BOX OFFICE INCUBATOR
Doyin Adewola is the founder CEO of Box Office incubator. A civil engineer by profession and by passion an entrepreneur. He loves business, entrepreneurship even while in the university as a civil engineering student, he always look for a way to express his talent. He launched the Box Office Incubator on the 20th day of December 2012.
He had an initial challenge of getting an office accommodation for a small business. But he didn’t allow such challenge to hinder his dreams as he started operating from his home. From there he thought of requesting his friend to allow him put a table in a corner of his office.
While thinking of how to approach his friend, he imagined how many entrepreneurs would need the same solution and immediately he decided to create a platform where small businesses would share almost all office facilities and services to reduce their business overheads.
Basically, Box Office provide affordable offices for starting up a small business. Beyond the office space. The Box Office also make sure that the business survives by providing the services needed to run the businesses effectively. The also provide linkages, networking activities, business development training and capacity building.
Sir what motivated you to choose and work in Abuja?
I didn't choose to work in Abuja, my parents have always worked in the North for a long time. My dad is a Surveyor he was transferred to a lot of state. I have been in about 20 states in this country, lived the state maximum 3 years at some point he was transferred to Maiduguri that was when I was in university it also influenced my attending University of Maiduguri from Maiduguri he was transferred to Abuja and at that point he has risen to about the highest level of his career which means that Abuja was the final stop before he retired. Once he retired from the Civil Service in Abuja we decided to stay in Abuja by default I have been in Abuja for almost 15 years. It was difficult for me to say I wanted to go and setup a business somewhere else because now I can leverage on the contact of my family, my father and I wouldn't be thinking about the cost of living in another state. Basically it was just by default that I am here in Abuja.
My business suit Abuja territory now may be if I was in a state like Ibadan you will know that office accommodation wouldn't be a real challenge so you will find challenges for office accommodation metropolis cities like Abuja. Once I find my ideas there was no cost to take it somewhere else.
What are your challenges in making this Box Office a reality?
The challenges I faced are not peculiar to me alone as an entrepreneur which remain the standard thing all over the world. It is not that am a Nigerian that I face the challenges. And I was well prepared for them. Entrepreneurship is tough everywhere in the world I didn't expect to have it less as an entrepreneur in Nigeria. For instance you are coming into a market that is highly competitive and have lot of big players who have funds. The difference for me was that mine ideal was innovative, creative and different. The challenges of capital was also there, secondly challenges of finding my market was also there, finding the ideal client now like I said is not just provision of an office space it is like a business incubator which means there should be an ideal people that should be in that place. My target was not wide, it was narrowed, and was specific. It was not so easy for me to get this kind of people to come in. This last 2 years we have grown, 3 to 5 months of those times we were really marketing, we didn't have clients so it was difficult. Therefore I will say capital and breaking into the market were my challenges.
He had an initial challenge of getting an office accommodation for a small business. But he didn’t allow such challenge to hinder his dreams as he started operating from his home. From there he thought of requesting his friend to allow him put a table in a corner of his office.
While thinking of how to approach his friend, he imagined how many entrepreneurs would need the same solution and immediately he decided to create a platform where small businesses would share almost all office facilities and services to reduce their business overheads.
Basically, Box Office provide affordable offices for starting up a small business. Beyond the office space. The Box Office also make sure that the business survives by providing the services needed to run the businesses effectively. The also provide linkages, networking activities, business development training and capacity building.
Sir what motivated you to choose and work in Abuja?
I didn't choose to work in Abuja, my parents have always worked in the North for a long time. My dad is a Surveyor he was transferred to a lot of state. I have been in about 20 states in this country, lived the state maximum 3 years at some point he was transferred to Maiduguri that was when I was in university it also influenced my attending University of Maiduguri from Maiduguri he was transferred to Abuja and at that point he has risen to about the highest level of his career which means that Abuja was the final stop before he retired. Once he retired from the Civil Service in Abuja we decided to stay in Abuja by default I have been in Abuja for almost 15 years. It was difficult for me to say I wanted to go and setup a business somewhere else because now I can leverage on the contact of my family, my father and I wouldn't be thinking about the cost of living in another state. Basically it was just by default that I am here in Abuja.
My business suit Abuja territory now may be if I was in a state like Ibadan you will know that office accommodation wouldn't be a real challenge so you will find challenges for office accommodation metropolis cities like Abuja. Once I find my ideas there was no cost to take it somewhere else.
What are your challenges in making this Box Office a reality?
The challenges I faced are not peculiar to me alone as an entrepreneur which remain the standard thing all over the world. It is not that am a Nigerian that I face the challenges. And I was well prepared for them. Entrepreneurship is tough everywhere in the world I didn't expect to have it less as an entrepreneur in Nigeria. For instance you are coming into a market that is highly competitive and have lot of big players who have funds. The difference for me was that mine ideal was innovative, creative and different. The challenges of capital was also there, secondly challenges of finding my market was also there, finding the ideal client now like I said is not just provision of an office space it is like a business incubator which means there should be an ideal people that should be in that place. My target was not wide, it was narrowed, and was specific. It was not so easy for me to get this kind of people to come in. This last 2 years we have grown, 3 to 5 months of those times we were really marketing, we didn't have clients so it was difficult. Therefore I will say capital and breaking into the market were my challenges.
What is the one thing you can point at and say that is where you are now?
Everybody is created to solve a problem we all have a purpose to fulfill in life for me I have been very conscious of the that fact I was not ready to do anything I knew what I want out of life, I knew why God created me so my driving force basically was to fulfill that purpose and immediately I find it, because box office give 100 percent expression for my gift's. I express everything God created me for in this business once I find box office a places good enough to express my gifts. I don't get tired and I never got tired. The fact that am solving the problem God created me for drives me, I don't get tired of it I am always happy and the work for me is not a burden. Just like Messi that play soccer, playing football wouldn't be a burden for him because that was what he was created for, so I will say purpose.
Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
In five years from now is a short time and also a long time we have been in Box Office for about two years believe me what we have gone through and our growth looks like, five years from now Box Office will be a notable brand in Nigeria, we will see ourselves in other big cities like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Kaduna being set up. We also see ourselves been owners of our own facilities for now we don't own our properties we also rent. Basically what we do is to look for a good location and add value on those properties. So five years from now we have raised enough capital and set up our own structure and own our own building in all these cities and we will also see Box Office as a Global Brand. Office accommodation problem is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, but all over the world you will find relevant for our kind of business so we want to be a global, we are a global company we just starting in Abuja for now five years from now at least we will have one or two franchise outside Nigeria.
What do you think that make Abuja unique.
What am about to say about Abuja is a plus in other way round is not but this is the fact. Abuja is attractive because of the presence of the Government because of the level of infrastructure that have been put in place in Abuja, just like we have very good roads, we have things working at least on the average which you will not find in the other part of the country. So everybody is attracted to Abuja. There is power to a reasonable extent, you will also get service easily. It is a beautiful city. The main reason why it is like this is because is the Federal Capital Territory the government are putting more effort to make Abuja a world class city. Ideally, this is how every other state in Nigeria supposed to be, but unfortunately that is not the case that is why I said it is a plus but in the other way it is not.
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