Phew!!! I can’t believe January 2023 has come to an end already and February is now moving so fast! I had initially planned to write this in the first week of January then I got buried with strategy sessions here and there and before I blinked, January is gone and I realized I still had not written to you! This has to be the fastest January in the history of mankind! Well, since it's still just one out of 12 months gone, I guess it's still on course to say welcome to 2023!
2022 was such a year full of activities, ups, downs, and excitement! In this letter, I want to take you on a journey to look at what we did in 2022, and how we intend to create bigger magic in 2023. As I look back on the past year, I reflect on the challenges and successes that defined the year. From losing a few team members to the rebranding of Caladium Consulting to commencing operations at FedhaGap after months of delays and disappointments from developers; altogether 2022 was a year of change and growth. Maybe not in the way one would traditionally expect.
In this letter, I will try to give you a closer look at the major events that shaped the year for me as an individual, and for my organisations: Caladium Consulting, FedhaGap Holdings, and Caladium Lagos SME Bootcamp. As well as the people and organizations that made an impact on our growth as a collective. We will also see how the Caladium SME community has grown from a few hundred to thousands of members. Join us as we review the highs and lows of the past year and look forward to what's to come in the future.
Caladium Lagos SME Bootcamp Anniversary
If you know me, you would appreciate that SMEs are at the core of my daily living. On November 26, 2022, my co-founder, Oluwaseun “Slim” Durojaiye, along with my longstanding team of volunteers and community members marked the 5th anniversary of the Bootcamp. The event which was held at the Zone Park, Gbagada featured business leaders from all works of life. All of whom in their wealth of knowledge reinforced our commitment to supporting nano, micro, small, and medium enterprises.
For me, the days leading to the event were magical as I couldn’t fathom that for five complete years, the CLSME has supported over five thousand nano, micro, small, and medium enterprises through different stages of their growth phase. Now, here we were on the day of our 5th anniversary, with Dr. Oby Ezekwesili taking the audience through an enthralling two hours session of mind-shifting perspectives about business management and how to effectively manage businesses in such a volatile environment like Nigeria’s... As with our other events in the previous years, our audience welcomed guest speakers including Dimeji Salaudeen a KPMG partner, Kenneth Erikume, a partner from PwC, Solape Akinpelu, founder and CEO of HerVest.
Other Founders and CEOs who did not hold back from sharing their wealth of knowledge with our community members included Oluwatosin Olasehinde of Money Africa, Chike Obinna, Partner and Senior Counsel, Niccom LLP; Toluwase Olaniyan of Worden HCD; Omolara Adewumi, Director of Programmes and Coordination, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund; Abimbola Balogun of So Fresh; Victor Obioma, Director, Global Business Council; Biodun Kolade of Colad Gray Consulting; Tunji Andrews of Awabah; Bayo Adesanya, Chief Digital Officer, Axa Mansard; Wale Adegoke, of Nimbus Media Ltd; and Wole Odeleye, Client Technology Lead at Microsoft.
All these business leaders joined our list of other friends who over the past four years have supported our vision for SMEs in Nigeria. I am most especially and eternally grateful to my cofounder Slim, and our volunteers, some of whom have been with us from Day 1: Jumoke, Praise, Seun, Wole, Gideon, Chioma, Fisher, Ganiyu, Cheta, Tunji, Gbenga, ifeoma, Nathaniel and Paul. Though we tried in our little way to recognize them for their amazing, relentless service over the years, we can’t possibly thank them enough for believing in and staying with the vision
FedhaGap Launch
I have always heard of the challenges associated with building a tech start-up, but experiencing it firsthand, is a different kind of mental, emotional, and physical stress, from lack of commitment to disappointments and even betrayal of trust. Still, these for me are the factors that made the process as educative as it is challenging. So, the FedhaGap team soldiered on to building from assembling a highly committed team to finding a kick-ass Indian CTO from out of the blues. The high point of it all; FedhaGap began trading in November 2022. Ring a bell? It was in the same November that I registered Caladium Consulting in 2020 and also the same November that we began the CLSME. It now appears I have a covenant with the month of November. Lol. The more interesting part is that since commencing trading three months ago, FedhaGap has, although in its product validation phase, traded a total of $22,000 in invoices with nearly 2500 SMEs on its waitlist. We are also on course for our release timeline and in December, commenced our product testing. Are you yet to sign up on FedhaGap? Click wwww.fedhagap.com to do so very quickly so you don’t miss out on the crazy offerings we are bringing to the SME community.
Caladium Consulting Rebranding
The difference between a thriving business and an ailing one is among several other things, the ability of the former to evolve and recreate itself. Well, for us at Caladium, we figured it was time to recreate our brand identity to reflect who we are today, and where we are headed as an organisation. Was it successful? You bet it was! The old identity was designed over ten years ago and had seen us through the ups and lows of the highly competitive consulting space. The next phase of our growth requires a nimbler and more contemporary identity, so we created magic.
But not all was rosy and sweet. Lost some opportunities, had a director in the business exit, amongst other personal losses that made one remember that life isn’t only about sugars and candies.
Aha! In 2022 my favourite EA also moved on to other challenges and opportunities. It was hard to let go but every decent leader must encourage the growth of his team members as the needs arise. At Caladium, that is our fundamental philosophy more so as we strive to build a knowledge academy for strategy and management consulting career paths. Overall, Caladium Consulting is positioned for its next growth phase in its commitment to delivering global standard strategy advisory services to our clients.
Activation of the Caladium Lagos SME WhatsApp Community. In a community of over 5,000 small business owners, you will agree that there would always be, a select few who may crave a more close-knit sense of community and support system, beyond newsletters and general group interactions. It was for those target audiences in our community that we created the CLSME WhatsApp Community.
The free private and referral-only community was designed to enable us to handhold our community members a lot closer through every stage of their business. The closer knitted entrepreneurship communities are, the easier it is for entrepreneurs to navigate business challenges, as group support becomes more accessible and real-time.
CALADIUM LAGOS SME COMMUNITY HANGOUT
We commenced the private community with a bang, well, a hangout that banged. The event was one of the most beautiful moments of the year, as I had a swell time familiarizing myself with every member of the community in attendance. It was so beautiful.
The hangout was a first of a series of meetups and fireside chats planned for this close-knitted community of small business owners, in a bid to help them grow, network, and do business amongst themselves. The meet-up was powered by @fedhagap and we plan to continue to provide such opportunities and of course, financing solutions to them.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
NESG/ZENDCREST
It was an interactive session at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group event in collaboration with Zedcrest. The broad theme of the event focused on “Securing and enriching Nigerians at scale: Prosperity inclusion through financial sector innovation.”
Discoursing “How Local SMEs Can Harness Available Resources for Growth." At the session, I expressed that starting a business can be challenging, but many successful businesses are launched every year. The only difference is that those who succeed usually spend considerable time researching the market and creating a feasible business plan prior to starting their company. They also bring with them a viable product for a ready market. Although preparation doesn't guarantee success, it significantly enhances the chances of survival. Those who succeed also understand the need to remain nimble, agile, and responsive to their environment.
INSURETECH CONFERENCE
It happened that on Thursday, September 29th, 2022, I joined a panel of foremost thought leaders and C-Suite Executives from corporate organisations such as Microsoft Nigeria, Ecobank, Old Mutual, and AXA Mansard, etc. at the Insurance Meets Tech (IMT) Conference 2022.
Insurance Meet Tech is a day event of vibrant multilogues which has caused a shift in customer acquisition in the Insurance Industry. I was a panelist at the event which was hosted by a partner organisation of Caladium’s, Modion Communication.
Several other beautiful events, speaking engagements, and even SME training sessions culminated in 2022 that my team and I would never forget in a hurry. So much that I can’t in good conscience begin to share them all knowing how long a read this already is.
Pumped Up for 2023!!!
Here is the thing, in this year 2023, we are going to walk with you through the year keeping you informed, and entertained maybe, connecting you to opportunities, and supporting you as you birth and build your own business.