Chase purpose, money will come, Cole advises youths

The Co-founder of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole has said the only way to build a successful business that could outlive one is to create a gap between personal life and business.

He said this at the recently concluded business forum entitled ‘Under 40 CEOs’, which held at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan-Atlantic University Lagos.

Cole said: “Your business can be a multi-million dollar business, but you don’t have to be a multi-million dollar person. That way, you can build a business that outlives you. Don’t chase money because money always gets ahead of people, rather chase purpose and money will come. Also, never take networking for granted, everywhere you go, build meaningful relationships,” he enthused.

The Executive Director (ED) of Under 40 CEOs, who reiterated the organisation’s commitment to empower young African business leaders, said: “Under 40 CEOs is a community of young African business leaders in continent and Diaspora committed to empowering aspiring and emerging young African business leaders with close to 1,000 members and growing. The platform presents authentic conversations with accomplished business leaders between the age of 40 with invaluable business experiences that would not only benefit the community of young African business leaders but also the nation’s economy.

He further emphasised the importance of being financially savvy and the necessity to make wealth building and financial independence an ultimate goal of business owners and leaders.

The Deputy Director, EDC, Nneka Okekearu, who stated that EDC is excited about the partnership with Under 40 CEOs to deliver meaningful and impactful engagements business leaders and SMEs said, they were committed to building the capacity of small and medium enterprise (SMEs) and providing them with a wide range of support services in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Under 40 CEOs inducted Mr. Tonye Cole into its Hall Of Fame, in recognition for his contributions towards building a new generation of business leaders and being a role model to many young Africans.