An increasing number of young people in Nigeria are turning to entrepreneurship as a possible way of escaping the unemployment scourge currently ravaging through Nigeria. For most of them, it is simply a matter of turning their passion and skills into profit making ventures. Joel Amawhe, the Founder of HostelsVilla.com, a Startup that seeks to solve the accommodation problems of students living off campus in Nigerian Universities and other higher institutions of learning, was my guest recently and the topic of discussion was on the Challenges of running a Startup in Nigeria. It is interesting to note that Hotel Amawhe was the winner of the Pitch session that was held during the April 2017 edition of the CFA’s Startups Hangout. He shared a lot of issues in this interview, especially, his journey and challenges, nurturing his Startup in Nigeria.
Joel stated that, growing up, he did not have access to the internet, however, it all started around 2011, when he stumbled on the web. He said he learnt how to use the internet to browse as well as do things he saw in the internet. “I learnt how to use the internet, not just to browse, but ti do what I see in the internet”, he said. He said that was when he started how to start how to code. In 2012, Joel said he decided to start a small Agency and the job was to help clients to build websites. He stated that, at the start, there were issues of clients not patronising him and when they do, they always wanted to pay as little as possible for his services as they felt he had a small place from where he was operating from.
Joel stated that, while the Agency was running, he decided to take up one of the things he could do online from what he noticed was a problem. He sad he noticed that the students at the Polytechnic in his locality, which he also attended, had issues of accommodation as they were always looking for someone to help them get accommodation around. He stated that many of the students were, however, defrauded by fake rent Agents. He said he also helped the students to connect students together to stay in the same place.
Joel reiterated that, after a bit of survey, he felt it was time to take the business online. This, he said was because the survey showed that the problem of campus student accommodation was not restricted to his locality alone, but was a general problem prevalent all over Nigerian institutions of learning and Africa as a whole and he wants to explore that larger market.
Joel opined that, since he taught himself how to code, he has not gone back to formally earn any certification on how to code. He stated that he, however, studied Computer Science in school, but he started coding long before he went to school.
Speaking about his Startup, Joel stated that HostelsVilla.com, is a platform where students looking for accommodation, off campus, seeks to get one. He stated that the platform also has a roommate matching feature that allows the student to seek and find a suitable roommate as well.
Joel stated that one of the issues he faced at the beginning, when going to meet property owners to sign up their properties on his platform was security. He gave the example of a 87 year old woman who wanted some background checks done on the students that will be accommodated in her premises to ensure they were real students. To assure the landlords, Joel stated that he takes vital information of the students, such as their Matriculation numbers, etc. To further ensure that the students are not lying, Joel said that verification from the schools is also to be added to the process. “This will elongate the process but, at the end of the day, everyone will be happy and assured”, he said. Joel stated that his Startup is always looking for ways to automate most of the processes involved to reduce human interaction in running the business.
Explaining some of the challenges stated that the first was that property owners were skeptical of using the platform to project their property. They feared that he, (Joel), might be a scammer trying to sell their properties behind their back! Another challenge, he stated he faced was the difficulty in getting the right team to work with him. The third challenge was funding, which Joel said was not available to carry out so many things he would have wanted to do.
On scaling his Startup in order to prevent a situation where someone with better funding taking up the space, Joel stated that he is currently revamping his platform and seeking to partner with as many schools as possible.
Joel gave the statistics of his business, stating that his platform has been able to facilitate about 250 bookings, all paid for, as at the time of the interview. His advice to unemployed Nigerian youths is to seek to make the world a better place than they met it and in the long run, the money will come. He further advised that youths should not see having a Startup as a means of escaping the poverty line, but rather, “when you provide a product or service and people are happy, then, they will be ready to pay for that happiness” Joel stated. The focus, he advised should be in solving a problem.
Joel also cautioned Startups spending a lot of money at the beginning of their ventures to desist as they might end up spending much and nothing happens. “Just a little fund is enough to start a business. You don’t need a lot to do a lot” Joel concluded.
You can watch the full interview here.