How Daramola is redefining music industry through Supreme Chords

Joseph Daramola is the founder of Supreme Chords International Music Academy based in Lagos state. He is a graduate of Business Administration in the University of Lagos and Advanced Studies at the National Open University. In an interview with BUNMI BAILEY, he discusses his passion and how he trains others to excel in music.

Tell us about your music school business. How long you have been running it?

The name of my music school is Supreme Chords International Music Academy. I and my team train individuals on how to sing, play instruments, train church choirs, school students and carry out private home lessons for kids and teenagers.

I studied Business Administration, but I am driven and inspired by my love and passion for children, teenagers, youths having skills in music. As we all know, music knowledge is one of the important skills that one should know. And that’s how I came into the music business.

The music business has been nice. Through the help of God we have been able to strategise well even in the face of economic crisis. We have spread out by teaching schools, church choirs and instrumentalists, taking students and schools to musical competition and running trainings at the music academy. I have been in the music industry for ten years and the music school has been running for three years.

How did you come about the business?

After I was done with the University, I worked with an organisation for one year and at the end of that year, I felt I needed to do something different. So I resigned, not knowing what to fall back on. Two months after, I was contemplating on starting a music school or a computer school. Then at the end of it all, I chose music school because I knew it wasn’t common everywhere and it was something people would appreciate.

How much capital did you start with?

I kick-started the music school with the token of N10, 000.

Can you say the music industry is performing well now?

Now we are glad the music industry is really doing well in the aspect of music teaching, site reading, instrument playing, music theory and a lot more. Nowadays we see artistes/musicians that have very sound knowledge about music.

Who are your clients?

My clients are schools, individuals, which include youths, children, parents, adults and churches.

What are the challenges that you are facing in your business?

Sometimes, you have a nagging client as the mother of the parents you teach. Once you are ten minutes late to a lesson, you might receive the insult of your life. Having to deal with clients that have the resources to pay but delay payments due to reasons unknown to me is also a challenge.

What are the skills and tools that you need to set up your kind of business?

One should have a good knowledge about music from scratch, and one should know how to play about five instruments and more. One should have a marketable skill, basic music instruments, a good space and environment to start the business.

Note that all we need for a business to stand is a solid managerial foundation. The person driving the business must be up and doing. And one must know how to tolerate others and learn to take actions. And above all, the financial aspect must be checked and managed well. So, no matter the money you pump into a business, if things are not structured, the business would fall.

How can these challenges be addressed?

Government can help by putting structures in place. The way we have business registration, we also need to have structured registration plan sent to every organisation.

Why do most start-up businesses fail even when there is adequate funding?

Lack of planning is a major problem. Every business that wants to grow must have a short-term plan and also a long-term plan. Failure to plan will damage your business.

Businesses that fail lose touch with their customers. Keep an eye on the trending values of your customers. Find out if they still love your products. Do they want new features? What are they saying? Are you listening? I once talked to a chief executive officer who told me that they do not respond to negative reviews because they are unimportant.

Poor location is another disadvantage that might be too much to overcome. If your business relies on foot traffic, location is a strategic necessity. A poor location might make your customer acquisition costs too high. Revenue is not the same as profit. As an entrepreneur, you must keep your eyes on profitability at all times. Profit allows for growth.