The popularity of the internet and its easy accessibility to a large number of people inspired a revolution. A new crop of people who accessed information differently were born.
With the new avenue came new solutions and a green ground with unlimited opportunities. The ones that saw the light championed the course by coming up with nouveau solutions to tackle agelong issues.
Job search in Nigeria was one of such areas that wasn’t so smooth. Graduates were subjected to long walks under the sun scouting from office to office in search of job vacancies. The Guardian Newspaper was notorious for its Tuesday job column which advertised vacancies from all around the country.
The founders of Jobberman saw this need and embarked on a journey to create a job portal that didn’t only make it easy to apply for jobs but also allowed employers easily find suitable people to employ.
The journey that led to the building of the most popular job portal in Nigeria didn’t start in a day or like the Jobberman founders once said, ‘it started as a joke’.
In our startup column today, we take a look at three life lessons that we can learn from the Jobberman team who believe that we are responsible for our future
Identify a problem that needs to be solved:
So many people are caught joining the bandwagon and trying to catch up with a ship that already sailed. For any business to leave a mark and be sustainable, the most important thing is to identify a problem that the business seeks to solve. In plain terms, it is understanding the needs of people and tailoring solutions for that need that drives a business.
Jobberman rode on the need for a job portal at the time they started and that accounts for the success recorded in the growth of the business.
Do your feasibility studies:
A lot can look good on paper but what is most important before investing money is asking the right kind of questions. Your ideas may be brilliant but they may not be practicable.
The Jobberman team was convinced that Nigeria was ready for a job portal having asked around and also watched the success of the India job portal- hugo.com .
Proper planning leads to excellent execution.
You do not need money to start:
Before you have my head, read what one of the co-founders of Jobberman had to say.
Opeyemi Awoyemi of Jobberman in an interview with the Nation said
‘’Find a way to create the brand first and it might involve money and it might not involve money then find a way to sell it. Money is one of the things that might be needed but it is not everything
money is not necessarily needed to start a business, what is necessary is something valuable that you want to offer. For instance, like trade, when you buy and sell, you will need money but still you have to cut your clothe according to your material.’’
Many great ideas do not come to fruition because the conceivers are so focused on funding. The most important thing you need when you want to create a new business isn’t always finances. What is most important is the tools required in executing the services.
