Embracing partnerships in efforts to establish and stabilise fledgling enterprises, hold the key to success of the small business, a financial expert and entrepreneur has said.Among the inherent benefits of partnership is access to information, which is not available to all and where available, not on equal proportion.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, while advising youths and entrepreneurs in Lagos, said learning from people and forming partnerships is one the keys to achieving success in any business enterprise.“Trying to do things alone or hiding your vision from others might not give adequate results in any given enterprise. As a person, I have never done things on my own.
“Though I have my ideas at every point in time in life, but I have always done partnerships because most times, other people are privy to information you do not have. Partnerships have also helped in my propelling my visions and aspirations in life. So, I am urging entrepreneurs not to keep their visions to themselves” he said.
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Sekibo further said that after working in oil company for years, he was bored and felt like doing something else, first, as an insurer.“As at the time I was buying the insurance company, it was located somewhere in Ikeja in one office, no window, no toilet and the company was owing about N150 million.
“I said to myself if we buy this business, we will be able to employ people and give them a life. I went ahead to borrow money, N7 million from my brother’s friend and went to the bank to borrow another N7 million and bought the insurance company.
“And holding on to God and with the help of other people I shared my aspiration and visions with, within a year and half, we were able to grow the company to a tune of N12 billion”, he said. Sekibo also advised the youths to brace up for the challenges of life early enough, just as he asked them not to allow poverty mentality deter them from making headway.
“I am an accountant. I did not study banking and finance in school, but I stumbled into banking. I termed such as ‘you fail to succeed’. It is about preparation and you have to prepare early enough.“It is what you do with your wilderness days that makes the difference”.
Those periods that you can hardly feed are the days that will determine what your future will be.“If you allow poverty mentality to take you over, it might be difficult for you as a youth or as an entrepreneur. You need to have a positive mindset from the onset, especially from the point you have a vision and mission and you need to pursue it,” he added.
Source: G Business
