Focus on value addition, not challenges – Njoku
The founder of iROKOtv, Mr Jason Njoku, has stressed the need for young entrepreneurs to focus on adding value to what they do instead of concentrating on their challenges.
This, he said, was imperative owing to the fact that most young entrepreneurs tended to allow start-up challenges to affect their success.
Speaking at the 13th MTN Business World Executive Breakfast Meeting in Accra on August 28, Mr Njoku, who has built Africa’s most successful online television, said: “Forget the form and forget the structures in place to help your business; add value to whatever you are doing.”
Value addition, he explained, was the only way through which start-up businesses could grow and make more profit, adding that: “When people truly value what you do, they pay for it.”
Sharing his success story with corporate executives at the meeting, which was held on the theme: “Building great technology companies out of Africa,” he said challenges he encountered when he launched his company in 2011 did not mar his dreams.
The forum was organised by Business World, and was sponsored by GRAPHIC BUSINESS, the finance newspaper of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL).
To overcome the funding hurdle associated with many businesses, Mr Njoku, together with his business partner, Bastian Gotter, raised US$25 million from venture capital firms to run his Lagos-based movie streaming platform.
“We have never had to chase money but we are making a lot every month in terms of revenue. We were able to raise a lot of money in the face of failure although the begining was not easy,” he said.
IROKOtv houses a movie catalogue of over 5,000 and is fast becoming a dedicated movie platform for most lovers of Nigerian movies in over 178 countries around the world.
He said his business started from operating on a YouTube channel to a stand-alone venture capital backed dedicated movie platform.
He has also moved it from a free advertising mode to a subscription base that is generating revenue for iROKOtv.
The iROKOtv founder, throwing more light on the Nigerian movie industry, said producers were still striving to maintain their market share in the industry.
According to him, every entrepreneur should make it a point to learn on the job to aid its expansion, adding that being stagnant and complacent on the job would never guarantee the success that was expected.
“If you have money, you should be able to do anything but you have to learn on the job; that is the spirit of movie producers in Nigeria,” he said. GB
Being a ‘bully’ in business
According to him, sometimes playing the confidence game and being a ‘bully’ to get things done right in business is in the right direction.
“This is not a nice way of doing business but sometimes you have to do it,” he explained.
Sharing some of his encounters in his business, Mr Njoku said he had to deal with producers who gave him the licence to copy their movies and subsequently stream online, coming back to revoke the licence.
This he said he didn’t take lightly and would therefore explore all means possible to him to ensure that any contract existing was adhered to.
MTN Ghana driving technology
Official sponsors of the event, MTN Ghana, said it was committed to improving its customer service and satisfaction through the Internet.
The Chief Marketing Officer of the company, Mr Rahul De, said the Internet made everything possible, adding that in the digital age, the Internet was needed.
“We have invested GH¢1.7 billion in technology, supporting our networks,” he said, adding that the company would in September, launch its ifest promotion to promote the use of the Internet among its clients.