THE JOURNEY

THE STORY SO FAR...

Seating across the table from a friend, client, and later, business mentor in his office sometime in August 2011, I remember telling him during a chat that I planned on resigning my job to go into real estate business for myself and he asked with a look of concern on his face on how I planned on achieving it.

Summarily I explained it all to him in a few minutes to which he simply smiled and asked, “do you have any client you are starting off with?” My answer, “no but I’ll get them!” And again he asked another question which seemed unconnected with the matter at hand, “are you married?” My answer, “no”. He laughed and concluded the session by saying, “no wonder, you don’t have responsibilities; it’s only someone who’s unmarried that can be thinking like you are.”

That caused me to have a rethink but didn’t stop me from dropping my resignation letter a few weeks later; giving a month’s notice during which time there were several moments of self doubt. Spoke to my big Sis Rose about my decision and she advised and encouraged me, also spoke with my Mum about my plans and she was both confused and scared for me, asking me various questions and pleaded with me to wait for some more time as it is barely 2 years I graduated from the University but alas  October 14th 2011, I tendered my resignation letter  and very unexpectedly that was also my start off date in self employment as same friend, client and later business mentor, commissioned me to carry out a small personal project for him!

The total project cost was about N700,000.00 and my take (profit) from it was N120,000.00 which was very much like N1,200,000.00 to me at that point cause my bank balance on same day, before the cheque deposit, was, N500.00 (Five hundred naira = Two Pounds), nothing missing, nothing broken, lol!

Three years running as an entrepreneur and it’s my submission that God is my paymaster! “He doesn’t necessarily pay on the last day of every month but He sure does pay (borrowing the words of Kenneth E. Hagin of blessed memory)” and He pays good!

So it was that I transited from the ’28 days make 1 payday’ contract to the ‘God is my paymaster’ entrepreneurial schedule and as I mentioned earlier God is indeed a good paymaster, payday has ceased to be monthly but it has never ceased to come either at long or short intervals.

Relocation Managers Limited started business on Tuesday 1^st November 2011, I came about the name Relocation Managers Limited because I want a name that portrays the whole real estate process and is also all encompassing. The company was fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in the month of November of same year.

With no prior entrepreneurial training or managerial experience it’s been a steep learning curve ever since, an arduous one yet not without its thrills. I see any business as being divided into two broad areas, the Professional Services aspect which caters to meeting client’s needs along the lines of one’s professional expertise and the Business Administrative aspect which deals with managing and rendering of those professional skills and the day to day business operations. Those are Twin Mountain which I am currently hiking and shall overcome.

I’m an Accounting professional in training with specific interest in Oil and Gas and current working experience in Marketing Communications (Advertising, PR), a studying member of ACCA.

My journey thus far has been like that of the bumble bee which according to the laws of aerodynamics should not be able to fly but which flies nonetheless because it simply doesn’t know of the scientific fact which prohibits it from flying and I had been flying for almost two years before acquiring the formal entrepreneurial training. That brings to mind the saying that, ‘Grace is the wind beneath my wings’, that’s my story.

The flight thus far hasn’t been without a few mishaps though but I have refused to stay down which causes me, yet again, to liken myself to the proverbial Phoenix bird, getting burnt but rising each time from the ashes to fly again.

Along the way I have picked up some gold nuggets (knowledge) from practical experiences which I believe to crystallize into gold bars in the near future.

I have picked up the first hand knowledge that value has to be given for value to be received hence the more value I want to receive, the more value I have to give. That money is the recognised legal tender for value exchange between the procuring and vending party yet it is not necessarily the only tender for such exchange. This would explain why celebrities (as brand ambassadors) would get ‘free’ items etc, like Genevieve Nnaji (a Celeb and Coscharis Brand Ambassador) recently got a brand new Range Rover from Coscharis Motors, at no financial cost to her yet value traded places and is yet in transit.

Again I have also picked up among several others the knowledge that Grace is a multiplier (credit to Late Pastor Ina Omakwu) and not an excuse to laze around waiting for unmerited favour, it is rather an incentive to work harder cause its effect is on one’s labour, i.e.

Labour (0-10) x Grace (10) = Result (0 – 100)

where Grace is a constant, Labour is a variable dependent on the individual and 0 – 100 is the possible range of Results.

Perhaps you are thinking of quitting your job to start out on your own, here are four reasons why not to quit your job for self employment and my rejoinder to each.

“I want more control of my time"; I used to work 8am to 5pm, five days a week while in paid employment. Now I work all day and all week, in so much as there’s work to be done.

“My boss is an irritant, I want to be my own boss”; chances are that you‘ll someday have someone like your boss as your client, so how do you get out of that?

“I want to be my own boss”; sorry, your client is your new boss!

“I want to make more money”; then be prepared for a whole lot more work and more work indeed.

If however you have good intentions to set out and fly your own flag but you worry about start-up capital here is my take on that, the number one capital you need which will attract all other capital is, again, Grace which is manifest in your skill/talent and is that thing that will connect you with opportunities to help your cause. That’s all I started out with and that is my biggest capital till date and I have read of a lot of other successful entrepreneurs who started off with same.

Here’s a candid word from me to Nigeria’s telecoms, banks and other sponsorship partners of entertainment reality TV shows (Nigerian Idol, Project Fame, Dance All, AMBO, etc), ‘there’s no dearth of entertainers (Musicians, Actors/Actresses, etc) in Nigeria any longer neither is there a lack of will for it. Those [entertainment] talent hunt /sporting reality shows you currently expend crazy budgets upon have out stayed their usefulness and you (telecoms, banks, etc) have done well in developing that industry.

Living in the present now the entertainment industry is near saturation whereas there is a dearth of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurially minded youths in Nigeria, a nation’s youth are its future and new businesses are the future gold mine of any economy. I think you need to direct same vigour into developing the Entrepreneurial Spirit inherent in Naija’s youths as well as support new businesses to grow. And it can be done in a fun way too’. Thank you for listening.

So going on, just as there are seasons and cycles to the weather, there are recurring seasons and cycles in a start up business too. During those dry spells in business which give rise to self doubt my greatest motivation to go on and grow the business has always been my company name and logo. I have it as the background on my phone screen and I look at it again and again.

The name ‘Relocation Managers Limited’ pretty much sums up the purpose of the company, its reason for being in existence, while the logo adequately captures its ethos, both of which confer the company with an identity of its own comparable to that of a living, breathing being, an individual dependent on me to live and I, most definitely, won’t let it die.

Here’s a toast of Moet & Chandon to all entrepreneurs out there, let’s all persevere in growing our businesses and persist in this noble cause to make our nation great and rich again.

A toast of Johnny Walker to friends in paid employment, let’s keep walking together and don’t quit your job just yet, not all are called to start a business, some are called to support and grow businesses to higher levels. Stay in the area of your calling. Moses was the entrepreneur and Joshua was the support unto higher levels, Moses started and led the Exodus, Joshua settled them (Israelites) into the Promised Land. Stay on and let’s do business together someday *wink*!

And finally a toast of Pure Honey to all our clients and prospective clients, you have kept us in business and will keep us going, let’s go on together and become great together.

To friends and family who provided support in one way or the other, particularly to those ‘angels’ who in obedience to God flew in at those dire moments and quietly ministered to us as God had sent them to, I say a big thank you!

And here’s the best at last, ‘THANK YOU GOD’, for yesterday, for today, for tomorrow, THANK YOU!