Chidimma Mmadu is an accountant and the founder of Startupspot, a start-up education outfit. In this interview by Kingsley Alumona, she speaks about her experience with unemployment and under-employment, her business, Nigerian economy, and the ease of doing business the country.
SINCE you graduated in 2016, have you experienced unemployment or under-employment? If so, how did you manage them?
My experience with both unemployment and underemployment has spurred me to keep learning, exploring and improving. As an unemployed graduate, I tried myself on various projects and gained experience with writing and volunteer work. Some of the things I know today, I learnt from volunteering. This was how it all started. From there, I applied for digital marketing training and I got it. I had a passion for writing too.
I started learning SEO content writing in 2020 and I dedicated my time to it. I made use of every useful material online, asking questions where necessary, and trying to fix issues as I learn. With my dedication and consistency, I tried out writing gigs for foregn jobs and I got some and have since been using the money I make from there to gradually fund my business.
You are the founder of Startupspot. What is the inspiration behind it and how is it faring?
You know information is power. When startups receive the required information, it will serve as a handle for them. So the inspiration behind Startupspot is to provide web-based information for startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses on how to build, grow and scale their startups in Nigeria and beyond.
Moreover, my blog has gradually been moving and faring fairly fine. We are not there yet, but we will surely be there. It is a process. As we continue to pass through the process with persistence, we will one day be the best.
What services does Startupspot provide?
Startupspot is a leading startup and small business web-based platform that frequently focuses on educating and providing insightful pieces on small business and startups. In the face of economic challenges in the country, the platform would constantly engage startups, business owners and the entire public on what startups should know, the full taxonomy of startups, problems facing startups, and where startups can invest their money.
In Nigeria, before starting and growing your business as a startup, it is pertinent to know the impact it would have on the economy and how you intend to survive. For example, some of our services include, but not limited to, scientific grant writing tips for startups, how to write a business proposal for investment as startup and resourceful sources of startup financing.
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How many people and business have you impacted through your business?
I have impacted a lot of businesses and startups. They are uncountable. I have had many businesses check out my website to get information on grants for small businesses and how to attract angel investors to their business. When they read this information, they go ahead to implement it and it works for them. I often get feedback from most businesses saying I should keep up the good work with the basic information I share online.
Right now, I can boost that my team and I write well-researched content and give reviews on products based on how it is. We try as much as possible to put out legit, authentic and unique pieces of information on different topics we have written. When startups and businesses look for this information, they can check out our blog and the right and useful material they need to grow their business.
How is the Nigerian economy affecting your business and the businesses of your clients?
Doing business in an unpredictable economy can be challenging. The security situation, currency devaluation, unstable power, among others, have added to the daily worries of my business and that of my clients. We embraced remote work (which has benefited my team) due to security situations but now we have to deal with steady power and the cost of internet subscriptions for each member of the team. Most of my clients have either closed shops in some areas or suspended operations due to high operating costs.
In all of these, we still close new deals and deliver beyond customer expectations. Our years of experience in the industry, coupled with insights drawn from past business data, has helped us to develop a working template that helps us navigate the current economy.
The rate of unemployment in the country keeps increasing. What advice would you offer youths on how to manage and survive the situation?
My advice to the youths on how to manage and survive the situation of unemployment in Nigeria is to keep learning, exploring and improving.
My second advice to the youths is to learn a profitable skill and equip themselves with the knowledge that will earn them a decent income and provide them with the necessary experience to climb the career ladder or live their dreams.
If they can also go further to try their hands on various projects and gain experience with volunteer work, then settle for the best one and grow from there. Nothing good comes that easy. You must offer your time, your dedication, and be consistent at it to further see results. The end result will always be great. Let them keep trying because at the end, they will be happy with themselves that they actually tried.
Still on unemployment. How would you advice the government and employers of labour on how to manage youth unemployment?
The government must understand that the youth make up a large percentage of the population. This is good because it shows that there are enough people that can be put to work. Government should invest in SMEs, boost skill acquisition programmes and encourage the production of goods in various sectors by providing interest-free loans and effectively tracking the impact of these investments.
How would you rate President Muhammadu Buhari’s government in terms of youth employment, ease of doing business, the economy, and job creation?
On a scale of 1 to 10, I go for 3. The current harsh nature of the economy has forced a lot of students to drop out of school and caused many businesses to downsize and even close operation, thereby increasing the number of job seekers in the labour market. The current government’s display of corruption and insecurity has heavily affected the ease of doing business, as kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, and police brutality are looking like the new normal.
As a startup coach, if you were given a billion naira, what would you do with it?
As a startup coach with a billion naira, I will focus on growing SMEs in the agricultural, fashion and ICT service sector. These sectors can boost the economy in record time and also open the windows for human capital development, exports and investments.
On the other hand, I would also look out for great like-minds, partner with them, set up an incubator and birth great companies with great products.
What challenges do you face in your line of business and how do you manage them?
My major challenges so far is having to deal with unsteady power, the high-cost of internet subscriptions for each member of my team and not being able to fund some deep research works we are meant to carry out on some topics and share the results with the public.
However, how I manage this situation is that I, as the founder, work for other firms and blogs to get money to fuel my generator and buy data subscriptions for my team. Plus drawing insights from past business data has helped me and my team to develop a working template and to refine already researched information available online.
Apart from running Startupspot, what other job(s) do you do?
Apart from running Startupspot, I am a writer and an online coach. I coach people who are interested in learning SEO content writing.
Where do you see yourself and career in five years?
I see myself scaling higher and learning more skills. I see my business serving as a complete ladder for scaling and growing startup businesses. Where my blog would be a platform where entrepreneurs, business owners and startups get the necessary information they seek to sustain their business. I also see my business at the top-notch of my field in the next five years. With hard work, strategy, consistency and persistence, my name and my business will be heard in the next five years.
What advice do you have for Nigerian youths, especially the female ones, who are aspiring to be like you?
My advice to Nigerian youths and females aspiring to be like me is to keep trying and learning. Focus, consistency and persistence is all that is needed in achieving that dream.
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The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”
He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.
“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.
According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”
“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.
The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”
“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.
“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.
“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.
Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.
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Latest terrorist video: Presidency has admitted Buhari’s failure ― PDP
Latest terrorist video: Presidency has admitted Buhari’s failure ― PDP
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