In this exclusive interview with The News chronicle, Mr Moses Ayomikun Oladipupo, founder of Crystal Frames, an IT outfit specialised in a couple of services like 3D Animation, Web design, Publishing and others, bears his mind on the reception of 3D Animation services in Nigeria, IT development and other related issues
TNC: Good morning Mr Ayo, it is nice to meet you and have you in our interview series. We will like to know more about you, your company Crystal Frames, what you do and how it has been so far?
Mr. Ayo: My name is Moses Ayomikun Oladipupo, an entrepreneur and founder of Crystal Frames. Crystal Frames specializes in IT related services; coding, 3D Animation, Web design, Publishing, Business management and a number of other services. I founded and registered the company in 2012, the journey has been tedious, but as expected of an entrepreneur, we have been managing it well so far.
TNC: Tell me, what was the idea behind the name ‘Crystal Frames’, I mean every business has an idea behind its name, and yours sounds interesting, so what is the idea behind it?
Mr. Ayo: The idea behind the name is quite not complicated, when I was thinking about a name to register, I thought about something that will really stand for the concept of what I had in mind. Having started majorly as a 3D Animation designer, the process of the designing is measured in what is called frames, each image in a video is called a frame. So the idea was frames that are crystal clear – Crystal Frames.
TNC: Interesting idea that was. We know starting a business anywhere, let alone a country as challenging as Nigeria is not easy, so how has the entrepreneurial challenge been so far because we know every business has its challenges?
Mr Ayo: From the inception, financing was the major challenge Crystal Frames had. I actually registered the business when I was still in school, so getting the money to run it was a problem. I had to manage my resources and at some point asked my parents for help, I did not even have a laptop, just my external hard drive. So finance has been a major challenge.
Another setback was my hope in the public sector, the civil service. I was aiming to partner with the civil service and render my services, but the system of our government, the corruption, did not help to materialize those ideas. I think a mistake I made was to think that If I tried hard enough it would work, but I later realised that it is not how hard you try but the willingness to bend to their demands, cut corners and all that, if you’re not willing to soil your hands, it won’t really work out, so the civil service disappointed me. Another challenge in this business is integrity in the aspect of business owners, people that don’t keep up to their words and all that. So all those are some of the challenges we have faced so far.
TNC: We know the reception of Information and Technology here in Nigeria is not impressive, the government is not investing in IT sector, so there is massive brain-drain where these IT guys ‘Japa’ (flee the country) for greener pasture, so what is your take on that?
Mr. Ayo: IT is supposed to be widely received and appreciated in this country, but the system of the government is making it impossible. Take me for an example, my main plan for Crystal Frames was to work closely with civil service, the government parastatals, the agencies etc. They all have their public awareness sector, as far back as 2012 I was ready to break into the 3D Animation market and establish a connection with all those agencies for bigger funds, but due to the corruption and nepotism in the system, the idea did not work out.
Ideally, the IT is one of the departments that drives a country, so the government and private sectors are supposed to take it seriously, invest in it and its drivers (the talents behind it) and let it move the country forward. Due to the system, these talents have no other option than to resort to ‘Japa’ as you said, they flee the country to where they think their skills are appreciated, leaving the country in huge numbers is a loss to the nation.
TNC: We are quite impressed by what you do, we understand that you are into so many things; 3D Animation, Publishing, Designing, Business management and so on, so I would like to know, did you plan to start all these things at once or you just incorporated each of them along the line?
Mr. Ayo: Well I did not start each and every one of them at once, 3D Animation was my main focus, but necessity pushed me to other ones. Along the line I noticed the appreciation of 3D declined compared to the time I started, the market was not helpful too due to the tediousness in the process of its production, so I had to adjust. Website designing was a skill I learnt when I was younger, but I did not use it until its necessity called. A lot of businesses started building websites, so I picked up website designing. And then I adjusted to Publishing, Graphics design, E-commerce, business management and so on. I started business management when I realised I was going to manage my business myself, I picked up a couple of courses online. So I did not start all of them at once, it was along the line when their necessity called that I picked them up.
TNC: Apart from your paid and contracted services, do you have something like training programmes or institutions, or people you mentor in the industry?
Mr. Ayo: Not yet though, but it is also in the pipe line. I have not yet been able to bring people on board though it is something I can make money from. We have a project now called Crystal Educational which is going to grow and encompass that area, we intend to start with young people and teach them alphabets, morals, mathematics, languages, values etc and then up to the bigger ones that will render skill acquisitions.
TNC: Most of the things you do are science and engineering bound, did you study them in school or just out of passion. We can see that most of these things you do were picked up incidentally, so did you get any prior education of them?
Mr. Ayo: It is just the passion, I was doing urban and regional planning in school. Though I got training skills for most of them, like graphics designing which I learnt when I was about 12 years, I decided later on to focus more where my passion lies, it is purely passion.
TNC: Your story so far, how you started and how you have been able to manage your challenges is quite inspirational., we will like to know your take on entrepreneurship, do you think it is for everybody or just for a select few individuals?
Mr. Ayo: I think entrepreneurship should be for a select few. Ideally, entrepreneurship gives the freedom everyone should have but not very many people may do well as entrepreneurs. One of the major challenges of entrepreneurship is its uncertainty and roughness, it is not so smooth and assuring in running, there is a lot of ups and down which not many people have the patience for. Also entrepreneurship requires innovation which means you have to be up to date, study well to keep the business going. So someone that lacks the above qualities cannot do so well as an entrepreneur.
TNC: As we round up, I’d like to throw in these two questions in one; what makes Crystal Frames stands out from its competitors, what do you do differently that your colleagues don’t do, and lastly, where do you see Crystal Frames in the near future, your aspirations for it?
Mr. Ayo: The thing that makes Crystal Frames stand out from others is mainly innovation; right from the inception, creating new means has been at the top of the organisational vision. One thing about businesses in this side of the world is imitation, where everyone rushes into new development, but Crystal Frames is away from that because we do not think it is sustainable and pleasant for a business, we believe in innovation and originality. Also, when you look at how we render our services, the conglomerates, you will see how interesting it is. Unlike other businesses, our combination of services under one umbrella also makes us stand out strong.
About where I see Crystal Frames in the next few years, well we are 10 years old now and when I look at what I projected for it years I back, I don’t think I have reached there. Business in Nigeria is very hard to project, due to the uncertainty, disappointment and ups and down, but I still aspire to be like Dream Worlds who were our original mentor, we also wish to be like Amazon in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.
