Start thinking of life as entrepreneurs, LuckyBay Homes CEO advises young Nigerians

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LuckyBay Homes Nigeria Limited, Ujomu Lucky Ikechukwu has advised young Nigerians to start thinking about themselves as potential employers of labour instead of preparing themselves for a lifelong career as working-class citizens.

According to him: “No matter what you study in a tertiary institution, that should not stop you from becoming an entrepreneur. More than half of the world’s successful business owners are not practising what they studied in university.

Therefore, don’t condemn yourself to be a professional of the discipline you studied in a tertiary institution.”

Explaining further, the LuckyBay Homes boss, made an example of his trajectory.

“I was trained as a teacher with NCE qualification. Ordinarily, I should be in the classroom teaching. While I can teach, my passion, however, lies somewhere else. Hence, what I do today, which is real estate, is far removed from the discipline I studied.”

He added: “While I was growing up and even while I was in teachers college, I have a passion for business with a specific interest in real estate and oil and gas.”

Ujomu, who expressed satisfaction at tertiary institutions teaching entrepreneurship courses, also advised those aspiring to go into business to understand that entrepreneurship is a process that demands patience and tenacity of purpose.

Drawing from the experience of how he founded LuckyBay Homes, he said: “When I started as a real estate broker in 2009, I started from the bottom rung of the business as a real estate broker.

But I prudently saved my earnings and was able to undertake my first project in 2013. Even at that, I spent five years on the project because of the paucity of funds but I did not give up and eventually, I completed the projects.”