Ekocity layout August-1

SPORT
Yadav wins Lagos Int’l
Badminton Competition
MANUFACTURING
I See Challenges As Opportunities
To The Next Level
- Femi Ajayi
Femi Ajayi, the Chief Technical Director/CEO of Inspire furniture’s Limited is a passion driven professional who
shared his experience in business in this interview with Nnamdi Nwokolo.
Chittaboina Rahul Yadav of India has
won the 3rd Lagos International
Badminton Classics after defeating
fellow country man Karan Rajan in
an intensive final match to emerge the winner.
The Special Adviser on Central Business
Districts, Hon. Agboola Dabiri, who represented
the Special Guest of Honour, Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode, said the hosting
of the International Badminton Classics was
borne out of the present administration’s
mandate to achieve tourism through sports.
According to him, Sports is a vital tool in
every country, to promote and showcase its
cultural heritage, to grow its economy and
create employment for many talented citizens
irrespective of their area of operational
gifts.He assured sports lovers that the State
will put in all that is needed to ensure Lagos
hosts other competitions that of the same
high standard.
On his part, the Special Adviser to the
Governor on Sports and Chairman, Lagos
State Sports Commission, Mr. Deji Tinubu
said the Badminton Classics was hosted to
show that Lagos could give players a platform
to thrive globally.His words, “This Tournament
is to show that we can improve the
THIS TOURNAMENT
IS TO SHOW THAT WE
CAN IMPROVE THE
STANDARD OF OUR
PLAYERS AND WE CAN
BRING THE WORLD
HERE. WE CAN MAKE
IT HAPPEN IN LAGOS,
WE CAN CREATE
EVENTS HERE TO
EXPOSE THEM
GLOBALLY
standard of our players and we can bring
the world here. We can make it happen in
Lagos, We can create events here to expose
them globally”.
While commending the Badminton Federation
of Nigeria, Tinubu said the professionalism
displayed by the Players, Teams
and Officials was satisfactory and top class,
noting that the State will continue its developmental
Programmes to churn out the
best of talents in all aspects of Sports.
The President, Badminton Federation of
Nigeria & Chairman, Lagos Badminton Federation,
Barrister Francis Orbih commended
Players from all the eleven Countries represented,
saying they have exhibited the spirit
of good sportsmanship.He revealed that
this year’s competition had better funding
and compensation for the players following
Governor AkinwunmiAmbode’s support for
the increase of the funding from $15,000 to
$20,000 which has, in turn, attracted private
sponsorship for the Competition.He, however,
assured Sports enthusiasts to expect a
bigger and better organization of the competition
next year, stating that 2018 is the
Olympics’ global events year.The teams that
participated in the tournament are; Portugal,
Togo, Ghana, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Jordan,
India, Italy, Benin Republic, Uganda and host
country Nigeria.
What influenced your choice of business?
Upon leaving high school, my elder brother
who is into furniture making persuaded me
into joining him to learn the trade. Before
then, I had secretly admired his creativity
in the trade and through that admiration,
my interest to learn the trade grew. When
the suggestion was made that I join him,
it was like a dream come true because, I
have privately developed a passion for the
trade. I joined him ultimately and learnt
the trade for good six years during which I
went through diverse trainings that finally
equipped me for where we are today. After
the apprenticeship period of six years, I had
my freedom and set up my own firm and to
the glory of God; we are in the seventh year
of our operations.
What has been the most challenging experience
since you started?
When I set up my firm, the major challenge
that stared me in the face was where to site
my workshop. I had to meet omonile’s at the
time for land which they promised to give,
but the unfortunate scenario was that they
will just take the money without allocating
any land. This was part of the early challenges
we encountered. The issue of startup
capital is something that nearly frustrated us
out of the business, but passion kept pushing
me. My perseverance and the grace of
God is what led us to where we are coupled
with the fact that I see challenges as opportunities
that will take you to the next level.
For example, you cannot be promoted to
the next class if you don’t pass your exams,
the same way you can’t get to the next level
if you don’t overcome challenges.
What are the unique factors that stand
your organization out?
One of the factors that stand us out of the
competition is a unique blend of quality,
competitive pricing and excellent customer
service delivery. We go out of our way
to research and get the best of materials
to produce high quality products at a very
competitive price. We fully understand what
value and satisfaction means to our customers
and we have the required skills in scaling
up the value chain for our diverse clientele.
Our company is composed of a carefully
selected blend of highly skilled and semi-
skilled work force that are determined to ensure
effective customer satisfaction, as they
are inspired to challenge the status quo,
finding ingenious ways to find efficiencies
and engage with the world at large.
How hard is it to have a company that produces
the raw materials in Nigeria?
It is not very hard but the challenge is that
it is capital intensive to have a company that
can produce some of the raw materials locally.
Funny enough, all the components
needed to make the raw materials available
are in abundance in Nigeria like the saw
dust and wood etc. It gives me great pain
that every day we get rid of thousands of kilos
of saw dust that cannot be used. In some
other countries, the saw dust would’ve been
another source raw material and revenue as
well, but they are wasted here.
Is that the reason why most people prefer
importation rather than local production?
There is a tough change going on in Nigeria
and in a short period, importers of finished
products will be out of the market because
our borders are getting more secured and
let me also remind you that those items
are contraband. Anyone who prefers importation
to local manufacturing will have
himself to blame in the long run. The efforts
of the present administration have made
it near impossible for importers of finished
products to thrive and I urge them not to
relent until we attain self-sufficiency in furniture
production in Nigeria. We foresaw the
present situation and we took a conscious
effort to invest heavily in local production.
It will interest you to know that everything
you see in our showroom is manufactured
in our factory in Nigeria.
Focus/Projections:
Our focus is to build our capacity to be able
to export our products beyond the shores
of this country after satisfying the local demand.
It is going to take us time and huge
capital but we are committed to generate
foreign exchange by exporting our products.
To be honest with you, our focus will
be to serve the Nigerian market, then move
to neighbouring African countries before
taking the global market. Ranging from
home, office, school and hotel furniture,
Inspire Furnitures has developed a quality
assurance policy that guarantees not only
quality but durable and pocket friendly
products. The uniqueness of the product
makes us stand out amongst the committee
of furniture makers.
From your experience, what are the critical
factors for building a sustainable future?
The challenge with most entrepreneurs is
that they are looking for instant gratification.
To build a sustainable business, you
must look beyond where you are at the moment
and focus on the future, in terms of
where you are taking the business to, in line
with your vision. It is also important to imbibe
the virtues of patience, strategic planning,
honesty, integrity and good customer
service. With these in place, the percentage
of success will be very high. The direction
we are going, we intend to redefine quality
and the service level in the furniture industry
in Nigeria, so that customers will have
real value for their money.
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