Launch Magazine Issue 01

The Resource for Startups

ISSUE 01

THE MEN WHO BUILT AFRICA BENJAMIN NDUBUISI’S VISION FOR FOUNDING FFB

TURNING YOUR

HOBBY INTO A GLOBAL BRAND “PRODUCT ON TIME”

How to Perpetuate your Business Idea in the Marketplace

Interview with FUNKE BUCKNOROBRUTHE CEO, ZAPPHAIRE EVENTS

Inside

ISSUE 01 | JULY 2016

Cover Story An exclusive interview with the CEO, Zapphaire Events

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Startup Insights

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Ethics

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Strategy

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Learn how to avoid the 10 most common startup mistakes

Explore the Power of Goal Setting

Understand the Basic Questions to ask in Starting a Business

Decoded

Uncover the Success Secrets of the Knowledge Merchant

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JULY 2016

CONTENTS

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The Daring A Young CEO’s Quest to Make Meaning

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Editor’s Note

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Chibuikem Atueyi Chibuikem Atueyi Managing Editor Toyitan Adigun Associate Editor Gbenga Awomodu Sharon-Ann Alofokhai Contributing Editors LAUNCH Media Design LAUNCH magazine is a publication and trademark of LAUNCH media, Nigeria. www.launchzine.com +237 701 732 3234

LAUNCH magazine has been 3 years in the making, and whilst working on this project, I learned two profound life lessons which I'd like to share with you: One, Never lose sight of your vision to create something meaningful.

As long as you hold tenaciously to it, and keep working at it, you'd attract the right people, resources and inner strength to make it a reality.

Two, Do not wait for anyone to turn on your light; DO IT YOURSELF! The truth is, if that thing is "gonna" work, you'd have to work it yourself. If God has placed a vision in your heart, within you is all you need to make that vision happen. NEVER DOUBT IT! These thoughts are corroborated by the fine minds we had the privilege to feature in this maiden edition of LAUNCH magazine. Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, unarguably one of Nigeria's top event managers, shares how what started as a hobby has become Zapphaire Events - A Global Brand.

Zuberu Kadiri, a man of many parts, yet with such sound business acumen, talks on sundry business areas any entrepreneur desirous of building a lasting business will do well to heed.

I've had the opportunity to interact with Benjamin Ndubuisi on several occasions, both professionally and personally, and each time, he never fails to inspire me. He's truly one to watch out for in the coming years.

The phenomenom we saw sweep through much of the western world, two centuries ago is now upon us. We are in the midst of an entreprenuerial revolution - young people, smart, savvy and visionary are taking over the business ecosystem, providing solutions to today's and tommorrow's problems, whilst utilizing the ubiquitous tools of technology.

These are the best of times to take the entrepreneurship plunge, and LAUNCH magazine is poised as a lighthouse, beaming light to guide you through the, most times, uncertain entrepreneurship waters. We are the resource, committed to guaranteeing your startup success.

Here's hoping that this edition's contents provides the right knowledge and inspiration for you to create something that'd make the world a better place.

Yours,

PS: I'd sincerely appreciate your feedback. You can shoot me a mail via editor@launchzine.com

EDITOR’S NOTE JULY 2016

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COMMON STARTU P MISTAKES & And How To Avoid Them

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obody starts out wanting to make mistakes in anything they do, but the truth is that most people do. Sometimes mistakes are inevitable and may actually act as lessons, but at what cost? Some mistakes can actually be avoided if we possess the right knowledge, 04

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STARTUP INSIGHTS

know the mistakes to avoid AND avoid them.

Statistics have shown that 90% of start-up businesses fold-up within the ďŹ rst ďŹ ve years of operations. The start-up phase of every business is the stage most prone to mistakes and the most trying phase for any entrepreneur. Arming yourself

with the right information reduces your chances of making mistakes common to most start-ups.

Here are a few of the common mistakes compiled from the experiences of entrepreneurs who have made a success of their business enterprises, as well as how to avoid them.

1.

Having Little Or No Information About Your Market

A frequently overlooked component of business startup is determining whether the target market for your product or service will buy from you. The best way to derive the answer to this question is to ask them.

Arrange to speak to as many of your potential customers as possible. Questions to ask include: Would you buy my product or service? Where do you currently obtain this product or service? How much would you be willing to pay for it? What do you like/dislike about your current provider? Where would you look for this product or service when you need it?

The first step for many people when they launch a business is to file with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) office.

2.

While incorporating is an appropriate step for many businesses, it pays to wait until your business idea is well formed before taking the plunge.

There is always a temptation to wait until your product has all of the bells and whistles you’ve envisioned before putting it into the hands of the enduser. Don’t make this mistake. Don’t suffer from the plague that hinders most ideas from becoming reality: Analysis Paralysis.

The reason: the concept of your business and therefore the name is likely to change during the first few months of operation. You may start out as a sole entrepreneur, but then later discover that you need one or two partners to actually get your business idea flying which may require you adjusting your business structure to fit your present business reality.

Incorporating too quickly

Lawyers and accountants’ hourly fees add up extremely quickly and new business owners are often shocked by their first few professional service bills.

3.

Over-using Professional Services

The temptation when you start is to involve your lawyer and accountant in all aspects of your business for counsel and drafting of documents. Many business owners quickly learn that it pays to do your own research, draft your own documents, and call on the expertise of professional accountants and lawyers to refine your work. You might even get one or two persons amongst your family or within friends’ circle that may be willing to do it for free as their own contribution to your fledgling venture.

You can re-direct the substantial amount you might have spent on professional fees to promote your product.

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4

Spending too much money on office space and furniture

A nice office and great computer equipment make many entrepreneurs feel as though their dream of entrepreneurism is coming true. While one of the pleasures of launching a business is setting up an office that you are proud of, expensive trappings have put many businesses out of business before they got off the ground.

For the first few months of running your start-up business, who says you can’t run it out of your bedroom with a chair and a table? Whenever you need to have a meeting with a client or a supplier, you can meet in one of the fast food eateries springing up everywhere.

The golden rule of business start-up holds true here: Start Small and Grow Gradually!

There is always a temptation to wait until your product has all of the bells and whistles you’ve envisioned before putting it into the hands of the end-user. Don’t make this mistake. Don’t suffer from the plague that hinders most ideas from becoming reality: Analysis Paralysis.

It’s far better to get your product to market early and then go over it often. A great way to avoid issues that may come with releasing a product too early to the general marketplace is to create a group of “friendly customers”. Identify a small group of clients you know are comfortable testing early stage products – they can be your close friends or family members and then let them play around with your prototype.

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Waiting until your product is “perfect”

Also remember, the sooner you get your product into the hands of customers, the faster you start generating revenue.

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Hiring too quickly, Firing too slowly

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STARTUP INSIGHTS

It’s hard to maintain the quality of your staff when you ramp up too fast. On the flipside, as soon as you feel it’s time to let someone go, it’s always best to move quickly.

Firing someone is one of the worst parts of running a business, but if the person isn’t the right fit, it is better for them and your company if you part ways swiftly.

It’s so easy to spread yourself too thin when running a new venture. New entrepreneurs face that a lot.

As a start-up entrepreneur you do everything- you are the accountant, the office manager, the book keeper, the business development manager, the marketing manager, etc. During the start-up phase of your business, you just have enough time and energy to focus on a single pursuit. Give it your best shot.

You have to get good at saying “no” to new product features, markets, and ideas that aren’t core to your business. Be world class in one niche and then replicate that success in adjacent niches. Take the time to build your current business and your brand to get a reasonable customer loyalty before branching into any other ancillary businesses.

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You Stopped Marketing

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Lack of Focus

This is probably the biggest mistake for a start-up. Even if you do exactly the opposite of everything you have read so far, if you keep marketing you are bound to get at least minimal results. If you stop when you run out of new ideas, you probably won't get much.

The key to marketing is repetition. Make sure people think of your name when they have a problem. If they have only seen your name once, but your competitor just sent them a third flier, mail or tweet, your competitor will get their business.

It takes more than once for a customer to buy. With the information available to your customers today, you want your name to be in front of them as much as possible.

The life-blood of your enterprise is marketing. I don’t think that can be stated enough.

An idea is not a business plan, or a marketing plan, or even a goal. It is simply an idea. Although the planning process may seem long and tedious now, it will benefit you more than you could imagine in the future. For example, when you are seeking funding, when your business changes, or if you take on a partner or investor, your plan should guide you, but not constrain you.

If something in your plan doesn't fit just right, change it. Your business plan will never have a final draft. If you do not plan there would be no means of measuring your business achievement against projections and set goals.

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Failure to Plan

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10.

You Quit

When nothing happened, you didn't try again.

Nothing says failure like someone who quits.

Motivate yourself! Get up in the morning and say "I'm going to get hits to my website." Or "I’m going to get a client this week!" If you build it, and nobody knows it’s there, nobody is going to come.

When you’re starting a business, you have to try, make mistakes, learn, and try again. If you try, make a mistake and give up, you will never be the success you know you can be.

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STARTUP INSIGHTS

Akehinde Michael is a fashion and design company focused on Quality, Excellence and Customer Satisfaction.

We create beautifully crafted and detailed apparels in a creative environment.

We are constantly operating to provide a fashion and lifestyle experience enjoyable for everyone. A friendly and world renowned brand is what we

TURN ON YOUR STYLE akeindemichael@gmail.com +234 802 844 6477

JULY 2016

THE DARING

The Daring

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Benjamin Ndubuisi

This is a feature on young entrepreneurs who braved the odds to start-up a business, and are making a difference with their enterprises. In this maiden edition of LAUNCH, we profile Benjamin Ndubuisi, the young, dynamic founder of FFB Inc.

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lso dubbed ‘Ben IssI’, Benjamin founded FFB Inc. in August 2012 with a lofty vision to create a system that fosters 10% of the business collaborations that engineer the employment of 90% of Africa’s youth population in the not so distant future. His collective of entrepreneurs plan to solve real problems, build lasting businesses whilst making good profits.

Also the founder of four startups, his experiences range from project management, social media management, business development and content creation.

Benjamin’s strong faith in Nigeria has further inspired him to engage thousands of students through success motivation seminars across both government and private secondary schools.

These activities earned him the prestigious Future Africa Leaders' Award (FALA) 2013 in honor of his commitment to societal development.

Furthermore, a couple of his startups won the Jim Ovia Foundation competition 2012, the YouWiN! 3 FG Grant competition 2014 and the Africa-wide Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program(TEEP) competition 2015.

FFB Events is an exclusive platform for young ‘entrepreneurial Davids’ to collaborate, share insight and network with ‘Corporate Goliaths’.

Their first event held on Friday August 10th, 2012 and was the birth of the concept “Food, Fun & Business - FFB”.

Going forward, they’ve held several events including being a part of the Social Media Week Lagos 2014 & 2015.

Influencers such as Remi Morgan (Founder, Laterna Ventures), Chika Nwobi (Managing Partner, L5Labs), Chude Jideonwo (Owner, RED Media), Ayo Adegboye Ph.D (VP, Schneider Electric) and

many others have been in attendance at these events.

Their aim is to have fostered business collaborations that created the legend of "THE MEN WHO BUILT AFRICA" and they plan to achieve this through the power of synergy.

My aim is to have fostered business collaborations that created the legend of “THE MEN WHO BUILT AFRICA”

THE DARING JULY 2016

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All these events are strictly by invitation and the audience usually averages 30 people.

Their forthcoming event is the National Entrepreneurship Day which would be celebrated annually on FFB Inc.’s anniversary. To contact them, send an email to info@ffbevents.com.

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THE DARING

“Our name is Food, Fun & Business (FFB), and to be honest, those are our hobbies! All our events always include some kind of fun activity like karting or karaoke, and lots of food! True to our brand, we're exclusive, classy and disruptive: we're FFB Inc.!”

- Ben ‘IssI’ Ndubuisi.

GOLDPILLARS EVENT PROFESSIONALS Goldpillars event professionals is an event management company with particular expertise in planning and coordination of corporate events and social events.

We have a knack for details, aesthetics & creativity & we are focused on delivering best services tailored to every clients requests and needs.

With a team of professionals with years of experience, we assure excellence in delivery at every event.

OUR SERVICES

Event Management Venue Decorations Stage Designing & Stage Lighting Training Academy

CONTACT US

07084395016, 08093904937 info@goldpillarsng.com, goldpillars.ep1@gmail.com @ife_goldpillars www.goldpillarsng.com

Goal Setting, Priorities & WHY! On

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There’s a common saying that goes ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail.’

Gbenga Awomodu tells us why we need to set goals and determine what our priorities are. These are the secrets to great and lasting success in business and in every other area of our lives.

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he world can be in such frenzy every day and you will often find out that you cannot satisfy everybody every time. Life is all about the choices that we have to make. That’s why we set goals. We all have different aspirations. You could want to be a billionaire, for example.

To achieve that aspiration, you must do something(s). You could want to marry the ‘most beautiful woman in the world’; you’ve got to calculate and strategize how to make that work out. You could also want to own your home before you hit 40; you’ve got to break down the steps to achieving that one after the other.

You may have come across some goal setting exercises where you are told to list the top 10 things you would like to achieve over the next 6 months or 1 year. After you must have thought for a while about the endless wishes on your mind,

you struggle to trim the list and write out just 10 of them.

Then the facilitator shocks you. He strips you of items 4 – 10, telling you categorically that the first 3 items on your list are the most important and that you must first focus on them, working hard and planning towards accomplishing them. You cannot do everything you want to all at once. Something has got to give way for something else.

Goal setting is about exploring what you really need to accomplish and knowing why you need to get them done. It is about discovering the most important and urgent things and putting them ahead of the pack.

When those giant rocks get settled in your foundation, other smaller rocks can then go in before you add sand and water.

When we set goals without knowing exactly why we need them and how they fit into the ‘big picture’, we often end up failing woefully.

That’s what great structures are built on.

When we set goals without knowing exactly why we need them and how they fit into the ‘big picture’, we often end up failing woefully. That is what some people call building castles in the air. When you know why you have set those dreams, then you need to ask yourself whether you have all that it takes to realize these dreams; or whether they would just remain what they are -day dreams!

Goals are as important as the plan to achieve them. If you cannot create a timeline for your goals, then you might want to reconsider whether they are really that important and urgent. If not, push them down down to tier 2 or whatever tier is available. Your ‘maybe’ lists can hold possibilities for you to consider

at a later time.

Life is short, really it is! Time is of the essence. Someone once said that life is time broken into pieces. Remember also that pieces make the whole.

Finally, remember that the WHY should come first. It is easy to forget this and only remember several miles down the road. Why do you want what you want? Can you truly convince yourself or someone else with that reason? If only we could check deep within ourselves and answer this most important question, heaven knows how many pointless projects we could have avoided at the very beginning without squandering our precious time and the irredeemable time of our friends and loved ones.

I have written this piece because of you; hoping that this would make you think again about these things and consider your goals and plans.

Life is easier when we take some time out to decide what the most important things in life are and we approach the few most important and urgent things with the greatest focus and determination. We do the world a lot of good when we leave enough for other people to also engage with. You cannot have it all. I hope you discover your “top 3 things” and keep at them.

All the best!

Gbenga Awomodu likes to think he is a polymath, but he has for once decided to build a career in Corporate Communications. All other things will follow. To get a better picture, visit his blog, Gbenga’s Notebook on Intentional Living [http://www.gbengaawomodu.com]

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COVER STORY

FUNKE BUCKNOR OBRUTH E The “Virtuoso” Events Planner Funke Bucknor-Obruthe embodies the true entrepreneurial spirit – fearless, tough, creative, never-say-die, visionary, positive, enthusiastic – and in this exclusive interview with LAUNCH, the CEO of Zapphaire Events shares how she turned A HOBBY INTO A GLOBAL BRAND.

HOW DID EVENTS MANAGEMENT START FOR YOU? I would say that it was something I probably stumbled upon. I didn’t know what it was. I knew I loved planning parties, I loved planning events, I loved helping my friends put things together, but I didn’t know

what it was. I didn’t know it was events management. I just knew that it was something that had to do with putting things together. I remember then when I was in law school, I would tell my friends that will help them do this or organize that, help them with PR. I actually taught it was PR. When I was finishing, I helped one of my friends who was

getting married then with her ‘asoebi’ and other stuffs. I also helped another of my friend plan her wedding, and from then people were like why don’t you do wedding planning. That was like how I started. I started more as a wedding planner, but now I am an events planner.

Funke Bucknor Obruthe

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YOU TRAINED AS A LAWYER, BUT NOW YOU ARE AN EVENTS PLANNER, HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO MAKE THE SWITCH? The switch wasn’t bad.

Studying law wasn’t something I really wanted to do. I didn’t like Math, so I thought if I studied Law, it’d be a bit easy. I actually wanted to study Mass Communications because I wanted to go into TV, advertising, media, but my parents didn’t want me to. They felt it wasn’t reputable at that time – that was 20 years ago. While I was in the University of Lagos in year 1, I realized that I didn’t actually like Law even till year 5. I felt it was horrible, but I passed well, thank God, and I got into Law School. I thought that maybe when I get into Law School, I would then like

Law. I still didn’t like it even with the protocols and going to court. When I went to serve, I did my NYSC in a Law firm, and after the 3rd week I told myself that I wasn’t going to do law anymore.

I went to work for an advertising agency - TY communications – and was there for about a year. After my youth service, I went into events full time.

EVENTS PLANNING WASN’T COMMON IN NIGERIA WHEN YOU STARTED. WHAT GAVE YOU THE IMPRESSION THAT IT WAS GONG TO BE SUCCESSFUL? I didn’t know it was going to be successful. I would lie if I said I did. I just knew that people didn’t like stress and I loved planning events. I just felt that I wanted to help people. I never imagined that I

would be like this. When I started there was another planner, Lara, and myself really. In the course of planning events, I met people, I met decorators, who liked what they saw and introduced me to other people. They would say things like, “She can do this for you, you don’t need to stress yourself, she’d be there the night before to ensure that your venue is setup, she’d help you get your decorator, she’d help you sort out your video, she’d go for meetings for you, you don’t need to do anything, and they’d be shocked that they didn’t need to do anything. I honestly didn’t know that it’d become like this. If I had known, maybe I would have maximized the opportunities a bit more. I loved it and was just doing what I loved. Along the way people began to say they wanted to be an event planner like me. It’s like the second profession for everyone now. Ten to twelve years ago nobody knew about events management. So that’s it.

“

Business is about reputation, and people have seen and tested that reputation

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LOOKING AT THE BUSINESS CLIMATE OF NIGERIA AT THE MOMENT, WITH SO MANY EVENTS MANAGEMENT OUTFITS SPRINGING UP, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO BUILD A NAME FOR YOURSELF? First of all, it’s about being consistent in what you do.

People have seen the value we bring to the table, and that our service quality is consistent. People have seen that we keep our word. We say, ‘Come to us, we’d deliver value’, and we have kept our

word. And that’s actually business. Business is about reputation, and people have seen and tested that reputation and that’s actually why the business has succeeded. Also because we’ve evolved; we’ve not just stayed in a place. The business that started with just two people is now a business of 20 – 30 permanent staff, ushers, and a lot of people working on a consultancy basis numbering about 300. We are constantly thinking of new ideas. That’s why I wrote the book – The Essential Bridal Handbook.

It’s something that I had always wanted to do. We started our sister company, our décor company – FURTULLAH which has her own Managing Director/Chief Operating Officer that’s operating independently.

That’s on its own. We also have our training school, and doing a whole lot of other things. So, we’ve shown that consistency, people seeing that you deliver what you promised. I think these are actually what have made us the brand we are today.

First of all, it’s about being consistent in what you do. We say, ‘Come to us, we’d deliver value’, and we have kept our word.

And that’s actually business...

HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED ANY CHALLENGES OR SETBACKS THAT MADE YOU THINK THAT YOU MADE THE WRONG MOVE TO BE IN EVENTS MANAGEMENT? I think everybody faces that every day. Anybody that says they don’t face challenges in business will be lying. There are times I’ve said I wasn’t running the company anymore; that I was going to

give up; there are times I’ve been like, ‘You know what, this events management should go and eat itself’. But then again, I look at it and say that I have started this journey, so let’s see it to the end. I love what I do, and also because of the team that’s working with me. It’s a whole network – we have coordinators; we have Accountants, HR, and the décor people. Everybody is there. It’s not just about me. If

I decide to stop running the business, what is going to happen to everybody? Where are they going to go? So I need to keep pushing that drive, even to encourage people that are behind me. I need people to see that you can actually do it. You can make mistakes – every company make mistakes, people make mistakes everyday – but how do you rise above your mistakes, how do you move on and ensure that you do better?

COVER STORY JULY 2016

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FUNKE

eve rything.

The way you’d sit in a bride’s house planning a wedding will be different for a corporate event. You can hold a bride’s hands but you can’t do that planning a corporate event – It’s all formal. In planning weddings, I’ve noticed that the client always wants you to be their friend, but for the corporate events you do not need to. You just need to go there, do your job and be clinical about it. An event planner has to be very diplomatic, you have to have crisis management skills, you have to be very focused and be creative as well. You have to be detailed and diligent because it’s a lot of hard work. There are so many things, but everybody can’t have everything.

BUCKNOR OBRUTHE Tha t’s my ultimate goal – If I make a mistake today, how do I ensure that it’s done properly, how we ensure that it’s done better and move on. There are always challenges, you have staff challenges and even clients are challenges, and there’s the challenge of Nigeria – it’s like you’re pushing yourself against the tide, but you just know that there’s a focus.

You’re determined, and you keep at it.

YOU’RE INVOLVED IN A WIDE SPECTRUM OF EVENT MANAGEMENT. IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR ASPECT THAT YOU LOVE THE MOST? I love weddings. I started out as a wedding planner, so I love weddings. I also love corporate events. We do corporate events a lot.

Weddings are very emotional, so 20

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you get very emotionally entangled with a lot of people – the couples, the parents. You become a diplomat – settlings fights, you become a counselor, you become their best friend. With the corporate events, it’s unemotional. You go in there, you do your job and it’s clean.

The corporate event is actually a bit more rewarding financially. I love weddings, but I love corporate events as well, moneywise.

THAT MEANS THERE ARE DIFFERENT SKILLS INVOLVED FOR DIFFERENT EVENTS. WHAT ARE THE SKILLS THAT AN EVENTS PLANNER NEED? Oh definitely (there are different skills needed)! What transcends everything is actually professionalism.

You need to be professional in

TURNIN

HOB INTO A GLO BRA

EK N UF

I don’t have all attributes, and that’s why you have a team of people who have different attributes. Where I may not be resourceful, there’s someone who is resourceful, someone else is detailed, someone else cares about the budget, someone is creative, and you put all that together. One person can’t have all the skills but at least you must have 70% of these.

You ought to be resourceful to be an event planner. At the tip of your fingers you must be able to tell people where they can do what they want to do. You must also have the ability to manage crisis because people rely on you. You can’t be an event planner if you don’t have the ability to manage crisis.

RONKCU E H TU RB

NG YOUR

BBY OBAL AND

YOU MENTIO NED THAT YOU HAVE A GREAT TEAM. HOW DO YOU BRING OUT THE BEST FROM THE VARIOUS PEOPLE WORKING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION?

It’s not easy, because I’m also not one of the best bosses around. I’m a bit of a slave driver and I don’t apologize for it. I’m not going to apologize for it because I just believe that people are not just living up to their potentials. Sometime they don’t want to try hard. I believe that people can apply themselves. A lot of people don’t want to apply themselves, which is largely what’s happening with young people nowadays. It’s as if they want things given to them, and you can’t get things like that – you must work hard.

Sometimes people aren’t consciously listening when you are giving them instructions. They are thinking of something else.

When you ask for what you said, the person is telling you something else. There are quite a few people in our team who are very good with numbers, some are very good logistics-wise, some are good with field work, some are good with client presentation, and some are good with marketing. It’s just for you to explore all those parts of them and develop that. For their weakness, it’s for you to know which assignments to avoid giving them. If they are good on the field, then they are given field work. It’s about knowing their strengths and assigning tasks to them that go with their strengths.

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There’d always be competition.What one needs to do is to keep raising the bar. That’s all.

WHAT MADE YOU START A TRAINING SCHOOL, BECAUSE NOT MANY PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO REVEAL THEIR TRADE SECRETS? It’s not really about revealing trade secrets. For the fact that I have been doing a training school for 5 years and we are still in business is proof that we are doing something good.

The truth is that event planners are going to be coming up, but they may as well come up and do it right.

We must teach them to do it right. The standards have to be high. There are many quacks out there and that’s also why we’ve thought of starting an association for events planners so that there can be a bit of standardization in the industry. That’s actually why 22

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we started the training school – to teach people how event planning is done. A lot of people want to go to London or America to study events planning, but even when you study it there, events planning here is different. You’d have to apply it to your environment.

In London, if you tell someone 2pm, you know they’d get there for 2pm because they are working with time. But here, they won’t get there at 2pm, so you tell them to get there at 10am, so that they can get there at 2pm. That’s Nigeria.

I’m not trying to condone bad behavior, but you’d need to know how to work around your environment. Those are the things we try and teach people in our school. We have people who have come in from London and America, who have done events planning

there, but when they come into Nigeria, they are like, ‘How do we do this?’ We have people that go through our school, who do not start events planning; we have some that start it and are doing very well, and some that are not doing very well. Also it’s not only about the training; sometimes it’s also about the network of people you build as well.

YOU MENTIONED ABOUT NETWORK. WOULD YOU SAY A STRONG DETERMINANT IN MAKING PROGRESS AS AN EVENT PLANNER IS REFERRALS? Oh Yes, definitely. It’s not even about advertising; it’s about referrals. You do a good job for someone, the person recommends you.

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Most of all the work we’ve gotten was from referrals. I don’t really know of work we’ve gotten from advertising. It has been more of someone calling and saying, ‘Oh! You did someone’s wedding…I loved it.’ ‘You did this event, you did this concert, you did this birthday…please can you come and do ours.’ So it’s more about referrals. That’s why you have to ensure that everything you do must be the best. You must take each job as the best that you’d ever do.

YOU HAVE WORKED WITH VARIOUS CLIENTS AND MUST HAVE ADAPTED WHAT YOU DO TO INDIVIDUAL CLIENTS. HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY

FIX COSTS FOR YOUR JOBS? It depends on what you are doing; it depends on the project, how involved you are going to be and the level of details needed; it depends on what they want you to do.

Some clients will want you to plan the whole event for them, some will want you do just do a part of it, some clients will want to spend a lot of money – they want the best, some will say they are on a budget and will want you to work out what you can do for them. Every client is different and every event is different. Someone may be organizing a baby dedication and would want to spend all the money; some will want to keep it simple. Some people want to have a wedding and would want people to talk about that wedding for the rest of their lives; some will want a simple, nice, classy wedding and won’t want to spend too much. It depends on the client and what the clients wants. It’s left for you to adapt it and deliver. But there are some events that you may not be able to do because the budget may be too low for you to do it. You’d just have to walk away from that.

WHAT ROLE DOES THE RISING TREND OF SOCIAL MEDIA HAVE ON EVENTS

PLANNING? I’m a great social media fanatic. We are on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. We are everywhere.

Zapphaire is there, Furtullah is there, I’m there personally.

It’s very important to be on social media. On Instagram we put up our work and people tell us how nice it is.

Some people call and email us from there. On Twitter I try as much as possible to engage people, advice people even with my busy schedule (I don’t really sleep). Social Media is very important, because that’s how you really are going to get people. Today’s generation is on social media.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN DEAL WITH COMPETITION -THERE’D HAVE BEEN SOME PEOPLE WHO MUST HAVE WORKED WITH YOU AND GONE ON TO START THEIR OWN OUTFIT? Yes, it happens. What one needs to do is to keep raising the bar. That’s all. There’d always be competition. If you look at every industry, the airline for example, there’s Virgin, there’s British Airways, there’s Lufthansa, there’s KLM and they are all still existing. In the banking sector, there’s GT bank, there’s Zenith. They all have their different market sphere, they all have their clients.

COVER STORY JULY 2016

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We don’t compete for the same clients with people who leave Zapphaire and start their own businesses. Some clients are not loyal as much as you’d expect them to be. Clients have their bottom-line – how much money they are going to pay. They don’t care. Some would want to call someone who has worked for Zapphaire to plan their events. But for us, we’d just have to keep on raising the bar. One thing I am grateful to God for is that for the past 10-11 years we’ve been in business and we are still doing very well. We must be doing something consistently right.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE OF PLANNING EVENTS BEYOND THE SHORES OF NIGERIA? HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO PLAN EVENTS THAT MEETS INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS? We’ve done a wedding in Dubai and in Ghana as well.

We did the Annual General Meeting of Ecobank in Togo. I do a lot of trainings that are international standard. Every year I go to America for courses. I don’t relax where I am. You are checking the business internationally, so you must conform to international standards. I also get my staff to go for these trainings as well. That’s why 24

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we can go to Dubai to do events and wow them.

YOU ARE A WIFE AND A MOTHER. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO MANAGE RUNNING THIS COMPANY WITH THAT? It’s not been easy. I thank God for a good support system – My mum, my husband is there. It’s not easy keeping that balance. Sometime I have to quickly rush home to do some house chores, pick up my children. It’s something that needs to be done.

Sometimes I imagine that if I was working in an organization 9 – 5, how will I balance all these? The fact that I run this organization doesn’t mean that I should neglect other responsibilities. I have to look for that balance.

APART FROM EVENTS PLANNING – RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS, WHAT OTHER ACTIVITIES DO YOU ENJOY? I love reading magazines and books; I love watching TV (I’m sure a lot of people will think that’s funny); I love hanging out with my friends WHAT’S THE VISION FOR ZAPPHAIRE EVENTS GOING INTO THE FUTURE – THE NEXT 5-10 YEARS?

We are doing many things. To get Zapphaire to that international standard, we have to keep on improving.

We are going into many things. Zapphaire is diversifying into many aspects of the events industry so that we can be a one-stop company for events. You can come in and get everything you need.

We want to have different COO’s in different parts of the continent, I don’t have to there.

THANK YOU FOR YOU TIME, IT HAS BEEN WORTH EVERY MINUTE You’re welcome.

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DEMYSTIFYING BUSINESS Cracking the Business Code

By Chibuikem Atueyi

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What does it actually mean when you say you are in business or that you run a business? What does it take to start a business? When can you say that you are actually engaging in business? These are questions that have run through the mind of every young person who has desired to start up an enterprise.

I agree that business operations can be a bit technical and I’m not trying to water down the seriousness of running an enterprise.

However, once you get the hang of what a business is and how to run it successfully – understanding the rudiments of business – then all the complicated jargon becomes simplified.

In trying to make business as simple as possible, I’ve broken down the concept of enterprise into five simple questions.

Answering these questions will give you a clearer picture of what business really is about.

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What Are You Selling?

Product/Service Offering

This is the starting point of every business venture.

A business starts when you are able to create a product or offer a service that you can sell. Note the key word here – ‘that you can sell’! There’s no point coming up with a product or service that nobody needs (more on this later). If there is no product or service, there is no business. Therefore, the first thing an entrepreneur will have to define in his/her business operations is the exact product or service being offered for sale. Regardless of the kind of business involved, buying and selling is what defines the existence of a business.

As an entrepreneur, you must fully understand the product you are selling and what the customer is actually buying. These are two different concepts, better explained as understanding the features and benefits of your product offering. For example, if you run an online store with delivery services, what you may be selling is the products on offer on your site, but what your customer is buying is actually convenience, and stress-savings of not actually having to go to the market to purchase the items.

This is as important as knowing what you are selling. It’s called customer definition. If you know exactly who you are targeting your products to, it will help ensure that your business stays focused and that you utilize your business resources efficiently. A market has to exist for your products.

A key part of running your business is understanding your potential customers – who they are, what they want, how they want it and how they make their purchases. This information helps you more successfully design your products and services, develop the appropriate marketing strategy to reach your target market – using the right tone, language and attitude to appeal to your best prospects and to secure sales.

You should be able to create a customer profile in such a way that you can easily identify them when you see them.

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Who Are You Selling to?

Target Market Nichecrafting

Key points to take into consideration in creating a customer profile for your business are: their geographical location – where they are most likely to reside, their demographic characteristics – their age, gender, occupation, income level, family status and size, ethnicity, etc., their buying motivations and purchasing patterns – how frequently they purchase, how they prefer to pay, what problems they are trying to solve with their purchases, etc.

In a nutshell, defining your target customers means identifying the specific characteristics of the people or businesses who you believe are most likely to buy your product or service. Linda Falkenstein, author of Nichecraft: Using Your Specialness to Focus Your Business, Corner Your Market & Make Customers Seek You Out warns, “Smaller is bigger in business, and smaller is not all over the map; it’s highly focused.” This is what Falkenstein calls ‘nichecrafting’. Your niche is not the same as the field in which you do business. It’s more specific. For example, a retail clothing business is not a niche but a field. A more specific niche may be “maternity clothes for executive women.”

This will also help you identify whether you operate a “B2B” – Business-to-Business, and/or “B2C” – Business-to-Customer type of business.

As an entrepreneur, you need to ask yourself what the real motivation for starting up your business venture is. This will determine the longevity of your business. Before going ahead to create a product or even identify your customers, you need to identify if a need for that product exists in the first place.

You should be able to identify what specific problem your product or service is solving, that is, what the value proposition of the product is.

Why Are You Selling it?

Unique Value Proposition

Your main purpose for starting a business shouldn’t be to make money alone, but to meet an identified market need and to fill an identified niche in the market place with a solution – your proposed product offering. As long as you are meeting a value-need, money is sure to follow.

Your business shouldn’t merely be profit-driven (though you must make profit to remain in business); it should be customer-driven!

Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s has this to say, “If you work just for the money, you’ll never make it. But if you love what you are doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.”

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How Large is the Market for what you Propose to Sell?

Projected Market Size

Now this is a double header – a deceptive question in a sense. This is because you can’t sell to everybody; you can’t generalize your product to meet the needs of the masses. You may be thinking that some products have mass appeal, but that in itself is a trap for the entrepreneur. For example, you may say that everyone drinks water, but the packaging of the water acts as a differentiator.

Some people are disposed to sachet water, while some prefer bottled water. Households and offices would rather go for the 19 litre dispenser bottles because they are more cost effective than purchasing single units.

The snag is this – To remain in business you have to make sure that the size of your target market group, your niche, is large enough to justify all the efforts of going into business. After everything is said and done, you are running a business, not a not-for-profit outfit, a charity, or an NGO. The numbers must add up. The returns from your business operations must be greater than the cost of doing business.

Now we have gotten to the crux of the matter. You have done your homework – you have created a solution that isn’t on offer in the market like yours, which will meet the needs of an identified target market. The size of this target market group is encouraging enough to engage in business. But the question is how do I get these people to know that I exist and how am I going to make them buy my unique product?

How Are You Going to Sell it?

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This will cause you to come up with a marketing and sales strategy that will work for your target market. Peter Drucker, the father of modern management and entrepreneurship, opined that ‘Marketing is the number one activity of entrepreneurship.’ Sam Adeyemi, a renowned Leadership Expert gave a lucid insight into the concept of marketing. He said that if you are in business and not engaged in strategic advertising, you are like someone winking in a dark room. You are the only one that knows you are winking. No one else does.

Once upon a time, a business owner thought it was enough to market their services to “18-to-49-year olds.” Those days are things of the past. According to trend experts, the consumer marketplace has become differentiated. It’s a misconception to talk about the marketplace in any kind of general, grand way. You can market to socioeconomic status, gender, religion, lifestyle or to technological sophistication. There’s no end to the number of different ways you can slice the pie. Today’s consumers are more market-savvy than ever before.

The reason why you have to answer the four preceding questions is because you have to match whatever marketing and sales strategy you come up with to the peculiarities of your niche market.

I hope these questions have helped to reduce your fears about the risk of taking the ‘Entrepreneurship leap’.

With the right information and knowledge, you can be sure that you’ll have a smooth sailing in the uncertain waters of enterprise.

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STRATEGY JULY 2016

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PRODUCT ON TIME How To Perpetuate Your Business Idea In The Marketplace

Zuberu Kadiri is a man that cannot be put in a box. He is known as a knowledge merchant, a business process and systems engineer, a brand strategist and a product developer. In this interview with LAUNCH’s Associate Editor, TOYITAN ADIGUN, he talks about start-ups, how young entrepreneurs can start their businesses without capital and more.

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Zuberu Kadiri

On What Exactly He Does My real job is that I am a knowledge merchant. A knowledge merchant is someone who simply makes money from the knowledge he has acquired. He translates that knowledge into a product or service and people pay him for it. Knowledge merchants are very powerful people because they shape the economy of every nation in the world. This is how it works: I spend my energy gaining knowledge understanding systems, processes, finances, products and services. These five areas mentioned cuts across every sector of business in the world. Whether you go to oil and gas, real estate, retail, these five things are always there - Systems which are models, process which is the life cycle of how these products and services are

being manufactured, finances which is the blood line of every successful business, and the products or services you are selling. I focus on knowing why systems are working and what is not working in them, I learn processes and how to improve on processes, adapt processes to certain systems, and I understand the money game and how money works.

Money is like current. It flows in the direction of a channel.

So I learn where money goes to and where money comes from naturally, who is spending and who is receiving.

I focus on learning these things. I research. All this is knowledge. I learn markets and create products for them.

I do not try to create a product before I get a market for it. I want to know where the

market is going and then create a product for it, so that way, I don't have to make the market like my product. I spend all my energy gaining knowledge and then I translate that knowledge into a product. People pay me for that knowledge. They bring me in as a consultant, either as a Business Engineer, a process or system engineer, a brand strategist or as a product developer. My niche is wide; I can go anywhere. I am not restricted to any sector, and that way I can't go out of business. I just told you my trade secrets which I don't do normally.

If you want to define what I do in one word, I am a Knowledge Merchant. You can't box me in.

Why 90% of Startups Fold up within the first 5 years A business is an endeavour set up with the primary goal of making profit that is sizeable enough to keep the business in operation. This is very key. A lot of young entrepreneurs do not pay attention to that fact.

From the onset they set up a business that is already designed to fail. Every business has to have a product because that's what you exchange for money. There’s a concept that I always like to

explain to young businesses: There are ideas, there are products and there are products on time.

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“

An idea is a picture which you have in your head which no one else can see. An idea becomes a product when you take the thought in your head and put systems and process to it. A lot of people have great products, but that in itself is not the biggest key to succeed in business.

Your product also has to be on-time.

An idea is a picture which you have in your head which no one else can see. An idea becomes a product when you take the thought in your head and put systems and process to it. A lot of people have great products, but that in itself is not the biggest key to succeed in business.

Your product also has to be on-time. What it means for your product to be on-time is that your potential product has a sizeable market, such that if your product reaches your market niche and that market niche buys into your product, you will create enough profit to break even and to keep the business in business.

Let me bring it home. A lot of small start-ups fail primarily because, one, they do not understand their product.

They do not know if it is a product on-time, or if it isn’t.

Two, they do not focus on the barrier to entry for their product. They do not compare their capacity and their resources to the barriers to breaking into the market.

For example, I want to start a business producing fruit

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drinks from natural fruits and all I have is a blender in my house and a fruit mixer. I go to the market and buy fruits and in a day I’m able to produce 10 bottles. I sell those 10 bottles for N2000 each. If I do that for 20 days, I would have made about N400, 000 on the average. In a year, that would amount to N4.8million. Now I want to expand, and guess what I do? I buy a land for N4million. Where then is my capital? How am I going to fund it? If my average product and sales per day is 10 bottles, my focus should be how to grow my production to 10, 20 and then to 50. I should also be focused on ensuring that when I grow to 50, there’s a sizeable market for it. So there’s a system to this. Many young people are not patient; they jump the gun. They do not create capacity to increase gradually.

If you ask me in a nut shell, businesses succeed and fail because of their systems and process mix. That’s where the uniqueness of their business comes from. Your system is your model and is what differentiates you from similar businesses.

Why we have few Business Titans in the 21st Century as against the 19th & 20th Century There are a lot of titans in today’s market but the reason why we do not notice them is because we are in the information age. Where Information used to be the privy of a few select and those few select becomes massive moguls, in the Information age, the information that could make them into titans is available to so many people. So that market is totally fragmented today. So instead of having one person worth

$10billion, we have 6 or 8 people worth $1.5billion. We have more billionaires right now than there were then spread across the economy.

Also there aren’t much more titans in this age because it is more difficult to build systems that drive titan operations now than it was then.

That doesn’t mean that this century won’t produce titans.

The real titans of the 21st century are those who are

Market Opportunities Young Entrepreneurs can exploit There are five businesses you can never be wrong with because there are five things people will always do as long as there are people on the earth - people must eat, people must wear clothes, people must be well, people must communicate, and people must move. You can’t

learning to give back. That’s what creating men like Bill Gates. These men are driven by impact and market niche, not by money. They are more interested in getting the value that they have to every nook and cranny of the world at the best possible price and even for free. Those are going to be the 21st century titans.

be wrong 90% if you are doing a business in any of these sectors because people will always do these things.

If you want to pick a niche to focus on and you want to become a macro-economic mover, you almost won’t be wrong in these five sectors.

“

The real titans of the 21st century are those who are learning to give back...

These men are driven by impact and market niche, not by money.

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How Startups can access Capital for their Business Idea I like the word ‘capital’ and not ‘finance’. It’s a question that every young entrepreneur will ask, “How do I get money?” Every entrepreneur has value to offer, and my simple advice is this: If you have value to offer, if you do not find anybody to give you money for it, give it for free first.

Give it for free until the demand for your free value is so high and then you put a price tag to it. Become the best at it such that anybody will be willing to pay you money for it When you put a price tag to it, you automatically start attracting capital.

Some people tell me they don’t have money to start a business. I tell them that if they don’t have money to fund their idea, find a decoy idea - start an alternative business that will generate money for your idea, or take that same value, if you have a support system and do it for free.

How Potent is Market-Definition or Niche-Crafting for Startups There's a school of thought that believes in niche-crafting, and another school of thought that believes in being fluid and flexible. These different schools of thought are right.

The difference isn't in what you do but in the trade cycle of how it is being done. There is a time to niche and there is a time to diversify. Typically, it is always wise to niche first.

The simple reason is that, at the beginning you always have limited energy and resources. In a bid to make significant impact, you may want to concentrate all of your energy on one thing first.

If you have 3 or 4 passions you want to chase at the same 36

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time, there is nothing wrong with that. What you may want to do is choose which of these passions will give you the fastest mileage right now with the lowest barrier to entry.

The others may have a higher barrier to entry and may take a longer time. Take the one with the lowest barrier to entry and give it at least 80% of your attention and give the other two at least 10% of your attention. For instance, if you liken the 7 days in a week to 100%, 80% of those 7 days (4 to 5 days) should be given to your core niche and 10% (on the average 1 day) to each of your other passions. What you are doing is building momentum and capacity.

When you have built enough momentum and capacity, you get to a point where you have enough ability to spread out without your affecting your core area.

Take that one niche and master it. Become known for that niche, then take that process and replicate it. If you are someone who does everything, the problem becomes that if I think about one area, I won't think about you. What people know me for is knowledge. That is my real product.

What the Business Climate in Nigeria & Africa portend for Startups in the next 10 - 20 years As much as we do believe in oil, the truth is that the time is coming where the system for running the oil industry will change and knock off a lot of people who today look like they are in serious money.

Their business will not be ontime for the industry. What I can tell anybody reading this is that first of all, the greatest wealth in the Nigerian economy lies in the strength of our numbers. Anybody whose focus is on investing in supply chain and distribution

network will always be right in Nigeria. Secondly, the future of communication is in mobile application. Anybody who wants to build a business for the next wave must be focused on how to get their businesses on mobile applications or to create a mobile application business as well. Those are two niches that I believe that this economy is primed for and I’m investing my money in. This is one of those economies where we have numbers – over 150

million people and we have a spending culture here. You would never be wrong in the supply chain business and you would never be wrong in communications.

Communication marketing is still virgin and there are still a lot of flaws.

I believe in the days where your phone calls will be made on monthly rentals and not card use. That is the future I am looking forward to and the future I am investing in.

On Partnerships for Startups Partnership is a good way to go at every level and every stage of business but you need to understand the intricacies of partnership. There are different kinds of partnership.

There are dormant partners in a business, who all they have interest in is their money there, but do not participate in the day-to-day business.

There are partners who are actively involved in the day-today business. The truth is that partnership is an integral part of every business. Your staff are partners. Your bank is a partner; your customer is your

partner. They are all partnering to help your business succeed and grow.

Partnership is an umbrella word but when it comes to partnership in terms of ownership, it depends on what the business needs. If you want to create a holistic product and you discover that your skill set will not deliver that holistic product or service then partnership is necessary.

When putting a partnership together, I advise that you get a lawyer involved from the onset; a lawyer who is

experienced in partnership and in litigation in terms of business ownership. I advise that they look at the clauses so that from the beginning the partners do not create a problem. Don’t enter into a partnership with someone who does not have the same focus with you. The most important thing is the value mix of the people we enter into partnership with before even the products or services.

Let everything be documented and signed.

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On the Value of Mentorship We need to understand the concept of mentoring. A mentor is someone who has gone ahead of you in what you are doing, so they have valued experience and can point you in the right direction. They can save you the experience of learning the hard way.

Everyone who has gone ahead of me is a potential mentor. I learn from everybody, especially those who have gone ahead of me in my field.

I have accountability mentors

Last Words It’s more expensive to learn on your experience than on someone else’s. No matter what fantastic idea you have out there, someone is already doing what you want to do.

My advice to young entrepreneurs is this: find that somebody and learn from their experience first. It’s cheaper. If you can, work for them. If they can’t pay you, work for free. Learn the rudiments; pay attention.

That’s how I got here. Learn until you have built value. The problem with young people is rush; they are not patient to

who I go to, who I speak to and who know me one-onone. I may not want to mention their names. They have added so much value to me as an entrepreneur. There are quite a number of them I have worked with. They paid me a salary while I learned off their experience.

“

My advice to young entrepreneurs is this: find that somebody and learn from their experience first.

It’s cheaper

go through the process to be sure they have it right. First be sure you have it right. The Bible says that if you are not faithful in that which is another man’s how can God give you the true riches? Try it on somebody’s turf first and succeed at it first, then you can bring it to your turf.

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