MY ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY: THE QUEST! - 2
Here is a link to the Part 1: MY ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY: THE ACCIDENTAL GENESIS! - 1
Fast forward to rounding off “Think and Grow Rich”, I was introduced to “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by a friend of mine ( Abuchi Okafor ) whom I had known since my childhood.
If “Think and Grow Rich” awakened my spirit to what I had inside and triggered a lot of curiosity, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” gave me clarity on why I should pursue it.
In 2014, I got admitted to Nnamdi Azikiwe University to study Medical Physiology. The plan? Switch to Medicine in year 2 or further to MD after gaining my first degree. During my period as a freshman, while waiting for the CSC lecturer to come to class. I pitched the idea of Cresthub - a Media company that covers hidden founders and startups in Nigeria, to my classmates, Kosi Amadi and Theophilus Okonoboh. They were receptive to the idea, however they were not willing to join me in the venture at that time.
I went on to purchase the domain and made the necessary registration and kickstarted the operation. The initial capital input I got was from my dad who was super supportive of my adventure at that time.
I put out posters about Cresthub around school and started publishing on the blog. I was the only writer at that point. Even though the initial idea was to cover hidden startups and hidden founders at that point, I had nowhere to locate them. Majority of the startup buzz was in Lagos. I ended up tweaking the publications to include book reviews and other how-to articles. It was not what I wanted but then, I had to adapt to limitations or risk shutting down Cresthub.
In 2015, as Cresthub started generating buzz around school, one of my friends amongst whom I had initially pitched the idea to, decided to join the team. From this I got to understand that most times, you have to walk your talk in order to attract others to your course.
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| The First Version of the Cresthub site in 2015. - source:https://web.archive.org/web/20160417071708/http://cresthub.com/ |
During the long break, my Dad saw how engrossed I was in Cresthub and asked me how much I have made through the site. I said “zero casha”. He flipped his head and said I was wasting my time. The essence of a business is to make money and when cash is not forthcoming, I should shut down the business.
CRESTHUB was not just a business to me, it was literally a God given purpose that I had to fulfill. I had to explain to my dad how most businesses rarely generate revenues during their initial stages in the U.S and ended up being big. His response? Those companies are in the U.S where systems work.
We went back and forth in our argument till he said, “How much can I give you right now to make Cresthub generate at least X amount of money every month?”
For a second I froze. Of course I needed money to promote the site but then, I couldn’t guarantee an ROI from the promotion. Why? I had yet to build the brand to a stage where people can pay me for sponsored content. My application to Google Adsense (which was the main source of income for bloggers at that time) was rejected on the basis that the blog doesn’t meet their standard. I ended up shying away from the question but since then, Cresthub gave my dad the avenue to become a thorn in my flesh. “Cres - Crub” as he prefers to pronounce it was distracting me from school and should be shut down. It doesn’t generate cash. It is not a feasible business and should never be allowed to exist.
