This is an exclusive interview with Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani. I guess his story will inspire you to start setting your life goals early. It was a great opportunity discussing with him. I’m greatly impressed by his intelligence and his good command of the English Language.

You’ll be amazed about what he has to say concerning Nigerian writers and the major problems facing Entrepreneurs in Nigeria. 

This is an excerpt of his interview with SKM Magazine:


You are welcome to SKM Magazine, the HOME OF YOUNG AND ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS in Africa with Nigeria in focus. A Place entrepreneurs can grow beyond their limits…

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Thank you for having me.

Please tell us about yourself

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Well, my name is Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani and I’m a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Writers in Cognizant & the founder of Cognizant Magazine an online business & how-to magazine. I’m a Nigerian from the eastern part of Nigeria.

What’s your educational background?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: I’m a graduate of Computer Science from the University of Abuja. I also did run some few months courses on Social-media marketing in the UK. 

You seem to be a huge fan of music. Do you do it as a hobby or profession?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: It’s just a hobby for now, maybe sometime in the nearest future I might fully commit myself to it. Music keeps me focused because I’m not the regular football lover so music is my only best friend, or should I say music & tech gadgets especially my phone.

Tell us about your business. When/how did you start. And what problem does it tackle?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Writers in Cognizant was created in 2013 but has been running far long under it’s mother company Global Writers for Change, we decided to make it a separate company when we found out more demands for the writers in Nigeria and abroad. Writing is a huge market that offers lots of opportunities and there are lots of graduates who were willing to write to earn good income. So we sat down and taught of how we can monetize this market and provide real value. We decided to launch writers in cognizant, a platform that connects people in need of writing services with people willing to write. Since its launch offers and clients have been pouring in here and there, at the time of its launch, branding was essential for us to achieve excellence in our field and we are still growing by the day. 

What has been your greatest challenge doing an online business in Nigeria?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Well, in this part of the world where people really [don’t] see the potentials of an online venture, it’s always hard to secure funds for service expansion or to get investors to fund an online startup, most times I’ve had to throw in funds from profits on my own personal salary just to expand, aside from that, any other thing is just small to call a challenge, but i’m happy that 90% of my key team players & JV’s are from none Nigerians so it lifts the burden. So its easier to secure funds now.

So, what are the ways you think the government can empower entrepreneurs? Especially the financial aspect of a business?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: I think the government should empower young entrepreneurs by making the entry level cheaper & work on the power sector, also create more skill acquisition centers, plus there should be a well structured scheme that would offer loan for start-Ups, then they should buy into indigenous ideas more. There are too many, I mean too many talented, intelligent & brushed individuals out there who can handle big contracts even better than the foreigners we often sort after, if provided with the right tool.

I know that you’re more an entrepreneur than a writer but permit me to ask this question. Almost every Nigerian writer seems to focus on entertainment.. What’s your take on this?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: I laugh about it almost everyday, it’s funny how almost every Nigerian writer are walking in one direction, I seriously believe there are some niche that are even more profitable than that, but they are just carried away by the temporary cash flow that comes with entertainment niche. They are truly limiting themselves and lowering their opportunities to earn bigger by focusing on just one market. 

No doubt it pays well & maybe faster but it is not as profitable as offering a blog on “How-To” or health niche, you can’t leave your an entertainment blog without updating in a single day else you loose your readers, and this days they tend to create fictional stories just to generate traffic, but in other niche like health or how-to niche your readers are loyal and they don’t have to be compelled, they simply know they just have to visit because what you offer is knowledge, not fade away stories.

So, did you start making money online after 2 weeks of launching your business as many Nigerian internet entrepreneurs will expect?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: I only focused my first 2-3months creating contents, good contents! Then my next step was to get the audience attention, then I monetized it by approaching brands directly, I have rarely used free methods of promotion to grow the business, I invested greatly in paid averts to reach my target audience. I’m not saying it’s bad to use free advert methods, but my key focus is good content & loyal users of the platform, some users even donate to the course and spent their own money advertising the company because they believed they will earn more from it once it became bigger. That’s how sweet it can get if you do paid adverts. So I would say within the first 3 months of launching the startup, I really focused on growth, but the earning came in later and it still does. 

Does all your income come from your online business/writing?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Not really, I do have offline dealings too, like I run a seminar business.

What does success mean to you?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Success to me is being able to help others who are in need, the truth is you can’t define yourself as a successful person, but the echoes from those chanting your name says it all. You can’t write your own success story, others write it on your behalf. That’s what I call TRUE success.

Yeah...it’s always about helping people

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Yes, there has to be something you can offer. No matter how small it seem

If you were given the chance to start life again. What would you have done differently? Like any regret?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Ah! Well, the only regret I have is me not starting earlier, not paying attention to what seemed to matter but was busy chasing shadows, like picking up a menial job in 2009, I regret that a lot because I wasted my precious time working my life for others without having any value to add back to the society at that time.

Good. Now, What’s your advice for young entrepreneurs out here?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: My advice to young entrepreneurs is to keep doing whatever it is they re doing, be patient, sometimes breakthrough takes longer than we often picture it in our minds, but that shouldn’t make you lose focus.Dream big start small.

Interesting! Before we wrap up, do you have any upcoming project you’re working on?

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Yea I do have some few projects but the key focus is based on launching an online book store that would allow eBook writers upload their work and sell it through our website. I’m also writing a joint book with the owner of ConnectWriters so that’s basically what’s keeping me very busy these days. You’ll always see most of my upcoming projects in blogs around.

Thanks a lot for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with us. I’m positive your story will motivate many young entrepreneurs out there who wants to pursue their dream and passion.

Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani: Thanks for having me around.

You can connect with Kenechukwu Reginald Ezeani via his personal website.