By Tolulope Oke
The YBI Group founder on earning a living and the experiences that changed what he wanted from it
Some prospective vendors at TruckVille offered to pay twice the usual rate for a space to sell shisha. Yahaya Buhari Ali says he turned them down.
He had a family-friendly place in mind, and his test for it was personal. If he would be uncomfortable seeing his own child or sibling take part in an activity, he did not want TruckVille to provide it.
A visit to a popular food court in Abuja had helped shape his thinking. He says the alcohol sales and club-style weekends did not fit the environment he wanted for families.
Ali, known as Sir YB, is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of YBI Group. He calls his approach to work and life Balanced Success. Money matters in it, alongside his faith, health and relationships.
He remembers when much smaller amounts of money made a difference. As a student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto, he would leave his hostel on Sunday mornings to collect ₦6,000 from a game shop he owned. His monthly allowance was ₦5,000. He remembers feeling proud of himself and comfortable with the income.
The shop had started with a conversation at home. During a midsemester break in his second year, he told his mother he needed to start a business. She agreed, on one condition: it must not affect his studies. That left him looking for something he could afford to start and have somebody else run.
His first calculation was simple. A PlayStation 2 cost ₦12,000, and a television was about ₦8,000. He thought he needed ₦20,000. After buying them, he began to notice what was missing. Where was the shop? Where would people sit? What about fans and the other things customers would need?
He rented an uncompleted building. The equipment came out in the morning and was taken away at night. There was no generator, electricity was unreliable, and control pads needed repairs. He kept putting some of the takings back into whatever needed fixing.
Eventually, he saved enough to rent a proper shop nearby, a move he places in 2012. He later added another television and console. He agreed that the operator would set aside ₦1,000 for him each day from Monday to Saturday, keep anything above that amount, and keep all of Sunday’s takings. That was how Ali came to collect ₦6,000 a week while staying in the hostel.
The arrangement left him free to study. Some of his customers, however, were missing school to be there. Children would come to play or watch others playing during lesson time, and that troubled him.
His elder brother had given him three things to consider when choosing a business: what God says about it, its effect on the customer and whether it can make a profit. Ali says that advice stayed with him as he thought about the shop. He needed the income and recalls praying for a better opportunity. The move was gradual: he took the business to the university campus, where adult students came to relax after lectures.
Another opportunity grew out of shirts he had branded for himself. A friend who was a student association’s social director liked them and asked him to supply the association. Ali accepted the order. Then he discovered that the chosen design needed a specially made shirt, while his usual printer only branded ready-made clothing.
He was close to giving the money back when he looked again at the sample and noticed an Ahmadu Bello University logo. A cousin studying there put him in touch with the relevant department president. That connection led him to Daga, a maker in Zaria, who could produce the shirts. More orders followed. So did late deliveries and details that were missed.
Today, his business work includes branding and printing. YBI Multimedia describes its services as including digital marketing, email marketing and web design. Ali also speaks and writes about entrepreneurship. His public appearances include TEDxBayeroUniversity, where he gave a talk titled “Entrepreneurship; A Web of Lies, Myths and Opportunities”.
He once hoped to become a billionaire before he turned 30. That was what success looked like to him.
A period of illness made him think again. Lying sick, he imagined having reached that target and still facing the end of his life. “Am I prepared to meet my Creator?” he asked himself. He wondered how his family, friends and team would remember him, and began to think more deeply about his health and the people in his life.
“That was the turning point in my life,” he says.
What he now calls Balanced Success brings together spirituality, relationships, health, personal development and wealth. His Islamic faith guides how he approaches those five areas. Building a business and earning money still have a place. So do the people who share his life and the health that allows him to get on with it.
He shares short reflections on business, life, goals and money. He describes himself as a work in progress in applying these ideas. At TruckVille, he says the extra money on offer would have come with an activity he did not want the project to accommodate.
For vendors seeking a cabin, he puts it plainly: “We have values, and if you are breaking any, we won’t give you a cabin.”