Recently nominated for the 9th edition of Tush Awards under the Most Promising Entrepreneur category is Cynthia Onyinye Osuchukwu. She is a writer, entrepreneur, creative director,of a digital agency called 25pointzero and a story blogger at Syncity NG. For a long time, she had been writing on social media, soon a lot of people started urging her to open a blog which she kept putting off until she decided to open Syncity Ng.
On starting 25pointzero, she says, “I decided to open a creative agency that helps startups and SMEs with digital innovations. We help them create logos, websites, brand identity, social media management and digital marketing services”. In conjunction with a partner, she holds an annual writing competition for writers on social media with the media support of her two-time International award winning story blog, Syncity NG. She is a mentor to young adults who need to find their career path and purpose.
At the moment and in conjunction with 25pointzero, she is working on a start-up dedicated to preserving African stories and improving literacy among Africans. The startup was a finalist in the Strive Masiyiwa ‘Your Turn’ contest, the Next Titan Season 4 Entrepreneurship Reality TV show and was also shortlisted for the Accelerate Labs incubation program powered by Microsoft.
To a large extent, the industry is still a male dominated one, as there aren’t many women creative, but Cynthia says, ” I really don’t see the competition. I just see good agencies to emulate or bad agencies to avoid. The sky is big enough for us all. One of our creative works was given a nod by one of the former Vice Presidents of Nigeria”. She goes on to add that her niche is for startups and SMEs unlike most agencies who work for big brands.
Running a business in Nigeria has its ups and downs and Cynthia definitely has had her fair share. She shares her experience with pitching to an investor who ended up running off with her business plans.
“I approached an investor for my group of businesses (the blog and agency inclusive) and he disappeared with my business plans. Investment in Nigeria is still a dicey situation. Young entrepreneurs need all the help they can get, but if it doesn’t come, I am a staunch believer of using the Plan B”.
Running a blog and a digital agency at the same time can’t be easy and Cynthia acknowledges this. According to her, her creative self betrays her every time. She goes on to explain this by saying, ” A million and one ideas are always running through my head. Maintaining focus is quite tricky. I always have to take a break, go back to my order of priorities or just push the ideas aside”.
Funding is one problem entrepreneurs have always faced and on this, Cynthia says, “Sometimes you want to go slow, but then, going slow means you have to crawl when it isn’t necessary. I believe in solidifying businesses with patience and hard work but sometimes, businesses can also be solidified quickly with funds”.
Her long term plans include consolidating all her projects into sustainable value-oriented million-dollar businesses in the next four years. ” In the next four years, I would clock 30, and of course bag one or two other degrees and professional courses while at it”.
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