iFixng.com - The Bumpy ride

Awesome being back! so as promised in my previous post folks, I'll be sharing how I started iFixng.com; an AWESOME ADVENTURE (FYI if you haven't read my previous blog post, quit reading this right now and read the previous one first).

Trust me just as Obama suggests, you want to hear (read) this ☺

I arrived back in Lagos on the 2nd of July 2015, after having lived in Delta State for  9 years (dad was transferred  in 2012 and we had to relocate, bla bla bla); thankfully an older friend who runs one of the best building services / engineering consulting firms here in Lagos had agreed to let me intern (+ youth service) at his company, my intention then was to gain some more knowledge to help me run Wefix more efficiently. 

After working for close to a year and being repeatedly frustrated by workmen and artisans who wouldn't be on our designated sites "on time" or diligently handle tasks given to them, plus it was extremely difficult to find a replacement right on the spot, Voila! I had identified a problem which's solution eventually became iFixng.com, So I decided to face this head on; I quit my job and began talking to "POTENTIAL INVESTORS". 

Dudes I attended all the Tech Events you can ever think of, meeting with people, sending hundreds of emails, trying to communicate my "awesome idea" to them, but none seemed to be interested ('cause obviously they've heard over a million ideas and seen the visionaries do nothing or eventually give up on it), but then out of close to 150 emails sent (not exaggerating), JASON NJOKU; founder of Iroko Tv & serial Investor sent a follow up mail asking some questions. On receiving his mail, just seeing his name on my inbox list, unleashed tons of butterflies in my stomach, I've never been that excited, we eventually met, seemed to have chemistry on the spot, I liked his person and the fact that he was more interested in the founder and not the idea itself (didn't ask me about business model, traction and urghh! go to market strategy whew! founders have a lot of work to do), he gave me an offer on the spot, asked me to think over it and the meeting was over. I remember going home so excited that day and talking to everyone about it, business was on the pathway to a huge success.

Didn't see it coming

And just as we all didn't see Donald Trump's election, I didn't see what was coming next; Jason of Iroko pulled out of the deal for reasons I guess he dimmed fit, I was broken into a million pieces! but on the brighter side I had started significant work on the idea as directed by him prior to us signing the "docs". 

Though beaten down, I carried on; with the help of a few very awesome friends especially Reuben, Victor (now my co-founders) Sammy and Drae who I was able to "sell" the Vision to, we were able to deliver the idea into a finished product; iFixng.com was born. Our efforts attracted the likes of Faster Capital (an accelerator in Dubai), Heritage Bank, MI Education (a handyman training institute in Australia), etc and that has led us to where we are today; with over 250 handymen signed up on our platform, completed over 200 successful tasks, an office in Victoria Island - Lagos, great partnerships, paying customers...

Friends it's been a very bumpy ride so far I must say, but with GOD on our side we remained consistent, though we still have a looong way to go that's for sure, we ultimately intend to remain consistent.

Thanks a lot for reading today's post, I tried as much as possible to summarize our entire story so pardon me if I left some things out, but I hope this is inspiring for you, don't forget to drop your comments below.