WCW: Our Woman Crush Is Nkechi Alade; Principal Consultant of Elvaridah.

Today, we are crushing on Nkechi Alade.

Nkechi Alade is a very disciplined individual, fun to be with and friendly.

She did most of her schooling in Lagos State. Her primary education was at Corona in Ikoyi, secondary education was at Queens College and her tertiary education at Babcock university; she is also from Onitsha, Anambra state in Nigeria and the last of three children.

When asked to share her career history with us, she said: “Right from time, I have always worked for myself or to enhance myself. Throughout my university days, I worked during long vacations because I felt I needed to learn one skill or the other or make money to get into other projects.

So I can say I have been business minded from the womb!

If I wasn’t doing this, I really cannot think of what else I would be doing. Well…maybe writing or speaking or maybe singing.

Helping businesses grow has always been my passion and I have always wanted to be a builder. I realized early in life that I enjoyed working with businesses that were at startup or growth phase to take them to the next level.

In addition, the job roles I took on usually included tasks such as client acquisition, brand positioning, business planning, hiring, process flows among others.

While doing all of these, I also found that a lot of people would call me to tell me their ideas and ask me what I thought and how they can make something out of it.

So I asked myself “hey, why don’t you make a business out of this?” and here we are today.”

What are the main problems your organisation is out to solve? Who are your main focuses?

There are so many factors discouraging entrepreneurship in this part of the world and if care is not taken, some entrepreneurs might get it all wrong from inception and this is why many businesses fail even before they start.

While some people know what it really takes to be one, others don’t and in the end their businesses collapse and they are left running from pillar to post.

So, Elvaridah was birthed to walk startups and other businesses through all stages of entrepreneurship to ensure that they fulfill their organizational goals and objectives. We are here to provide guidance, direction and support to startups and other businesses and also walk them through all processes necessary for the growth of their brands and the achievement of their goals.

Elvaridah focuses on building businesses from idea phase to actualization.

We understand that in order to build a business you need to build the people who own them which is what we do while applying our unique structures and strategies.

Also, a lot of people want to start their businesses but are held back by the fear of how and where to start from .This is where we come in as we provide all that is required from the plan, to the budget, to the website, marketing, branding among many others.

Are the services you render limited to business development alone?

No, we build and develop businesses as well as offer courses aimed at entrepreneurial development and team building and optimization.

We have lots of organizations rendering business development services in Nigeria, what stands Elvaridah Limited out? Do you have specific businesses you work on?

Competition is key; the best question which you have already asked is what stands us out. For us, we deal with our clients on a personal basis. We do not just do seminars and conferences without telling you the HOW. We tell our customers WHY they need to as well as HOW and ensure they achieve the desired results.

We stand out because of our clear cut strategies, understanding of the target audience, operating model and disciplined execution.

At Elvaridah, we give a personal touch to all we do. Not only do we help you at the idea generation phase, we also work with you all through, following up till the actualization stage where you get your desired result.

So I can say that we are passionate about and take special interest in each project that comes our way. We work with you based on your business specifications and if we were to generalize, that may not be what you want for your brand.

I know every business comes with its challenges, what would you say are the major challenges in this business? Have you overcome some? How was that accomplished?

Well, challenges are what I always term as business expansion or opportunities. So most times if people ask for certain services which we do not currently offer, we carry out a wide research on it and if it applies to our business model we begin to offer such services, allowing us accommodate a larger clientele.

Do you run the business alone or with team? How has it being combining the role of a managing director and team coordinator?

I run the business with a team and alliances. Without the right team, the dream cannot work. As an entrepreneur, it is beyond co-ordination but a team of people who fit perfectly into the vision and structure of the company. An entrepreneur dreams and has to effectively communicate the focus and goals to the rest of the team to ensure the target goals are achieved within the required time frame.

How did you convince your first set of customers? To what extent as online marketing helped your business?

A lot of our first clients were people who I had worked with personally in the past, or via word of mouth which I believe is the best and most trusted form of marketing.

The importance of online marketing for any business cannot be overemphasized. Through this medium, we have been able to reach our target market and even beyond.

A lot of our clients heard about us via Instagram, Facebook, our blog, twitter etc. So far, online marketing has done a great deal for my business, but believe me, there is still more to come and Elvaridah is ever ready to explore various media to reach her clients.

I need you to be very objective here, based on your client’s feedback how will you rate your company’s customer service on a scale of 1-5?

At Elvaridah, customer satisfaction is our watchword so we do everything within our power to we treat them right. We work out the best plans and guidelines for their businesses from start to finish. All these we do with utmost courteousness and speed. In this aspect we give ourselves 5.5 – No jokes!

Can you enlighten entrepreneurs reading this briefly on how to get started with you?

All they need to do is send an email to info@elvaridah.com , a DM to ELVARIDAH (FB, twitter and Instagram) or call +2347057111134

What are the values Entrepreneurs get from your company?

Working with us as an entrepreneur you will be able to identify your role in your business, who you are as an entrepreneur, leadership skills, team management, structure and strategies for building your company and the ability to dream and envision where you want your business to be in 5 or 10 or 15 years’ time, how to achieve that and so much more!

How long does it take to walk a business from idea to Actualization?

It really depends on the nature of the business and the steps we need to take to achieve the desired outcome. However, on the average, three months while in some cases eight months.

Which is more difficult, working with startups or already existing businesses?

I really do not consider either as difficult; they are both challenging and unique with different desired outcomes.

How many team members does it take?

It takes one team member to manage the client and the required alliances to provide required services.

What’s your typical day like? How do you relax?

Well, I work a whole lot, to relax I would listen to music or watch a movie

What are the three personal ethics that has saved you over time?

●Doing things NOW, no procrastination

●Writing down every idea I think about

●Being in control of my state of mind

Do you have a mentor(s)?

Oprah Winfrey