SME Spotlight: Jeun

Jeun founder, Kayikumi Stefan Sogo, obtained his BSc Economics from the University of Ibadan and his MSc Environmental and Energy Management from the University of Twente, The Netherlands. In this interview with Joy Ehonwa, he talks about recognizing a gap in the marketplace, the qualities a successful entrepreneur should have and more.   CN: When did Jeun start and what services do you offer? Jeun started in the last quarter of 2016 and grew from one order a day to 10-15 by the end of the year. We offered for the first time in Ibadan an online platform to order for your food, pay online and request for delivery as well. CN:What inspired you to start this business; what’s the story behind Jeun? Inspiration was rooted in delivering value, as I believe any business should be. I recognised a gap in the market, and wanted to revolutionize the way people ate in the city. We hope only to make the service better and more convenient for our clients (restaurants) and our customers. CN: What are the locations you presently cover? We are only in Ibadan for now, but are interested in expanding to other frontier markets. CN: How does Jeun work, both ways? What steps do customers and restaurants have to take? For a restaurant, you have to first of all be ready to work for this new stream of business. It is a combined effort, and we need only restaurants that are seriously passionate about their business. We replicate tonnes of restaurant information across all our public platforms (social, the website etc.) and expose them to a new stream of business that they previously could not tap in to. For customers, we basically just need them to go on the platform, select their desired dish and proceed to checkout. We are working on making this process faster and easier e.g. deliver an app in the future and optimize the current order infrastructure with a website upgrade. But these things cost money. CN: What has the response to Jeun been like so far? The response has been more than awesome right from the first day. I am so grateful and happy. We have new customers every day and loyal ones also. We are just focused now on how to continue delivering value to them. We have already established first mover advantages, and we’re looking to further cement our brand as a household name, and hone in on retention as opposed to acquisitions. Jeun is quite a catchy name I think. CN: In your opinion, what qualities are a must for a successful entrepreneur? Hard work and a passion for what you do. There is no substitute for it. Hard work combined with intuitiveness, research, and a constant desire to improve. I have personally processed easily over 500 orders, speaking to and managing customers. It is difficult. Several times, I have had to hop on my motorcycle or drive my car to deliver food personally. Then you really appreciate what the delivery riders do in the sun and rain day in, day out. CN: Which entrepreneurs inspire you, and why? I don’t have a superstar inspiration. I admire regular everyday people who are committed to their visions, and build them over time. Elon Musk is an interesting character to follow on social media, however. The book written on him was also a good read. He is mad passionate about his products. That I admire. CN: Which books have really made a difference in the way you think and live? Harvard Business Review (HBR) has a great series of books on almost everything. They have great mind-set books on how to run a business, especially start-ups. As for how I live, I believe everything happens for a reason, but that’s just a personal thing. CN: What’s your long-term vision for Jeun? “Largest food e-commerce platform in Nigeria” is good enough for me. Contact Jeun: Website Email: jeun.ng@gmail.com Telephone: 08170919676 Instagram Twitter Facebook

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This article was first published on 21st November 2018 and updated on November 26th, 2018 at 10:38 am

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