Yaay I joined the Hotels NG internship cohort 9

Like the title says, I'm excited about joining the highly reputed Hotels NG annual internship founded by seasoned entrepreneur Mark Essien.

From running his company in Nigeria, Mark discovered that there is a large number of talented young people in Nigeria, however, there's also a severe shortage of well trained tech talent in the country and the demand for the well trained tech talent far outweighs supply.

Mark then decided to build a pipeline of well-trained tech talents by running an open internship system in which anyone with even a mobile phone can sign up to the program and go from a complete beginner into a relatively good software developer in a few months.

Mark's annual HNG internship program have gone on to become quite successful with several young people joining in from a number of countries across Africa. The program has also created quite a number of success stories who went from complete beginner with no tech experience to landing their dream tech job several months after completing the program.

I am excited to have joined the 9th edition, not as an intending  software developer but as a member of the Sales and Marketing cohort which was only introduced this year.

Truth is, we learn every day. Being a Digital Marketing practitioner in Nigeria I have seen several times the process by which Marketing translates into Sales. 

For most organizations who intend to make profit, marketing activities must translate into sales, if not immediately, at some point in the future. 

 The problem is most organizations in Nigeria want sales in the immediate without realizing that some products take more time to sell than others and it requires a bit of nurturing which may take some time to make happen.

This kind of organizational thinking puts so much pressure on sales people thus contributing to the notion that the sales job is hard.

This has led to resentment for the sales role, resulting in an acute lack of sales people in Nigeria. The lack of interest and low awareness about in sales in Nigeria has led to the misleading notion that "Marketing is Sales" therefore, an employer will expect a marketing person to drive sales and the average Nigerian believes that having a marketing job means you are a sales person.

 I'm not saying both roles don't sometimes meet but it is important to know that marketing and sales are distinct roles.

This is why I am glad that programs like the HNG program has introduced a Sales & Marketing track to not only create awareness about the distinctness of each roles but to also create well trained Sales & Marketing executives in Nigeria.

 I am glad to be a part of this program as I believe there will be a lot I will learn from Mark and his team's experience, besides that, I will have a valuable opportunity to build relationships with young people whom I believe will becoming Sales & Marketing rockstars in a few years after the program.

Meanwhile, Mark's team has built some great resources. A tech book store for people interested in advancing their tech careers & a platform that helps companies conduct background checks for prospective hires.

I expect more great products from this team.

Will expect your thoughts in the comments section of this writeup.

 

 

When you're overwhelmed, do this! (Lessons from Oprah Winfrey and Patrick David Bet)

Wow. Its been 6 months since my last blog post. Not like my entrepreneural journey has been without incident but its been so overwhelming I don't even think of putting up a post here. Not until I just had a discussion with someone who is meant to do me a proposal did I have a strong feeling to come here and put my thoughts into words.

I want to be as transparent as I can be with this blog. That's not a norm for Nigerians

The Struggles Of An Upcoming Entrepreneur

A line from M.I Abaga's song "Everything I have seen" off his Illegal music 3 mixtape says: "Geniuses are lonely cos nobody understands us". Am I a genius? Definitely not! Am I lonely? No. I just wish people had more integrity.

In my journey towards entrepreneurship, I have been disappointed countless times. From friends to app developers to institutions, banks, the government and people who promised to invest in your business and later pull out when it's time to put the money.

Did I feel like giving up? Countless times! But I'm stubborn. I'm persistent and a risk taker and so I press forward.

Hmmm... Titleless Post Just my thoughts.

Wow, I can't believe its been about 5 months since I last updated this blog. I made a resolve to update it as often as possible but sadly, life happens and I've not been faithful with that promise.

Hmm, I want to say I'll begin to update it regularly but I've made that same promise severally in the past and I didn't keep to it so let's just see how things go this time.

Random Words on January 1st 2016

So I've been having a writing hiatus on this blog, not that I don't want to write but things happen in quick succession that you wonder what to even put on the blog.
Anyway tonight, with nothing in particular on my mind but a burning desire to update this blog, I open my laptop and let the thoughts flow into words.

Disappointing friendships and knowing your priorities

Wow. I'm back here again. Well, I did not keep my promise of coming here to write often. Anyway, its all good at least I'm here now. Right?
So what's been going on with me? A lot has happened within the space of 2 months. Seasons change and so do people.
I've learnt that the only person you can trust is yourself and probably your family. You see that friends forever thing? God help you.
Yes, in the past 2 months I've been disappointed by my friends. Not 1, not 2 but 3 of them. 3 among the people I call my inner circle. These are people you've had such a huge positive impact in their lives and all you expect is loyalty and understanding (respect) but what you get is a huge turnaround and everyone trying to play smart forgetting the originator of the game.

Wise Word For Those In Their 20s

So my very good friend and brother Akinyooye Azeez aka @LyricalSteam put this stuff up on Facebook and I've been willing to share it for a while.
This is a wise word for millennials or let me say young people in their 20s who have the privilege of working in this economy where getting a job is hard. Enjoy the piece.