MBA 2022, Nigeria
Festus is an Enterprise Management Strategist and Development Practitioner with over five years of experience in industry research, workspace technology, human capital development, and sustainable innovation. He is the Founder and CEO of BFG Global Consulting, LLC, a Nigeria-based management consulting and business technology firm offering growth-based services to businesses, organisations, and corporate related network across the public, private, and non-for-profit sectors.
Until recently, Festus worked as a freelance international development worker, promoting institutional projects in Nigeria supported by UNESCO, Action Aid, and Amnesty International. His entrepreneurial philosophy is centred on ‘Business of Development’ — an ideology focused on solving developmental issues and elevating humanity through sustainable entrepreneurship.
Achievements
- Founder and CEO, BFG Global Consulting Limited: Festus founded BFG Global Consulting while awaiting NYSC mobilisation in 2017 as a university graduate. The start-up was launched fully in 2018 to serve individuals, MSMEs, SMEs and NGOs on research needs in business and technology. BFG in its first year serviced just 20 individual clients. The start-up later grew its client to 70+ in its two years of operation.
- BFG GlobaI Consulting, LLC transited to be a full-fledged management consulting and business technology firm in 2020. Ever since, the company has been known to offer growth services to individuals, businesses and corporate organisations. From a zero capital company, Festus directly initiated and led BFG Global Consulting reintegration project in 2020. This reintegration made the company (for the first time) exceed its targeted AGR of over N10,000,000 in 2022. The company has provided services to more than 100+ enterprises (including startups) in Nigeria and beyond. 12Twenty Limited, Danbridge Group, iLEAD Africa, Ampersand, KOBAMS Group, WORKa HQ, TELBES, and SENSANG Constructions are among the top organisations on the list. Currently having its Head Office in Abuja (Capital city of Nigeria), it is one of the top sourced consulting firms in research and analytics, workforce training and development, organisational growth strategy, and information technology.
- Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Open Mind Young Voices Fellow: Emerged as one of the 25 participants selected out of 250+ applicants to participate in FES German government sponsored nine months’ youth activism program. Trained alongside other industry professional across a diverse space in business and economic development, social democracy, conflict management, leadership and governance.
- OHUB, 100 Most Influential Young People: In 2021, Festus won the Opportunity Hub International 100 Most Influential Young People Award. Nigeria recorded the highest representation with 50 young achievers. #OHYouthAward is an initiative of Opportunities Hub International, one of the most inclusive networks that provides international access to lifelong learning opportunities for potential young and existing African leaders in the service of socio-economic development, diplomacy, governance, information technology and sustainable advancement.
What attracted you to the MBA programme at Kent Business School and why?
The school curriculum and programme schedule are well designed and detailed. The school courses are suitable to today’s business practical experiences. Through the help of my team spirit, traditional entrepreneurial knowledge, and expertise in analytical research, strategy and planning, programme management, workforce training, and performance leadership, I have weathered many storms. But my present skills cannot help me achieve the growth I need, looking at the fastest way at which the market is growing today.
My start-up, called BFG Global Consulting Limited is the reason why undertaking this programme. I envision BFG to become a top-selling multi-management and growth service provider to individuals, businesses, and organisations in West Africa by 2030.
My five years as a business owner have exposed me to a wide range of contemporary management difficulties. The problem of talent management is one of the most significant management problems I confront while pursuing my company goals, such as the project indicated above. My firm (BFG Global Consults) now employs three people (Marketing/Communication, Growth/Business Development, and HR Manager), as well as two contract workers (Data/Innovation Officer and a co-founder). Because of the diversified profit interests of the manager, high expectations of remuneration, poor commitment attitude, and low internal motivation to work, the difficult situation I frequently face in my company is the difficulty in annexing the functional ability of my staff to bring out the expected production value.
Other macro challenges encountered by my firm include talent gaps, cultural disparities, and problematic staff behavioural attitudes, in addition to the company’s labour output devaluation caused by the aforementioned root reasons.
Being a candidate for the MBA class of 2022-23 will allow me to learn, unlearn, and relearn advanced management ideas on how to best lead a team in a challenging circumstance like mine.
Aspiration
My aspiration at the end of this programme is to lead the expansion plan of my firm’s project in Nigeria. My knowledge will help me break into the Nigeria market in a bigger way. Due to a weak enabling environment, leading a firm from non-existence to full operation in a country like Nigeria and other regions of West Africa is nearly impossible. Regardless, there is no better moment to provide growth service assistance for local firms in West Africa, as I do at BFG Global Consulting Limited.
To further achieve the above, I plan to launch a tech start-up with the BFG team called ‘Appetizas’ — a business document creation app. This app will be seamless to solve the gap amidst small business owners’ inability to make business documents, such as proposals, business plans, and business profiles, among others. Through this app, start-up owners will save themselves the cost of writing a business plan and other business documents for their business administration. I plan to launch ‘Appetizas’ a few months after the end of my programme.
Advice
Starting a business is hard. At all times, it’s not want you dream for your business that happens. It’s important that emerging entrepreneurs need to be resilient, and always ready for the unexpected. However, giving up on an enterprise is not an option.
“Tough times create strong men, strong men create easy times, easy times create weak men, weak men create tough times. At all times, let’s ensure to raise warriors.”