Dr. Gabriel Ogbechie OON is the Group Managing Director of Rainoil Limited, a leading energy company in Nigeria. With an impressive career spanning over 30 years, he possesses a wealth of expertise in sales, marketing, and operations within the Oil & Gas space. In 1997, Dr. Ogbechie founded Rainoil Limited, an energy company that has since become a dominant player in Nigeria’s downstream value chain. He has overseen the growth of the Group’s business operations across the entire downstream value chain, including investment in agriculture and Real Estate.
Dr. Ogbechie is well-known for sharing tips on entrepreneurship, often recounting how he started RainOil with N300,000 when he was 30 years old.
Below, he shares his quick thoughts on raising startup funding through savings – often the first step many entrepreneurs take due to a lack of access to other types of funding
“How do you raise money to start a business?
The first and best way is through your savings.
If you earn N100,000 and can’t save N20,000, you’ll struggle to save N50,000 when you start earning N500,000. As your income expands, so do your tastes and consumption patterns. You need to have the ability to see money in your account and keep your cool.
You must have the right mindset about money.
Remember, there’s no amount too small to save or invest.
When you spend N100,000 on a bottle of drink on a Friday night, you’re essentially consuming 3,000 units of a bank’s shares. Start investing, and 20 years from now, you’ll be earning dividends year after year.
Change your mentality today! Start saving and investing now.”
Reading Resources
- Gen Z is opting for ‘soft savings and money’ instead of hustle culture, sparking debate [ScoopUpworthy]
- How Small Investments Make a Big Impact Over Time [Visual Capitalist]
- These two examples illustrate the magic of compound interest [Her Money]
- Building a Startup in a Tough Funding Environment [Harvard Business Review/ Catalina Daniels and James Sherman]