Let me thank Mr. Azuh Arinze, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of YES International! magazine and his team for the honour accorded me in selecting me as guest speaker at the maiden edition of the magazine’s lecture series.
There is no doubt that he would have had a wide pool of highly successful entrepreneurs from which to choose a speaker for today’s event. But then, I know that Azuh has always had a soft spot for me, which must have influenced his decision to ask me to speak.
Let me use this opportunity to congratulate Honours Communications for successfully completing one year of publishing YES International! magazine. One year in the life of a start up company can be quite challenging and I therefore thank God for His Grace in seeing the company through this first year.
It has been said that the high way of magazine and newspaper publishing in Nigeria is strewn with carcasses of dead publications. But because Honours Communications is God’s own business, it shall not be another carcass on the highway of publishing in Nigeria.
As we celebrate this first anniversary, we will celebrate many more, even to the twentieth and fiftieth anniversaries and beyond. And so shall it be.
THE SO&U STORY
Twenty two years ago, a young lady and two young men got together and set up shop on 26 Borno Crescent Apapa. They called the firm, Sagay, Oku and Ufot, later shortened to simply SO&U. Between them, they had just N60,000, some promises of patronage from a few friends, a lot of encouragement by other friends and family members, loads of self confidence, ambition, talent, as well as an abounding faith in God.
Whatever they lacked in terms of connections and financial resources, they were confident would be compensated for by sheer talent, determination, focus and a driving passion for success.
The SO&U idea has grown into the SO&U Group, comprising two advertising agencies, a Public Relations and Activations firm, a Media Independent, and an Audio Visuals production company. And still growing. But then, the idea did not just start twenty two years ago, it goes further back to thirty six years ago. It was in the library of the University of Calabar that I chanced upon a marketing journal. Leafing through its pages, I came across an illustration of a trendy looking young man in Ray Ban sunglasses, colourful open necked shirt and a jacket.
The caption read: A trendy Art Director. I was immediately enchanted by this image and decided that I wanted to be an Art Director in an advertising Agency. I must add that this ran very much against the thinking of my father who thought that reading Law in university was more appropriate for my intellect, or on account of my creative inclinations, probably reading architecture would be ideal and more rewarding. Eventually I won the debate, applied and secured admission to study Industrial Design in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where I specialized in Graphic Design. I must say that I was as diligent as I was playful in university, graduating top of my class with a strong second class upper degree.
The following eight years after NYSC saw me build a career starting from a small regional advertising agency in Calabar, to a highly successful career in Insight Communications in Lagos. A brief stint as Creative Director in CASERS (now DDB) was followed by the launch of SO&U with my colleagues in March 1990.
A senior manager I was trying to recruit just over a week ago asked me what motivated me to establish SO&U. I reflected briefly, then responded: fame, fortune, and fun. I believe the three objectives have been achieved in various ways over the last 22 years, sometimes some elements being more pronounced than others. I always give thanks to God for his grace in that through SO&U, I have been able to provide for my family and enough to assist my friends. Over a hundred Nigerians are gainfully employed within the group and many more have built successful careers by passing through the agency. I have earned some respect and recognition for what I do and represent, and have had great fun while doing it. So, I guess fame, fortune and fun have been delivered. Now what lessons do I have to share within the context of these 22 years in business?
I will contextualize this within the framework of the nine steps to success as identified by Stedman Graham in his book “You can make it happen.”
STEP 1: CHECK YOUR ID
According to Mark Twain, “making your vacation your vocation” will result in doing what you really love doing, and doing it very well. You can only achieve excellence in things you are naturally good at and enjoy doing.
Right from my childhood days, I had demonstrated a huge amount of artistic talent. I could draw, and could also play complex roles in school and Sunday school drama presentations.
Advertising is a creative business and being naturally talented is a huge advantage in pursuing your career. According to management guru, Peter Drucker, “Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their methods of work and their values. Knowing where one belongs can transform an ordinary person … into an outstanding performer.”
In choosing a career in business, you must play to your strengths and do what you love doing. I very much enjoy what I do, it comes to me naturally and I am therefore able to excel.
STEP 2: CREATE A VISION
Seeing the picture of the “Trendy Art Director” in the jounal in the University of Calabar library as a teenager helped me clearly articulate a mind picture of what I wanted to be. I had therefore established a vision for myself which I then pursued through an appropriate course of study and work career.
In starting SO&U with my colleagues, we had also clearly articulated a vision for our enterprise. “To be the most creative, most effective and most professional provider of marketing communications solutions in West Africa, and wherever we choose to operate.”
Despite obvious financial limitations, various setbacks, disappointments and a clear lack of network, we set off armed with our talent and loads of passion with a mission “to be recognized as the most creative agency in Nigeria within two years, and have great fun while at it”.
Your vision of the future must be so clear and sharply focused upon that, irrelevant events or distractions or worries and concerns are quickly recognized and moved past. Such vision must be so powerful that it ignites a driving natural passion in you that has nothing to do with money, outside recognition, or power, it’s about integrity and self respect.
STEP 3: DEVELOP YOUR TRAVEL PLAN
You must articulate a plan that takes into cognizance your skills, resources (or lack of them) and other assets within the context of your principles and values. You must set specific and measurable goals for yourself and then commence a focused pursuit of your dreams.
Even if we did not put it in writing, we had established a clear road map to success. Our view was that every opportunity we had would be utilized to produce mind blowing creative work that would catch the attention of prospective clients, and prospective staff. Virtually all the initial monies made were used to equip the agency, and to train ourselves and our staff to upgrade skills or to simply bridge skill gaps. We recognized the need for aggressive networking which informed my involvement in various industry activities, bonding with mentors, and socializing within the right business circles. We were clear in our minds that success or failure in the enterprise had little to do with what we lacked, but more to do with how we deployed the little we had to advantage.
STEP 4: MASTER THE RULES OF THE ROAD
As you “travel” towards your objectives, be prepared for surprises and disappointments. The road is not always smooth. For every adversity, there is an equal or greater opportunity. Never give up, but be prepared to review and adjust your plans in the reality of what you encounter at implementation.
We had great years and we had terrible years. We were duped, taken advantage of, and disparaged. We absorbed the knocks and disappointments and took them philosophically. We learnt to be more street wise, to be less trusting and to be more aggressive.
Maintaining a good physical, mental and spiritual condition helps you cope more effectively with challenges. There were times when we just took our case to God in prayers and hoped for the best. In the most desperate of times, help usually came from very unexpected sources. We learnt that prudence in great times meant something would be left over to weather the rough times.
STEP 5: STEP INTO THE OUTER LIMITS
You must be prepared to stretch yourself beyond limits you thought possible. You must take some calculated risks and find the courage to sometimes step into the unknown. It is good to proceed with caution, but sometimes being too cautious means you will achieve no breakthrough. Major breakthroughs come from operating on the cutting edge.
If you constantly remain within your comfort zone, you may never have the opportunity of discovering hidden reserves of talent or capacity in you. Never be afraid to challenge yourself or take on big and scary goals. Remain restless and resist the urge to be comfortable as this may lead to complacency and your down fall.
Being creative people meant we were naturally restless. And so we experimented with business concepts and strategies, tried new things and challenged ourselves all in the attempt to break new ground. Sometimes we scored, at other times we learnt bitter lessons.
STEP 6: PILOT THE SEASONS OF CHANGE
You must be flexible in your strategy and responsive to changes in your environment. You cannot keep doing the same things same way and expect different solutions. To change the results you have been getting, you must be ready to change your approach and even your attitude.
Shifts in social dynamics or government policy may demand a new approach. There may be temporary set backs, losses, disappointment, but always be prepared to embrace change. A positive attitude to change can open your eyes to opportunities you were totally unaware of. There will be times of plenty, and there will times of extreme scarcity that will try your soul and possibly lead to self doubt. In spite of all these, remain focused and unshaken.
In running our business, we stayed close to our clients in order to better understand their businesses, and to be able to predict any changes. That way we could proactively manage change to our advantage. The Nigerian business environment is prone to rapid change and you must have a positive mindset towards change, and be flexible in order to survive.
STEP 7: BUILD YOUR DREAM TEAM
You will need partners, associates, competent and reliable staff as well as mentors as you embark on your journey. You need people who believe in you, can share your vision and are truly committed to the enterprise. They must themselves be ambitious and with a passion for excellence.
As a leader, you must be prepared to make sacrifices for their benefit, earn their trust, love and confidence. You must constantly inspire and motivate them. The quality of your leadership could make the difference between success and failure.
We carefully chose our staff through a rigorous interview process and then put them through intensive training. Sometimes they complained about the intensity of the training, but we kept at it. You can only be as good as your weakest team member.
Develop a talent for cultivating and sustaining viable relationships, seek, identify and associate with mentors who can share their experiences with you. You will be amazed how many successful godfathers are looking for godsons whom they can coach and with whom to share their experiences.
According to Marc Allen in his book Visionary Business, “focus on and learn from those who have been successful in their field. In every field, there have been great successes, and a lot of failures. Focus on the successful people, get to know them. Study their methods. You will create your own methods to become successful, but never lose sight of others in the field who have already created their success. Celebrate their success and learn from it.”
He also adds, “celebrate the success of your competitors too. And even celebrate those who might think they are your enemies as well … celebrate the success of others – it will help you create even more of your own success.”
That must have informed the joke we used to share with my colleagues about “business without bitterness.” We would endeavour to be polite and nice to our competitors, bearing malice to none, no matter how they felt towards us. That way, we were able to leap frog a lot of learnings from senior colleagues who were comfortable to share experience with us. And of course, leave our hearts clear for only good things.
On the other hand, Mark Twain warns: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too can somehow become great.”
We did have a number of people telling us how overambitious we were, how many had failed, and how under-resourced or unconnected we were. We ignored them and faced our game.
You will get told so many textbook strategies to adopt. My experience is that the best strategy is the one that works, and that you are equipped to implement.
STEP 8: WIN BY A DECISION
You must be timely and effective in taking decisions. Your capacity to quickly evaluate situations and options will facilitate speedy decision making. Stay as hands on as possible, especially in the early days of the enterprise. Constantly update your skills and knowledge through training, reading and exposure.
Let not endless planning take the place of action. The risk of a wrong decision is better than no decision.
In 2003 after the banking industry crash, we had to downsize. It cost me sleepless nights how to let staff go. Eventually, we gathered enough courage and devised a transparent strategy for the lay offs. Further prevarication could have resulted in the death of the business due to excessive costs.
STEP 9: COMMIT TO YOUR VISION
Devote time and energy to the pursuit of your goals. Your single mindedness in pursuing the realization of your vision could be the difference between success and failure. Commitment is about giving all you have to get all you want. Every waking moment, every thought, every action must be weighed against the value added to the pursuit of your vision.
And so, every brief we handled was with a view to catching the attention of the next client. Every opportunity to socialize was either to network for new business or to bond with staff, clients and associates. Any training opportunities we thought could improve our skills and competence, we went for, even if we had to pay instalmentally. Every energy, every thought, every action was focused on ensuring the success of the enterprise. That was our single driving passion.
Beyond the nine steps to success as suggested by Stedman Graham, I would like to add two of my own.
1. ENDEAVOUR TO BUILD A PERSONAL BRAND
Creating a life brand enables you to position yourself attractively to key audiences you will need to engage as you pilot your enterprise to success.
In the same way that brand imagery works for the world’s top brands, being known for the right things, especially for those things that genuinely successful people care about will boost your success plans, boost your ability to network with the right people and in the right places. As a professional, your reputation for competence and your depth of character must be well nurtured and protected. Being associated with the right people and the right causes adds value to your personal brand. A values driven life will ensure lasting relationships with family, friends and associates. It is those values and actions associated with you and how you manage them that will determine your personal brand equity.
In my growth path, I have endeavoured to project character and competence, and tried as best as possible to associate with the right causes. Whether services to the advertising industry through leadership of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), service to the community as president of Lagos Business School Alumni Association, service to the nation as member board of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, or support for the underprivileged as a director of Special Olympics, Nigeria. I have also committed to service to God through various activities in the church.
According to Albert Einstein, “try not to be a man of success, but rather a man of value.”
George Bernard Shaw adds that “… the true purpose in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.” A values led life is a life of service to community and, indeed, humanity.
2. COMMIT TO YOUR CREATOR
In the Holy Bible, the book of Isaiah Chapter 40 verse 31, says “Those who trust in the Lord will rise up on wings like eagles.” There are so many variables in life and in business over which you have no control. Involve God in your plans and you will be amazed at the way he will instruct you.
My trust has always been in the Almighty God, who in many instances has turned my stupidity into brilliance. With God, all things are possible. When I look back at the last 22 years, I must acknowledge that a lot of hard work has gone down. But then, there are many brilliant people who have worked even harder in the same industry. Today, they are nowhere to be found. The businesses have failed. The grace of God makes the difference between success and failure.
In conclusion, a word of advice to those embarking on the journey to business success. You must choose your path wisely. Too many people pursue financial success by hook or by crook with no consideration for the relationships or lives they damage as they bulldoze their way forward. Ultimately, they damage themselves, end up frustrated, empty and unfulfilled. We have a choice to be humane and principled in the pursuit of our dreams, adding value to relationships and community as we progress, or join in a rat race where anything goes as long as success is assured. But then according to Lily Tomlin, “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat.”
Thank you
Udeme Ufot