Twenty seven-year-old ‘Seun Salami, who founded Vine Media, a publishing and communication consulting company, in 2009, talks about how he started the company without any savings, in this interview with ARUKAINO UMUKORO
You graduated with almost a First Class in Mass Communications and you also have a master’s degree in the same field, why did you start up your own company when you could have easily got a lucrative job in a multinational company?
Technically, my first degree was not a First Class but because I was the best graduating student in my department, I have become used to people assuming I made a First Class, and I always accept it as a compliment with a broad smile. I followed the first degree up with an MSc, not because I wanted a lucrative job anywhere, but because I am one of those people who are constantly in search of knowledge, either within the four walls of a formal institution or from books and studying. I didn’t wake up one day to make a conscious decision to become an entrepreneur. I knew I would end up being one right from my days of publishing a teenagers’ magazine in church as a 15-year-old, to my undergraduate days of publishing a book and a youth magazine.
How did you start your own company?
The company was registered in 2009 during my National Youth Service Corps programme. I did not officially begin any major work until two years later because after I completed the NYSC programme, I worked as a Communications Strategist/Media Relations Officer with Fela Durotoye, one of my mentors. Vine Media also has a publishing imprint called Bookvine, under which we publish books (fiction and non-fiction); we assist clients with concepts development, branding, communications strategy/media relations and promotional services while we also publish a Christian youth magazine, called Vine, which is available online and is also now a free monthly publication in print.
In about two years, Vine Media has handled several branding and promotional campaigns, either on social/new media or the traditional media, some of which you are well aware of but may not know the organisation behind it.
I’m personally very proud of some of those works and God had been faithful. We’ve also published about 24 books so far under the Bookvine imprint; for our own authors and others who simply want to self-publish their books professionally with us and have some measure of control over the process. It’s been a tasking adventure, but it has also been one I wouldn’t trade for a nine-to-five job. We tend to think of entrepreneurs as having more time on their hands, but that simply isn’t true because I always have to work harder and longer than everyone else in the team.
Apart from the books we’ve published directly, we’ve also been involved in various stages of book projects with authors like Fela Durotoye, Lanre Olusola, Charles Novia and Steve Harris. Our clientele continues to grow and we do our best to deliver exceptional services.
Our long term vision is to become the biggest publishing company (in terms of reach, publications and resources) in Africa and one of the top three in the world. I believe that in five years, we would have taken major visible steps towards achieving this and the plan is to continue to deliver world-class services without compromising on our values and integrity.
With the numerous challenges entrepreneurs face in this clime, how have you been able to stay afloat?
I wish I could say there are seven secrets to staying afloat as an entrepreneur. I’ll just simply say that if you set out to become an entrepreneur simply because you heard it was the fastest way to make money, you’ve missed it. Your drive and desire to solve problems and meet people’s needs must be greater than your desire for personal wealth. That’s the only thing that will keep you going because, if the truth be told, there will be days when you will think of packing it all up and getting a good job. I had the opportunity of working in the telecoms industry and established media houses or even getting into lecturing early, but I decided to take this path because it has always been my dream. Although I intend to lecture much later after I have gained a lot of experience.
But you must have had a huge challenge?
Sincerely, one of the biggest problems I’ve had is the lack of information around here. I studied Journalism at Lagos State University before my Master’s degree programme at the University of Lagos and I was lucky to have taken some courses in book publishing while at LASU. I remember we used to be few in the book publishing class because everybody wanted to go into advertising or public relations. Interestingly, a lot of what I know came from there. After that, acquiring more knowledge about book publishing in the Nigerian context has been like trying to squeeze water out of rock. Most of the books available have foreign context. So, I hope to write books about that in the near future. Linked to this challenge is also the fact that there are not too many mentors available in that area and the few available are usually busy and I understand that because I know how much work I also have to put in to achieve the results we have at Vine Media. But then, you just have to keep going and keep learning.
How will advise young people who are scared of going into entrepreneurship because of the societal or economic challenges?
There will always be challenges. Becoming an entrepreneur is a risk, but being in paid employment is also a risk. I think we need to first discover ourselves and decide if we actually want to become entrepreneur or not. Yes, entrepreneurship is good, but we are not all meant to be entrepreneurs. Some people are simply gifted managers and others are meant to assist entrepreneurs. I am one of those people, like many entrepreneurs, who are simply visionary and can come up with great ideas and visions, but then, we need people who will help to actualise the vision. One of my major challenges was because of my calm personality, I didn’t know how to charge people for services rendered or follow up on debt recovery, until I got someone to handle that aspect. But if you’ve decided to become an entrepreneur, then go for it with everything you’ve got. There will always be pressure and expectations from the society and family, but the only way to prove them wrong is to be successful at what you do. When you become successful, everyone will embrace you.
How much capital did you start up with and how were you able to get funding?
I didn’t have any savings when I left my job, but I started by rendering services and getting paid for them, mostly editing and later script-writing services, one at a time. Then, I got referred and it became two, then three and eventually more jobs started coming in. It will not be as easy as I’m making it sound now but if you’re in it to win it, you’ll stick right in until that phase passes. It is only a phase and there are still other phases ahead. Unfortunately, most people give up at that stage because they have their sight set on that big N10m or N50m investment. We will not all be that lucky, but we can all start with what we have from where we are and eventually be able to invest that much in other people’s businesses.
I have learnt that. Always aim for the best and nothing less. Don’t go after money, go after impact and money will come looking for you. Success is what you make happen for yourself but greatness is what you make happen for others. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.