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| Ozone Developers |
It’s easy to believe, when
looking from the outside in, that start-ups manifest in the blink of an eye and
establish themselves without warning. I am learning that this is not the case.
“I was actually already an entrepreneur before
getting into the university. I started building sites for businesses and
individuals when I was 19. Then I got into the University of Bolton, failing
horribly in my first semester, then pulling myself together and managing to
graduate within the top 3 of my class. It's been a very humbling journey to say
the least.” Even though Oche Charles Edache finished with a first class, he
didn’t wait that long to make the business decisions that have now shaped his
professional life.
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| The man himself. |
Nor did he let a rough start determine the rest of
his life. I think it’s fair to say that many people in his shoes would have
played it safe after failing their first semester of university. But when he
graduated he started Ozone Developers, the Online Presence Creators or OPCs as
they like to be called, as opposed to working for someone else first. “The
beauty of entrepreneurship lies in its individuality. It gives a person the
choice to attempt to take their destiny into their own hands. Coupled with my
slightly rebellious personality, it was a no brainer for me, especially after
being unhappy with the bulk of traditional jobs I had worked in the past.” So
he took the risk.
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| The OPCs |
But running your own business is almost always
about risk taking, an example of which is taking a chance on the right team of
people to work with. It is a decision that can make or break your business and
it’s one that many dread. As Oche himself explains, “it is common knowledge that start-ups
suffer in their first year or two because of the inherent challenges found with
an independent venture.” His dilemma wasn’t so much finding the right people as
much as convincing them that Ozone Developers was the right place for them. “It’s
hard to get people to believe in an idea when they have to start from scratch with
a bare minimum salary. But if you do manage to find people that are willing to
work with you and believe in the idea despite these challenges, then that is a
team capable of any feat. I was fortunate to have met such people when the
company was first founded and it's because of them that we've been able to get
this far.”
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| Getting heard |
Something else to consider is where you might be establishing your
business and what that means. Although Nigeria has had the double honour of
being declared a MINT country with the largest GDP in Africa, there are many
other factors on the ground that can hinder the growth of your business if you
aren’t prepared. “Age is a serious determinant to how well a deal can go.
Coupled with the fact that respect must be shown to your elders even when
conducting business, it makes being a young entrepreneur much more demanding.”
Needless to say, it took Oche no time at all to realise that owning a start-up
in Nigeria differs greatly from what he was used to as a young entrepreneur at
the University of Bolton. “Social capital is essential to the success of
business here. People are still wary of modern business marketing practices so
while having an online and social media marketing campaign is very helpful,
word of mouth and your wealth of social capital remains key to fully harnessing
any given market, even in the IT sector.”
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| Coming Soon. |
So far, Ozone Developers have had a lot of success working with clients
such as GUUT Technologies Ltd., the Spellbound Spelling Bee competition and
Abbi Books. Also the company will soon be introducing their Ozone Mobile
services which is due to be launched next month.
As a business that boasts an
understanding of the importance of brand image, it is no surprise that they
rather creatively tagged themselves OPCs (Online Presence Creators), a name
that has caught on since they were officially established in 2013. “The name
came rather organically. We looked at what we were offering and thought to
ourselves, we aren't just offering a service here. We're offering a package of
services.” Their goal is to be the foremost OPCs in Nigeria and eventually
Africa. “Cliché, I know. But we're determined.”
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| Brainstorming |
One of the ways the OPCs plan to achieve
this is through engaging with and giving back to their community. “There are
over 160 million Nigerians in the country, out of which only about 10 million
are actively engaged on the web and in IT. We want to help change that and we
have started. For now we're developing an initiative to be launched in the near
future where we teach design and web development techniques in easy and
understandable language on our website every week. As the company grows we
would like to reach out to those who do not have access to the web to provide
these services for free. It’s a small start, but great things typically start
that way.”
More recently they had the
opportunity to fulfil the company’s vision of giving back by supporting SMIWAI, The St Mary Indigent Women Advancement Initiative, and their various
empowerment initiatives.
Oche has taken Ozone Developers
from a mere concept in his mind to a fully functional business since its 2013
debut. His bold step of running the business’ activities from micromanagement
right down to IT on his own, for the most part, is paying off. The only way is
up.
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| The result of hard work |
For more information on Oche and
the rest of the OPCs visit:
Website: http://ozonedeveloper.com/
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