The Managing Director/ CEO of Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, has advised entrepreneurs and youths to embrace partnerships in their quest to succeed in business because most times, other people are privy to information you do not have.
“Partnerships have also helped in propelling my visions and aspirations in life. So, I am urging entrepreneurs not to keep their visions to themselves” he stated.
Sekibo explained that after working in oil company for years, “I was bored and I felt like doing something else. So I saw an insurance company and I decided to buy it.
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As at the time I was buying the insurance company, it was located somewhere in Ikeja in one office, no window, no toilet and the company was owing about N150 million.
I said to myself if we buy this business, we will be able to employ people and give them a life. I went ahead to borrow money, N7 million from my brother’s friend and went to the bank to borrow another N7 million and bought the insurance company.
And holding on to God and with the help of other people, I shared my aspiration and visions with, within a year and half, we were able to grow the company to a tune of N12 billion”.
Sekibo also advised the youths to brace up for the challenges of life early enough just as he asked them not to allow poverty mentality deter them from making headway.
“I am an accountant. I did not study banking and finance in school but I stumbled into banking. I termed such as
“you fail to succeed”. It is about preparation, you have to prepare early enough because it is what you do with your wilderness days that makes the difference, those periods that you can hardly feed, and those are the days that will determine what your future will be”, he said.
Headded: “If you allow poverty mentality to take you over, it might be difficult for you as a youth or as an entrepreneur. You need to have a positive mindset from the onset especially from the point you have a vision and mission and you need to pursue it”.