Toyosi Orunmuyi is an entrepreneur and accountant steadily making his mark in the Nigerian hospitality industry. In this interview with Juliet Ebirim, Orunmuyi whose dream is to grow Intra-West African Tourism discussed his plans, passion, challenges, as well as his newly launched beach resort, 234 Lofts. Excerpts…

Why did you delve into hospitality?

I believe my heart is hospitable and that has drawn me into hospitality and events. I also had a stint in the hospitality industry outside Nigeria while working for a hospitality recruitment agency.

You lived in the United States but returned to Nigeria to start a business. What gave you the confidence to come back, because most people seem to be leaving the country for greener pastures?

I don’t think it was confidence, I think it started out as naivety. It has been a very tough ride. I’ve learned a lot and I understand that it takes a lot of guts to do business here and I think I have the guts. I see a challenge and I just want to take it up and give it my best.

Having lived outside Nigeria, what approaches or innovations would you like to replicate in your business here?

I think Americans are the best at hospitality. During my time in America, I picked up a lot of stuff. It’s in America that you go to a restaurant, and if your food is late, they apologise and offer you drinks while you wait. That doesn’t happen in Nigeria. Americans do hospitality best, and I think it comes with a level of care for the customer.

I started a food business with my wife in 2015. Though it’s still running but we’ve scaled down operations. That was where I learnt customer service proper. If a customer is angry, an extra cup of juice with their order changes the story completely. In business, you want to turn net detractors into net promoters. So when a customer has a bad experience, I always try to turn that bad experience into a good experience. That extra cost is small compared to the damage that dissatisfied customer could cost your business..

What’s the idea behind the name of your beach resort – 234 Lofts?

234 is the country code of Nigeria. We started construction last year and we just launched this month. Our personal vision is to have this beach resort across the West African coast. And we will name each of the locations according to the code of the countries. And the big vision, should we become billionaires, is to have a cruise line that will take you to each country on a seven-day African cruise. I have a dream to grow Intra West African tourism. One thing I’ve realised is that most West Africans don’t travel across West Africa. Aside Ghana, most Nigerians don’t visit other West African countries.

From your experience, what valuable lessons have you learned doing business in Nigeria?

First is to fear the government, because policies can change at any time. As a business person in Nigeria, everything is working against you. Also, always put things in writing. A coin can flip very quickly. Working with people has been a tough deal as well. Unfortunately, you have to work with people since you can’t do it all. You have to employ people, and you have to incentivise people. Also, I think the government can do more, especially with the few entrepreneurs that are bold enough to do business. One of the big things that happened during Covid for some of my friends and colleagues abroad was that the government gave them grants, free money, tax refunds and things like that. In Nigeria, we did not get anything.

What’s your impression about the Nigerian hospitality industry, particularly the area you operate in?

I am new in the business, but I’ll say hospitality in Nigeria is growing very rapidly especially the beach front economy. Travelling abroad now is expensive, forex is high.That Dubai trip you used to embark on with one thousand dollars doesn’t exist anymore. So I think a lot of people will begin to look inwards more and we will have to up our game as well. Like why go to Kenya or Maldives when we can be here?

Have you made any bad investments so far?

Yes, the first business I did in my life. It was N350, 000 and my very first investment. I had just moved to Lagos, working with KPMG guys and earning N55,000 monthly. You can imagine how long it took me to save N350,000. That was my life savings. I met this guy who was heading a small laundry business. I was his customer. A lot of us at KPMG used to do laundry with him. He then told me that we could have a laundry point at KPMG, and that I should tell all my colleagues. As a young accountant, I quickly Googled ‘partnership agreements’, and printed one out. Out of the N350,000 I raised, we were to buy a generator and a golf car for deliveries. But apparently, this guy had other plans. The moment that money moved to his account, he disappeared till date. This was 2006.

What are some of your guiding principles?

Fairness – I try to be as fair as possible. It’s not all about money, though money is very important in business. But money comes and goes, so fairness is important. I am also very big on relationships and I do ethical business.

What experiences growing up prepared you for entrepreneurship?

I think my time outside Nigeria broadened my horizon significantly, because I was in a program which took me to a new country every four months. England, Nigeria, Egypt, Dubai, UAE, and the US. It was a good eye opener as well because I worked in different industries in different countries and that was my first eye opener. And then the MBA was what gave all of those experiences a business structure.

Do you have a sustainability plan?

I think it is really all about process and culture to a point. If you think about the really big companies, Apple started out in someone’s garage. Today, Steven jobs is dead and Apple is still Apple. One thing we have to learn to do really well in Nigeria is to build structures that make businesses outlive the visioneers. When you have a vision, you can infuse the vision into people.

What drives you as an entrepreneur?

I am a very practical person, you are either going or you’re not going. A lot of people have entrusted their money to me. I am always the one with the vision. I don’t take that money for granted. I value my name a lot. The people who trust me with their money are hard-working people. It is not stolen money or free money. Some of them are retirees. One is a former military man, while another one is a banker. So, whenever I feel tired, I think of those people and give it my best.

What’s your educational and career background?

I am a homegrown accountant. I’ve had a career from 2005 till now – 18 years of accounting. I studied at University of Ilorin and went on to start my career with KPMG in Lagos for five years. I moved to the US where i did my MBA and was there for about five years. Basically,

My MBA was my turning point. It took me from being an accountant to a businessperson. I know numbers from accounting, but the MBA allowed me solve problems. I moved back to Nigeria in 2016, established The Podium Event Center, and that’s been going on for about seven years now.