At 25, Mr. Bankole Cardoso is an entrepreneur. He probably has achieved what his peers could only daydream about. Early this year, he was listed in Forbes 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs and he got featured on CNN African Start-up. He is the brain be­hind Easy Taxi Nigeria, a brand that is poised to revolutionise the face of running a public transportation business in the country. This brand is an online service that allows people to hire taxi from the comfort of their homes or offices through mobile device or computer.

Back when he was still studying abroad, his mind was fixed on running his own company someday. Having graduated in Business Management and Accounting at the Boston College, USA, Bankole resisted the lure of remaining abroad. He came back home to test his idea in Nigeria’s daring business en­vironment. When he launched Easy Taxi, many thought his idea was abstract and wondered how far he would go with it. But Bankole has not only succeeded in building his brand to be a success story but he has emerged a force to be reckoned with in the comity of youth entrepreneurship.

In this interview with VERA WISDOM-BASSEY, Bankole further tells how his entrepreneurial journey started, how he handled initial start-up, parental challenges and his advice to youths.

Excerpts

Tell us the story behind Easy Taxi I have worked in an accounting firm in New York, and then I joined a private equity firm called The Carlyle Group, also in New York. And all the while, I yearned to come back home and start a business. Even though I studied and was working abroad, I wanted to do something more and make impact. Entrepreneurship was what I was interested in, and it was only in Nigeria I was interested in doing it. There where options for me to be a banker or accountant but what I was more passionate and interested in was on how I would nurture a brand.

The idea initially came to me in December 2012. I was working in New York at a time and I came home for Christmas. It was frustrating because I didn’t have a way to get around and I wasn’t very comfortable using any taxi. There were various technologies that help individu­als to have access to public transporta­tion without hassles back in New York.

When I went back, I started speaking to taxi drivers there to see how the service is improving their businesses. And I learnt they were convinced that the has helped them so much. That was why I began thinking on how I would set up such service also and I firmly believed that it was something I could introduce and develop in my country. I called back home and spoke to taxi drivers in Nigeria to inquire if they would be interested in the service. It was not easy explaining it to them but I was convinced that the ser­vice would work. I saw the venture as a kind of business that can make positive impact. That was how I came back home and established Easy Taxi.

What is the business all about and how does it impact on the society?

We have a poor taxi culture in most of our cities like Lagos and Abuja. So, I sought to create a trusted and reliable service, which is what people where seeking. With Easy Taxi we are using this business innovation and technology to bring people closer to taxis in our net­work.

Easy Taxi is a smart phone application, which you could download for free into any brand of smart phones. How it works, is that, it connect any user to a close driver. All our drivers have smart phones with a GPS. When you request as a customer, it connects you to the closet driver to you. So, the GPS signal as a technology, alerts a driver closer to you or one more kilometre from you. So, the message goes out to the driver and he will accept to pick you up. On the driver’s side, he will see all necessary in­formation like the address where you’re requesting the service-from.

We want to change the common method where people normally store five to 10 taxi drivers’ contacts in their phone. Assuming you are in Yaba and want to go to Victoria Island, you could call the taxi driver and none of them would be around Yaba at the moment. But with Easy Taxi, we have over 600 drivers in Lagos all connected to our network. All we do is to use our technology to connect you to the driver closest to you. So, you needn’t keep going through your contacts to call a taxi driver. We are sure to get you liked to any of our drivers close to you within a kilometre maximum.

Also, a customer will see the driver from a map that comes with the appli­cation. So, you will see the driver as he’s coming to you and in real time you could track him. Again, we send you the driver’s picture, his name, phone number, the car he’s driving and the plate of the car, so you could easily identify him as he’s approaching you.

Part of value added service is safety. Hence we are careful on the drivers we approach. We also establish a relationship with our drivers and inspect their cars and personality to ensure they meet our standards.

What were your initial challenges?

The first challenge was convincing Nigerian taxi drivers about the value of this new innovation in their business. So, it involved a lot of showing it to taxi drivers, introducing it and making them understand the benefit of it. It was not easy persuading drivers to key into our idea, that it would be of good value to them, help them save petrol and give them access to more cus­tomers. At first, they thought the idea was too abstract. Many of them refused to trust us. But eventually, they under­stood that we’re trying to help them.

Another challenge was getting them to join our network. It is essential they needed to buy smart phones to be in our network, but the cost effect discouraged them. Smartphone penetration is now on the raise but few years ago not everybody had a smart phone and it was still a new technology. People didn’t have much access especially to service apps like Easy Taxi, which was first of its kind in Nigeria. But we found a financing partner that can help us provide these phones to drivers and allow them three months to pay for it. Now, more and more drivers have gone on to acquire Smartphone because they see how it has helped their colleagues in the work.

How have you nurtured the company?

Business has been stressful, but rewarding as well. I enjoy my work now unlike before when I was working in the corporate world in New York. Now I can see the immediate impact that I’m making unlike when I was doing a white-collar job.

Presently, Easy Taxi has covered every part of Lagos, and also rolled out our services in Abuja. We have plans to go into other states of the federation. Again, we started with individuals but now we have expanded to have corporations as clients. Staff of companies that have ac­count with us can enjoy our service and we bill their employers.

How have you been able to adapt your business to Nigeria’s peculiarly difficult environment?

Although I have lived abroad for 12 years, I believed that I can make an impact here. I recognised that Nigeria is go­ing places, so I was focused on returning after my education. I aspired to contribute my quota to our country’s growth and I feel blessed to be a change agent here. Also, I do come back home once in a while, so connecting with the environ­ment was not a problem. I was born and raised in Lagos before travelling abroad for further studies. And even when I was outside the country, I still had the Nigerian sense in me that helped me to learn Yoruba quickly and remain in touch with my grassroots.

What factors tend to hamper smooth running of your business?

The infrastructure we have in this country, especially Lagos, are not just adequate. You could plan six things in a day and end up not getting any one done because of the of the traffic snarl.

How supportive were your parents when they learnt you were going into entrepreneurship?

My parents are both professionals in different fields and they expected that I follow the same path. My mother is a doctor, while my father is a banker. So I wouldn’t say they were 100 per cent supportive. When I was working in a finance house abroad, it looked like I had secured a future in New York. They were expecting that I’d come home to practise my career in a big way. Rather, I went into entrepreneurship that deals with taxi drivers. Somehow, it saddened them. Nevertheless, they never stopped encouraging me and telling me to be more careful. Presently, they have been very understanding, and they gave their assistance when necessary.

What advice do you have for youths that aspire to venture into business?

As an entrepreneur, make sure you understand your products very well and what value it could add. Test it in every different way, make use you render quality services to your customers. Be careful about venturing into entrepreneurship. Also, find someone that is as passionate as you are. It helps to have someone to share the burden of entrepreneurship and to help you keep focused and pushing through the tough times.

In entrepreneurship, giving up should not be an option. It should not even be thought while going into business. Quitting half way into business shows the level of preparation or the lack of it on the part of the entrepreneur. It also means that you have not done your homework before jumping into it.

If you had an idea that you believe in so much that you actually followed through, then there must be something there. I advise that you give your meth­ods some time, or put in some more ef­fort, and you might get the results you want. It is important to try every possible strategy to grow the business before you entertain giving up. The best thing about start-up entrepreneurs is their willingness to pursue plans.


Source: Sun