As a public relations expert with bias for showbiz and entertainment, you are also involved in many things, what is responsible for this?
You are right. I am a serial entrepreneur with business interests in media communications, agricultural value chains and auto services and logistics. I have both first and master’s degrees in Political Science from the university of Ilorin and University of Lagos respectively. In addition, I am a blogger, nascent public intellectual, political communications strategist; I can also add that I am a researcher who is constantly in search of knowledge. This opens me up to various facets of life and as someone that is versatile and love challenges; I am encouraged to do more. I must add, I am not a jack of all trades and master of none, I ensure I can pull my weight in any field I venture into. In the last 365 days, I have been an active player in the agricultural value chain business in Nigeria. You can call me an agricultural value chains broker, if you so wish. And currently, I am contemplating going into auto business, specifically sales of auto cars. I recently experimented with auto business by importing a car from the United States and sold to a friend. But the media and entertainment aspect came first and will never be put on the back burner
You obviously love entertainment and media, why not focus on that?
The reality of our economy, especially in Nigeria is that one need to roll his/her sleeves up and think deeply on how to create streams of income. The bills are going up higher every day and expectations daily jack up. One single source of income therefore may be seen as an aberration especially if you have great dreams and you will like those dreams to be approximated to reality. Again, there are so many opportunities here in Nigeria, so if you think strategically, study your environment, you will find out there are many comparative advantages that can be converted to ventures while still adding values to people. And if you are energetic, calculative, creative and business oriented, you may just find yourself deploying your energies in different angles and make things happen. This is exactly why I am a serial entrepreneur.
As a PR/Media Communications entrepreneur, what is your significance to any organisation especially the showbiz world?
Public Relations or Media Communications is not only significant to businesses or any organisation alone, it is strategic to brands, individuals especially significant individuals, Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and governments institutions just to mention but a few. It is both an art and science and without effective public relations all the aforementioned above will remain in perpetual obscurity with their reputations being dented or be in great risk. A good public relations or media communications strategy helps brands to communicate her key messages, positions, service offerings just to mention but a few to the desired target audience or market so to speak. It is not only important for any business or organization; it is a strategic tool for profit maximization in the ever dynamic and competitive business clime such as ours. That is why at Ronel PR and Media Communications, we take our briefs very serious, with attention to details and creatively map out a tailored made and unique media communications plan for each of our clients either in corporate business, political sphere or any other discipline or area of our client’s calling. And when you talk about showbiz, PR is the brain box of the entertainment industry. No matter how creative you are, PR is the vehicle to drive your creativity.
What inspired you to go into entrepreneurship?
Let me say that the inspiration for my entrepreneurship odyssey was born out of the desire to halt a life of penury and being a burden to people. But before then, there is no event without a history or someone who pioneered or ignited such. I must be sincere and not act proud to say that my wife, Omotoyosi Ojo was and still strategic to my entrepreneurship journey especially as it regards the agricultural value chains business. To be specific, Ronel Foods & Grocery was at first, her idea though I was part of it at the very start. It was initially, a business experiment to tackle our financial challenges at the time and an idea to bring end to begging people before we could eat or pay our bills. But as fate would have it, the experiment gradually became an answer to our prayers. From household clients, we moved to corporate clients, to clients in hospitality industry and hotels, supermarkets, grocery shops, quick restaurants industry and before we knew it, through the help of God we discovered that the various shawarma shops springing up around Lagos needed our products. It has been an eclectic business journey filled with high and low epochs but God has been so faithful.
So summarily put, many factors inspired me to take on entrepreneurship, the thirst in me to halt a life of penury, the desire to prove a point that I am not a lazy Nigerian youth, the quest to be a responsible husband and father to both my wife and children and pay my bills as at when due without being insulted by anyone. And again, the cravings to prove that there is no job that is dirty for educated folks, so far it is legitimate and pay your bills. These are some of the factors that inspired me.
Generally, what are the challenges entrepreneurs like you face in Nigeria?
The challenges that serial entrepreneurs face in Nigeria are plethora. Sometimes, the electricity could be so erratic, at times, some clients also occasionally do not see things from ones perspective or government policy instability may just be a clog in the wheel of progress of an entrepreneur. But in all these multifaceted challenges, we always find a way out and ensure that our clients get maximum satisfaction and value for money spent. I may also add that, financial resources to expand the business may also be seen as part of these challenges.
What are the guiding principles that have helped you to combat some of these challenges?
There is no one fix all solution to these several challenges though. At Ronel Foods and Grocery, we have been able to create an alternative source of energy to preserve some of these farm products to power our cooling system each time public power supply fails. We have also come to realise that clients will always have perspectives that differ sometimes, in a way; we have been able to manage that any time it arises. And for government policy instability, experience has taught us to always be strategic in our intelligence gathering especially in the industry we operate. And through our strategic partnership and collaborations we have been able to garner strength to combat some of these challenges.
What advice do you have for those who will like to venture into entrepreneurship in Nigeria especially the youths?
I will like to make it clear that the hustle is real! It may be tough at the beginning but with God, hard work, resilience, focus, commitment and passion gradually things will work out fine. Moreover, most entrepreneurs more often than not don’t give priority to strategic media communications, only few of them understand that public relations is very key to the success of their ventures. I think this should be given utmost priority if any entrepreneur must succeed at all.
You are a husband, father and a serial entrepreneur, how do you find balance?
For me, God is first and family comes right after that, though to have a healthy family, bills must be paid. Sincerely, I don’t have a formula for the balance to play all the characters aforementioned in your question above. I must say that God has really helped in that regard.
Where do you see your brand in the years to come?
For Ronel PR and Communications, a very good friend of mine Akinloye Oyeleye once prayed that this business will cover the earth. As simple as that may seem, it is a prayer I say amen to with all my heart but at the same time, it is a declaration that daily tells me, I have a long way to go. This is to say I must conquer Lagos from where I currently operate from, cover the 36 states in Nigeria, dominate Africa then have strategic imprint in other six continents of the world. This may appear as a tall order but believe me, it is achievable. So to achieve this, I must put in more structure in terms of both human resources, intellectual resources, human resources, financial resources and of course, serious hard work. So in the coming years we will like my friend’s prayer come to reality.
For the other venture, Ronel Foods & Grocery, the same thing applies. We will like to put in more effort to expand more in Lagos State where we piloted the business idea, then gradually have physical presence in other states. We are also strategizing on concentrating more on some of our competitive advantages. For instance, we want to give our clients and prospect the best yummy bite experience when it comes to grilled chicken, so we will say Lagos should watch out!
and then