The House of Dexterity as it is always called is the foremost house of Décor in Nigeria, and a meeting with the CEO was humbling. Mr Favour Essang was very humble all through and attended to the crew with patience. He is a successful man and we hope this interview with him will motivate you to know you can make money doing whatever you have passion for. Do not underestimate you passion that is where your money is. We also learn a lesson because he told us that behind a successful man are a lot of unsuccessful years.
AA: Can we meet you?
FE: My name is Favour Essang, the CEO of Dexterity Plus
AA: What was growing up like for you?
FE: Growing up, I don’t think I really can remember what it
was like but my father is a disciplinarian and discipline was on top gear while
growing up, I was not allowed to mix with people except my family members, I
was not allowed to get close to the television except when my father is around
and I needed to. So growing up was church, books and all that, there was no
peer group, having friends that you guys play together, in my case, no.
AA: Did that help in the path you have chosen?
FE: I will say it did in a way, because, I was even till now
I am not a television person, I derive pleasure in going through books,
checking journals and all that, so it in a way helped me this far. I have a
whole lot of friends but I do not have “friends” you understand, I have a lot
of people that are close to me, but I do not have “friends” so to speak. It helped
my work, I am at liberty to work from say 7am to 9pm in the evening and I can
do that for months without thinking, oh I want to go and check friends, I want
to go go and do this, so in a way it helped me.
AA: Can you give us a brief history about dexterity
FE: Dexterity started as a small décor unit from church,
while I was in that church it was my mum’s duty to decorate the altar, so I go
with her because after SSCE there was this long wait for JAMB, so I go with her
to decorate, making sure that the church altar is done nicely but you know
sometimes, she will be busy at home and she will say keep going I will join you
alter. I will go and she will never come. I started something and I will see
that oh what I did wasn’t so bad and my confidence started building from there.
At some point, I will work on the church alter and maybe on the following
service day, the pastor will come and say wow this is beautiful, who did this?
People will say it is Favour and he ask me to come to the front for prayer and
everybody will pray. At the end of the day I will be thinking in my mind that
won’t they give me money, but they don’t. Sometimes they say kneel down and a
whole bottle of oil is poured on e and that was an encouragement for me. Though
money was not attached to it but I keep on keeping on and when I entered the
university, I went into the RCF (Redeemed Christian Fellowship) and different
fellowships will come at different times and say oh, we want to see Favour. In
the process of school organized workshops on event decoration, I just pick some
books and saw that my decorations were like theirs, so I called people to train
them, but a lot of people didn’t turn up, but I kept on doing it. So I think I
did it like 10 times, and the last time I did it, I think I had like 92 people
coming to train and each of them were paying like N3000 per head and that alone was enough encouragement for me. A
lot of people came later and said what if we want to have extra classes and
learn more, how do you do it, so I take them along when I have events and we go
to work together. The tag of the work shop was DEXTERITY WORKING WONDERS. So
that was how the name dexterity came out because when I appear in place like
church people start calling me Dexterity.
AA: What about the plus?
FE: The plus….. (Laughing),I didn’t want to leave the name
like that, this is it, Dexterity means skills, the plus is the additional, the
extra mile after the skill.
AA: You can say you learn from your mum.
FE: I learn from my mum actually.
AA: What did you study in school?
FE: I studied library Science
AA: A librarian now an outstanding Decorator
FE: … (Laughs)
AA: How did you find the inspiration taking the risk of
stepping out to follow your passion knowing that at that time a lot of
graduates like you will be seeking for paid employment after school?
FE: Decor was not what it is today, but I had already known
what I was going to do after school because in following my mum, I developed
passion. That time I moved to Lagos, Abeokuta, Ilorin and a lot of redeem
alters to decorate and I see the way they appreciate it and that alone, I yearn
to see every time. When I finish the decoration I cannot wait to see the
expressions on their faces. So I knew after school I will either go into floral
line or a big time décor house. Although I still see it bigger than what it is
now and I have been telling myself that I will place dexterity on the map
though people working with me might not understand but I keep doing something
towards it. I didn’t see following my passion as a big risk even though it
might appear to be. I just took my chances and it worked. Like when I did
workshops, I spent money did handbills, went into UI, put a lot of efforts and at the end of the
day people didn’t turn up but I kept at it.
AA: Starting small, how did you manage it?
FE: Starting small, though it was small but I didn’t see it
as small then; to me I was starting big. I knew people were I to decoration but
I saw my own as a different way of doing it.
It was big because I had a lot of friends that were doing nothing at
that time, they were seeking for job. And all of them were looking up to me and
then al I have for decoration been not much but I was starting big in my mind.
AA: We saw a quote from you “a successful person has a lot
of unsuccessful years”. Can you tell us about the unsuccessful years?
FE: I told you about the workshops that no one turned up.
Because the I borrowed money from my parents.
On few occasions on my way to Lagos to decorate, I had accidents that
could have taken life and I was badly injured, there were times I had to go to
the east and entered bus from Lagos standing all through to and fro because my
money was no enough but nobody know all that. There were time you would go
hungry for days without food and I was depending on my neighbor who was a lady
to feed me. Things had happened that you cannot explain to people. Even when
money started coming in there was this car that I bought and while driving one
day on my way from work, police stopped me and I had to sleep in the cell
because they claimed I was too young to drive such car. And claimed I was a
yahoo guy. It’s been very rough but you know with God you forget the suffering
of the past. But for now we thank God because the reward for hard work is more
hard work.
AA: What has been your motivation that has not made you
quit?
FE: When you go into business with the right motive, what
will sustain you all through when the chips are down is passion. My passion
motivated me all through the unsuccessful years. When you are driven by money,
when the money is not forthcoming a lot of business fold up. Passion drove me
way beyond money. I was not brought up to know money. I had done a lot of jobs
for free even to many churches then. Passion is very important.
AA: What is your vision for Dexterity plus?
FE: It was boldly written down that when we are 10, we must
have a branch in the US and decorate the Olympics. The vision at ten has been
accomplished, we have a branch in the US now in Texas and now we are looking at
the Olympics. We achieved this only by hard work because that is the only step
to success. I devote my time to what I do, when people are snoring I am awake.
In Nigeria you have to work hard and push through because we cannot compare the
US to Nigeria. I US automatically things work for them. When you wake up light
is on and other amenities are working properly.
AA: How have you managed your growth?
FE: I tell people the only way to do this are that you
should always remain small in your own eyes, remain humble. If you want to make
it in life and attain height that is unthinkable, remain humble. All I have was
given from God.
AA: When did you know that this is the breakthrough?
FE: Well I still count this level small. Everything happened
like little by little. It didn’t just happen and you can never say oh, I have
arrived. Everybody will still forge ahead but you will know that there is a different
between who I was yesterday and who I am now.
AA: When did you make you first 1million naira?
FE: It was a long time ago and I gave it out. The person
promised to pay it back again but till today no. But like I said I was never driven
by money.
AA: How have you been able to manage business, marriage and
spirituality together?
FE: If you your intentions are right, if God is all you
need, all you’ve got, den you’ve got all you need in life. You can manage
everything together because I don’t socialize; I don’t keep friends, maybe in
times past I do but now No. If you want to change the world, you focus on
changing the world while you are single because when you get married, you will
be distracted. If you want to make a difference in any area of your life, set
24 cardinal months and work towards it and see what happens. Nobody carries two
things when climbing a ladder.
AA: you are religious.
FE: …Laughs. Why did you say I am religious, when you are
successful, never forget the power that brought wealth into your hands. The God
factor cannot be over emphasized. It is
not going with the crowd it is in knowing your direction.
AA: What is the role of business plan in business?
FE: It is not everybody that knows about business plan but I
believe you have to reach a certain stage in business before you start talking about
business plan.
AA: Nigeria doesn’t have a business that is 100 years yet
will yours be?
FE: Yes I am walking towards it. Dexterity must continue. It
all depends on the business structure, when I go for trainings abroad, the
business still runs effectively. If you put your best in what you do, the best
in that thing will come out.
AA: Advice for young entrepreneurs.
FE: The country is not encouraging enough for upcoming people
going into business. If you start a business and its not yielding enough,
continue, because on every smooth road, you find out that there is always a
bump somewhere.
AA: Tell us the five things that has helped you in business
FE: God, Hard work, Passion, Team Work and Direction
AA: Thank you
FE: Thank you
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