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Nowadays, running a successful business in Nigeria may seem like an impossible feat given the dwindling economy and less-than-ideal business ecosystem. However, there are several examples of young individuals who have found opportunities amid challenges and started successful startups. If you’re on the verge of starting a business or already running one, you may need some motivation. Here are some business success stories to inspire and motivate you in your entrepreneurial journey.
Patricia
At the young age of 24, Fejiro Hanu Agbojide is the mastermind behind a multi-billion naira e-commerce platform known as Patricia. Having a strong inclination towards entrepreneurship, Fejiro ran several business ventures while in the university including a mini-restaurant, an airtime vending business, and a popcorn stand. He was inspired to start Patricia after failing to find a reliable platform where he could exchange an iTunes gift card for money. He realised others faced this problem, as well and created the service. Today, Patricia is a leading eCommerce platform that offers unused merchandise such as iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play gift cards. The company is arguably the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa and has birthed other ventures including Patricia Gifts and Room 19.Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
Sola Akeinde and Ezra Olubi – Paystack
In 2020, Paystack made history as the first biggest Nigerian startup acquisition. The FinTech startup merged with Stripe, an Irish-American financial service for a $200 million (N76.6) deal. Its co-founder, Shola Akinlade, who is also the CEO started out as a young graduate who wanted to create things, instead of living the 9 to 5 life. After founding Precurio, a collaboration and content management platform, and achieving over 200,000 downloads with it, his eyes opened to more opportunities that existed in the FinTech space. The inspiration for Paystack came when he realised that there was a lot he could do to fix payment issues in Africa. In 2015, he and his partner Ezra Olubi founded Paystack, a multi-channel payments platform that caters to merchants around the country. In 2016, Paystack became the first company to be accepted into the tech accelerator Y Combinator program and received funding of $120,000.Flux
Flux is the brainchild of four college dropouts who met at Obafemi Awolowo University and bonded over their shared passion for programming. According to the CEO Ben Eluan, school was a distraction from their programming projects, which led to the eventual dropout. The inspiration for Flux came when Eluan faced challenges receiving payments from a client in the UK. Together with his friends, he built Flux, a hybrid solution that combines both worlds of cryptocurrency and digital banking. In 2021, they became the youngest founders in Africa to join Y-Combinator. Most Importantly, the trend with these three success stories is problem identification and solution proffering. These guys noticed an existing loophole in the tech ecosystem and with their ingenuity, made available the solution. Featured Image Source: Tweak Your BizGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com
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