Olumide Obembe, an accountant turned entrepreneur is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of a fast-rising cleaning business in Nigeria, Clean N Classy. In this interview with MODUPE GEORGE, he speaks on the inspiration behind this intriguing journey in the world of cleaning and pest control services, layering his thoughts on the compass to sustain his vision in the business in Nigeria and on a global stage.
You studied accounting, how did you become an entrepreneur?
By academic training, I’m an accountant. By practice, I am an entrepreneur. I studied accounting at Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke, where I obtained a Nation Diploma and I later proceeded to Lagos State University (LASU) to study the same course and recently, I obtained an MBA from OAU, but this time around in entrepreneurship. I had the privilege to practice as an accountant in my early days because I worked at Lagos State Development Property Corporation (LSDPC) and then First Bank before I moved into business.
How did you come about what you are doing today and how did you get into business?
The moment I transitioned from LSDPC to First Bank, things began to change. However, from my secondary school days, I’ve always had a passion for trading; I was into some sort of business. Even as a staff of LSDPC, I was engaged in active trading. It was when I joined First Bank that the idea of the cleaning business came up. It actually started as a need. My roommate and I were bankers living around Ketu in Lagos State. Back then, we usually went to work very early in the morning and returned late at night and there was nobody to do our laundry. We had to give our clothes to dry cleaners. However, at a certain point, I became uncomfortable because we were not getting value for our money, having tried a couple of outfits. After doing this for a year, I decided to go into a laundry business called MYDE Clean – coined out of my name – which later metamorphosed into the cleaning business that I’m championing today.
I was doing the laundry business along with my job, but in the long run, the job became too big that I could shuffle together with my job. So, I decided to employ someone and train the person to be able to deliver exactly the standard we wanted. As the business grew over time, we had to get an office space.
After about three to four years, I thought of expanding the business beyond laundry and that was where the idea of delving into other cleaning services such as pest services came about. I saw the need for training, so I went all out to get the required training in pest control and in cleaning and all. Apparently, it’s a different ball game from laundry so I had to go through the trainings even while I was still working with the bank. Afterwards, I moved out of my banking job into another job, but still in a financial institution. The new business kept growing and after a year, I had to go fully into business. That is how the story of Clean N Classy began.
For how long have you been into the cleaning service business?
I have been in it for eight years aside from the initial ‘Myde Clean” business. If I merge the two backgrounds together it should be close to or over 10 years.
You mentioned going for training, do you believe getting adequate training is key to starting a business?
Yes. In fact, getting the right training is very key in starting a new business. I had to undergo a series of trainings. There are certain organisations that specialise in training young entrepreneurs which I registered with and with others in the cleaning/pest control industry.
Tell us more about Clean N Classy?
Clean N Classy is an all-round consulting firm for cleaning/pest control and facility maintenance services. The journey has not been easy but the vision, the passion, and dedication to what I love to do have always been the driving forces. You must do business as if your entire life depends on it so much that even when there is a downturn you are still encouraged by the vision that motivated you to go into the business in the first instance. Basically, we didn’t start here. The business actually started from our apartment in Ketu, and because I didn’t stop working immediately, it was easy for me to raise capital. The business grew with time in Lagos and we have decided to spread our tentacles, and that brought about the opening of a new branch in Ibadan.
Why do you think Ibadan is the next location to enjoy your service?
It was exactly a year ago when we came to Ibadan to test the waters. Though I grew up in Ibadan, I have not had cause to visit the city frequently. So, sometimes last year I came to Ibadan and while moving around, I saw the need for our service in the city. I saw a vacuum that needed to be filled in terms of cleanliness and pest control. There was a need for a lot of cleaning but a lot of people, especially the high-net-worth people and even companies really don’t know who to call for their premium quality cleaning and effective pest prevention and control as well as facility management. We are in Ibadan to serve people from the average to high-income earners, those are our target audience. While we were testing the waters, we got some jobs as we also gave a lot of discounts. With this knowledge, I discovered that our service is actually needed here and must be affordable too. It then took us one year to go back and strategise on how to capture Ibadan where we intended to site our office.
What gap do you intend to fill in Nigeria’s ecosystem?
Talking about the ecosystem in Nigeria, what goes round comes around. This is to say that the current ecosystem is a result of what we have put into it. Today, we hear of certain illnesses, but the truth is that they are essentially contracted from the environment. This is the more reason we need professionals to handle stuff from this part of the world. Enough of shenanigans and quacks handling pest control and other cleaning services such as fumigation.
Is the state government aware of what you are doing to this ecosystem?
Oh yes! In the process of applying for a license to operate in Oyo State, we approached the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, because we don’t want to set up a business in the state without the backing of the government. The ministry then summoned us for an interview, asked us a series of questions, some bothering on our employment modalities, such as if we are going to bring people from Lagos or we are employing people from the state. I had to tell them that we are bringing employment opportunities to Ibadan. So far, we have given employment to about 12 people in Ibadan, which means we have taken 12 people out of the streets and have given them a means of livelihood. More so, at the national level, we equally have some federal government’s licenses to operate as pest controllers and other cleaning services of the organisation. Before we started full operations, we had to train the new staff virtually in all areas of our specialisations.
A lot of youth have left the shores of this nation, some even had to fold up their budding businesses for Japa (emigration) reasons. Considering your discoveries and contribution to national development as a youth, what do you have to say to this?
I have about four siblings and as we speak all of them are out of the country, so I’m the only one here. It’s not that I cannot also leave the country for a greener pasture but I believe so much in this nation and its great people. Though, we may not have much happening at the government level but I believe that there are a lot of unimaginable possibilities for the youth in Nigeria, if only we can just open our minds to see those possibilities. They are right there before our faces.
I’m not a fan of Japa, though I don’t mind traveling overseas for holidays, I will return to the country. I believe in contributing my quota, no matter how small, into the development of the nation’s economy. The fact remains that everybody cannot leave this country. If we had also emigrated, how would we have given jobs to the people who are working with us right now, both in Lagos and Ibadan, A lot of people are languishing in poverty because there are no job opportunities.
Some schools of thought believe that sustaining a thriving business in Nigeria in this time and age is almost impossible. How true is this assertion with your proficiency in business so far?
There are various factors militating against the survival of Small Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in this country. They comprise power issues, stiff regulatory bottlenecks, toxic business environment and the rest of them. All these factors can easily frustrate you out of business or take you out of your business. However, again this is Nigeria where everyone is wired to be rugged. For me, I view it from this perspective: this is our own country, there is no other place to go. Let’s assume I cannot even emigrate and I’m just stuck. I have no choice but to work around the power issue, latching onto other means of generating electricity. It’s okay to make provision for an inverter to augment what is poorly provided as power supply. It’s expensive but it’s better than buying a generator and burning fuel or diesel. It’s better because it’s renewable. We need to look beyond the norm to cut down expenses in business. We should look out for ways to cut costs in the long term, not only in the short term.
How do you think the government can support SMEs to thrive in Nigeria?
We need the government in so many ways. I cannot overemphasize the fact that the government should create an enabling environment for SMEs to thrive. For instance, if there’s constant power supply, the welder, iron benders, furniture makers and other artisans will do their jobs with less stress even at a cheaper rate. More so, bigger companies will patronise them, because there is an assurance that they will deliver. It is high time the government starts giving opportunities to SMEs owners to deliver service or handle some of their projects rather than giving such opportunities to foreign companies. In terms of regulation, there is need for some sort of enforcement when it comes to monitoring quacks who pollute the ecosystem all in the name of pest control.
What would you say to other youths if you have the platform?
First and foremost, the youth need to believe in themselves; believe in the power of your imagination and those little ideas. As long as you can conceive it, you can achieve it. The youth must be wary of this attitude of not wanting to start small. It’s alright to start small but not good to remain where you are. Clean N Classy is over eight years old already, but when we started, nobody could ever believe that a business that started in a room could make it this far. The problem of this generation is that they are in haste, they want the money and they want it now. They don’t want to pay the price or go through the process. Truth be told, there’s no other way to the top than to go through the stairs. There are processes and stages in business, but a lot of people just want to jump the process. You can’t start a business today and you want it to boom tomorrow.
Any international affiliations for best practices in cleaning and pest control services?
Personally, I have obtained some international certification but on a bigger platform. We are members of the Nigerian bodies such as Pest Control Association of Nigeria (PECAN), Cleaning Practitioners of Nigeria (CPAN). So far, we have been able to enjoy international collaborations through these platforms. So, as members, we leverage these associations to collaborate and participate in their programmes, most especially trainings to also know what we are doing correctly or not.
What’s the cutting edge for Clean and Classy?
For us, we are big on knowledge and training because we have a global view. Aside from that, we leverage technology as well as follow trends on best global practices, especially how things are done in advanced countries. We train our staff from time to time; they are not just doing what they have to do. They have been imparted with the knowledge that whatever they do has an impact on the environment. Again, we make use of top-notch equipment that makes the job easier and delivers more value to the customers. Our vision is beyond Nigeria, we intend to reach Saharan Africa. Though the vision is big, we are steady and not definitely not in a hurry.
Who are your mentors?
There are people that I look up to in the industry. I have quite a lot of them; one of them is Dr Tolu Caleb, the CEO of Rotimax Pest Control Training Academy. He is a big shot who is doing very well in the business. Bisola Runsewe, the CEO SqueakyClean Services Limited; the CEO of Techno Clean Limited and the president of CPAN. These are companies with about 400 to 2,000 staff members and are known everywhere across the country. These are the people that I follow. They have really gone far. I want to be like them.
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