Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: The journey so far: Frederik Obasi, MD, Colour Me Digital

[Bulls n Bears]

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 

 

Frederik Obasi is the co-founder and MD of Colour Me Digital, an African
sports and entertainment marketing agency that has worked with notable
Nigerian football players including Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Ademola Lookman;
and brands including LG Electronics and DStv. Obasi is also the founder of
Nigerian marketing agency Hypebuzz.


1. Tell us about one of the toughest situations you’ve found yourself in as
a business owner.


In the earliest stages of my entrepreneurial journey some of the toughest
issues I faced were around cashflow and billables. Different business models
have different payment cycles and although your company may be profitable on
paper, it’s your cash in the bank that keeps the lights on in the office,
ensures employees are paid on time and allows you to execute on growth and
marketing plans every month.

Through bad experiences I quickly identified that a robust understanding of
finance is essential to business success. Through taking courses, asking
questions, financial planning and surrounding myself with the correct
consultants and experts I’ve been able to overcome such challenges.


 2. Which business achievement are you most proud of?


I’m proud of being able to transition from a venture-funded company to a
self-funded business, where I put our customers, employees and partners at
the centre of the business – and not the next fundraiser, growth metrics or
an investor’s perspective.

Often when you raise money during the early stages of a business, before
having a proven market or business model, you can get sucked into focusing
on everything else but the things that really matter. Putting up your own
money and taking all the risks allows you to be prudent, flexible and
creative.


 3. Describe your greatest weakness as an entrepreneur.


I believe my greatest weakness changes as the businesses evolve and a new
level creates new challenges, which then requires new skills.

Currently, I have been travelling a lot for work, this means I don’t get to
spend as much time as I’d want to day to day with my team and, sometimes,
clients. To prevent this from having a negative impact, I have invested in
productivity tools and apps to create feedback loops, as well as being more
organised and deliberate in communicating at all times.


 4. Which popular entrepreneurial advice do you disagree with?


Almost all advice depends on interpretation, agenda, time, location and so
many other factors outside of an entrepreneur’s control. All conventional
business wisdom may be false depending on the situation.

The general theme of rushing, speed and being fast in entrepreneurship is
one I don’t entirely agree with. I think there’s something special about
taking your time and crafting your company like a piece of artwork. Although
in some scenarios, speed can be important, I truly believe that great and
impactful businesses that stand the test of time are built by
entrepreneurial artists rather than “shrewd businessmen” who take every
decision at blistering speed.


5. Is there anything you wish you knew about entrepreneurship before you
got started?


I wish I knew more about the importance of surrounding yourself with the
right people and having a good support network. When I was younger I never
really thought about hiring the right people, finding mentors and building
relationships within my field and beyond. I thought I could do it all alone.

With more experience I’ve learned the importance of attracting and finding
the right people to build a vision, for advice and just to have cool people
who support me and who I can support too. Recruiting talent and finding the
best people is a process that should start well before you find a gap that
needs to be filled. The people you work and build with are essential to an
entrepreneur’s success.


 6. Name a business opportunity you would still like to pursue.


Poverty alleviation. Life optimisation using tracking data, science and
analytics to find a route that enables people to get out of poverty. The
decisions made by people who have been able to succeed from a life of
extreme poverty would be tracked and analysed at a large scale to see what
patterns can be extracted and applied to others in the same situation.

This will help with allocation of aid and ensure charity work focuses on
alleviating poverty entirely, it will also help build better countries,
communities and people.

I’m not sure of the business model, however, if it worked it would be
immensely valuable considering the amount of impoverished people in
communities that are economically inactive, not just in Africa, but around
the world.—howwemadeitinafrica 



Frederik Obasi

 

 

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Telephone:    <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:    <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AF
QjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw 

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:                  @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:               Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 255767 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180910/dae7ad75/attachment-0001.bin>