Constance Olajide
Adejumoh Harrison is a creative and resilient entrepreneur who defied all odds of obvious economic reality to carve a niche for himself in the engineering and technology field.
He is the CEO of H&F Electric Limited, a company that specializes in installation of all types of lightning arrestors, power surges, fabrication of tower/mast, earthing systems and bonding, sales and installation of generators, electrical installations, sales of earthing materials, UPS and Inverters.
The tech savvy dude graduated as an Electrical Engineer from Delta State University, Abraka. He is a native of Akoko Edo, Edo State.
In a chat with Stockswatch, Harrison shared his experience and motivations as an entrepreneur. Excerpts:
What is your motivation as an entrepreneur?
I was motivated to start something because of the high rate of unemployment in the country and as a young man and have to do something to put food on the table and also employ people who have one or two people to take care of. In H&F Electric Limited our target customers are those that use internet equipment, high and low voltage equipment, electrical motors like banks, factories and offices. We install all types of lightning arrestors, power surges, fabrication of tower/mast, earthing systems and bonding, sales and installation of generators, electrical installations, sales of earthing materials, UPS and Inverters.
What were your challenges at the initial stage?
There were challenges from the very onset of the business. You know the interesting thing is that Nigerian business terrain is a peculiar one, where you have to really understand your environment.
The challenges are much but the major one is finance, because many of the clients will want you to execute the job with your money and then get paid after the job. Another challenge is that most clients pay after 30 days of job completion. And some clients will want a cheaper offer with original and good materials to execute the job. Lastly, theft, most of our devices are being stolen after installation.
In order to ensure business continuity, we ensured clients pay some percentage for mobilization before proceeding to site and then wait patiently till after 30days for full payment. And after excuting the job, we properly handover to the client and security to prevent theft.
Challenges will always come but we have to be focused and stick to our goals no matter what.
How can young people improve on themselves?
For the younger ones, hard work and patience is very. The room for improvement is the biggest room in this world and it is one that never gets filled. So as youths we have the age advantage, the vibe and we can afford to take risks. Persistence is key to your success. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence; talent will not, genius will not, education will not. You have to surround yourself with people of like minds, people that you look forward to and follow up closely with your mentors. Don’t ever let your passion wane. When you fail, make sure you fail forward, when you goof, learn fast from your mistakes, and just keep going. Also, you’ve just got to be a reader! We have almost all we need to improve ourselves at the palm of our hands now via our smartphones. Finally, to have an edge on any competitor, continuous improvement is a value you should maintain always.
Adejumoh Harrison can be reached via email: raphharris80@gmail.com, WhatsApp: 08030700077