I’m creating a system that would fit my retirement plans when I’m old —Chika Madubuko, tech enthusiast and founder of Greymate Care

Chika Madubuko is a biological scientist, a tech enthusiast and the founder of Greymate Care. She is a Women in Tech Africa Laureate with a penchant for start-ups and business transformation. In this interview by Kingsley Alumona, she speaks about her wishes as a child, why she decided to leave bioscience for business, her work with the elderly, her interest in politics, amongst others.

 

Looking back, are you who you wished to become as a child, and how did your family and society inspire those wishes?

Looking back, the woman I’m today fits into the picture I created as a child. I’ve always dreamt of being a social reformer and becoming a woman who’ll create impact. On the business side, my parents own successful businesses, and growing up with them, I was highly inspired. It was only natural for me to pick up key life and business lessons towards my journey to womanhood.

 

You have a bachelor’s in microbiology and a master’s in bioengineering. Why did you decide to abandon bioscience career for business and ICT?

In my opinion, every chapter of life ends with a gift; and this could be in form of lessons, skills or experience. The technical and transferable skills I got from my degrees are highly beneficial to my career’s growth. For example, problem-solving and fast-thinking skills come in handy when I’m in a business sales meeting and the prospective client wants something different from the original proposal and I’ve to quickly switch and tailor the solution in a way that it benefits everyone involved. Understanding codes and programming demands the same level of attention to details, be it for bioinformatics in bioengineering or Python in ICT. The mathematical and data analysis skills have been deployed in everyday business accounting and documentation.

 

You have a penchant for start-ups and business transformation. Tell us about the last start-up you worked on.

I’ve been in the start-up space specifically in the logistics, agriculture and health sector. I derive fulfilment from watching business ideas metamorphose into thriving businesses as a result of my efforts.

 

With the recent economic and security realities in Nigeria, how has your job been affected?

Nigeria’s challenges are a paradox as it can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. The nation is riddled with inflation, high unemployment rate, adverse policies and a rather non-existent leadership. These qualities ironically birth tonnes of business opportunities which most entrepreneurs identify.  On the other hand, the reality is that Nigeria’s middle class thins out by the hour as well as a collectively decreasing purchasing power, and every business must tailor its product offering, prices and marketing strategy to cater to the bottom of the pyramid. Once you have this figured out as a business owner, you’ll be fine.

 

You are the founder of Greymate Care. Briefly tell us about it.

Greymate Care is an online platform that connects the home-bound to a vetted caregiver for professional attention right in the comfort of their home when their loved ones can’t be available due to work or school. It’s a tech-enabled and weighted process that matches a caregiver and a services user based on key parameters such as required skillset, language, gender and location. This ensured a flawless matching process bordering on enabling synergy between both parties where an expert on diabetes is matched with a service user with the condition, a Yoruba 90-year old with zero knowledge of the English language gets a Yoruba-speaking caregiver, and proximity to the service user is highly considered during deployment for live-out caregivers reducing commute time and increasing availability during emergencies. For extra peace of mind, all caregivers on the platform are trained, tested and vetted.

 

Did any experience with elder people, personally or otherwise, inspire you to found Greymate Care?

I was inspired by the struggles my family had trying to find a caregiver for a relation who was diabetic. It was such a cumbersome process trying to find a caregiver and the turnaround time while hiring, from filling the forms and endless interview and deployment was significant, not to mention the risks that usually accompany hiring a caregiver who has not been vetted.

 

The Nigerian elderly demographic is mostly full of people without jobs. So, do you target special kinds of elderly people?

Our direct-paying customers are not the elderly but their adult kids who’re typically aged between 35 – 55. Culturally, the onus falls on them to care for their loved ones. However, their busy lifestyle makes it really challenging for them to be available as much as they want. Therefore, they pay for our services while we deploy the best hands to care for their parents.

 

Those that cannot afford your services, but are interested in them, is there any special package for them?

We’ve partnerships with companies who’ve corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives targeted at the elderly and these companies and high network individuals pay for those who can’t afford it.

 

Are you only interested in the wellbeing of the elderly? Do you have any other business services for them?

Our services are holistic and targeted at the mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing of our clients. We’ve worked with a travel agency in the past and some of our clients won flights and hotel vouchers for vacations.

 

There are many wrong decisions the elderly made when they were young. Could you tell us three of them, as you have noticed with your work with them, and also advise young people on how to avoid them?

Top three: the spouse they chose; living in fear of what the society would say; and not maximizing their full potential.

I can’t advise young people as I’m equally young myself, and still trying to figure out life as well. However, I know these three listed above are the most important decisions the elderly I’ve worked with wish they paid more attention to when they were young.

 

If you might have noticed, there are ministries of youth and that of women, but none for the elderly. If you’re the president of Nigeria, what would you do in this regard?

I’m interested in politics and have political dreams, especially in the youth and elderly department. If I were in the corridors of power, I would create an insurance plan people contribute towards when they’re still young and employed. This would be a safety net they can fall back on when they need it. Secondly, the pension scheme would be more elaborate, and would partner with public and private organisations that serve the elderly and wouldn’t just involve cash handouts. These organisations would range anywhere from masseuse services and travel agencies to more essential organisation such as oncology and cardiology centres.

 

As someone who deals with the elderly, do you have any fear of growing old? And, what kind of life and world would you like to live in when you grow old?

I’m not afraid of growing old at all. I admire how old people never have to explain themselves.

I would love to age in a world with excellent medical care, zero discrimination and political fairness where I’ve enough retirement funds to thrive. I always say I’m happy I’m creating a system that would fit my retirement plans when I’m old. At least, Greymate Care would care for me too when I need it.

 

Do you have regrets for not fully practicing microbiology or bioengineering?

No regrets at all. Technically, I’m utilizing my knowledge of Alzheimers/Dementia which I learnt in school, in my business today.

 

What are the major challengers you face in your line of work?

The major challenge is the mental exhaustion that comes from when things aren’t exactly going as planned. Running a business is not a walk in the park, despite all the glamorization going on today. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted, and sometimes the disappointments and unmet goals can get to the entrepreneur.

 

And how do you relax and manage stress?

I travel to relax and manage stress. I always joke that if travelling were free, I would live in a different location every other week.

 

What advice do you have for young people, especially the female ones, who are aspiring to be like you?

I advise every female entrepreneur to put herself first. Find yourself, smash those goals and ignore the naysayers. ‘Do you, the world will adjust’ is my mantra.

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