Welcome to another edition of the Unusual Entrepreneur Interviews and today I am very honoured to have gotten this Unusual Entrepreneur in question. His name is Bamidele Onibalusi, a 18-year old entrepreneur and the founder of YoungPrePro, a blog on how to write for traffic and money.

If you are just joining us for the first time, this is the unusual entrepreneur interview series. It is a parade of unusual entrepreneurs who are changing the world and profiting from purpose. Profiting from purpose by changing the world isn’t an impossible dream as many tend to think of it, but a realistic one as many unusual entrepreneurs have extraordinarily proven.

 It is my life mission to understand the unusual qualities of such unusual entrepreneurs and inspire as many others to profit from purpose by changing the world. If you’re not yet familiar with our philosophy of unusual entrepreneurs, kindly download our free ebook: The Entrepreneur’s Journey. This is the official manifesto for anyone who wants to change the world and profit from purpose.

 How Unusual Is Bamidele Onibalusi?

Bamidele’s passion is writing and through writing he has been able to achieve so much despite is young age.

Below are two examples of his unusual accomplishments as a young entrepreneur changing the world through his writing and profiting from purpose.

1. Earning over $50k in one year at the young age of 17 writing articles for clients he got as a result of blogging.

2. Building a blog that now gets an average of 30k visits monthly and featured on major top blogs online, including Business Insider, ReadWriteWeb, Problogger and DailyBlogTips.

Interview Questions Part 1

 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?

Thanks so much for the opportunity, bro! I’m Bamidele Onibalusi, a Nigerian blogger, writer and internet entrepreneur. I also own YoungPrePro.com, a blog where I help other writers learn to make money and get traffic.

I write for income and traffic, I do it for myself, and I do it because it’s cool. Seriously, I first heard about the possibility of making money online when I was 14, when someone came to our church to organize a seminar about making money with the internet through Forex marketing; my interest was piqued, and I was ready to do anything to attend that seminar. Eventually, I was unable to attend the seminar, but I kept on researching to learn more about how to make money online.

I discovered an article by Steve Pavlina on how to make money blogging towards the end of 2010, and the main advice in the article is centered on giving value to your readers and not expecting something in return. Steve is a very persuasive writer, and he was able to get me hooked to his idea. That was how I started blogging.

My main reason for blogging is to help others. While it will be cool to make money from my efforts, nothing makes me happier than getting emails and comments from my readers that they are motivated and inspired by my articles.

2.      How would you describe your entrepreneurial journey into the world of business?

To be sincere, being an entrepreneur is full of challenges, but I guess that’s the joy of it. It’s just like gold; to get the best out of gold you have to refine it, and you have to do that with fire. I believe the challenges I go through is what makes it worthwhile.

3.      Were there any key incidents or life changing events that inspired your decision to become an entrepreneur?

Actually, nothing I can remember. Just that I was so determined never to work for anybody, and I wanted to be very rich when I was young; not a rich man who can’t sleep because he wants to earn, but a rich man who can earn money when he is sleeping. When I heard about the internet, I knew it was the opportunity I had been waiting for.

4.      When you started out in business, what specific idea, purpose or vision was your key driving force?

My driving force was my goals. I’m not that motivated by people; I love people, especially when they succeed, but I do ask myself how I can be better myself. I’ve always been a dreamer, and as a result I had a lot big goals I wanted to accomplish (I still have), and it is these goals that I look up to whenever I feel “tired”.

5.      What is your take on the general notion that entrepreneurs should build a business around what they naturally love to do?

Well, I agree. I currently have around 3 websites, and I have built several websites before YoungPrePro, but the only reason why YoungPrePro is so successful is because it has my personal, undivided attention. I have spent thousands of dollars on my other sites, but I even fight myself to pay attention and personally monitor them; that’s the importance of passion. You need to monitor every business you invest yourself or resources into, and that’s exactly what passion enables you to do.

6.       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?

Seriously, I still don’t know that yet. Primarily, I want to help other writers succeed, I want to help others get the motivation and self-confidence that they are worth a lot, and I want to influence people towards success. But my ultimate mission, I guess I still have to go through life enough to know what that is; after all, I’m only just starting 😉

7.      What would you describe as the purpose of entrepreneurship? That is; what role do entrepreneurs play in the world?

They change the world! Entrepreneurs create businesses, they inspire people to business, and they teach people to confidently do whatever they want; you don’t need to spend your life in an office working under somebody else when you can easily achieve a lot more through your own business.

8.      How are you changing the world through the business, products or services you create?

By helping writers achieve their dreams. This could be through them making more money, increasing their fame, and building up their confidence.

Interview Questions Part 2

 STRATEGY: The unusual execution of business best practices

9.      What would you describe as your secret formula for business success?

My tenacity; that is, my persistent determination to succeed at whatever I do, no matter what the obstacles may be.

10.     How do you identify business opportunities and what metrics do you use to measure their viability?

Competition is one major thing I use to determine a solid business opportunity; not extreme competition, but healthy competition. If a lot of businesses are investing their money into something every day, then it is working.

11.     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, not at the moment! I do read a lot of books, blogs, and I listen to podcasts for information and motivation.

12.     How do you strategically use your time as an entrepreneur? What key activities would you recommend entrepreneurs use their time for?

Aha, I think that depends on you. I think it’s a really bad idea to take time management advice from me; I’ve spent as much as 25 hours in front of the television watching a single movie at a stretch before, so I guess it’s all about how you want to use your freedom.

13.     How do you generate profitable customers for your business? What unusual approaches do you adopt for marketing your products/services?

My main approach is giving value. Clients, customers, and whoever your business engine is, will come when they see value in your work. People gather where value is, so give value to get results. Also, don’t underestimate the impact marketing can have; network with influencers in your field, look for ways to leverage the audience of others and be creative enough to try new marketing approaches.

14.     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?

Aha, I guess if that’s your complaint, then it’s a question of how creative you are. People don’t just fund businesses for fun, or because you deserve it, they fund businesses because they believe there’s going to be a return in it for them. Let investors see your business as a potential source of great profit, and they will be happy to pour any amount into it.

15.     When starting out a new business, who are the likely possible partners or professional service providers you would recommend every entrepreneur work with?

Google! This is the best website on the entire planet, so ignore it at your own peril.

16.     The pricing of products/services is always an issue for entrepreneurs, what unusual approach do you take when it comes to pricing?

The first thing I do is realize that not everybody will be willing to pay my price, and the second thing is that people only pay what they think your product/service is worth. Provide adequate value, and charge what you think you’re worth. Also, make sure to check out what the market range is to ensure you aren’t being cheated, or that you aren’t charging a lot more than the market pays.

Interview Questions Part 3

MISCELLANEOUS: Resourceful Recommendations, tools, books, and ideas for entrepreneurs

17.     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.

Seriously, you killed it with your questions! I think everything is perfect just as it is!

Your Turn

You’ve met Bamidele, what did you learn from this unusual entrepreneur?

Share your views below in the comment section.

Thank you for your time!

ONE LAST THING!

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