NaijaTalkTalk- Referrals, most powerful form of advertising — Fajemirokun

Simi Fajemirokun

Simi Fajemirokun, 30, is a graduate of Political Science and International Relations from the University of Reading, United Kingdom. She tells IFEANYI ONUBA how she started her consulting firm at a young age and the challenges of the business

What really do you do at the ESFAJ & Partners and how long have you been in the business?

Our business is a management consulting firm that specialises in research, data analysis and design as well as general business development. I have been in the business for three years now.

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Why did you decide to go into business rather than looking for paid employment?

There are people who look for paid jobs and it is because a lot of them don’t have confidence in themselves. There is this fear factor in them and this is what is preventing many people from starting up their business. Secondly, there is also the issue of preparation. If you don’t prepare adequately, your chances of success as a business person will be very slim. But in my own case, I knew what I wanted right from the beginning.

The choice to start the ESFAJ & Partners as a consulting firm was borne out of the detestation of seeing foreign firms providing half-hearted solutions to our government agencies. I had the opportunity of working on a committee four years ago as the local consultant while working under a foreign-based firm. It was an eye opener as the attitude of the firm when it came to providing service to Nigerians was very haphazard. And growing up abroad, I knew this was not the kind of service delivery they would provide in their home country.

I also ended up doing most of the work for the guys who were getting most of the pay. This didn’t make sense to me. So, I decided that I would set up my own firm to provide better services and more sustainable solutions that are akin to our landscape.

Also, I saw opportunities that I would not have been able to take advantage of if I was in paid employment. I had ideas that I felt I could execute and I saw a gap in consulting especially with the Small and Medium-scale Enterprises.

How do you manage your business?

I have developed a means of identifying people who have the right attitude and those that are highly trained in the area we are into. I can confidently say that I have a great team with a set of diverse skills that help to ensure that we get things done efficiently.

Who are your target clients and how do you get them?

Our target clients are mainly government agencies and owners of the SMEs. As a small company, referrals have been our main source of securing clients. In this business, relationships are everything and the most powerful form of advertising is the word of mouth. And that has really opened doors for us.

Is the business capital intensive and how do you source for capital?

It is not capital intensive but it does require a whole lot of time and energy without any guarantee of getting paid.

I started out with some funding from a family friend. As a young person, it will take someone who believes in your vision to buy into it or agree to fund your business. And I was very privileged to have that. Ideas are cheap and fleeting but it takes an ecosystem to make that vision a reality.

I did not take for granted every encouraging word, every vote of confidence, and my team that stuck to me through even when things were tough. I threw into the project all my energy, time and resources.

How are you encouraging young people to be self-employed?

We actually host an entrepreneurship workshop in the communities we work and it is called ‘Project – Get to work’. We provide an avenue where students can be taught how to write curriculum vitae, conduct an interview, market themselves and write a business plan. We advise fresh graduates to dream big and start small. It is important that they understand the stark reality of getting a job and staying resilient.

At the ESFAJ, we believe that talent is universal but opportunity is not. So our corporate social responsibility is to build the communities we work in and help to create platforms of learning that can lead to opportunities.

What should government do to encourage young people to go into business?

The best way to encourage entrepreneurship is to create platforms or incubator hubs where ideas can meet financing. Another major way is to reduce the barriers that discourage young entrepreneurs from carrying on with their business. In Nigeria, there is a cumbersome paperwork that a start-up business has to go through before being registered or provided financing from banks.

A major way to fostering entrepreneurship is education. Entrepreneurship workshop provides an opportunity to learn and gain access to a network.

According to recent studies, access to finance is not the number one challenge for young entrepreneurs but access to a market, which I have found to be true.

What are the challenges you face in this line of business?

The main challenge we face in consulting is actually getting paid for the job we do. The idea of intellectual property is not really respected and people in Nigeria tend to pay for products but not concept development.

How have you been able to survive despite the challenge?

We have been able to survive by being resilient. In this system of high risk and high reward, you either sink or swim. And once you choose to swim, you have to keep going, no matter the obstacles. It also helps us as a visual company; so, our creative designs have given us an edge in getting our foot on the ground.

What other key investment principles will you recommend for young entrepreneurs like you?

A key principle that I will recommend is for them to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way, no matter how small.

For us, our core principle has been prudence. Whenever any expense is to be made, we usually ask ourselves what is the value that that money is bringing in. If people operate like that constantly, there is no way their business will not grow and become profitable.

Most of the issues that make a business to crash, apart from not generating enough revenue, revolve around their inability to justify the expenses they have incurred. So, your financial outflow must not exceed your inflow without any strong justification of how that outflow will increase your revenue.