Ayodeji Balogun is the Chief Executive Officer AFEX, a regional exchange in Nigeria established to link farmers and commodity merchants with better access to the agricultural and financial market. We at Ingressive Capital had the pleasure of hosting him on an Instagram Live in conjunction with The Spark NG.
Ayodeji in four years working in AFEX became the C.E.O, amazing feet in a short period of time, and when asked about this accomplishment and how he achieved it, he mentioned, luck, staying prepared, understanding the market, his users and years of experience building businesses.
He explained that understanding his users and their experiences beyond questionnaires is an important factor as an entrepreneur and in his business working with farmers. When asked how important, he said, “Understanding your users is the bedrock of building a business.”
The process of understanding users of business includes getting feedbacks, collaborating, putting you in their shoes and more, all of which Ayodeji has done successfully in his work. On how entrepreneurs can get feedback and collaborate, he said, “First it is a thing of the mind, overcome the inner battles that hold you back from reaching out.”
Contrary to popular belief, successful people are willing to help, but most times entrepreneurs are scared. Next Ayodeji said, “Create value.” Collaboration is two ways and the best way to reach out is from a place of value.
Still, on collaborating and reaching out, Ayodeji advised on how to reach out. According to him, his best platform for reaching out or collaborating is LinkedIn, using this platform, he deliberately connects with people in, or outside his field, within his age gap or not, just to get an understanding to different sectors.
Also important to mention is the ethic of collaboration when reaching out always ask yourself, would you respond to you if you were on the other end. On his final words to entrepreneurs post-COVID, he said, there is no easy way in the winning game, only businesses with stay power will survive.
The session with Ayodeji Balogun was highly insightful and you can watch the full video on our IG TV, at Ingressive Capital.
