|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Akin Olatunji Daniels is the co-founder of Eventecture – an interior décor, retail/marketing, and TV production firm based in Lagos. In this interview with Josephine Okojie during his organisations 10th anniversary, he spoke on his entrepreneurship journey and the strategy Eventecture is adopting to survive the pandemic impact.
How and when did you decide to transition from architecture to events industry where you currently operate in?
The foundation of this transition happened while I was still in architectural school. I realized that while I enjoyed designing buildings and spaces, it bored me easily. I was drawn to designs that were regarded as ‘building castles in the sky’. When I eventually came across designing for the events and entertainment, the pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly and the rest as they say is history.
You said you developed an interest in 2002, looking back now; did you think you’d be here today?
In 2002, there was no clarity or long term plan. The plan was just to get through design school and then see what was next for me. There have been many ups, downs, interactions, and decisions, conscious and unconscious, which have led to this point. Looking back, one can connect the dots backward, but there was no way to look this far into the future back then.
Take us briefly through your journey – your highs and lows?
I would say the steps that led here started a long time ago, with details too many to enumerate here. I’ll attempt to point out the highlights and a flair for arts and handcraft growing up would probably be the foundation. I do remember vividly that my brother and I use to make all sorts of artsy handcraft and knick-knacks and attempt to sell them at church with some degree of success. In secondary school, I was inseparable from technical drawing and went to great lengths to ensure I got complete tutelage in the subject even when inconvenient. This led to my eventual decision to study architecture. Imagine my shock on getting to architectural school to discover that the course leaned more towards art and design, rather than technical drawing. It took a while to adjust but I guess my prior love for art came back to the fore. However, I realized early enough that my flair for design transcended conventional architecture.
Incidentally, at about the same time, through some fortuitous circumstances, I came across a senior colleague, whom I then spent my industrial training period with. That’s where I came across event, set, and production designs. It was a natural fit for me and I fell immediately in love. Shortly after that, while still in school, in partnership with a couple of friends, we set up an events management company. We started totally from scratch and encountered a lot of resistance, especially because people didn’t initially believe we could deliver because of our relatively young ages. We pulled through and had some good measures of success notwithstanding. In that period, we learned a lot of lessons in entrepreneurship. Fast forward a few years later, I met Toyin and we had started dating. In about the same period, the desire to return to my design core was drowning out my satisfaction with my status quo at the time. In 2010, we made the very difficult decision to quit the partnership in the events planning company and start again from scratch to set up Eventecture. It was birthed out of the need to solve problems in the event space in Nigeria through design, thus we merged Event and Architecture to come up with Eventecture. We started as an event and set design company then because we understood that the event scene, though expanding, lacked innovation and that wow effect that would leave people gasping and in awe. So we started to fill this gap one event at a time. Many years after, we’ve evolved and expanded to bring that extraordinary touch to other related sectors. As with most successful bootstrapping stories, the road has been fraught with many problems and pitfalls but with grit, tenacity, and the desire to make a difference, we have been able to build something we’re very proud of today.
How would you evaluate the Nigerian creative industry?
Across board, it’s amazing what creatives in Nigeria churn out day after day. We are faced with some of the most challenging conditions possible, but still, people are thriving and creating magic. One just needs to look at the amount of innovation and creativity being rolled out in the music, movie, comedy, and art sectors. Of course, there’s still some way to go but the industry as a collective is doing outstandingly well.
Being in business with your spouse must be very interesting, what do you do when you have diverse opinions?
We both have a true passion for what we do so it’s hard work, but most enjoyable. Being best friends helps as well so it never gets tedious. It’s also easier to balance each other’s schedules because we both understand fully what our work entails. Our work complements each other so everything works out amazing. Of course, we still have our disagreements like every other couple, but our dynamic and understanding have improved greatly since we started working together. We always manage to come to a compromise by patiently examining each person’s position and then going with the superior argument or taking the best from both sides.
The event industry was badly hit by the virus outbreak and the initial lockdown restrictions to contain the pandemic. What strategy have you adopted to adjust?
It was a real baptism of fire. Unprecedented, everything came to a complete halt. Coming out of it standing is as a result of capacity, prudence, and a fantastic team. In that period, we took the time out to re-strategize and re-align our goals. The team dug in and as a result, we’ve come out rearing to go.
You’ve got your fingers in several pies: interior decor, retail, marketing, and so on, how do you manage to keep everything together successfully?
Once again, it’s primarily as a result of the fantastic team we have in place. We have managed to adopt an organizational culture of excellence that is projected on to everything we touch. Over the years, we’ve developed systems and structures that work for our very niche type of work. Though the process was long and sometimes painful, we have started to reap the dividends of that investment.
How important is lighting and effects as an industry? Is this a lucrative field?
When professionally done, it’s the magic that brings the entire production together. It’s what evokes the emotional, and dare I say, spiritual senses of the audience. It can transform a bland experience into an immersive one if done professionally. Over the years, we have gradually evolved from importing production crews to grooming local talent, which is a very welcome development. We still have a long way to go, but there’s progress.
Over a decade in business isn’t an easy feat especially in Nigeria, what things have you done that kept you at the top?
Overall, I’ll say we have stayed true to our vision and ourselves. At the heart of our business, we are not motivated by profit, but by the ever-present pang to provide solutions, innovate, and produce world-class solutions. We focus on creating value and continuous addition to the value. We’re passionate about challenging the status quo and upping the ante. The word “impossible” is not in our lexicon. Our immediate enemy is always our last achievement, and everything we do is guided by imagination, precision, and distinction. Integrity is very important to us, internally and externally. This is what guarantees our longevity. We ensure that every brief is a promise kept. We leave no stone unturned to ensure that we’re building the dreams of all our stakeholders, team members, and clients to perfection.
When faced with life challenges, how do you deal with them and overcome them?
By resetting and going back to my core. Sometimes, all one needs is rest and reset to achieve clarity. It also helps in no small measure to have a partner that’s a rock and pillar of support through all the storms of life.
Having worked with top national and international brands in the past, what should we expect from you in the next couple of years?
While grateful for the past 10 years and we’re looking forward to the future in excitement and anticipation. We believe we’re just getting ready to go and by staying on course we will be a shining light from Africa to the world.
