Foremost Entrepreneur, Chief Michael Ade Ojo has identified seasoned administrator, Christopher Kolade and highly respected industrialist, Samuel Adedoyin as his role models.
In a chat with Nigeria Auto Journal, Ade Ojo said: “ I like his (Kolade) management style. This man was a journalist and he became a manager. He managed Cadbury very well. I love his managerial skills. He is one of the role models. Then, I have Sam Adedoyin. In 1968, I was living in Adedoyin’s house in Surulere. This man was stupendously rich. At that time he told me his houses in Lagos were 32 and I had not built a room then. So, I was wondering how I could become like him? I lived in one of his houses. I took a flat and we became friends. He taught me to be thrifty, to save. One of the things I did when I started was to make very good use of my money. I did not waste money and still today, I won’t waste any money and this is where many people get it wrong.
“You see in business, you have to be disciplined, discipline is the first principle. In fact, in life, you have to be disciplined in whatever you do. If you throw away discipline, it will be difficult. And you must be determined and diligent. The last one is that you must be dedicated. You need those four principles to be successful in anything you’re doing. When you make your first million, what do you do with it? You must be careful what you do with it. You see, I describe money as a caged bird. The bird is in a cage and you must feed it, then it will develop. But you must be careful that it doesn’t escape because if it goes out, you may never find it again.
“Again, I describe business as seeking an opportunity and seizing it and making use of it. So you must carry out your studies and make sure that what you want to do is the right thing in every aspect; you now need the four ‘Ds’ to be able to handle it. So, whatever money you make you must make sure you don’t allow it to ‘fly’ away by your extravagance or drinking too much beer. So, that is where discipline comes. You must believe in what you are doing and that is dedication. But most important is to ask God to support all your aspirations and that puts a lot of responsibility on you.
