So I'll be catching a flight to Abuja tomorrow and I'll be there for a couple of weeks. No, it's not my first time in Abuja and it's not about the Abuja trip, but the philosophy around it.
Last year, when I left Interswitch to go back into entrepreneurship, I decided that I wasn't going to be in Lagos for over 1 month again after launching Ocaman, unless business demands. I mean, I have successfully honed a skill that is in demand all over the world, and have a good set of experience to go with it. As not-so-good as I [think I] am at selling products, I'm immensely amazing at selling my skills (Williams never fails to remind me of the interview he had with me, prior to hiring me at Interswitch). So I was going to sell my skills to the highest bidder, on a per project basis to fund my entrepreneurship drive, preferring to be physically present at location.
Last year, I was already concluding plans of setting out to Uyo and then Calabar, when my dad fell ill and I had to be around to take care of him. Unfortunately, he didn't recover from the illness. After his burial, I convinced myself that I needed to stay as close to home as possible, but definitely not take another 9 to 5 job, because it didn't fit into my personality. So I was stuck between freelancing at a spot and trying to raise investment. Both didn't quite go as well as I envisaged.
So I'm back to the spot of evaluation and I remembered that decision. By the 6th of August, it would be 1 year since the passing of my dad and having hung around for this long, I thought it was time I revisit this decision.
So I'm going to be that guy, who sells his skills to fund his start-up(s), while experiencing life in other cities. I'll prefer African cities though, so I can adequately build the local network I need to grow my Africa-focused start-up. However, I'll go anywhere if I'm offered a good deal (not just money, but also freedom of expression and on-project flexibility). If I don't get a good deal soon enough, I'll either sue for elongation of the one I have at the moment or return to my apartment in Lagos and start bidding again. No biggie!
I'll miss my workstation and current work environment, but I look forward to the time, learning and contributions I'll make to my new team at Abuja. While keeping an eye open for the next city.
If you'd like to hire me, check out my LinkedIn and email me on celestocalculus@gmail.com. To ensure my effectiveness, I only work on 1 project at a time, so I'm not going to be available for now, but we can discuss about my next availability & engagement.
I need to go pack my bags now... and I should blog a little more often. I know.
