Enthusiast Living Legend

access it as a subscription. This means that you can pay less per person, and it’s a fee that covers you for a year so that if anything happens in that year, you’re taken care of.

We’re also looking to implement a buy now, pay later partnership. That’s something that we have in the works and what it means is that anybody who signs up with us through our app can prequalify for a certain number of credits. This means that if you need the service, whether it’s for yourself, your family member, or somebody else, you can receive it without worrying about paying right at the point of care. Then, you and that provider can work out a payment plan - whether you want to pay back in three or six months. So that’s another measure that we’re taking to make this more accessible to more people.

What do you enjoy the most about your entrepreneurship journey?

That’s an interesting question. I think two things. One of them is just the challenge of figuring out a problem and how to solve it. At the root of entrepreneurship is a desire to solve a problem. Oftentimes people shy away from doing hard things. For whatever reason, we picked perhaps one of the hardest things to do in healthcare, but I think that’s the fun.

There’s no doubt that we have not even come close to solving the problem. And for me, I think as long as the problem persists, we have a lot to do. The second one is the people. Entrepreneurs are truly some of the most incredible people I’ve met. Both in terms of their passion, and drive, and they are smart. It’s been truly fun and a privilege to meet with so many great people in the healthcare space and more widely across the business.

Are there times you feel so exhausted and feel like giving up?

Of course. Like yesterday. I don’t think there is anybody in business who doesn’t feel like that at some point. I think what helps is, number one, just a fundamental desire to see that problem solved. This is something I’m incredibly passionate about. Healthcare is a right. It is something that people deserve to have access to by virtue of being human. They don’t need any other qualifications. So, in order to be able to achieve that, we need people that able to pursue that impressively. And that’s something that reminds me that, ‘you know what, the problem still exists, there is still an opportunity to solve it. Today might have been difficult; take a step back, rest if you need to, but tomorrow we keep going.’

What are the lessons you have learnt?

One of the lessons I have learnt and still learning is being able to move quickly. The environment is always changing. The needs of patients, customers, and whoever you’re serving are constantly evolving; keeping a pulse on that and making changes in line with what you’re learning is really key.

There are so many examples of businesses that eventually go under because they failed to keep up with the changes. I think that’s one thing that I am learning, and we are really trying to practice.

What would you advise someone planning to start a business in Nigeria?

I think one of them is to start, but start smart. Sometimes, people say, ‘when I have all this time, or I need to have all this money and pour everything into this business.’ One of the big things I’ve learnt is, fundamentally, unless there is a clear demand even before you think about starting, you have to validate that your idea is a good one.

You may have an idea, and it may sound good to you and your friends, and family and your mother may tell you that it’s wonderful. But that doesn’t mean anything. You have to find ways to validate it. And validating should not necessarily require you to spend millions of naira. There should be small tests that you run, small ways that you can put your ideas out into the market and get feedback.

What if things don’t seem to work out? Would you advise an entrepreneur to quit?

Quitting is a tough one because I know of entrepreneurs who have quit, and I know some that kept pushing for a long time and then eventually, something worked. So, I don’t know if I will necessarily say you should quit. I think it goes back to your validation process. The question is, did you validate there was actually a problem? If there is indeed a problem, the question is, are you bringing the right solutions to that problem? Because it could be that there is indeed a problem, but you don’t have the right solution, in which case you don’t necessarily need to quit; you need to pivot.

Pivot simply means you’re changing direction. Maybe a change in how you deliver value, or you’re changing who you are targeting. And that’s very common. All startups, at some point, will eventually pivot. So, if that’s the case, that’s not quitting; it’s doing something different.

I don’t think I would ever wake up and say quit outrightly. There are a lot of things you can try; a lot of changes you can make before you get to the point of saying, ‘clearly, this is not working.’

If you discover that there is no problem to solve, then yes, there is a strong case for quitting and finding something else to do. But again, that’s where validation comes in, and you don’t want to find this out after you put your life savings, quit your job and put everything into it