Julius Omokhunu is one of the leading business growth strategists under-30 in the sub-Saharan business space. He runs a branding and marketing company that currently provides state of the art visibility and sales solutions to small businesses. His passion is giving entrepreneurs a chance to compete favorably with bigger brands, even on a shoestring budget.
A journalist and communications expert with a decade’s worth of experience before turning 30, Julius together with his team are focusing on disruptive communication models to help young entrepreneurs make more noise, acquire more customers, and scale quicker with fewer resources.
Tell us about who you are and what you do.
My name is Julius, and I like to think of myself as a business accelerator. I’m a business strategist and I essentially help businesses go from starting to standing out. I run a branding and marketing service that helps entrepreneurs launch their business and gain acceptance in the marketplace from day one.
Too many businesses are stuck in the phase between launching and being profitable, and I try to bridge that gap. The secret is in launching a product that commands attention, generates buzz, and ultimately leads to transactions. It’s a whole process and I try to guide business owners through the step-by-step procedure.
Tell us how you created this brand and what was the sole idea behind it.
Once I left my job as a journalist with the largest television network in Africa, I started working as a media and communications consultant, more like a public relations expert. It wasn’t long before I found that many businesses didn’t need a PR solution, they needed image and brand positioning as the solution to their customer attraction and retention problems. So, I started pitching and applying outright branding strategies and the results were amazing. So rather than do a PR campaign, we started running branding campaigns with the effect that customer acquisition was increasing and sales were shooting higher as well.
Branding and marketing are functions of communication, so applying communication strategies led to visibility and conversions. And just like that, the Julius Omokhunu brand was born.
At the moment I am delving deeper into one-on-one coaching with small business owners as I realize they need more assistance to be able to grow and scale their businesses on the small budgets that they have. And rather than having an agency like mine does the heavy lifting, it is economical for them to learn the tricks of the trade and apply the knowledge with expert guidance. So far, it’s been amazing and I’ve worked with around 100 entrepreneurs in the last year along.
In the new year, I’ll be convening the first pan-African business security summit as a response to the unprecedented assault of the coronavirus pandemic on small businesses in the global South. The Summit will chart a way forward for SMEs to be able to compete on a global stage through digital tools and by adapting to groundbreaking trends around the world.
But most crucially I’m launching two game-changing initiatives that will redefine business operations. The Master My Business Academy is a free virtual group for entrepreneurs to learn and master aspects of their business that yield the most results in terms of revenue. And of course, my signature course called The Business of Your Business (Brand it, Market it, Sell it) will be launched to train entrepreneurs on the nitty-gritties of branding and marketing that work.
Go in detail and tell us about how your brand works.
My practice is very growth-focused and at the risk of sounding cliched, I ultimately help entrepreneurs attract the customers that are crazy about their business and chase their products every day. And that means creating and implementing strategies for customer acquisition and retention. We do that by giving businesses an identity first and foremost, and then communicating that identity to prospects in a targeted manner that they accept the business identity. That’s branding is so many words. The icing on the cake is getting those prospects to become loyal customers of a brand through disruptive marketing techniques that require a huge investment in terms of creativity but very low expenditure in cash. That’s what I aim for – being creative about the marketing strategies that may not go viral but will ultimately lead to sales and more money for the bottom line.
What is your giveaway idea through this interview?
The reason a lot of businesses fail is that they don’t make enough money, and the reason that happens is that they don’t have enough visibility. And the reason for that is because such businesses are not investing enough time and resources in showing up to the right people. Visibility, therefore, is a targeted way of putting your business in the faces of the people you want to notice it – not random people. Because making your brand visible to random people is the same as not being visible at all!
Business is first a popularity contest before an ability contest. For buyers, visibility equals credibility: if they don’t know you, they won’t choose you. So the single most important investment is in branding and marketing.
Explain the challenges you went through while you were working on brand creation. What are the challenges you go through on an everyday basis?
The biggest challenge while I was starting was acceptance. There are lots of gurus and experts out there, each claiming to be the next best thing since sliced bread. And many of such so-called gurus have been so hugely disappointing that clients are wary of any consultant or coach. So, it is a lot of work having to constantly stand out and excel so that clients are convinced about my ability to help them. But I just put my head down and get to work, and I let results speak for me.
How do you manage your finances through the services you offer. Any fundings etc received?
The business is fully self-funded. At the moment my team and I are working on increasing revenue streams by diversifying our product and service offerings. We intend to hit $100k in annual revenue in the next year and that would help us with our expansion plans.
Tell us your future vision about the brand. How far do you want to take it? What is your dream about taking it to the next level?
I desire to work with 1000 entrepreneurs in the next 12 months; that’s a short-term goal. And that’s because I wish to help as many businesses as possible to go past the survival stage of business and get to the thriving stage, and then the boom stage.
To achieve this, we’re incorporating a new agency in 2021 that will handle all branding and marketing consulting work. The Julius Omokhunu Company will then be able to focus on bespoke corporate and personal training and coaching. That would help us help more businesses while growing our bottom line simultaneously.
My dream for the brand is to become so super structured and niched that we’re able to have separate entities that handle specific aspects of a business. I’ve got it all worked out right now but we’re executing step by step and Kreativ Solutions (our planned marketing solutions agency) is just the first step. I’m in this for the long haul.
What message would you like to give to anybody who has a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
Start, and don’t stop. The hardest part of living a dream through business is starting. Once you start, never entertain the thought of giving up. And most importantly, seek help. Get a coach who has been in the trenches and is battle-hardened. They will fight in your corner and you will know the difference.
The Julius Omokhunu Company
For more information visit: www.juliusomokhunu.com