Mr Ifie Sekibo, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank Limited, had over the weekend advised young and aspiring entrepreneurs about the importance of partnership, saying that it is the key towards the actualisation of success in business.
He gave the advice in Lagos while interacting with a select group of young entrepreneurs in Lagos. According to him, partnership in business is important because it facilitates access to useful information which some people have and others do not have.
Therefore, partnering and learning from other entrepreneurs becomes a must-do for every business owner who wishes to succeed, he said.
“Learning from people and forming partnerships is one of the keys to achieving success in any business enterprise. Trying to do things alone or hiding your vision from others might not give adequate results in any given enterprise.
“As a person, I have never done things on my own. Though I have my ideas at every point in time in life but I have always done partnerships because most times, other people are privy to information you do not have. Partnerships have also helped in my propelling my visions and aspirations in life. So, I am urging entrepreneurs not to keep their visions to themselves” – Sekibo
Speaking further, the CEO stressed that it is wrong for any entrepreneur to think they do not need others in order to succeed because that mentality is a recipe for business failure.
He also used himself as an example, emphasising that he has never embarked on any business solely on his own. This is despite the fact that he does have the ideas. Instead, he would always endeavour to partner with other people.
He went further to give examples of how partnerships have helped him to advance his visions and aspirations and concluded by urging young entrepreneurs to never “keep their visions to themselves.”
Mr Sekibo assumed his current position as the CEO of Heritage Bank Limited after many successful years as a top business executive in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. He is a successful business owner and an alumnus of the Harvard Business School.
