Dr Babatunde Adeyemo, CEO, Pelican Valley charged Corps members  to begin entrepreneurship journey early | Prestige Real Estate News

Real estate entrepreneur, Dr Babatunde Adeyemo, has advised the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in Ogun State to immediately kick start their entrepreneurship journeys rather than waiting on white-collar jobs.

He disclosed that waiting on white-collar jobs is one error that many graduates fall into just like he did about 20 years ago when he served the fatherland in Niger State.

The realtor, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, said this when he received some corps members at the Pelican Valley Estate, Laderin.

The visiting corps members were led by the state coordinator of Organisation of Peoples Voice and member of the ICPC National Anti-Corruption Coalition, Mr Idris Abu.

The visit also afforded the corps members the opportunity to seek a collaboration with Adeyemo on initiating a community-based project for the villagers within the area.

Speaking during the meeting, Adeyemo lamented that the N400,000 he saved during his service year was spent on printing CVs for jobs that were nowhere to be found.

He noted that if the money had been rather deployed into any worthwhile business or entrepreneurship venture, his success story would have been more fast-paced today.

He recalled that he started his real estate business over 14 years ago with barely N2 million, stressing that the firm has now become a household name with a huge property portfolio without any litigation and debt.

Adeyemo disclosed that if he could start with a little and achieve much years later in the Nigerian business environment, it shows that any Nigerian youth can equally succeed without cutting corners.

He said: “Exactly 20 years ago, I was like you guys – a corps member serving in Niger State. At that time, I was able to save 100 per cent of my ‘allowee.’ I was so creative to the extent that I bought rams and goats and loaded them into a truck carrying yam tubers. I spent three days on the road trying to get the to Lagos in my NYSC uniform.

“Fortunately, those rams and goats I bought at N6,000 and N7,000, per head, I sold them for as high as N18,000 each. So, by the time I was through with youth service, I was had over N400,000 in my account but let me shock you where I got it wrong.

“You know once you graduate, what will be on top of your head is to use your certificate to look for white-collar jobs. That is a very wrong impression and I got it wrong. I don’t want you guys to get such impression or fall into such a situation. Would you believe that I spent that N400,000 hunting for jobs. I spent everything hunting for a job from Lagos to Abuja, the job that was not there to be found. At the end of the day, I got the journalism job through my late dad, after spending all that money.

“I don’t want to bore you guys with a long story. What I realised is that, had it been that I didn’t squander that money printing CVs and looking for jobs that were not there, my success story would have been more fast-tracked today. The only regret I have is that I didn’t start this real estate business so early.

“Now, you guys have a wonderful opportunity to start something; the earlier the better for you. The earlier you start your journey of entrepreneurship, the better for you.

“You can always be what you want to be in life and you can start as low as having zero capital. If I could start a real estate business with N2 million over 14 years ago and today, we are a household name in the real estate business with a huge property, without stealing from anyone, without litigations and without being indebted to banks, it shows that any one of you can also achieve that. It is very very possible.

“Let me tell you how it works. If you are a university graduate and you are telling me that within a month you can’t convince someone to buy a product and get your commission on that product, it shows that you went through the university but the university didn’t pass through you. That is a fact. It shows you are not employable. All you need to do is to have integrity, liaise with someone that has a good product,. I’m not trying to convert you to Pelican Valley marketers, it could be any product and there are many people with products looking for someone to market products for them. Just put that into test. Before you know it, you are there.

“For example, in the real estate business, I have paid double the amount I started the real estate business with as commission. I said earlier that I started with N2 million but today I have been paying people commissions worth N10 million. The simple logic here is that you can start a real estate business, as capital intensive as it is, with zero capital. All of you have big contacts in your phones, especially Nigerians in diaspora who are looking for right plots of land to buy. All you need do is to show them the landscape of any of the Pelican Valley estates, you can show them our reviews and testimonials and once they show interest and buy, you get your reward.”

• Nigerian Tribune