Chukwuma Innocent,Chairman of Innoson Group, the maker of Innoson motors brand, explained his vision in any interview which took place a month before he launched the largest indigenous car manufacturing company in Africa. His words:
I am going to launch a car in one month’s time that people can easily buy in Nigeria with small money. I am looking at about N3 million. The car will be big size, which will have air conditioning, automatic gear and other comforts that will make it easier for all. I am not just interested in the Nigerian market alone but the African market. I believe that anything you are doing do it well and if properly done it will market itself.
Over the years, he has crystallized that statement made here into
Our Brand: The 1st Made-in-Africa automobile brand
Our Purpose: To eradicate “tokunbo” (foreign used) automobiles from Africa
Our Vision: To become the pride of African roads i.e. Africa’s most preferred automobile brand
Our Mission: To make durable and affordable brand new automobiles for Africans
Jason Njoku, iROKOtv founder, has a great confession: be careful as you take VC (venture capital) fund for your startup. He is not saying that you should not take VC money; he is saying you need to have a real strategy as you do so. Why? The high-voltage intensity that comes with that money is not something every person can handle. Yes, there are emotions, and most times, bad things happen.
Because venture capitalists are exit-oriented and not necessarily profit-oriented, implying that scaling, at all costs, to jack up valuation, is what matters to them, taking that money means you have signed-off your work-life balance. But in a region like Africa where no one has good understanding of customers or the markets, scaling becomes bumpy with all models thrown out during executions. I have written extensively on our long gestation period to profitability.
The gestation period to profitability in a typical Nigerian startup is long. That long gestation is also the reason why many startups or small businesses collapse few years of founding. Typically, one way to deal with this is to raise capital, ramp up market entry to grow fast enough to attain profitability. But in our extreme volatile economy, if the timing is off by months, the company can collapse. You just run out of cash.
Here you see me, I believe one thing: the Best Investors Are Customers. Irrespective of where your fund is coming – VCs, personal, friends, associates, etc – until customers can invest in your business, you have no mission.
Ehmm, but it’s not possible to accept millions of other people’s money, only to go to bed and start snoring; obviously you have more or less murdered sleep, once you take up the challenge.
After all said and done, the most beautiful business success stories remain the ones started with almost nothing, then a product or services was ordered, and then paid for. It feels so good when you earn your first customer, in such a ‘natural’ way, no drama or unknown forces.
But to succeed in the latter, patience remains a key virtue, and then the ability to do more with less, call it prudence or anything you wish. Plenty money most times reduces quality of thoughts, do not get entrapped in that web, only few do well under such conditions.
If you know how to build from scratch and gain customers through your work, you can always sleep well at night, with a genuine smile during the day.
You only live once, take your time and ensure that you live it elegantly well.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, escaped death today as his helicopter crash-landed in Kogi state. His spokesperson, Laolu Akande, noted in a tweet: “VP Osinbajo’s Chopper crash lands in Kabba, but he and the entire crew safe. He is continuing with his engagements and plans for the day in Kogi State”, Premium Times reports. Reasons for the clash are currently unknown.
Meanwhile, the Vice President has also spoken on the accident.
Speaking at the Obaro of Kabba’s palace, his first stop after the incident, Mr. Osinbajo expressed gratitude to God for the safety of all occupants of the aircraft.
“We are extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives from the incident that just happened. Everyone is safe and no one is maimed. God has kept us safe and alive, delivered us from death so we can do more for our people and country,” he said.
I invite you to join me along with Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Prof Anindya Ghose and other speakers in Lagos (5-7 March 2019) for Big Data & Business Analytics Conference. We will discuss the new industrial redesign which is expected to be as impactful as the invention of fire.
Yes, big data, analytics and the narrow nexus of artificial intelligence will restructure the architecture of modern commerce and industry. We will examine how companies can prepare, plan and position to win. Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President, will speak in person, delivering the Opening Message. I will keynote the event with a speech titled “Abundance in the Data of Nations”.
I invite you all to make this event. My agtech subsidiary, Zenvus, is a sponsor. You will experience how AI is unlocking immense opportunities for farmers, replacing “guesswork farming technology” with data-driven processes, and along the way delivering abundance.
THEME: Big Data, Analytics and African Development VENUE: Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja-Lagos, Nigeria DATE: March 5th – 7th, 2019
I invite you to attend (register here), and possibly connect.
Manchester United interim manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, is on a roll. He recorded eight consecutive wins and has brought ManU closer to compete for Champions League football next year.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could boost his chances of landing the Manchester United job on a permanent basis by reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Solskjaer has enjoyed an excellent spell in interim charge of Old Trafford, winning his first eight games. That run came to an end against Burnley in midweek but United fought back from 2-0 down to rescue a point. United’s form has led to calls for Solskjaer to get the job on a permanent basis but he is expected back at Molde at the end of the season.
Yet, he used the same players as Jose Mourinho, the special one, whose star faded evidently. Of course the scheduling may not be the same but you cannot take it from Solskjaer – he has made Pogba, Martial and Rashford better.
That brings me to this question: who can motivate your team? Yes, as you can see, one man will take a highly castigated team to achieve impressive results even in the short-run. Before Solskjaer arrived, ManU was talking of shipping Pogba but today he is considered a great future for the Red Devils.
Until you find what can motivate or who can motivate your team, you may struggle to take that mission to the zenith. Find your Solskjaer in that business today.
A leader’s most important quality is to motivate, inspiring and influencing people under him/her to undertake great deeds. It is not for you to be doing the job yourself, that’s not leadership, it simply shows that you are deficient in the most important metric: motivation.
When men and women have lost confidence in you, then you have become a nuisance, capable of holding nobody, and leading nobody. If people are not moved when you speak, kindly step aside, you have lost it!
