goods to the most remote regions of the world to benefit the inhabitants there.
-
What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
I’m a strong proponent of this belief. I personally only pursue entrepreneurial endeavors that I am passionate about because I know that I will be happiest and most successful working on them. However, you also want to make sure that your passion is an expertise of yours as well.
In order to succeed in building a new business, you must have domain expertise. This allows you to strategically grow with your competition, structure your operations properly, and identify growth opportunities.
Look at it like this. An entrepreneur may be extremely passionate about biking, but their entire background is in financial investments, which they are also passionate about. My advice would be to start a new business in financial investments as it is where you know the most. By all means, continue to pursue biking and even get involved in community planning, but keep your entrepreneurial career focused on what you are best at.
-
What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
My personal mission as an entrepreneur is to make a positive impact on others through my passions. I have always been more attracted to positive impact than monetary aspirations. My ultimate goal is to own and operate two companies: one focused on delivering clean water to the most remote areas of the world and the second focused on discovering the science of teleportation. I am determined to create a world where anyone has the ability to easily access necessities, such as water, and where the science of teleportation is becoming a useable technology.
-
What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Entrepreneurs play the innovative risk taker. They are the individuals, groups, and companies tasked with addressing the biggest problems faced by society. Entrepreneurs are responsible for listening to others, identifying major issues, and creating innovative solutions. Today, entrepreneurs are expected to perform their duties through the use of technology.
Part Two: Connor Gillivan Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
-
How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
I identify business opportunities based off of three major factors: the people, the value proposition, and the demand for the product. Before looking at the product or strategy, I dive into the people that are running the company.
Do they have an expertise within the field? Do they have a track record as an entrepreneur? What are their motives? Do they have the core skills on their founding team?
Next, I look at the value proposition. Is the business idea addressing a real problem in the market? Finally, I look at the market. Has the entrepreneur validated their hypothesis by talking to real customers?
-
Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
Absolutely. Over the past three years, I have built a close group of mentors that I meet with on a monthly basis to gain insights and ask questions about the toughest aspects of my companies. They have all had a significant impact on the growth of my companies in the most difficult of situations.
Mentors serve as a clear mind when you are struggling through one of the lows of growing your business. I recommend all entrepreneurs to surround themselves by people smarter than themselves so they can continue to learn and be challenged.
-
How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
I follow a very strict regimen where I am working 10-12 hours Monday through Friday. Each Sunday, I create goals to achieve for the upcoming week. Each night, I plan out my next day scheduling out each hour in the day to stay as focused as possible. I run 3 businesses so it is important that every minute is optimized to full capacity.
As an entrepreneur, you want to be focused on what will grow your company. This may involve training, strategizing, and talking to new customers. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you are performing repetitive tasks for longer than 3 weeks, hire and train someone else to do it for you.
In your free time, I highly encourage entrepreneurs to exercise, read, and spend time with their loved ones. As an entrepreneur, it’s difficult to shut off. You have to find activities and hobbies that allow you to remove yourself from the daily grind.
-
How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
For my businesses, most of our approaches to signing new clients comes through three forms…
- Direct sales outreach,
- Affiliate programs, and
- Digital marketing
One of the most valuable forms of marketing is through your current customers. Find ways to reward your current customers for referring their friends, family, and colleagues…they will be your best customers and marketing force.
-
Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
For my entire entrepreneurial career, I have self-funded and bootstrapped my companies. My co-founders and I manage our finances tightly and we make sure that when we are spending money, it is leading to future growth of the company. In my experience, funding can be a hurdle to get over, but it should not limit you from working on your business. If you can build a business idea valuable enough to generate revenue, you have a much better chance of finding an investor interested in giving you funding.
-
The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
Pricing should be based off of similar products in your market and knowledge directly obtained from your customers. Take the time to speak with potential customers about your minimum viable product and ask them what they would be willing to pay. Talk to 100 potential customers and you should have a good idea of what pricing model may work for your product/service.
Part Three: Connor Gillivan Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
-
Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
In 2014, my first business, Portlight, reached $7.5 million in yearly revenue with a team of over 60 people. The company was managing and selling over 1,000,000 products on the Amazon US Marketplace and was working with over 1,000 manufacturers around the United States.
Since the Fall of 2015, I have been working on two new startups, eCommetize.com and FreeeUp.com, and both have already reached profitability with promise of growth leading up to 2017.
-
What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
In early 2015, my business partners and I ran into a number of issues while selling on the Amazon US Marketplace. Our data integrity was not meeting the expectations of Amazon and we were forced to downsize our business in an effort to improve our data management. We were put into a situation where we were forced to lay off half of our team. It was one of the most difficult times that I had to endure as an entrepreneur.
I learned a tremendous amount from the experience that I am carrying forward with me as I build my two new companies. The main lesson that I continue to reflect on is staying focused on the most important aspects of growing your company. When you stray away from your core competency, it leads to disarray and can create issues within your organization.
-
Where there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
I do not. I really enjoyed your questions and appreciate you allowing me to participate in this interview.
Over to You!
I’m so convinced you had more than you asked for in this interview. But just in case, he missed out something, what more would you like to know about the unusual entrepreneur Connor Gillivan?
You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What strategies did you pick up from him?
Connor has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview with Michael Fratkin of ResolutionCare.com
In today’s edition of the Unusual Entrepreneurs Interview, I have on the hot seat a medical Doctor whose passion for palliative care – specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses moved him to embark on the entrepreneur’s journey.
I present to you Dr. Michael D. Fratkin, the founder of ResolutionCare – a community based palliative care startup dedicated to empowering patients, till the very end!
In this unusual entrepreneur interview, Michael shares how he;
- Successfully funded ResolutionCare with an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign
- Successfully transitioned from a medical doctor to an entrepreneur through the help of strategic consultants who provided the much needed business advisory/support
- Strategically leveraged on trending technologies to create a unique business model
- And many more….
Without further ado, here’s the unusual story of the unusual medical doctor who turned entrepreneur!
Part 1: Michael Fratkin Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
-
Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
I am a father, husband, brother and son…and I am also a rural palliative care physician. After years of isolated overwork in the absence of needed support/team and dependence on distressed healthcare system, I launched a startup on the strength of an outpouring of public support in the form of a crowd-funding campaign that raised $150,000.
ResolutionCare is a community based palliative care team caring for people with serious illness in their home with either house calls, or virtual house calls via telemedicine, or both.
Our “why” has something to do with the care of people no longer able to maintain the illusion of their immortality, provided by those of who still can. We now serve our local community in Humboldt County, we are immediately extending access to 14 rural Northern California counties, and we are actively architecting a national scaling effort.
-
How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
As a frustrated and nearly burned out physician, long on passion and short on business chops, it has been quite a wild ride! The learning curve has been nearly vertical and dizzying. Our success was due to two things:
- My intuitive understanding of what I do not know and
- A recognition of inspired individuals that do!
Last July, I was waking up my nine year old daughter Bella. As she opened her eyes, she said, “Goodbye Daddy.” Not good morning, not hello. That day I pulled the trigger on this project with the commitment that I am NOT going to be a “Goodbye Daddy” Daddy!
-
When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
- The mismatch between what people and their families want from healthcare as they approach the completion of their lives and what their experience turns out to be. Solutions from within the distressed institutions invested in the past just ain’t happening. It was necessary to get outside the box and develop a new way to deliver and to pay for compassionate care entirely centered on what the person themselves defines as value.
We are investing in a future of health care that is anchored in quality of life, satisfaction, and the sustainable well-being of dedicated professionals. While we understand that this will save huge amounts of wasted healthcare expenditures for payors, our investment is in raising the bar on the care received by the most vulnerable among us.
- The maturity of cloud-based videoconferencing, the penetration of video-enabled devices, and the tipping point of people getting comfortable with this form of remote communication all combine with an electrified social conversation about the failures of our system to meet the needs of people with serious illness lit the fuse of ResolutionCare.
-
What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
I am not sure I can imagine doing it otherwise. What’s the point?
-
What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
My personal life mission as an entrepreneur follows my personal life mission as a person…at the end of my life, I hope to feel complete, loved, and cared for. The memory of me is less important than setting into motion a tangible benefit to others….beginning with my family and extending to all of us.
-
What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
I am just a beginner here, but it has something to do with the management of risk to advance innovation in service to some vision of a better world.
Part 2: Michael Fratkin Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
-
How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
We center our business development in a deep understanding of what’s missing for people with serious illness, then reverse engineer solutions that also solve problems for the many competing stakeholders…payors, provider, referring physicians, health systems, etc… Their interests are all secondary to what’s needed by the people we all serve.
-
Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
I am incredibly grateful to consultants supporting crowdfunding, strategic communication, and business strategy. Without their expertise and engagement, I’m just another burned out doctor with a good idea.
-
How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
I architect my schedule for sustainability and balance. Little to no work in evenings and weekends…that time belongs to my family and friends. I take Wednesday morning off to hang out with my wife alone while the kids are at school.
I get up at four am to take advantage of a peaceful environment (i.e. sleeping family!) and then I work like crazy all the rest of the time. In order to not let the project gobble up your whole life, you have to grab time away and structures like the above to ensure that the things outside of work that make life worthwhile don’t evaporate.
-
How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
We both enjoy and suffer from a marketplace where there is at least four times the demand than there is supply. Our marketing is to advance our vision and our field…not to scare up “customers”.
-
Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
I suspect its not the funding that’s usually lacking, but rather the vision, timing, team, and something absolutely worth doing…the value proposition.
-
When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
The people you serve or to whom you provide a product. Some people call them “customers”, but I call them partners. Get the help you need from people who “get it”. They have to feel what you feel and at least relate to your passion, if not be infected by it themselves.
-
The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
In the current healthcare financing universe, the revenue for services provided are somewhat standardized. Going forward, we are investing in a future where payment is at least contingent on the value experienced by people who our services are designed for. It is a dynamic conversation in the field of palliative care and policymakers in which ResolutionCare actively participates as an emerging thought leader.
Part 3: Michael Fratkin Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
-
Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
The growing opportunity to be heard as I articulate the heart and soul of medicine with the credibility of building a viable and sustainable model for the compassionate and capable care of everyone everywhere as they face the completion of life.
-
What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
The setbacks have all yielded the kind of learning I need. Though painful failures in communication and coordination have had negative consequences, there really is no other way to learn the critical elements of leadership than making mistakes and taking responsibility. This modeling of vulnerability has helped create a safe and collaborative culture that encourages people to share their fumbles as easily as their triumphs.
-
Where there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
I look forward to a conversation and hope you are intrigued enough to arrange a podcast!
Your Turn
I’m so convinced you had more than you asked for in this interview. But just in case, he missed out something, what more would you like to know about the unusual medical doctor who turned entrepreneur?
You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What strategies did you pick up from him?
Michael has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview with Walter Emiedafe of SapientVendors.com.ng
In today’s edition of the Unusual Entrepreneurs Interview, I have on the hot seat one of our clients and also an entrepreneurial friend of mine; Walter Emiedafe, CEO of Sapient Vendors Ltd. We met in 2012 at a business conference and immediately bonded as like minds.
I have been trying to get him on the unusual entrepreneur interview series for over 2 years now, so when he eventually agreed to give it s a shot 2 weeks ago, I was so glad.
Walter is one of the rare unusual entrepreneurs who ‘get it’ and by that I mean who understands what it means to be in business and is 110% committed to paying the price of greatness. He’s not your average everyday entrepreneur who wishes or dreams for things to get better in their business but sit back and does nothing.
No!
Walter is both a big dreamer and a big doer. Like I love to say; “he’s a doing dreamer”. And so, in this interview you will meet an unusual guy who;
- Has failed over 6 times on different business ventures and yet never gave up.
- Was forced into entrepreneurship earlier than he would have wanted to because of family responsibilities.
- Has undertaken projects with zero capital and succeeded.
- Attended an entrepreneurship training program on scholarship because he didn’t allow his lack of personal funding to deter him.
- Has implemented every advice ever given to him by his mentors without fail.
- Understands the immense value of teamwork and the profound competitive advantage it brings to a startup.
- Has a track record of 22 100% completed construction projects out of 25 projects contracted to his company.
Enough said already, hear from the horse’s mouth yourself; take it away Walter!
Part 1: Walter Emiedafe Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
-
Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
My name is Walter Emiedafe and I am the CEO of Sapient Vendors Ltd. – a Construction based firm I started with two other partners Olalekan Ajani a builder and Adebisi Adewuyi a Quantity surveyor. I had to mention them in that order because that was the sequence of their entry into the partnership, during the evolution of the brand. I studied statistics from the premier university (University of Ibadan).
Our entrance into the construction business was inspired by a growing shortage of quality construction service in the country, especially from indigenous contractors. We noticed that the construction challenges clients were facing with indigenous contractors encompass poor project management (which results in project abandonment, time & cost overrun), unprofessionalism, undercapitalization, poor communication skills and budgetary limitation.
Our clients are corporate bodies within diverse industries (residential, commercial and industrial clients across the oil and gas, banking, real estate, maritime and construction industry in Nigeria).
-
How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business?
The journey started 15years ago in my Father’s tailoring outfit (Vikky Creations Ltd) the go to shop for your tailoring need based in Lebanon Street, Ibadan, due to the quality of stitches you get. I spent four years there, managing all business operations, marketing, customer relationship, procurement of fabrics and other related input that goes into getting a finished fabric, personnel management, general finishes except tailoring itself.
All these were against my will, so I can say that was a reason I never got involved in the daunting exercise of peddling the machine. My Dad and I had diverging management approach to business, so we had a lot of arguments. It was a practical business school experience, I learnt a lot from same experience, especially reputation management, being true to your words, team management, how to calm an angry customer and make him your friend.
Unfortunately for my Dad, who had no plan B for my exit, I still feel bad I left his business the way I left, and it was because I was not seeing a future within that space.
The next phase was my foray into international business, internet marketing of gemstones. I and a few friends Tope Dixon and Musiliu Akanni without capital invited two Indians into Nigeria to buy Gemstones in the likes of Tourmaline, Garnet, Topaz, and Quartz. The venture failed, because we didn’t put in the right legal framework for their market entry, and the sly Indians capitalized on our liberality.
Then I started using my internet skills to sell industrial minerals and Gemstones for Jimmy International Merchants Ltd, but was never encouraged by the way I was priced, because I wasn’t the custodian of the minerals, so had to make do with the paltry sum handed over to me. But I learnt a lot from the industry, and also noticed the industry was too informal and unorganized. Hence, I knew I had to acquire a new skill (administrative skill).
Then I met Mr. Adebayo Olaniyan of Tons Development Ltd, he imparted so much in my life. His organization was the second real life business school I attended. I was exposed to a lot of things from procurement to building a relationship with your bankers, and business development.
During the first year of working with him, I registered ARQUS Ventures with two partners, we closed a few deals. But my engagement at Tons Development Ltd, which was becoming promising never allowed me to project the ARQUS brand, and since it was my first time working within an organized environment, I had to let go of other ambition.
So I got so involved in the organization, that I was perceived a Director in the organization. I spent six years there, before our values and needs shifted. If there was something I wish I could undo, it’s how to mend our broken relationship because of our divergent views, and also because he groomed me to be a better entrepreneur.
A lot of things would have been vague to me, without being under his tutelage, as a mentee and employee. But, what I learnt was to be constantly open to ideas from your employees, never be too far from them.
While I was gainfully employed at Tons Development Ltd, I registered Sapient Vendors Ltd in 2010. I worked for two additional years before stepping out into the fierce business environment. By October, 2015 it would have been three years full time dedication to Sapient Vendors Ltd.
-
Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
My experience at Vikky Creations Ltd inspired my decision. A secondary school leaver with no management experience being handed the responsibility to run a family business that feeds a family of six, pay its bills and all other sorts.
And interestingly I survived. Interestingly, I was able to capture a niche of clients for myself, when my Dad and I had divergent views on pricing. We had a few clients who couldn’t afford to pay the company’s standard pricing, I could profitably render same service to these cadres of client but he couldn’t. So I started selling same service to them, and would say I made good cash back then, it was fun and fulfilling.
Secondly, while working at Tons Development Ltd, I enrolled for entrepreneurship training at Fate Foundation (2007). Then, I couldn’t afford to pay the fees (N50, 000). I was sincere with the admission personnel, so she invited me to pitch my business idea.
I quickly went to a Cybercafe, penned, printed and submitted my idea. After review, I was a lucky recipient of Citi Bank sponsored scholarship. So I had my firsthand entrepreneurship training from Fate Foundation. The concepts taught were easy to grasp, because I could easily relate what I was being taught with my experience at my workplace.
-
When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
- To become a sector benchmark in delivering innovative solutions.
- I saw opportunities instead of problems.
- I wanted to convert my experience into service that could be paid for.
- The need for a strong brand that would compete with the likes Julius Berger (long term).
-
What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
It is important to build a business around what you naturally love to do. Your business is like your spouse, if you are not passionate about her, the whole relationship would crumble, same with business.
I always had passion for engineering, in fact I wanted to study Mechanical Engineering, but JAMB frustrated me, and really it wasn’t the fault of JAMB. I had to manage Vikky Creations and study at the same time, and if you were ever close to a successful Tailor back in the days, am sure you would understand how time was never enough to attend to personal issues.
I had to bring that up because, somehow the winds of destiny swept me to the shores of my desires (Engineering).
-
What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
At a point in this journey, we would start some CSR initiative targeted towards Primary, and Secondary school leavers who were handed responsibilities they never bargained for (especially hawking). We would empower them, because they are having firsthand enterprising experience, but are not aware of its potential and if not well empowered they get sucked into the black hole of street urchins.
-
What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Value creation which cut across the below listed stakeholders;
- Customers
- Employees
- Investors (Partners and would be equity investors)
- Environment
Part 2: Walter Emiedafe Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
-
How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
- Network
- Reading of business journals and market research reports.
- A combination of experience and intuition. And do note that intuition is a catalogue of experience stored in your subconscious mind.
- Risk analysis (How would you get paid, who is responsible to pay for your service, is the client willing to sign a contract of engagement? If not flee. The last point is a warning sign that you would work for God! Lol!)
-
Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
Yes!
The first entrepreneur mentor I had was Mr. Ademola Agboola of Fast Pace Limited through Fate Foundation. He taught me that perception was key; so the journey to re-package our corporate profile commenced from that point and so we engaged an external consultant.
He calmed my steam a bit, especially due to my over ambitiousness, he encouraged organic growth.
He taught me how to manage external business partners; I soon had more practical experience down the road.
I learnt how to network at events via this relationship.
My other mentor, Alibaba – the Godfather of Nigerian Stand-Up comedy, thought me how to appreciate my clients after patronage.
Gave me a better idea on how my logo and call cards should feel to a prospect, and encouraged the use of social media for promoting the brand.
He also shared the Zacheaus Philosophy with me;
- Know your limitations (Challenges)
- Work out a solution: using Alibaba’s recommended tools
- Reading
- Networking
- Learn from other people’s challenge.
My third mentor, Ononuju Irukwu opened my eyes to accountability, as it would improve our corporate governance when we finally plan to raise equity. Hence we partnered with Xero. Now we can have our audited account in lesser time.
She also encouraged board restructuring, the engagement of a Legal practitioner to vet all contracts and emphasized the importance of Insurance.
All the above we have implemented.
-
How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
- Executing on business strategy.
- Attending diverse seminars and forums to network and learn from Industry leaders.
-
How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
We never started from profitable clients; we started rendering our services to individual clients, and were owed a lot of money. Because there was no binding contract which was enforceable by the law. The same followed with our first corporate client (A typical Nigerian partnership run like a one man business).
Besides attending high profile business events for networking purposes, and submitting targeted proposals to prospective clients, we’ve recently adopted digital marketing through Differentiate Online. And I can proudly say that it was one of the best business decisions we’ve made since late last year; our brand visibility, lead generation and conversion strategy has greatly improved as a result.
-
Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
Lack of funding is never the problem; the problem is lack of passion, resilience and lack of value created. Wealth and money flows in the direction of value, and the quality of value you create is a function of the quality of your mind.
We have funded project with next to zero account balance (this is in comparison to the capital required to execute a project). And also to expatiate on value, banks are not the only source of funding, your friends and partners are other sources. How are you communicating the value of their input to them, is it a me thing or our thing (teamwork)?
Lastly, lack of integrity would repel funding. Integrity is another source of capital; can you be trusted with money? Can your suppliers and workers trust that when you get their goods and services on credit you would pay them their bits when you are liquid? When you borrow, do you have the desire to pay back? Or rather prefer to default because you are smart?
Fix the above and capital would come running at you!
-
When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
- Accountants
- Auditors
- Lawyers
- Marketing Consultant to help with your personas and target audience
- Technically competent consultants within the desired industry, this would reduce waste of time and capital.
-
The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
It depends on each individual’s competitive strategy (long-term or short term).
Part 3: Walter Emiedafe Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
-
What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
1). Niche market created within Vikky Creations Ltd was profitable, but my emotional attachment to the workforce led me to use generated profit to offset owed salaries.
2). Gemstones export with the two Indian companies invited to Nigeria failed, because there was no legally binding agreement guiding their market entry, and the organization we partnered with wasn’t well structured and had no financial resource to back the venture, hence was a self financed venture.
3). Supply of Clay to Lafarge, Ewekoro. Borrowed N80, 000.00 from a senior friend (Pastor Adewunmi Oke The CEO of Heterogeneous Systems Ltd), added an additional N32, 000 saved to start of the venture. On paper the project was profitable, since I was still gainfully employed at Tons Development, had to delegate the supply to a local indigene. The business went bad, but I made sure I paid off the loan.
4). Bulk purchase of granite and reselling to would be buyers. The field sales person gave a couple of excuse, so had to cut my losses. My loss was about 35% of investment capital.
5). Exportation of Zinc ore via cooperative export scheme, organized by 3tImpex. Had the support of one of the company’s present partner (Olalekan Ajani). Total capital injected N700, 000.00 (My quota: N400, 000.00, Lekan’s Quota: N300, 000). Business failed because the essay report provided by the indigenous certifying body painted a wrong picture of the quality of the ore (below the contractually agreed upon specification), hence the Chinese importer paid lesser than the invested sum by all cooperative member. These was my total savings invested in a venture that I thought would have been a bailout from paid employment. So I returned back to zero capital.
6). Was successful in the first Psychometric test and unsecured loan disbursement organized by Stanbic IBTC. I used same loan to execute an individual client’s project (residential). Till date he is yet to pay for the service rendered. Lesson learnt: without a documented agreement, never spend a dime on a client’s project based on blind trust.
-
Where there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
Appreciation
- Mara Mentors: Providing linkage to Alibaba GCFR + Ononuju Irukwu of Chapelhill & Denhamm
- Fate Foundation – Providing linkage to Ademola Agoola of Fast Pace Ltd
- Adebayo Olaniyan of Tons Development Ltd
- Citi Bank – Scholarship @ Fate Foundation
- Ademola Agoola of Fast Pace Ltd
Your Turn
I’m so convinced you had more than you asked for in this interview. But just in case, he missed out something, what more would you like to know about the unusual Walter Emiedafe?
You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What strategies did you pick up from him?
Walter has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview Questions With Dave Schneider of NinjaOutreach.com
Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I have with me Dave Schneider, a 27 years old Entrepreneur and the co-founder of NinjaOutreach – a content marketing outreach solution for digital marketers, bloggers and small businesses.
In this interview, he shared with us why he decided to abandon a well paying corporate job [$70k+ per year] and launch out on his own to pursue his dreams as an entrepreneur. He also takes us behind the scenes on;
- How to define a price for your product/service, using the tier method
- Why entrepreneurs should only pursue an idea that is large enough to grow into something great
- The essential role mentors play in the life of every entrepreneur and what a mentor will never do for you
- The importance of knowing your limitations as an entrepreneur and being realistic with your available resources when pursuing new business ideas/opportunities
- And many more…
What are you waiting for?
Start digging in!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
-
Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
I am 27 years old from Boston Massachusetts. I graduated from Harvard with a degree in mathematics and worked at Capital One as a business analyst for two years.
Afterwards I left my job and went backpacking around the world for two years with my girlfriend. During that time we started numerous businesses such as buying and selling websites, advertising, and SEO, and were able to replace our previous full time income.
For the last four years I have been developing my skills as a digital marketer, and in June 2014 I partnered with two other digital entrepreneurs and began developing and marketing NinjaOutreach, a blogger outreach software for digital marketers and small businesses interested in growing their presence online.
Previously, this would have required several different tools to find the leads, extract the data, and outreach to them. We do this all in one, and do it much faster. NinjaOutreach collects an immense amount of data from a variety of sources into a searchable database, and allows people to email customized templates from within the platform.
-
How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
When I started traveling we decided to start a travel blog. This was my foray into online marketing. I learned about blogging, how to generate traffic, how to capture leads, and how to make sales.
Eventually this travel blog hobby spiraled into a fledgling business, and it really opened my eyes that an individual could generate income on his own – without a company paycheck, and have a lot more fun doing it.
Since then I’ve never looked back and it has been my goal to build a sustainable lifestyle business that will allow me to work from anywhere in the world.
-
When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
When I first started out, I simply had to make money. That was the main driving force. I wanted to show myself and frankly other people as well that I could go a non-traditional path and earn my own living.
Nowadays money is still a factor, but I can be less money driven and more focused on providing value to the end customer. NinjaOutreach is far from a quick buck. Investing in a software startup is a grind and requires patience and years to become successful, but I know it’s a valuable product and will improve the lives of business owners, and that’s what drives us forward.
-
What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
I agree with this 100%.
When you start a business you’re going to have a lot of ups and downs. Some of the downs are often referred to as the valley of despair.
This is where most people fail and quit.
The more passionate you are about what you’re doing, the more able you are to persevere during these very difficult times.
I have run a business before where I was making quite a bit of money, but had zero passion for it, and eventually I just let it fade out of my own disinterest.
-
What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
I think there are two end goals.
Teach people – I believe that entrepreneurs have an inner desire to teach people. I’ve always been a teacher. My dad was a teacher. My sister is a teacher. I just want to teach in a field that interests me – entrepreneurship.
Social Good – Although NinjaOutreach is a valuable product that can improve the lives of business owners, I wouldn’t classify it as a social good, like clean tech. Eventually, I want to transition into more of these types of projects, and have a greater impact on humanity.
-
What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
The purpose of entrepreneurship is to innovate, and therefore allow the world to progress, improving the lives of everyone.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
-
How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
Finding a good business opportunity is about finding the balance between the size of the pie and the resources required to pull it off. You have to know your own limitations as an entrepreneur and be realistic about what resources you have access to. Of course this has been proven wrong countless times before, where people who came from nothing dreamed big and achieved big – but I do think as a general rule it helps to be realistic.
At the same time you want to be pursuing an idea that is large enough to grow into something great. I see a lot of people wasting time on very small-minded thinking (like building a small niche site), that could never make more than a few thousand dollars a month, at most.
The fact is the amount of effort these things require is not altogether different, so go big, but be conscious of your resources because if you run out, it’s game over.
-
Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
I have used SCORE as a means of getting one business mentor who I speak with every few months about my business. It helps to be able to speak with someone who is older, wiser, and has been there and can provide hands on advice and support.
That said, most of the day to day activities are between my team and I. Inevitably even with a mentor, you have to be prepared to be the one in the trenches, executing day after day.
-
How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
Firstly, if there is anything I can outsource, I do. I have assistants, hired off of oDesk usually, who handle a lot of the minute things like online research, organizing, etc. This helps free up my time to do things that only I can do, like this interview.
I try to balance my time between the product and the marketing. Both need attention and both are closely related, and it’s important not to get overly focused on one or the other. So, when my developer is working, I am probably more focused on product and answering his questions. When he is not, I go into marketing mode.
-
How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
What’s unusual about our method is that our tool is for blogger outreach and lead generation, so we basically use our tool to sell itself.
Of course, it is not direct. There is a channel involved, which is usually email. That said, I use our tool to find bloggers, affiliates, and general influencers who we can partner with. We do a lot of content marketing like guest posts, product reviews, giveaways, and things like that to get in front of other audiences.
-
Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
I think this comes back to my point about resources. I would be very wary about attacking a problem that depends on funding. NinjaOutreach could benefit from funding, but I believe that it can succeed even as a bootstrapped product, so I know that if we don’t get funding, we’re not going to go belly up tomorrow. We’re aware of our costs and what kind of money we have available to invest in the business, and we know that we have the talent on the team to see it through.
If you are having issues getting funding then you need to further prove the business. If you are having issues proving the business, then it may be that something is wrong with it, or you simply don’t have the help. In that case, consider taking on additional founders or employees and giving them equity, so that you can grow the business to become something that’s investable.
-
When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
Naturally my recommendation is to look at bloggers and influencers in your niche and try to persuade them to partner with you. They have large audiences and this can really accelerate your growth. If you’re not sure how to work with influencers, consider this case study on LeadPages.
-
The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
I’m certainly not a pricing expert but I have heard the following principles:
1. Always tier your pricing, because a high proportion of the revenue will come from the high end tier, even though it will likely represent the lowest number of customers.
2. Make the tiers different enough to stand out, something like 1x, 2x, 5x.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
-
Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
So far it remains the travel blogging business I started on the road. This business became around a $20k per month service business, where we were selling advertising on travel blogs to agencies. I ran this with my girlfriend and a few contracted assistants, and we did it while traveling the world full time (over 40 countries). It received zero funding.
-
What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
Some of my major setbacks were partly external, for example, the aforementioned business had issues with Google and they basically de-indexed a lot of our websites, which cut the legs out from under the business when it was just taking off.
Personally, I’ve attempted some businesses that I think had the potential to be successful, but I got discouraged too early and gave up. This is what i mean when I say you have to be passionate about what you’re doing. I wasn’t passionate about either of those businesses, at least not to the extent that I was willing to see them through hard times and rough starts.
-
Where there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
Perhaps a question about trends, such as: What’s one trend that really excites you?
I really love the growth in blogging, as well as quality content creation and content promotion. More and more there is quality information being put out there and people are taking their blogs more seriously. As a result brands and businesses are coming around and looking at online audiences as effective markets that they want to tap into. Naturally this trend bodes well for our blogger outreach software.
Your Turn
I’m so convinced you had more than you asked for in this interview. But just in case, he missed out something, what more would you like to know about the unusual Dave Schneider?
You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What strategies did you pick up from him?
Dave has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview with Jamon Mok of Backstreet Academy
Backstreet Academy is a travel social enterprise platform empowering anyone in developing countries to create and sell a tour or activity to travelers looking for a unique, local experience while benefiting the local community.
Launched in March 2014, by Jamon Mok, who personally hates package tours and is always looking for better ways to travel and connect with locals, especially in places where language is a problem.
He got inspired to create Backstreet Academy whilst travelling through Myanmar and seeing how hard the artists have to work to try accessing the tourist market.
Since then, Backstreet Academy has grown on average 39.2% per month, and currently offers more than 300 activities in over 16 cities around Asia.
How Does it Work?
Just like Airbnb, anyone can create an experience, list it on our website and guests can book directly from them. Even people who cannot speak English, access internet are able to do so through our local translator system. Hosts make 50-60% of the listed price, translators take 10-20%, transport operators take 10-15% and Backstreet Academy takes around 10-15%.
Take it away Jamon!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
-
Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
Backstreet Academy is a social enterprise travel platform that empowers locals to create their own tour, workshop or activity for tourists, resulting in a very unique and authentic experience and cultural exchange that cannot be found anywhere else. Imagine a boxing class with a local champion, taking an art workshop with a master who practices an art medium that nobody has ever seen before or going fishing with local fishermen on their boats and traditional equipment.
We started Backstreet Academy mainly with the aim of alleviating poverty through empowering local people with the tools and channels to be their own entrepreneurs and access the tourism market directly with proper training and unique activities. We are also avid travelers who are always looking for offbeat experience that allows us to delve deeper into a country’s culture and have a better interaction with locals.
-
How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
Richard Branson’s autobiography really inspired me to pursue entrepreneurship and create value for the world and it is only through starting my own business that we could create such impact and innovate to make a difference in the world. CK Prahalad’s ‘Fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid” and MuhdYunus’ books about social business also really guided us in the creation of sustainable and responsible businesses that would not only be profit maximizing but always have a positive social impact.
-
When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
It was always to empower people in a huge way, and building a platform such as backstreet academy was the perfect idea as it really provided many tools to empower people in poverty to be able to access the tourism market and have a marked improvement in their quality of life.
-
What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
Entrepreneurship is tough, and there are so many factors that can break a business, and loving what they do is a small part of becoming the best at what they offer. Loving what they do does help in getting them in being good at it, but I guess the prerequisite is being good at it. Just loving something, however, is purely a hobby.
-
What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
I would like to be remembered as someone who made a difference for people and that the world has been a slightly better place because of me. It doesn’t have to be all grand and world changing, a small dent and a real impact in individual peoples’ lives are all that matters. I like to measure my life with the number of people impacted, rather than by wealth.
-
What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
The purpose of entrepreneurship is really to bring resources together, inspire an explosive reaction from what you’ve assembled as a force for good and pushing the boundaries of human civilization for the better.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
-
How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
Business opportunities almost always surface as problems. As long as someone has a problem that they can’t wait to get rid off, that’s most likely an opportunity. Then it’s on to finding out how many people likely have the same problem and how much they’re willing to pay for it. That determines the market size and hence viability.
That’s the traditional way of determining the viability and profitability of any business opportunity, but that’s where many world changing ideas and socially impactful ideas get left on the side because they don’t pass this test.
Sometimes it’s not immediately visible as a big market (i.e. a lot of people may have the problem but it’s rather impossible to determine, like when Thomas Watson said there is a demand for only 5 computers in the world). Technology is probably the hardest to imagine the size and reach right at the beginning to justify building something.
Socially impactful products are probably next in line because your customers often cannot afford to pay for what you develop. Socially impactful products thus should be measured by the positive impact to judge their viability. As long as they have significant positive impact, it can happen one way or another.
-
Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
No, there are too many moving pieces and intricacies in any business for a coach to actually accurately recommend solutions, unless he is also as hands-on and deep in the business, which is rarely the case. Unless the problem is very very clearly defined, then it makes sense. However, that is again hardly the case.
-
How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
Reading widely to keep abreast of developments, reading historically to understand why and how people made their decisions, always learning new skills, and giving generously to whoever might require it.
-
How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
The core of our approach is to create a magical experience for our customers, making it memorable for people, and that will naturally spread. That’s the best way to market products. We ensure that we’re always attentive, updated and always able to create surprises for our customers.
-
Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
Funding is always an issue for companies of any size. The best way is to ensure that you turn a profit as soon as possible, and as soon as you don’t need the money, money becomes readily available. It’s ironic, but the logic sits deep in finance, where banks are always there to lend when you don’t need it and never there when you need it.
-
When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
Probably outsource everything you’re not the best at or things that are not really integral to the success of your product, such as the accounting, incorporation, logo design, etc. These just burns up unnecessary time and effort without doing anything for the viability of the company, and if not done well will actually threaten the viability.
- The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
Pricing is never straightforward, especially for new products. The best way is to launch at a pricing comparatively more or less looking at what’s on the market, and provide a signal based on that. If you price more, then you are positioning for premium and if less, then you are positioning for affordability. Always look at what customers are actually willing to pay and then just shift prices accordingly.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
-
Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
Empowering more than 400 people in developing countries to be able to access the tourism market and directly impacting their lives positively through the income, training and exposure we provide. The numerous stellar reviews we obtain from customers are also something that motivates us the most.
Your Turn
I’m so convinced you had more than you asked for in this interview. But just in case, he missed out something, what more would you like to know about the unusual Jamon Mok?
You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What strategies did you pick up from him?
Jamon has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview With Ernest Umeike Of PushAndStart.com
In this edition of the unusual entrepreneur interviews, ex-banker Ernest Umeike after losing his job finally decides it’s time to take on the entrepreneur’s journey.
In this interview, he shared with us why he decided to launch his startup; PushandStart – a crowdfunding platform. He also takes us behind the scenes on;
- How to define a price for your product/service,
- The crucial difference between a business idea and a business opportunity,
- The essential role mentors play in the life of every entrepreneur
- The importance of networking and research
- And many more…
What are you waiting for?
Start digging in!
Interview Questions Part One
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Awakening the Spirit of business
1. Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your business? What do you do?, how do you do it?, why do you do it and who do you do it for?
My name is Ernest Umeike; I am ex banker who has taken a plunge into the interesting world of entrepreneurship. My firm Bellerophon Corp recently launched an equity crowdfunding platform, www.pushandstart.com. We are creating an avenue for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to potential investors while receiving the added benefit of meeting mentors and professional service providers. While working on a project we had problems with financing and marketing, we discovered we were not alone and decided to feel that niche. A melting pot for all players in the African entrepreneurship ecosystem.
2. How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business? Where there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is the road less travelled and that is because it is riddled with challenges. I probably may not have ventured had I not lost my bank job but it is a decision I do not regret.
3. When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?
I initially wanted to go into the hospitality business and open a bar. I eventually settled for what I really know and have experience in –Finance. At Bellerophon we want to enhance financial awareness amongst entrepreneurs, make the investor community more likely to invest in startups, create a new type of investor, and help entrepreneurs meet mentors. We believe this is the jab in the arm the African economy needs, especially with mentors helping entrepreneurs take the step with less apprehension and needed encouragement.
4. What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?
Passion is an essential part of being involved in any venture. That said, we may not really know what we love to do if we have not tried it before. I feel that love for a business endeavour cannot surpass the knowledge of the endeavour. Anyone seeking to be an entrepreneur needs to be ready to seize the opportunities that come by but also being ready to commit themselves fully to make it work and knowing what they are doing really helps.
5. What is your personal life mission as an entrepreneur? That is; what contributions do you want to make with your life or what would you like to be remembered for as an entrepreneur through the businesses you create when you die?
I would like to be remembered for having done my part in making Africa’s economy a bit more liberalized and sophisticated. That would make me glad.
6. What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?
Entrepreneurship innovates. Entrepreneurs help us find new solutions for our everyday problems. That helps societies evolve as we change our habits and find new ways of living. Entrepreneurs also create employment, affording people who aren’t entrepreneurs a livelihood. Entrepreneurs also help expanding economies. Creating different avenues for wealth creation makes an economy more sophisticated and productive.
Interview Questions Part Two
STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices
7. How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?
The first step is to differentiate a business idea from a business opportunity. A business idea is a concept an entrepreneur thinks up which may be used to generate revenue. The business opportunity is more tangible as it is comes up from researching the idea and discovering its viability as a source of revenue. It is important to engage the market before you put a product out.
This lets you know exactly if there is a need to feed, identify the potential customers and the size of the market and more importantly if anyone will pay for the product. Then you will also need to ascertain the competition you have and how they will impact on your own product. If you get positive feedback it is the first step to knowing if the business will be profitable.
8. Do you have mentors, business coach or external consultants that you work closely with to grow yourself and your business? If yes, to what extent would you describe their impact on your business? If no, are there any particular reasons?
Experience is the best teacher but one needs not experience everything. In my entrepreneurial adventure I have come to see the importance of mentors. Years of interaction and advice from colleagues and supervisors while working in the Financial Sector have proved indispensable.
My mum has also played an important role as well because she has always been involved in one business or the other and has garnered some important experiences over the years.
Fellow entrepreneurs have also been mentors as they have opened up on their challenges and triumphs which have been indispensable as well. On www.pushandstart.com we have made it possible for entrepreneurs to interact with mentors. We know this will be indispensable to them as well.
9. How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?
Two things are important — networking and research. Networking helps put you in the loop, puts your idea out there and helps you get the all important independent opinion. Research must be taken seriously. Every entrepreneur must realize that every idea must be fine tuned before it becomes a product and research will improve the product of that idea as innovation stems from constant research and development.
10. How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?
As a startup on a limited budget marketing has to be unusual. Therefore, it is important to know your customer – know what the customer wants, where he lives and understand his thinking as well. Social media is a veritable tool with platforms like Facebook and Twitter. I also use word of mouth while attending events and everywhere I go. Marketing is all about engagement.
Of recent I learnt an important maxim from Lean Startup Machine – every customer has a problem and every problem has a solution. Not every solution has a problem and not every problem has a customer. This is at the back of my mind all the time. On www.pushandstart.com we offer a multi-sided market where entrepreneurs, investors and professional service providers will interact.
This benefits the entrepreneurs need for testing his product and makes getting professional services easy which benefits service provider. Investors can also gauge the acceptability of a business they are interested in. This interaction profits everyone including the mentors who also provide the entrepreneurs with advice and support.
11. Many entrepreneurs complain about not succeeding in business due to lack of adequate funding, what is your take on this matter and how do you cope with funding issues in your business?
Lack of funding is probably the biggest obstacle to the growth of entrepreneurship globally. Traditional financing has always shied away from startups and the few that are brave enough to invest may end up taking a large chunk of the business thereby wresting control from the entrepreneur. With www.pushandstart.com, we intend to bridge the funding gap for entrepreneurs by attracting them to a new type of investor, who will receive a fixed equity for any investment in their business, The equity creates a joint commitment by entrepreneur and investor to make the business succeed. The entrepreneur keeps the majority stake and gets the funding needed to take the business to the next level.
12. When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?
Ideally a business with two co-founders would be my recommendation but many entrepreneurs have what it takes to go it alone. Technical knowledge of the business would be ideal no matter the situation. I have observed a low level of financial awareness amongst entrepreneurs and I would recommend an accountant to assist with bookkeeping and audit. Prudence and good record keeping are two habits any successful business must form from the onset. A lawyer is also important when handling incorporation and regulatory issues. Mentors are also important as they provide indispensable advice and assistance when challenges and pitfalls come up.
13. The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?
An entrepreneur must ensure that his business has revenue. Revenue comes from sales, which are determined by price. Pricing is influenced by many factors;
- Competition– the entrepreneur must ensure he does not get priced out of the market.
- Locality– The business’ location also influences the price- very cheap services do not get patronage in an upscale neighbourhood.
- Market positioning – also determines price, for instance, if the product is a fast moving consumer good, a premium service or even a “freemium” service.
Flexibility in pricing is also essential, as a means of maximizing profit. Taking into consideration demand and supply, timing and the season while keeping an eye on the competition, an entrepreneur will increase his revenue by pricing dynamically.
Interview Questions Part Three
MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs
14. Since you became an entrepreneur – someone who solves problems for people profitably; what has been your most outstanding accomplishments in the context of business?
Bellerophon grows steadily as everyday passes. As one of the winners of the inaugural YOUWIN competition, it gave a sense of accomplishment that has inspired the zeal to keep going. With www.pushandstart.com I hope to reach new heights with other entrepreneurs
15. What would you describe as your major setbacks and what lessons did you pick from them?
Business comes with many challenges and setbacks. I would say that the inability to build the personal finance management app, we had developed into a profitable business was a bitter pill. It had taken a lot of effort and zeal. This taught me that passion may be important but it takes a lot more to create a complete product and take it through to marketing and eventual market acceptance
16. Where there any particular questions you expected me to ask that is beneficial to entrepreneurs and I didn’t? Kindly share with us such questions and their relevant answers here.
These questions were fine. Many thanks for the opportunity to speak to you.
Your Turn
I’m so convinced you had more than you asked for in this interview. But just in case, he missed out something, what more would you like to know about the unusual Ernest Umeike?
You can ask him further questions below in the comment section and I will be sure that you will get an answer directly from him.
Also, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur? What lessons, what philosophy of his strike you the most? What strategies did you pick up from him?
Ernest has shared his unusual story with you, now is time to hear from you. Can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
- Published in Interviews, Thought Bank