Entrepreneur achieves extra-ordinary results helping others
Tunde Makun, a chemical engineer, started his business – Purpose, Power and Lifestyle Development International (PPLD) a year ago. Although, according to him, it took four years of knowledge acquisition, planning and putting the necessary facilities in place to make it a truly world-class environment.
Inspiration
He says he started by asking himself ‘Powerful Questions’ about his future, sometime in 2009. As a result of asking himself those questions, he discovered his true purpose. His discovery made him realise each person possesses so much creative force. He says: “Until we look deep enough, all we’ll have is the life of a ‘Complaints Addict,’ waiting for some magic to put us in the right place somehow.” He is now living his purpose of helping ordinary people achieve extra-ordinary results, creating a climate of true and lasting success.
Starting out
His ‘Code of Success’ is that ‘Money chases Ideas.’ To realise this, he says, firstly, there is a proven process to it, and secondly, the aspiring entrepreneur needs to hang onto the shoulders of a giant who has the expertise and has the results to show for it. “I went in search of knowledge and in the process attracted coaches who opened up the horizon of my thinking process. Once I took care of my What and Why, the How, the Where, the Who and the When would take care of themselves,” he says.
Operations
Makun adds: “PPLD has trained about 50 senior professionals from top corporate organisations in the period. And that is just the flagship six-week ‘Power Up for Success’ programme. It was a decision that we would grow and establish our brand meticulously and with established results. Thankfully, this has been the case, going by the quality and excitement of the testimonials from participants. We have also developed two new programmes, one is to guide emerging entrepreneurs, wishing to build their business from scratch or to wake up dying ones. The other is for repackaging our growing army of dis-empowered ‘young graduates,’ ready to take on the world with direction, confidence and capabilities.”
Target clients
He explains that the target clients are senior managers in public and private sectors, aspiring or emerging entrepreneurs and for young fresh graduates seeking to move up on the ‘Employability Index’ in order to access choice jobs, which still abound.
Background
Reeling out his background, he says: “I obtained a BSc in chemical engineering from the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. Then I studied MBA (Finance) at the University of Port Harcourt. In 2006, I took the entrepreneurial owner manager programme of the Lagos Business School. I have been blessed to have had a robust corporate experience, spending most of my career in the oil and gas industry – up, mid and down-stream at different times. I also spent a few years in pump manufacturing. My work experience took me to various countries for training programmes, seminars and job postings. Having enjoyed a remarkable career growth success, I eventually opted out of the corporate world in 1997, while still under 40 and at the peak of my career, from ELF Oil Nigeria (which later merged with Total Nigeria plc). I’ve had about 32 years experience, split equally between corporate and business.”
Passion
According to Makun, PPLD is a fulfilment of his passion to build a global business, doing what he loves, and PPLD is all about how everyone can live such a dream life if he/she can access the code of success. “Success has trails; and so does failure,” Makun says.
Advice
He advises young people on entrepreneurship, saying, “Entrepreneurship in the words of Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey is about providing profitable solutions to human problems. It’s that simple. If we both examine how things appear in Nigeria, while you’re seeing multitude of problems/obstacles, all I’m seeing are opportunities. When you apply just one God-given talent of yours, together with all the skills you have acquired over time to solve just one of the numerous problems, you will get paid. This is a formula that works in any industry or nation. The more problems there are, the more money that’s waiting to be made. That’s entrepreneurship made simple.”
Challenges
He says the major challenge is in getting people to understand that transformation is easy once the commitment to learn and follow the process is strong. “The PPLD platform is built on human Being and this is novel in this part of the world. Employees and employers are more familiar with training programmes that focus on the human Doing. Not many are familiar with the fact that the real change is in the Subconscious – which is really the human ‘Operating System,” says Makun.
OLUYINKA ALAWODE