Olubunmi Odejimi
Oluwagbemiga Fasunloro (B.Eng, R.Engr, MNSE, MASME) is the founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Clareworks Group an allied engineering firm making waves in the industry. He has shared his success story of how starting his business came as a huge challenge in his life and how his first contract was as a plumber.
Oluwagbemiga Fasunloro an origin of Ekiti state is a graduate of Federal University of Technology Minna, where he bagged a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2002. After his degree, he trained as a welder and also a plumber.
He furthered his education by getting countless certifications in Construction Management, Building Maintenance & Construction, and a few other areas.
After his education, Oluwagbemiga went ahead to work at Premount an electromagnetic firm. At premount, he was able to grow to the position of a Lead engineer and worked on Eko Akete, Four Points by Sheraton, Eko Convention Center, and a few other projects.
According to the businessman, the pay at the company was a meager but he had to persevere, focusing on his goal and learning as much as he could all through his journey with Premont.
In 2010, Oluwagbemiga Fasunloro registered his company Clareworks resources and resigned from his job to pay full attention to his business. He mentioned that it wasn’t rosy at the beginning as he was tempted to retrace his step and return to his previous job. People didn’t want to trust a newbie with their project and it made things difficult.
Oluwagbemiga said that at the inspection site of the first project he bid for, he met his former G.M who was there for the same reason. He added that he learnt a lesson that day which was, “Except a fish swallows a co-fish in the ocean, it will forever remain its size till it dies naturally or is eaten up by a bigger fish.”
The engineer shared that his first job came after a year, and he was contacted not as an engineer but as a plumber. He started the job with so much joy and the experience gathered enabled him to contribute to other areas, opening more doors which turned out to be an earth-breaker for him.
In 2014, his major break came after being turned down severally, even at the award stage. Clareworks resources got a multi-million naira contract to remodel CLIFFORD HOUSE, a property of former FORTE OIL. It was a challenge because much was expected from the company, and also because the company was operating on a ‘no mobilization’ policy. This policy gave them the opportunity to explore Contract Financing, Invoice discounting, and the likes, to their advantage in business.
The company is now called Clareworks group because it now comprises of, Clareworks Resources, Clareworks TechWorld Solutions, Clareworks Resources Limited, and Clareworks In & Out.
His long-term goal for Clareworks group is to make it to the top 3 in the Construction Industry in Nigeria, and be the best one-stop shop in Design & Build, with tailored and flexible rates that are affordable for every class.
Oluwagbemiga Fasunloro can be classified as a chronic businessman as he has other businesses outside clareworks which includes investments in real estate, a fleet of cars for e-cab services, and consultancy and training as part-time.
His success story is a motivation to never quit no matter how bad it gets, focus on your dreams and never see anything as too small.
