By Adenike Fagbemi

Mr, Basil Okongwu, CEO Of BigSwiss group VTU in this interview explains the mission of BigSwiss group VTU services and how customers’s testimonies have been propelling them to do more in making bills payment seamless and reliable for Nigerians. Excerpt.

What inspired you to venture into the VTU, cable subscription, and virtual sales industry?
It is our ability to have done a comprehensive research and the discovery of the massive usage and knowledge of the global information technology

You know, the community is growing and is freezing away the conventional method of getting these services. Be it with those from the rural communities and those in the urban communities, the gap has really widened. For instance in Nigeria it is becoming rare for people to go out to purchase either the airtime from local vendors or working to electricity distribution companies to pay for their electricity bills. Also for cable subscription and many other bills payment.

So the inspiration is to help bridge this wide gap and help people get easy access to the services at their fingertips with less stress.

What unique value does BigSwiss and Groups bring to this market?
Secondly, the value that BigSwiss and group brings to the market is in terms of self-service access to get satisfaction in the services we render.

We made our app to be less cumbersome and straight to business. And we also made it in such a way that those in the rural areas can easily use these services without asking people for help.

So it is self-service and friendly and that is why it is unique in the things that we do, especially the services that we render.

Nigeria is a diverse market with various regions and demographics. How do you plan to tailor your services to cater to the specific needs and preferences of different customer segments within the country?
Our services are specifically tailored towards the needs of our customers irrespective of the region or location

One of our plans is to reach a different region in the country. And is through our marketing strategy. This is one of the ways in which we plan to do this. And that is why whatever the place or wherever people live, regardless of the region they are residing, they are able to assess our services, and that is why our app is readily accessible and available readily.

How do you plan to build a strong brand presence and customer trust in a highly competitive and dynamic market like Nigeria?
For me the question about how we intend to plan on building a strong brand presence is very simple because our unique services actually speak for us. We have our strategic plans, just like marketing. Another major plan in which we strongly hope to build or to use in conquering and building our presence is through advertisement.

So we were able to create a very strong presence. And for customers in this virtual top of the competitive era, our service, accessibility, flexibility and percentage setup is one of the things that we can actually use to help customers choose.

How do you plan to expand into other African countries, and what factors are you considering when selecting these new markets?
I definitely would say that expanding our reach to other African countries is one of our long term goals because we understand that penetrating into most of these African markets will not only keep us in the forefront, but would help us serve better in reaching a larger audience.

And we are constrained by population as one of the factors for selecting new markets. Basically that’s one of the things we’re actually looking at.

And we are also looking at the advancement of most of these places or regions. We’re also looking at the advancement in terms of info in the knowledge of Information and Technology and their precision in this very community.

It’s a global community, you know, and so we are looking at ease as being one of our factors and selection, some of these countries in which we hope to penetrate and we know that this will actually help us to spot profitable areas and help in the expansion plans.

What challenges do you anticipate when entering new markets, and how do you plan to overcome them?
I’ll say one of the biggest is that we’re still going to be looked at as newbies. And because most people might have had one or two companies that use their services. We’re not ignorant of this knowledge, you know, so we are high about our promotion, dissemination message and testimonies of other people who have used our services.

Reliability is one of the things that we hope to use to get our edge in the market. We’re definitely not ignorant of the challenges that would come through but we are sure going to conquer them with our unique services.

Where do you see the brand in 10 years?
We see ourselves among the best in this VTU services, and also being dynamic in taking up new challenges and expanding our scope beyond what we have on ground now.

We see our brand becoming the most reliable virtual App. This is one of our visions and missions. And also taking over as one of the reliable brands in this sector not just in Nigeria, but also in Africa and beyond. Also to provide massive employment for youths across Africa.

Africa is known for its diverse cultural and regulatory landscape. How will you ensure that your services comply with local regulations and respect the cultural nuances of the countries you operate in?
It is a virtual top up app, and has no reason to go beyond or mess with people’s culture and value system. Our services are to help people make seamless payment from the comfort of their homes. Africa too is evolving and technology is taking over how we do things. We definitely respect cultural values.

Every necessary rule and regulation needed to play actively in the industry will be adhered to and no lapses shall be encouraged.

Technology and consumer preferences are continually evolving. How will BigSwiss and Groups stay at the forefront of technological advancements and adapt to changing consumer behaviors?
First of all, we must say that we know that change is constant, it will be unwise to continue to remain at the back in which one is or has been. We understand the principles of technological advancements and can’t be left behind because that’s where we’re into.

So we take into consideration these upgrades which is what is power and concern and constant efforts will be made to stand out. We have invested in high end technology that takes into consideration security and efficient service. We will also continue to evolve and upgrade to new technology as things evolve.

Customer service is crucial for success in any service-oriented business. How do you plan to provide excellent customer support and resolve issues efficiently to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty as you expand your operations?

Customer service is very crucial to us, in fact it is the bedrock of our services. We have a different life channel of chain customer service agents who are not only friendly but available 24/7 to promptly attend to customers without delay.

Our priority is the satisfaction of our customers. And that is why we have created different lines of channels for customers’ assistance and satisfaction.

So basically, we really want to make our time to satisfy our customers because it’s through customers’ satisfaction that we’re able to build a bigger brand and also have good testimonies from our customers.

By Erryl Bonza – The Wealth Workout

I LOVE THIS ANALOGY:

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

“Because someone bumped into me!!!”

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

So we have to ask ourselves… “what’s in my cup?”

When life gets tough, what spills over?

Joy, gratitude, peace and humility?

Anger, bitterness, victim mentality and quitting-tendencies?

Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it.

Today let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, resilience, positivity; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.

Credits: https://www.facebook.com/thewealthworkout

“No matter how fast you run, you cannot get to your destination, running in the wrong direction”.

It is usually said that ideas rule the world, but oftentimes, many people have misconstrued this statement to mean that what they need to have to attain success in life is to have one great idea. Getting a ‘Great Idea’ is good, but having ideas alone does not translate to success.

… THERE IS A PROCESS There’s a process to follow in the journey of life. For example, babies are first conceived in pregnancies before they are birthed. Success is first conceived as ideas before it is achieved.

Though nine months is the statutory period for pregnant women to deliver, there is a process for managing pregnancies (even if it is with IVF) with all necessary antenatal care in place, until the baby is born.

Thus when a child is born, an idea is birthed, but who knows how successful or how long that child will live? None; Neither the father nor the mother. For the child to live and grow to attain his/her future, the child needs to be nourished and groomed in the right environment. The child would need the right financial, physical, social, intellectual and educational support through the years of childhood, teenagehood to adulthood. That is the process!

There are many lessons to learn in the path of achieving success. For example, years ago, I encountered some unnecessary obstacles whilst pursuing my goals. Though I was passionate and zealous about achieving success, I lacked the skills and proper guidance for implementation. This was because I didn’t seek and get the needed support system. I didn’t seek the wisdom of a coach, nor did I get an instructor or a mentor. I was my own coach. I was playing my own game and pursuing my own ‘GREAT IDEAS’ with much strength, and little skills. My efforts, without skills and strategy, produced ‘EMPTY POCKET’ seasons!

ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH TO YOUR SUCCESS? Note that not all ideas are realizable. Not all ideas are possible. Not all ideas become accomplished. Not all ideas are realistic. The success we anticipate or aim to achieve has a process. Jumping the process of grooming and manifesting our success ideas, with the right growth structure or support systems often leads to a frustrating life, because as someone said, “no matter how fast you run, you cannot get to your destination, running in the wrong direction”.

Sometimes, our approaches lack tact and strategy. Sometimes, we are foolish in the decisions we take. Sometimes we act in errors. Sometimes, we are just insane! When we seem stuck despite efforts at success, we need to do an insanity check.

What is insanity? Rita Mae Brown defines it as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. In essence, what this means is that if something “doesn’t work” or “is not working”, we should not spend all the time fussing about it. Instead, we are expected to re-evaluate, re-strategize and explore other goodly alternatives that get us moving on.

So if you get stuck with an “idea” or in the pursuit of success that takes so much from you, yet gives you so little, you need to do an “Insanity Check”! It’s most possible that you are missing out on something. You may be insane! (That’s why you could keep doing something over and over again without getting results and, yet continue doing it again, using the same methods!). Otherwise, you should be “sane” (that’s the opposite of insanity) and explore other probably options or alternatives to get you the needed results.

WRAP UP: Success is a personal journey. The process for each person varies. … Let’s, therefore, apply, re-evaluate and re-strategizing to ensure we are in the path of progress; in stages, in phases, in layers, per time, per season.

In all of it, when our human efforts don’t yield the desired result, the good book points us to God for help. According to Romans 9: 16, “… It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

Therefore in all things, “.... Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16: 3)

PEACE!

Adapted excerpts from GREAT IDEAS, EMPTY POCKET ®

© Sanmi Falobi @ https://about.me/sanmifalobi

Image credit: Rudall30 / Shutterstock

“Every day, every week and every month has its opportunities. Therefore, don’t look back, regretting what you have not achieved, but look forward, focusing on achieving what can still be achieved.”

Life is beautiful when our efforts yield results and we are making progress. However, life is not always fair as some people with lesser efforts but with greater opportunities or privileges achieve more progress and success than others. Life sometimes can be like a rat race because all fingers are not equal!

However, we all have an equal chance to live, which is pre-determined by our creator. So though we may not have achieved the kind of success that we desired, we should be grateful that each day we are alive allows us to make progress and achieve new things. Now, it is left to us to keep hope alive and try again.

Do you want to be limited or do you want to make progress? The fact is that if we allow the challenges and the limitations of life to make us feel miserable, we become miserable and limited! When our disposition is to think that life is unfair, that is what we get. Life indeed will be unfair!

In life, we daily have to take decisions and contend with two thought flows each minute and every hour that the clock clicks.

1. Decision about the opportunities and prospects which life gives- to which we can use to make headway in life;

2. Decisions about doubts and fears in life – which stalls and limits us in the achievement of our aspirations.

…  The short illustrative story below comes to mind:

There was this story of a young man who wished to marry the farmer’s beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his permission.

The farmer looked at him and said, “Ok, but you have to pass my test”. He then said, “Son, go stand out in that field. I’m going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter.”

So the young man stood in the field awaiting the first bull. This was something he had to do, to achieve his desire.

Then the barn door opened and out came the biggest, meanest looking bull he had ever seen.

Looking at the bull, he imagine how difficult it could be running after this. ‘He might get injured’, he thought. So he decided that since he still had two other bulls, there was still a chance, ‘certainly, there was no way the other bulls could be bigger than this’, he concluded. So he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through.

Then the barn door opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. It stood pawing the ground, it eyed him. This bull was certainly bigger and weird than the first one. There was no way he could handle this one. Certainly not! He concluded that the farmer had set him up and regretted that he didn’t make an attempt on the first bull.

However, he was hopeful that there was still one bull left. So learning from the error of his earlier mistake, he decided he would not just let this one pass. So as the bull ran past him, he made an effort to run after it. Suddenly, the bull stopped and turned back to face him with a menacing look. With fear, he ran off to a tree as the bull charged at him, and then sauntered back to its barn.

Two gone. Only one left. This was his last chance!.

Then the door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was the weakest bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull, he said to himself. As the bull came running weakly, he positioned himself just right with all confidence and jumped at just the exact moment. He threw his weight on it and put his hands to grab the tail.

… But alas, the bull had no tail!

Lessons to learn:

• Attaining success always comes with a window of opportunities. However, you don’t know which opportunity is the one for you, so always do your best at all times.
• There’s no better time to try becoming more successful than now. So don’t focus on the limitations, the challenges, the short-comings, the lack of funds, the past disappointments, the failure of the system, BUT on the things you can DO to make progress!
• Progressive success is attained via specific efforts at working things out. So keep trying and DARE to see how to turn your mountains into stepping stones!

“Every day, every week, every month and every year has its opportunities. Therefore, don’t look back, regretting what you have not achieved, but look forward, focusing on achieving what can still be achieved.“

(c) Sanmi Falobi @ https://about.me/sanmifalobi

Image credit: http://www.wikihow.com

The famous quote by Martin Luther King Jnr, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward”, is a true statement that applies to every stage of life.

Success is often as a result of productive actions that we took. As the days in every year adds up in weeks and months, we daily achieve more, and expand, based on the actions that we took.

Thus, doing what needs to be done to achieve what we need to achieve is all about activating the requisite pillars for ACTION, in relation to the respective goals and targets that we have set for ourselves. It is putting all hands on deck to achieve what you want to achieve.

Success is about making progress in life. It happens through deliberate productive efforts across many fronts, across a diversity of activities, as well as through conscious efforts and actions across a variety of initiatives and endeavours.

Success is tied to the conscious efforts at daily improving and applying innovative and creative strategies to overcome inhibiting and limiting situations. It is about working on our weaknesses or challenges and making conscious efforts to succeed, the limitations notwithstanding.

There are different levels of success and moving to the next desired level is about doing what needs to be done, when it is needed to be done.

As Martin Luther King Jnr note: “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

In all things, what needs to be done is to make keep moving forward!

According to Peter Marshall, “Small deeds done, are better than great deeds planned.” Yes, though you may have BIG ideas, it is the small steps of actions (what you do) that matters. The BIG idea, without a corresponding action (no matter how little), to bring it to reality is just a mere wish!

Taking action matters. As G.K. Nielson noted, “Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” 

….. In all things, what needs to be done is to make keep moving forward!

Greg Reid: “A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.”

Let’s keep doing. Let’s keep pushing. Let’s make progress.

(c) Sanmi Falobi @ https://about.me/sanmifalobi

Image credit: pinterest.com