‘Entrepreneurs must learn to fuse technology and design thinking to succeed’  

Bolaji Junaid is the founder of Just Passion Concepts and co-founded Initiative for Development and Empowerment through Arts (I.D.E.A.). In this interview with KELECHI EWUZIE, he shares some of his entrepreneurial experiences and his plans to revolutionise the concept of Sociopreneurship for the next generation business owners. Excerpts:

My we know you better by way of introduction?

I am Mobolaji Solomon Junaid.  I completed my elementary education at Dee Unique Schools, Ipaja, proceeded to Anwar-ul-Islam Model College, Agege and later got a degree in Business Administration from Lagos State University and a post graduate in Management from the prestigious Lagos Business School. It’s okay to call me a full bred Lagosian.I started out as a young Entrepreneur; in fact, I made my first cash sales at the Age of 12. Registered my first creative company Just Passion Concepts at 21. However, I have always had a passion for the Advertising industry especially seeing the creative works that were being churned out from Insight Communications back then. Interestingly, luck or fate could we say shone on me in 2014 when I eventually was offered a spot in the famous Management Traineeship programme after many failed application attempts.

Today, after four years, I can humbly say I have become a business-oriented Adman, accelerating the growth of brands across different industries ranging from FMCGs, Retail, Financial services, Telecommunications, and the public sector. I’m currently a Business service and Brand Development Manager at Verdant Zeal Communications Ltd.

What is the concept of ‘The Tripreneur’ all about?

Tripreneur is 3-fold spin off from the words “Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship and Sociopreneurship”. I coined the word “The Tripreneur” having taken a deep reflective thought of my life’s journey. I have been exchanging value using my personal company, working for organisations and developing the society at large by facilitating different skills acquisition trainings in the last 18 years of my life.

How in your own assessment do you think young and aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria can strategise to attain global competitiveness?

I will simply say it starts from the mind. Any young and aspiring entrepreneur must first of all believe they can build a globally-competitive company. It’s this mindset that will push them to put in the work to gather men, materials and money resources to achieve the vision.

As someone that has journeyed into the realm of entrepreneurship since Age 12; how have you tackled the challenges you face all these years?

I guess the challenges have been what kept me going. The fact that there’s always a problem to fix per time can be a motivation; however, I have learnt to always surround myself with the right relationships, build capacity in terms of trainings, identify formidable partnerships and innovate at every point in time.

Why did you choose Sociopreneurship to affect your generation? Just how challenging or rewarding has it been for you?

I won’t say it’s a choice; I believe it’s something that comes naturally to me and I was lucky enough to notice this early enough. I love seeing people and environment become better and this passion usually leads me to develop ideas and solutions to influence situations wherever I find myself. As regards challenges, very prominent is the fact that people hardly trust you have good intentions especially in a society like ours. More people tend to believe all your actions are done for your own selfish benefits. Having said that, I have been blessed to meet like minds that we share same passion and we consistently support one another.Rewards have been mainly the fulfillment I enjoy after the completion of every project and interestingly seeing the lives touched live their true potentials.

What have been the toughest hurdles you have had to overcome in your entrapreneurship sojourn into the Advertising industry?

This is quite a big one. I remember my first discussion with the head of Account Management at Insight then. He asked me what I was bringing on board the team and I responded that I would be bringing on board my 14 years’ business experience. He laughed at my confidence and that’s how I started as an Intern.

I said that to say that statement put me in a tough position; here I was telling my Employer that I run another business apart from his own.

I have to always double my efforts, build trust of my colleagues and always put the organisation’s interest before mine. There were peculiar situations where I had to lose some personal income just to attend to my organisation’s need of my time. In all, it’s all about setting priorities right, upholding your values and embrace teamwork to deliver results as an Entrepreneur.

I must mention that Insight and my current Employer try to support their staff personal goals and that has helped me a lot too.

You will be launching your long-awaited book in October;what informed this decision?

It’s indeed long overdue; this is a project I have been working on since 2012 but my perfectionist nature and maybe procrastination has caused the delay. Finally, I got inspired to finally launch it on my 30th birthday as my personal gift to humanity. “The Tripreneur” chronicles my journey through my teenage years, campus life and how I had to relinquish leadership of my thriving business against my father’s wish to learn from Legends in the marketing communications space.

The primary objective is to reach out to teenagers on how to start adding value early and harmonise all their talents to their benefits and the world at large and also serve as a guide for young adults on how they can build their entrepreneurial and employability skills while on campus. I believe this will ultimately become a panacea to Nigeria’s youth unemployment in the 21st Century.

What would you consider your areas of expertise, strengths or weakness in the industry you play in?

Development of effective marketing strategies and communications plans using both traditional and digital platforms to reach target audience. I also bring to the fore, my understanding of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) challenges being one myself to create tailor-made solutions that can grow the bottom-line. Being a member of different professional groups like Junior Achievement and the NESG Youth initiative also gives me the opportunity to leverage on a robust network.

The Advertising industry is worth over 7million US dollars according to a recent report, however, there are quite a few challenges. Top on this list is the fact that the consumers are fast changing, client’s budget keep decreasing, little or no barrier to entry amongst many others.

 However, I believe the industry is yet to reach its full potentials especially in terms of positively influencing social behaviour. A good example is the recent Nike’s 30th anniversary ad campaign that featured Colin Kaepernick; it didn’t only increase the value of the brand but has also evoked a movement of standing for what it is right in the face of challenges.

What are your plans for the future?

I see an exciting future, as I continue to build my career with a fuse of technology, design thinking and growth of SMEs. I believe the Advertising industry will continue to witness several disruptions driven by internet penetration, artificial intelligence and strong competition from both the consulting and entertainment sector. I will be sharing more of my stories through books, online platforms and train the younger generation to have a better society.